How a Romantic Gesture From Courtney Love Turned Into This Nirvana Classic From ‘In Utero’

There have been numerous theories about what the “heart-shaped box” in Nirvana’s hit “Heart-Shaped Box” represents. Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love have said different stories themselves: Cobain said that documentaries and news articles discussing terminally ill children inspired the song, whereas, in 2012, Love reached out to Lana del Rey on Twitter, saying the “heart-shaped box” represents her genitalia. However, it represents a literal heart-shaped box, gifted to Cobain by Love.

“Heart-Shaped Box” Was Inspired by a literal Heart-Shaped Box

Cobain and Love began to have romantic interests for one another in 1991, when Nirvana began working on their album Nevermind. Love knew Dave Grohl through a mutual friend before she and Cobain had even crossed paths. Thus, Grohl was the messenger in the development of their relationship.

Love gave Grohl the heart-shaped box to give to Cobain. The box was filled with trinkets and a small doll. Furthering the relationship between Cobain and Love, they often collected heart-shaped boxes. In many of the homes the two shared, there were shelves of heart-shaped boxes. Ultimately, the figure became a symbol of their relationship.

In Cobain and Love’s first apartment together, they had a large walk-in closet. The walk-in closet is where many Nirvana songs were born. The walk-in closet became a writing sanctuary for Cobain; it is where he crafted “Heart-Shaped Box.”

When Cobain began to work on “Heart-Shaped Box,” Love had asked him if he could do a riff for one of her songs, for her band Hole. If Cobain had not fallen in love with what he was playing in that moment, “Heart-Shaped Box” could have been a Hole song.

In 1994, after Cobain’s passing, Love told Rolling Stone about the day he began working on the song.

“The only time I asked him for a riff for one of my songs, he was in the closet,” said Love. “We had this huge closet, and I heard him working on ‘Heart-Shaped Box.’ He did that in five minutes. Knock, knock, knock. ‘What?’ ‘Do you need that riff?’ ‘F*** you!’ Slam. He was trying to be so sneaky. I could hear that one from downstairs.”

(Photo by Kevin Mazur/WireImage)