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“Credit in the Straight World” is the seventh track from Hole’s second studio album Live Through This.
The song is a cover: the original version is by Young Marble Giants, released in 1980.
When applied to the context of Hole, most of “Credit in the Straight World”’s lyrics seem to speak of how, with the less “ugly” sound and more pop-oriented songwriting Hole started exploring on Live Through This, they would get attention from mainstream rock fans. The lyrics allude to getting high, something Courtney Love is infamous for, and includes images of losing a leg and an eye, perhaps referencing the extremes Courtney Love went, and continues to go, to please her audience at live shows — such as careless stage diving and ruthless destruction of stage equipment.
The song is notable for its sudden shift in sound, with the intro being slower and more dramatic — then suddenly changing to a faster, grunge sound: this is because the song’s intro is cut from another song.
The song’s intro is taken from another song titled “Old Age” which was cut from Live Through This. “Old Age” was originally written by Kurt Cobain for Nirvana’s album Nevermind in 1991, however, it was never completed. It was given to Courtney Love who, along with the rest of Hole, re-worked the song and released it as a B-side to the non-album single “Beautiful Son” in 1993. Another version of the song was recorded later in 1993 during the sessions for Live Through This and this version was intended to feature on the album, but it was cut and instead was used as a B-side to “Violet” when that song was released as a single in 1995. It would later be included in the compilation My Body, the Hand Grenade in 1997.
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