Former Hole and Smashing Pumpkins bassist Melissa Auf der Maur recently released her new memoir, “Even the Good Girls Will Cry.” During an appearance on Pam Grossman’s podcast “The Witch Wave,” Auf der Maur explained her decision to defend former bandmate Courtney Love in the book, noting that the Hole frontwoman faced a significant amount of unfair treatment from the media.
“I decided to include her [Courtney Love] own words in my book because, obviously, a huge mandate for me in the book was to reframe the demonized woman. For so many reasons, not just because she deserves it, [but] because she’s a pioneering feminist that has been shat on, and her husband’s [Kurt Cobain] shadow and his tragedy has somehow just ruined her life,” Auf der Maur said.
“I mean, she didn’t ruin her life. It’s the narrative that people put on her. It’s just unbelievable to have watched that closely — the burning of this woman and the media frenzy and the misogyny. It’s just unbearable.”
She added that despite the many challenges Love faced, her influence on music remains undeniable.
“And even within the chaos, because of course — Does she struggle from mental health problems? Of course. Is she an addict? Yes. She [hasn’t] hidden any of her challenging parts. But more importantly is, women who push the envelope, who don’t act pretty or nice, who, in her case, perform an exorcist — I’ve never seen anyone perform like her,” Auf der Maur stated.
“There is no more, still to this day, even with all the amazing pop stars that are women ruling the scene — There is no more visceral profound pulling of the darkness out of a human in front of thousands. I’ve never seen it and I have seen many things. And that alone to me is why she should be recognized as a force.”
“I have one chapter called ‘Warrior Goddess,’ which is my moment where I want to bring the reader on the stage and what it is like to be six feet to the right of that level of — I mean, this is exorcism. This is as powerful as any magical person has ever been, in my opinion. Watching the fans, watching the audience be conducted… She conducts the entire thing with energy in a way that is no lesser than any wizard, warrior, anything that I’ve ever seen in any fantastical movie…” she continued.
“That is the highest reason why I wanted to reframe her, because that is, I think, why people are afraid of her and tear her down. But then also just on a very, you know, pragmatic women in music, women in art history — The legacy of her and the legacy of the band, which I contributed a nice half a decade of my life to, deserves a better place in history because it is living in the gutters of everyone just demonizing her and overlooking her absolute remarkableness.”
