3 Rock Songs From the 1990s You Didn’t Know Were Written About Real People

In the 1990s, when it came to music, there was an emphasis on telling it like it was. People didn’t have time for metaphor or to tiptoe around a difficult subject. No, people wanted the gritty truth. So, the top songwriters of the day gave it to them. Here below, we wanted to highlight three rock songs from the decade that didn’t pull any punches and didn’t shy away from addressing real subjects. Indeed, these are three rock songs from the 1990s you didn’t know were written about real people.

“Violet” by Hole from ‘Live Through This’ (1994)

Before Courtney Love married Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain, she was dating Smashing Pumpkins lead vocalist Billy Corgan. But the two had a falling out, and Love wrote this song to, well, process that split. Performing the tune in 1995 on Later… with Jools Holland, Love said it was “a song about a jerk, I hexed him, and now he’s losing his hair”. Poor, Billy.

“Tears In Heaven” by Eric Clapton from ‘Rush: Music From The Motion Picture Soundtrack’ (1991)

This is not only one of the saddest songs of the 1990s, but it’s also one of the saddest songs ever written. The backstory is beyond tragic. It almost feels like too much to even bring up here. And yet, we will. This tune was co-written by Eric Clapton after the death of his four-year-old son, who fell dozens of stories from an apartment window. Just unthinkable. But as the great artists do, Clapton did his best to turn the worst moment of his life into something that lasted so that he could always remember his boy.

“Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong” by Spin Doctors from ‘Pocket Full Of Kryptonite’ (1992)

At first blush, this song sounds as if it’s a bold take on a breakup. But that’s not the case. Several years ago, Spin Doctors lead singer Chris Barron told us, “[‘Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong’] is actually about my stepmom, my dad’s ex-wife. People always think it’s about an ex of mine but it’s actually about my dad’s ex, who I grew up with. She was actually a malignant narcissist, if that rings a bell. She was a really rough person to grow up with and she said I was going to be a guitar-playing janitor.” Well, looks like Barron got his revenge on that person!

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