Oh, make me over
I'm all I want to be
A walking study
In demonology

Hey, so glad you could make it
Yeah, now you really made it
Hey, so glad you could make it now

Oh, look at my face
My name is might have been
My name is never was
My name's forgotten

Hey, so glad you could make it
Yeah, now you really made it
Hey, there's only us left now

When I wake up in my makeup
It's too early for that dress
Wilted and faded somewhere in Hollywood
I'm glad I came here
With your pound of flesh
No second billing 'cause you're a star now
Oh, Cinderella
They aren't sluts like you
Beautiful garbage, beautiful dresses
Can you stand up or will you
Just fall down

You better watch out
What you wish for
It better be worth it
So much to die for

Hey, so glad you could make it
Yeah, now you really made it
Hey, there's only us left now

When I wake up in my makeup
Have you ever felt so used up as this?
It's all so sugarless
Hooker, waitress, model, actress
Oh, just go nameless
Honeysuckle, she's full of poison
She obliterated everything she kissed
Now she's fading
Somewhere in Hollywood
I'm glad I came here
With your pound of flesh

You want a part of me
Well, I'm not selling cheap
No, I'm not selling cheap


Lyrics submitted by onearmedscissor, edited by scottdoesntknow628

Celebrity Skin Lyrics as written by Courtney M. Love William Patrick Corgan

Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Celebrity Skin song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

82 Comments

sort form View by:
  • +6
    General Comment

    Ok, first off, this site is for discussing the meaning of songs, not arguing about whether or not Courtney killed Kurt!

    Aand.. even though this CD made me a bit sad, since it wasn't the angry grrl rock that Pretty On the Inside and Live Through This was, I think this song is fantastic.

    And some people might accuse her of being a hypocrite, for calling out all the "Hooker/Waitress/Model/Actress"s of hollywood.. but really, she isn't any of the things that she calls out. The difference between her and them is, they have no identity, and SHE knows exactly who she is. Yes, she is a hot mess, but she's also the fairy godmother of angry chick rock, and that means something too.

    This song confirms that.

    laxrougeon August 06, 2008   Link
  • +4
    General Comment

    the courtney killed kurt conspiracy theorists are aaaalways going on about how kurt had 3 times the lethal dose of heroin in his system, so he couldnt have shot himself becos he wouldve been dead in seconds. SECONDS. how long do you clowns think it takes to pull a trigger? its not a complicated process and certaintly could be achieved within the limitations a few seconds.

    and, as evil killer phone said before - why the fuck would someone "murder" someone who has 3 times a lethal dose of heroin in their system anyway? bit of an unecesary risk isnt it? i mean, you people are sooo sure he wouldve died from the heroin anyway arent you? so why shoot him? and also, the murder theorists reckon that the bit about suicide in kurts note was in difrent handwriting, so it couldnt be him that wrote it. if you look at kurts journals which were just released, the handwriting completetly changes from one page to the next. oh yeah and also someone mentioned on another song's posting that courtney rescusitated kurt when he overdosed a couple of moths before his death, and repeatedly tried to check him into rehab. which is all true. so she saves his life several times, then kills him, after hes taken enough heroin to kill him anyway, then writes an added bit to a note that kurt wrote about quitting music. yeah, right, because everyone who quits music always writes a goodbye note anyway.

    leave courtney alone and listen to hole.

    and they didnt sell out, they just, ah, well billy corgan helped them with the album, what did you expect.

    atthedrive-inon November 15, 2004   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    Classic for anyone who has ever lived in LA, esp. the "Hooker/Waitress/model/actress... oh just go nameless" part.

    jenwill2on May 01, 2002   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    MY BOYFREIND WANTS TO DO THIS SONG IN DRAG ONE DAY.......I THINK ITS PERFECT!

    maliburotguton May 03, 2002   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    Actually, i dont belive in the murder theorys...i just think shes annoying.

    fuckyouallon September 22, 2002   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    oh yeah, and i'm not sure kurt cobain himself would appreciate speculations that it was his wife who topped him off

    evil_killer_phoneon April 14, 2003   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    This song is anti hollywood! Its great and im a guy and i love Hole and Nirvana very much. If Courtney Killed Kurt Cobain SHE IS A GENIUS I MEAN REALLY SHE DID THE PERFECT MURDER she managed to kill her husband escape to L.A. get checked into a hospital of a Heroine od then manage to hire a guy to find her husband and send him on a wild goose chase! I mean if u know the real story it seems like Courtney was trying to keep her detective away from where Kurts body was found why would she do that? She already killed him and has a great alibi if she killed him GREAT CRIME COURTNEY GREAT CRIME!

    BlamedTonight314on April 17, 2006   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    great song.. i think this song is about fame and how fickle it is. i dont think courtney killed kurt but i dont really know enuf about the subject to say why not.

    no_added_msg85on September 25, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Happy memories...loud dancing...wild singing...janie xx.

    selftitledalbumon April 24, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    this is a good song, and courtney's guitar in the video rules.

    plastic tiaraon June 15, 2002   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

More Featured Meanings

Album art
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him. There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
Album art
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines: "Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet" So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other: "I had all and then most of you" Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart "Some and now none of you" Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship. This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Album art
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988. "'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it." "There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Album art
No Surprises
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Album art
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.