Polly

The song is about a girl who, while coming home from a punk rock concert (this is a true story, apparently), was kidnapped and raped. Her torturer used rope, a blowtorch, etc., on the girl during her time with him...until she gained his trust and escaped... O_o

It is about how Gerald Friend kidnapped a child and raped her repeatedly. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Friend Polly is a typical name for a parrot which is a bird. It alludes to the "I know why the cage bird sings" in which Maya Angelo is raped and molested/raped as a child. As the song "rape me" is the view of her being raped by Gerald Friend she had to pretend that she liked being raped in order to escape. To connect it to "Rape me" which is in the point of view from her instead of the rapist in this situation. "I am not the only one." She was not the only one that Friend raped he escaped many times and was released from prison then went back and raped a girl who got away. Sad very sad. Often people train their parrots Polly wants a cracker and other things. Often when people are raped or molested especially throughout their life they are trained to just do what the rapist/molester wants ands sometimes they get a reward. Ie you might get a new handbag if you just first let the rapist/molester do something to you.. Like to say "Polly wants a cracker" before someone gives the bird a cracker or whatever is needed. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nP6ccHmiZjI Or to him her cries or screams at first just sound like polly wants a cracker, polly wants a cracker. But it is not what she wants it is what he wants. Also the rapist is turning the girl into a bird instead of a human. He does not even see her as a person especially one that has needs. Poily wants a cracker but I got to get off her first Well lots of meanings when you know she is being raped. Either he gets off because she is hurt/upset or I could get her a cracker for my little birdie (the girl he is raping) but I would have to get off of her first/ie stop raping her and maybe that is not something that he is ready to do.. He knows that she wants some water to maybe defuse his power/libido so that eventually he will stop. Or she hopes that eventually he will come so that he can stop raping her. Blow torch could be to mean the actual blow torch that was used against her or could be a sexual reference or phallic reference thus when he says I have some seeds it could be food, drugs (pot etc) or it could be semen. Just the idea that he is defiling her. Clipping her wings. Wings could be reference her hands being attached to a pulley rope as she was unable to use them. But also people clip chicken wings or other caged birds so that they cannot escape. He does not want to let her escape. He is trying his best to not let her go.

Let me take a ride Don't cut yourself I want some help To please myself I've got some rope You have been told I promise you I have been true Let me take a ride Don't cut yourself I want some help To please myself

Basically come one let me defile you, to get me off, do not fight it just let me do it. I want to tie you up with rope and do not fight or you will get cuts on your arms/wrists so do not fight. Just let me do it to get myself off. Also let me take a ride could be the connection that she hitch hiked and he gave her a ride in his car.

Polly wants a cracker Maybe she would like some food She asks me to untie her A chase would be nice for a few

The girl in real life acted like she liked it and when he trusted her she asked him to untie her. He liked the idea of chasing her.

Polly says her back hurts And she's just as bored as me She caught me off my guard It amazes me, the will of instinct

The girl goes by instinct and says things that might save her. She says her back hurts and that she liked it but this is getting boring. She lured him by saying lets do something new. So he is caught off guard then she runs away and frees herself. In real life she runs off after he unties her at a gas station and gets help. Very sad song! Glad this is not on the nirvana Rockabye baby album they have!

I always thought it was about a parrot!

Mhhm, i read that after one of kurt's concerts (or some other bands) someone kidnapped a young girl, and raped her, and hurt her with a blowtorch and so on. Kurt found that so sickening and got really angry, that he wrote this ironic song. It's against rape!

When some guys afterwards raped a girl, playing this song to it, Kurt got really angry that they misinterpreted it wrong, and that those were the kinds of fans he had, so he wrote in some Cd cover "to anyone that hates women, blacks, gays and so on, leave us the fuck alone" I'm not sure on how it exactly goes ..... that's just what i read somewhere, who knows, it could always be a lie??

