Reviews for Pennyroyal Tea Lyrics

Kurt himself admitted that he came up with the melody in about 30 seconds, and the lyrics in less than an hour. Yeah obviously the song is about herbal abortion but really, there's nothing to indicate that any of this meant anything to Kurt--it was just a cute bunch of lyrics he tossed together while hanging out with Dave Grohl in their apartment. Awesome song though.

the song mocks people for trying to use penny royal tea as a measure for abortion... as it is physically possible for penny royal tea to do so, 9/10 times it will fail to cause the fetus to abort even if bleeding is induced.... if you read the album art, cobain put's it simply,"herbal abortive... it doesn't work, you hippie." people tend to read entirely too much into the lyrics of his songs, he himself said that taking his songs beyond face value was completely unnecessary, and may leave you disappointed... most nirvana songs were written in less than an hour, and some were designed to mock his fans openly, but everyone keeps singing along anyhow....

Methinks a familiarity with Cohen's song "The Future" (go on, google the lyrics, you know you want to) can help translate what IMHO Cobain's depression and rock-bottom addiction were saying in this song.

I just have to say as it has been mentioned pennyroyal tea does induce a miscarriage in pregnant women. Anemic royalty I believe could refer to the fact that when you have a miscarriage women tend to bleed quite a bit and with pennyroyal tea it is very toxic to the body and could cause you to bleed heavier which could cause one to become anemic. Just my view on it.... Not saying I'm right.

Maybe most beautiful lyrics of nirvana, you can get a feeling out of this, but what i can see, and what i realy appreciate on nirvana is the fact, that its absoulutely sincere. This is not a song for itself its made cause it was needed to be created.

As for the stomac pain: Heroin is no serious treatment of pain, there are really lot of drugs(medicinal), which can be used as a treatment. I consider this statement of Kurt as an excuse for addiction. I dont think, Kurt was doping in order to treat pain, he was doping for the same reasons as others, that was his sickness.

this song is about his stomach pain, not about courtney love or anything else, its all about his stomach pain, pennyroyal tea used as a sleep aid but the oil induced abortions when drank it can also kill, the tea form also induced abortions, the pennyroyal tea he wants because of the stomach pain he tried to treat with a heroine addiction, during the unplugged version he was herd saying "i already had 3 cups of tea" he wasnt goin thru withdrawel he was dealing with depression which is what the leonard cohen part was about, leonard cohen also delt with depression himself so he could relate

to me at least, the reason that man is worshipped so much is because he was a person who people could relate to. the thing about Kurt and Nirvana's music, is that they portray emotions in their music like no other band. Take for example, this song. When you listen to it, even without lyrics, to me at least, it makes me thing of nothing. just pure nothing with a little drop of pain. Maybe thats just me, but the point is people can relate to kurt... even death wouldn't let him be alone.

he wrote the song for courtney love, but nirvana also recorded their own version around the same time, idk if it was first or not. the song is about a woman dealing with an unwanted pregnancy. abortion? idk anything about actual pennyroyal tea but if it really is that bad, then i would say yes cause kurt always did have an extremely sarcastic way of putting important issues.

I think that Kurt would want you and others to stop worshiping him. I think he'd want you to live your own life instead of martyring him and comparing yours to his own.

I don't mean offense but I do believe, in accordance to his feelings, that's what he would've wanted. Kurt wasn't a media-smeared hero, he wasn't a messiah, he was just a guy who liked to play music and didn't mind if other people listened.

---Dan

To the person or persons who claim they don't have the time or want to explain kurts issues etc, I am very curious, very educated person and I have many things in common with the man who I knew nothing about untill very recently, if you would like to have an educated conversation about his lyrics his passions etc I would greatly
Appreciate your time, I've been a fan of their music since I was a little kid but the media and parents blah blah made him out to be a monster, so I was "blind" to the truth due to the uneducTed, stupid people who are trully blind to the real world
Thank you

I believe it is most probably about abortion. As everyone else has said below its open to personal interpretation but the line "I have very bad posture" could relate to a pregnant woman, and her stunted or bent posture due to the weight of a child. Also, "Distill the life that's inside of me" is also another very clear point adding to my interpretation. "I'm a liar and a thief" could also relate to the fact that she's lying to everyone by saying she's not pregnant and is using "Penny Royal Tea", which is used for cheap abortions. Similarly the "thief" segment could also relate to the fact that she is stealing the life of her child by abortion? I'm not sure, but I think that that is quite possible. Why he wrote it and what his real intentions were, if any, i don't know. Rest in Peace Kurt.

Drinking large amounts of penny royal tea was, in years past ( many, many years) a suicide method. It also has slightly narcotic effects ( and tastes pretty nasty too, or so I have been told.). As for inducing abortions, I don't know about that, but I know that the herd rue will have that effects, and it is also toxic and tastes bad.A tissane of penny royal will also repel fleas, lice, etc.
If all of these things are true about penny royal tea, I guess one can take whatever meaning one wants from the song ( every song means something different to everybody else, based upon their experiences)

to reviewer "what?"

that's just human stupidity which is infinite & human nature. lol & u're complete right about youtube and stuff. this song have to reach barack obama's hand & he will use it to promote his ideal of abortion. :P

I as a kid in the punk scene, knew that a cheap abortion was done by drinking lots of pennyroyal tea over a 5 day period, I think this was pretty common knowledge to any young girl that had access to wicca or herbal healing propaganda. Kurt wrote those lyrics with dave grohl shortly before nirvana recored bleach. He wrote the song on a four track in 15 minuets. The lyrics are short and to the point. He wants to kill the pain. Duh? Why do people read so hard into a man that was really quite simple.
Rest his restless soul, and forgive his wife for what she did.

This song is, to me, about withdrawals. yall are all right though. A song means a certain thing to the person who writes it, and that message can be conveyed to those who listen, or it might cause a different reaction. THAT is what a skilled song writer does. Writes a song using SYMBOLISM. pennyroyal tea is about withdrawal, abortion, anemia, or if you have no imagination or feelings, nothing.