The Story Of Polly
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"Polly" is based on an actual incident which occurred in Tacoma in June of 1987. A Fourteen-year-old girl returning from a punk show at the Community World Theater was kidnapped by a man named Gerald Friend (no relation to Lonn), who hung the girl upside down from a pulley attached to the ceiling of his mobile home and raped and tortured her with a leather whip, a razor, hot wax, and a blowtorch. She later escaped from his car when he stopped for gas. Friend was later arrested and eventually convicted and will likely spend the rest of his life in jail. Kurt's only embellishment to the story was the hint that the woman got away by fooling the rapist into thinking she enjoyed what he was doing to her.
Rape is a continuing theme in both Kurt's interviews and songs. It's almost as if he's apologizing for his entire gender. "I don't feel bad about being a man at all," Kurt says. "There are all kinds of men that are on the side of the women and support them and help influence other men. In fact, a man using himself as an example towards other men can probably make more impact than a woman can." [C.A.Y.A. - p.218]
"Last year, a girl was raped by two wastes of sperm and eggs while they sang the lyrics to our song "Polly." I have a hard time carrying on knowing there are plankton like that in our audience. Sorry to be so anally P.C. but that's the way I feel."
Kurt Cobain |