This song is about the kidnap of the girl after the concert. She was tortured with a blowtorch through a cage and possibly raped.....But she started to pretend to enjoy it. The capturer started to bring her places because she seemed to like the abuse and to approve of his before. Then, one day, at a gas station, the girl waited until he went inside to pay. She had gained his trust so much that he left the door unlocked. She ran away straight to the police and he was caught at the gas station. (true story)

It is also obvious that Curt sings "cut yourself" and not "don't cut yourself" or "dont't hurt yourself" as in canonical official Nevermind texts. I think it's a really psychologically brilliant song, which gets into a situation of rape and abuse, into relation between rapist and victim and rapist's bored, dull interior, full of contempt to a human.

Curt IS an overwhelming man. Take care Nirvana funs, as we do here in Novosibirsk, Russia!

Hi all, I found this on Wikipedia

According to Michael Azerrad's 1993 Nirvana biography Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana, "Polly" is based on the true story of a female rape victim from Tacoma, Washington

That was in 1987 and Polly was written around '87 or '88. It makes sense, isnt it?

I also found this somewhere on the web

GUILTY VERDICT IN RAPE CASE Seattle Post-Intelligencer August 19, 1987 Author: The Associated Press Estimated printed pages: 1

Gerald Arthur Friend was convicted yesterday in Pierce County Superior Court of the kidnapping and torture-rape of a 14-year-old girl.

Prosecutor Tom Stratton said he would recommend an exceptionally long sentence for Friend, 49 (age), who was convicted in a similar attack 27 years ago. In the latest case, Friend was charged with first-degree kidnapping and first-degree rape in the attack that occurred over several hours late June 5 and early June 6.

Officials said the victim was a runaway who accepted a ride from Friend near the Tacoma Dome after she attended a rock concert in the area. When the girl tried to get out of the car, authorities said, she was handcuffed and abducted at knife-point to Friend's mobile home.

The victim testified last week that Friend tortured and repeatedly raped her with several objects in his mobile home. She said he blindfolded her and ran a propane torch close to her skin. She eventually escaped. Memo: Update Edition: FINAL Section: News Page: D1

Index Terms: ASSAULT SEX CRIME AGE COURT VERDICT Dateline: TACOMA Copyright (c) 1987, 2000 Seattle Post-Intelligencer (http://seattlep-i.com). All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Record Number: 8701220169

Take a look on this sentence: Officials said the victim was a runaway who accepted a ride from Friend near the Tacoma Dome after she attended a rock concert in the area

(Polly was originally titled "Hitchhiker", and later "Cracker") from Wikipedia

Let me take a ride <--- Polly said this after the rock concert to her Friend after that they went to friends Caravan, that is where the dialog in Chorus happened

Cut Yourself <-- Junkies cut their skin and suck the blood so their feel high again

oh yeah, and this part: Polly wants a cracker Maybe she would like some food only in Nevermind version I guess, in another version like in Album Incesticide, Unplugged, etc. was: Polly wants a cracker Maybe she would like more food

Polly was played many times in Concert and Album I think this song maybe got special meaning to Kurt.

Peace, Love and Empathy

After hearing this song Bob Dylan was prompted to remark of Cobain, "That kid has heart."

There's a point in the song where Cobain sings only "Polly says..." before pausing and starting over. This was a mistake in the studio that the band as well as the recording team liked, and left on the album. As evidenced in live performances, the mistake was "written in" to the song.

