Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle

The song's title and lyrics reference the American actress Frances Farmer, a native of the band's adopted hometown of Seattle, Washington, who struggled with mental health issues, caused by an overly controlling mother, and faced involuntary commitment several times in her life, which she claimed led to her suffering from systematic abuse.

Nirvana biographer Michael Azerrad referred to Farmer as the "patron martyr" of Cobain and his wife, Courtney Love, who identified with her in part because they saw parallels between her mistreatment by the media and their own struggles with the press.

The song was performed for the first time live on April 9, 1993, at the Bosnian Rape Victim Benefit show at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, California.

Following early accusations of atheism and communism,[4] reports began to surface of allegedly erratic behavior, and Farmer was arrested and committed to psychiatric institutions several times before being diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.

In her autobiography, Will There Really Be a Morning?, Farmer later recounted what she called the "unbearable terror" of being in the hospital, claiming that she "was raped by orderlies, gnawed on by rats and poisoned by tainted food.

"[5] The accuracy of the book, which was published posthumously and partially ghost written by a friend, is disputed, but Farmer is confirmed to have suffered from poor conditions at the hospital, undergoing electroconvulsive shock therapy as was then standard at the institution.

"[8] John D. Luerssen, author of the 2014 biography Nirvana FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the Most Important Band of the 1990s, also noted similarities between Farmer's personality and Cobain's, writing that "the parallels between the actress - who once listed her occupation as 'cocksucker' when she was arrested - and the rocker are remarkable.

"[1] According to Azerrad, the lines "In her false witness/ We hope you're still with us" were an attack on those who believed the claims in a September 1992 Vanity Fair article by Lynn Hirschberg, which alleged that Love had used heroin while pregnant.

[14] In an August 2023 interview with Owen Cummings of Louder, Albini named "Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge On Seattle" as his favorite song on In Utero lyrically, calling it "a perfect encapsulation of the competing motives of art, celebrity, commerce and entertainment that Kurt saw around him.

[16] On April 24, 2020, "Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle" was performed as the opening song on a virtual Nirvana tribute concert by American musician, Post Malone.