Mote


“Well, the lyrics were based on some re-readings I was doing at the time of the poet Sylvia Plath – I was reading deeper into some of her poetry. She has a poem called “The Eye Mote” that I really liked. It’s the idea of a dust mote or a speck of dust in your eye. That had something to do with those lyrics.”Lee Ranaldo (265)

Eric’s Trip


“Well, the first verse was taken down almost verbatim from a scene in Andy Warhol’s Chelsea Girls movie. I believe it was this guy named Eric Emerson who was around Warhol’s Factory in the ’60s. He was a so-called “house hippie” or something like that. In the movie he’s on acid and he’s talking in a rambling monologue: “I can’t see anything at all, all I can see is me.” That’s the whole first verse of the song. I just noted it down and used it as a jumping off point.”Lee Ranaldo (265)

Swimsuit Issue


“I was trying to equate secretaries whose idols are maybe models – models are so popular now in our culture. Models end up in a magazine, having men masturbate. The secretaries are in offices and have bosses who jerk off on their desks. It’s really about the attitudes in corporations towards women. I wasn’t really aware of it until we signed to a major label.”Kim Gordon (839)
“I feel angry about the way that women are treated in corporations. Women get victimized, the secretaries in the offices have to take so much bullshit. A lot of them are really well trained, they could probably move further up the ladder, but they don’t, because the corporations would rather get in some guy.”Kim Gordon (838)

100%


“Joe Cole [a roadie with Hole and The Rollins Band – Ed] was a good friend of ours from LA. He’s the guy who got shot with Rollins [Henry Rollins, leader of the Rolling Band – Ed]. The idea of his murder was the original idea of the track, but it’s about someone who dies, and how you handle it. The song is about Joe in LA not doing anything and then he’s gone. Violence is becoming a way of life over here.”Steve Shelley (838)