I was there when this text was written in 1989/90/91, and may have actually written this text. Who I am? I am Martin Vikene (b.1975), back then in 1989/90 my name was Morten. As mentioned earlier, it was in connection with a type of student exchange stay where I was to stay with the Cobain family in Aberdeen. It was more specifically Kurt Cobain's mother, as well as the sister who lived in the house, as well as Kurt, possibly. During that stay, and during the summer of 1989/90/91, I got to know a girl/younger woman who became called "Polly", possibly that I called her that. It was Kurt who brought me to her, and who introduced me to Polly. So Kurt and Polly have known each other from before, or known about each other. Might as well mention that she lived in the same neighbourhood, or very close to Kurt, so naturally they knew or knew about each other in that sense. How well they knew each other from before, I don't know, or whether they had more or less relationships and such, I don't know either, but I had the impression that they knew each other quite well. In the course of my acquaintance with "Polly", I may have written this mentioned lyric "Polly", whether it was during the first visit or not, I don't remember either, but it was then written during the acquaintance. I vaguely remember that Kurt and I are in the same room as "Polly", I think she lives in a similar type of house like Mother Cobain's house, in Aberdeen. I also think that she was a type of "drug user", also recall that she may have had it quite dark inside, with curtains perhaps half drawn, and such. Furthermore, I remember that she may have been somewhat taller than Kurt and me, or equivalent. Kurt and I eventually find ourselves at "Polly's". I don't think she has that much furniture, maybe a type of sofa, some mattresses on the floor, and the like, in addition to the TV. Furthermore, I think she was watching TV, or that the TV was on when we came by. Kurt sat down on the floor, it's possible that I did too, or that I was sitting in some type of sofa, close by. I think that she may have had a type of a dog, perhaps a type of a "dangerous" dog. That probably led to it possibly being extra "reserved" so to speak, because both Kurt and I were probably somewhat afraid of the dog, but "Polly" probably had enough control. So we sat and watched something on TV. Kurt didn't say much I think, but made some comments every now and then. I was new and chatted a bit. I remember in a way that there can be 3 types of programs that have stuck with what was on TV. First, I want to mention a type of cartoon from the beginning of the 20th century (1900s) that I imagine was on TV, a cartoon with a parrot called "Polly", who wanted a "cracker", or got it, that was a cigar. It is possible that I, as a lyricist, have taken some expressions from it, possibly. Furthermore, it may have been a type of older western film, as well as "Twin Peaks", Twin Peaks itself that is, in that case this meeting may have taken place during the summer of 1990, unless I had my vhs pilot of Twin Peaks with me, then it still could be 1989, 1991 at the latest. Then further I may have met on "Polly" several times, also alone without Kurt, possibly. In one context or situation, Polly and I have been together inside her house, and we have somehow ended up in her bed, which may have been some mattresses. So we had sex together there. It thus explains one of the sentences in the 1st verse of the lyric; "Think I should get off here first". In addition to having sex together, it can seem as if we or just "Polly" may have smoked something, or used some drug in addition. Something she wanted more of besides sex. The sentence "Polly wants a cracker" suggests this. Furthermore, Polly wanted some water to "rinse" down with. Maybe she was a bit thirsty. The sentences "Think she wants some water. To put out the blow torch", suggests this. "Blow torch" can in theory be compared to the male genital organ penis, also cracker, but not necessarily, it could be compared to a smoke/cigarette, for example. The words and expressions can therefore be ambiguous, especially many years later, even if they were actually quite literal the first time they were written, possibly described and depicted the situation with similes there with Polly. Furthermore, it may seem as if Polly and I have had some type of "argument/fight", or that it may be the reason for what has happened, or what happened before we had sex together. Somehow Polly has threatened the environment and me with a knife. A rather dangerous situation in other words, but then I have managed to disarm Polly, such as take the knife away from her, as well as managed to tie her up, probably tied her hands together, so that she wouldn't be dangerous. It was in a type of self-defense, you could say. The situation calmed down, and so did Polly, hehe. It's almost like in certain movies, where you see a female and a male arguing, they also somehow have sex together later. It could typically be certain "James Bond films", or similar. Later, I may have untied the rope, or what she was tied with. The phrase "Let me clip your dirty wings" indicates this. On the other hand, the phrase could also mean that she was tied with "clips", but this is uncertain. Polly was then "at least" tied by the hands, and then released. In the text you can also read this, and understand it that way.

[Edit: Changed some dates.]

This song talks about a raping...and it was used in a gang rapping when it came out, and Kurt said he was sad to hear the song was playing while they did such a thing.