Lake of Fire (song)

2025-05-06T23:54:49Z

2600:4041:4287:1700:9538:7001:8717:A891: uncited and impossible to verify

{{short description|1994 single by Meat Puppets}}
{{about|the Meat Puppets song|other songs|Lake of Fire (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Lake of Fire
| cover = Lake of Fire (single).jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = [[Meat Puppets]]
| album = [[Meat Puppets II]] ''and'' [[Too High to Die]]
| released = March 12, 1994
| recorded =
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = [[Cowpunk]] (1984 version)<ref>{{cite web|date=March 5, 2012|title=The 100 Best Albums of the 1980s|url=https://www.slantmagazine.com/music/best-albums-of-the-1980s/|access-date=August 29, 2020|website=[[Slant Magazine]]}}</ref><br />[[Hard rock]] (1994 version)<ref>{{cite web|last=Prato|first=Greg|title=Too High to Die - Meat Puppets {{!}} Songs, Reviews, Credits|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/too-high-to-die-mw0000107415|access-date=August 29, 2020|website=[[AllMusic]]}}</ref>
| length = 1:54 (1984 version)
| label = [[London Records]]
| writer = [[Curt Kirkwood]]
| producer =
| prev_title = Roof with a Hole
| prev_year = 1994
| next_title = Scum
| next_year = 1995
}}
"'''Lake of Fire'''" is a song by the [[United States|American]] [[alternative rock]] band the [[Meat Puppets]], written by vocalist and guitarist [[Curt Kirkwood]].<ref name=S-LOF-H-01>{{cite web|title=Song Facts - Lake of Fire|url=http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=3296}}</ref> It appears on their second album, ''[[Meat Puppets II]]'', released in April 1984. An alternate version appeared as a [[hidden track]] on their 1994 album, ''[[Too High to Die]]''.

The song gained widespread exposure when it was covered, along with two other songs from ''Meat Puppets II'', by American rock band [[Nirvana (band)|Nirvana]] during their ''[[MTV Unplugged]] '' appearance in November 1993. All three songs during the performance featured Curt on guitar and his brother and Meat Puppets bassist [[Cris Kirkwood]] on bass and backing vocals.

==Background==

Curt Kirkwood said, "I lived with [bandmates] Cris and Derrick, and probably Cris' girlfriend, Kelly. ... They went to a Halloween party and I was disgruntled because I thought it was nonsense that adults should callously attempt to alter their appearances, that we are already sufficiently foul. ... I was younger then. I just said, 'Talk about man's fall from grace. This is it.'" He also described the song as a "toss-off" and a "cartoon".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://thatsdishonest.weebly.com/what-is-this-1999.html|title=What is This? |website= [[Austin Chronicle]] |last=Hernandez|first=Raoul|date=April 9, 1999 |accessdate=May 31, 2021}}</ref>

==Promo single==

The ''[[Too High to Die]]'' version was released as a [[Promotional recording#Promo single|promotional single]], and featured three versions of the song.

===Track listing===
(All songs by Curt Kirkwood unless otherwise noted)

# "Lake of Fire" (1994 version) – 3:12
# "Lake of Fire" (acoustic version) – 1:58
# "Lake of Fire" (live) – 2:56

==Nirvana cover==
{{Infobox song
| name = Lake of Fire
| cover = File:Lakeoffire.jpg
| alt =
| type = promo
| artist = [[Nirvana (band)|Nirvana]]
| album = [[MTV Unplugged in New York]]
| released = 1995
| recorded = November 18, 1993 at [[Sony Music Studios]] in New York City
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = [[Acoustic rock]]<ref>{{cite web|last=Bosso|first=Joe|date=August 23, 2019|title=The 25 best acoustic rock songs|url=https://www.guitarworld.com/features/acoustic-nation-25-greatest-acoustic-songs-hard-rock|access-date=April 28, 2021|website=[[Guitar World]]}}</ref>
| length = 2:56
| label = [[DGC Records]]
| writer = [[Curt Kirkwood]]
| producer = [[Alex Coletti]], [[Scott Litt]], Nirvana
| prev_title = [[In_the_Pines#Mark_Lanegan/Nirvana|Where Did You Sleep Last Night]]
| prev_year = 1995
| next_title = [[Aneurysm (song)|Aneurysm]]
| next_year = 1996
| misc = {{Extra track listing
| album = [[MTV Unplugged in New York]]
| type = song
| tracks = {{MTV Unplugged in New York tracks}}
}}
}}

"Lake of Fire" was one of three songs from ''Meat Puppets II'', alongside "[[Plateau (song)|Plateau]]" and "Oh, Me," covered by [[Nirvana (band)|Nirvana]] during their ''[[MTV Unplugged]]'' performance on November 18, 1993 at [[Sony Music Studios]] in [[New York City]]. All three songs featured Nirvana vocalist and guitarist [[Kurt Cobain]] on lead vocals, Curt Kirkwood on lead guitar, Cris Kirkwood on bass and backing vocals, Nirvana bassist [[Krist Novoselic]] on rhythm guitar, and Nirvana drummer [[Dave Grohl]] on drums. The show was first broadcast in December 1993, and aired numerous times following Cobain's suicide in April 1994. It was released as an album, ''[[MTV Unplugged in New York]]'', in November 1994, which opened at number one on the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]].

