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Lake of Fire (song)

"Lake of Fire" is a song by the American alternative rock band the Meat Puppets, written by vocalist and guitarist, Curt Kirkwood.[3] 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.

"Lake of Fire"
Single by Meat Puppets
from the album Meat Puppets II and Too High to Die
ReleasedMarch 12, 1994
GenreCowpunk (1984 version)[1]
Hard rock (1994 version)[2]
Length1:54 (1984 version)
LabelLondon Records
Songwriter(s)Curt Kirkwood
Meat Puppets singles chronology
"Roof with a Hole"
(1994) 		"Lake of Fire"
(1994) 		"Scum"
(1995)

The song gained widespread exposure when it was covered, along with two other songs from Meat Puppets II, by American rock 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.

"Lake of Fire" has been performed at the majority of Meat Puppets concerts, as well as at most of Curt Kirkwood's solo shows.

Background

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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".[4]

Promo single

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The Too High to Die version was released as a promotional single, and featured three versions of the song.

Track listing

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(All songs by Curt Kirkwood unless otherwise noted)

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

Nirvana cover

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"Lake of Fire"
 
Promotional single by Nirvana
from the album MTV Unplugged in New York
Released1995
RecordedNovember 18, 1993 at Sony Music Studios in New York City
GenreAcoustic rock[5]
Length2:56
LabelDGC Records
Songwriter(s)Curt Kirkwood
Producer(s)Alex Coletti, Scott Litt, Nirvana
Nirvana singles chronology
"Where Did You Sleep Last Night"
(1995) 		"Lake of Fire"
(1995) 		"Aneurysm"
(1996)
MTV Unplugged in New York track listing
13 tracks
  1. "About a Girl"
  2. "Come as You Are"
  3. "Jesus Doesn't Want Me for a Sunbeam"
  4. "The Man Who Sold the World"
  5. "Pennyroyal Tea"
  6. "Dumb"
  7. "Polly"
  8. "On a Plain"
  9. "Something in the Way"
  10. "Plateau"
  11. "Oh, Me"
  12. "Lake of Fire"
  13. "All Apologies"
  14. "Where Did You Sleep Last Night"

"Lake of Fire" was one of three songs from Meat Puppets II, alongside "Plateau" and "Oh, Me," covered by 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 1993, which opened at number one on the Billboard 200.

Nirvana's cover of "Lake of Fire" was released as a promotional single in Australia,[6][7] where it received some radio airplay.[8]

Track listing

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  1. "Lake of Fire" – 2:57
  2. "Where Did You Sleep Last Night" – 5:07

Weekly charts

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Chart (1995) Peak
position
Canada Contemporary Album Radio (The Record)[9] 31
Canada Rock/Alternative (RPM)[10] 17
US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[11] 22
US Rock Tracks Top 60 (Radio & Records)[12] 18

Year-end charts

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Chart (1995) Peak
position
US Top Rock Tracks (Radio & Records)[13] 92

Certifications

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Sales certifications for "Lake of Fire"
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[14] Gold 35,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Other covers

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  • 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.[15] His cover was also featured in the 2018 film Tag.[16]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "The 100 Best Albums of the 1980s". Slant Magazine. March 5, 2012. Retrieved August 29, 2020.
  2. ^ Prato, Greg. "Too High to Die - Meat Puppets | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved August 29, 2020.
  3. ^ "Song Facts - Lake of Fire".
  4. ^ Hernandez, Raoul (April 9, 1999). "What is This?". Austin Chronicle. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
  5. ^ Bosso, Joe (August 23, 2019). "The 25 best acoustic rock songs". Guitar World. Retrieved April 28, 2021.
  6. ^ "Unplugged in New York promos". nirvana-discography.com. Retrieved May 14, 2022.
  7. ^ "Lake of Fire / Where Did You Sleep Last Night". livenirvana.com. Retrieved June 16, 2013.
  8. ^
  9. ^ "Contemporary Album Radio". The Record. June 12, 1995. p. 29. Retrieved October 5, 2023.
  10. ^ "Top RPM Rock/Alternative Tracks: Issue 8516." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved November 5, 2016.
  11. ^ "Nirvana Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard.
  12. ^ "Rock Tracks Top 60" (PDF). Radio & Records. Radio & Records. June 2, 1995. p. 56. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
  13. ^ "Top 95 of 95" (PDF). Radio & Records. Radio & Records. December 22, 1995. p. 86. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
  14. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2024 Singles" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved May 21, 2024.
  15. ^ "Lake of Fire - Single by Eric Bachmann on Apple Music". Archived from the original on 2018-06-25.
  16. ^ "Tag (2018) Soundtrack - Complete List of Songs | WhatSong".
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