Nirvana's cover of "Lake of Fire" was released as a promotional single in Australia,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nirvana-discography.com/pages/promo/unplugged.html |title=Unplugged in New York promos |website=nirvana-discography.com |access-date=May 14, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.livenirvana.com/digitalnirvana/discography/nirvana/procd-4265.html |title=Lake of Fire / Where Did You Sleep Last Night |website=livenirvana.com |access-date=June 16, 2013}}</ref> where it received some radio airplay.<ref>
*{{cite magazine |date=April 25, 1995 |title=Radio Additions |url=https://i.postimg.cc/tTTRvHs1/ARIA-Report-25-April-1995-p-15.jpg |magazine=[[ARIA Report]] |page=15 |access-date=May 14, 2022}}
*{{cite magazine |date=April 30, 1995 |title=Radio Additions |url=https://i.postimg.cc/y84d15b5/ARIA-Report-30-April-1995-p-16.jpg |magazine=[[ARIA Report]] |page=16 |access-date=May 14, 2022}}
*{{cite magazine |date=May 7, 1995 |title=Radio Additions |url=https://i.postimg.cc/43XxtcZQ/ARIA-Report-7-May-1995-p-15.jpg |magazine=[[ARIA Report]] |page=15 |access-date=May 14, 2022}}</ref>

===Track listing===

# "Lake of Fire" – 2:57
# "[[In the Pines#Mark Lanegan/Nirvana|Where Did You Sleep Last Night]]" – 5:07

===Weekly charts===
{| class="wikitable sortable" border="1"
! Chart (1995)
! Peak<br>position
|-
| Canada Contemporary Album Radio (''[[The Record (magazine)|The Record]]'')<ref>{{cite magazine |date=June 12, 1995 |url=https://postimg.cc/QFXbMGS8 |title=Contemporary Album Radio |magazine=[[The Record (magazine)|The Record]] |page=29 |access-date=October 5, 2023}}</ref>
|align="center"|31
|-
{{singlechart|Canadarock|17|chartid=8516|accessdate=November 5, 2016}}
|-
{{singlechart|Billboardmainstreamrock|22|artist=Nirvana}}
|-
| US Rock Tracks Top 60 (''[[Radio & Records]]'')<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Rock Tracks Top 60 |url=https://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Archive-RandR-IDX/IDX/90s/95/RR-1995-06-02-OCR-Page-0056.pdf#search=%22nirvana%20lake%20fire%22 |magazine=[[Radio & Records]] |publisher=Radio & Records |date=June 2, 1995 |page=56 |access-date=February 20, 2019}}</ref>
|align="center"|18
|}

===Year-end charts===
{| class="wikitable"
!Chart (1995)
!Peak<br />position
|-
| US Top Rock Tracks (''[[Radio & Records]]'')<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Top 95 of 95 |url=https://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Archive-RandR-IDX/IDX/90s/95/RR-1995-12-22-OCR-Page-0086.pdf#search=%22nirvana%20the%20man%20who%22 |magazine=[[Radio & Records]] |publisher=Radio & Records |date=December 22, 1995 |page=86 |access-date=February 20, 2019}}</ref>
|align="center"|92
|}

===Certifications===
{{Certification Table Top|caption=Sales certifications for "Lake of Fire"}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=Australia|type=single|award=Gold|relyear=1994|certyear=2024|access-date=May 21, 2024}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=New Zealand|type=single|artist=Nirvana|title=Lake Of Fire|award=Gold|certyear=2021|relyear=1994|access-date=December 18, 2024|source=radioscope}}
{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true|noshipments=true|streaming=true}}

==Other covers==
* In 2020 [[Gramatik]] recorded a version featuring the vocals of [[Bill Burr]] titled "lake of fire flip".
* [[Lena Hall]] recorded a live version of the song for her 2015 album ''Sin & Salvation: Live at the Carlyle''.
*In 2018, [[Eric Bachmann]] covered the song and released it as a single.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/lake-of-fire-single/1397637460 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180625021636/https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/lake-of-fire-single/1397637460 |archive-date=2018-06-25 |title=Lake of Fire - Single by Eric Bachmann on Apple Music}}</ref> His cover was also featured in the 2018 film ''[[Tag (2018 film)|Tag]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.what-song.com/Movies/Soundtrack/102553/Tag |title = Tag (2018) Soundtrack - Complete List of Songs {{!}} WhatSong}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Fire and brimstone]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em|refs=}}

==External links==
*[http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=3296 Songfacts – Lake of Fire]
*[http://www.meatpuppets.com/ Meat Puppets' website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120611233946/http://meatpuppets.com/ |date=2012-06-11 }}

{{Meat Puppets}}
{{Nirvana (band)}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lake Of Fire (Song)}}
[[Category:1994 singles]]
[[Category:Meat Puppets songs]]
[[Category:Nirvana (band) songs]]
[[Category:Songs written by Curt Kirkwood]]
[[Category:London Records singles]]
[[Category:1984 songs]]

{{1990s-rock-song-stub}}

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Lake of Fire (song)