Pennyroyal Tea

I was searching for a tea themed idea for a post and ran into this song by one of my favorite bands Nirvana. So, here ya go. A tea themed post.


Pennyroyal Tea by Nirvana (Unplugged in New York 1993)

I'm on my time with everyone
I have very bad posture

Sit and drink Pennyroyal Tea
Distill the life that's inside of me
Sit and drink Pennyroyal Tea
I'm anemic royalty

Give me a Leonard Cohen afterworld
So I can sigh eternally

I'm so tired I can't sleep
I'm a liar and a thief
Sit and drink pennyroyal tea
I'm anemic royalty

I'm on warm milk and laxatives
Cherry-flavored antacids

Sit and drink Pennyroyal Tea
Distill the life that's inside of me
Sit and drink Pennyroyal Tea
I'm anemic royalty


*~*~*~*~*


It scientific name is H. pulegioides (American pennyroyal) grows in woods through most of the northern and eastern US and Canada. Pennyroyal is a perennial, creeping herb with small, lilac flowers at the stem ends.

Pennyroyal is sometimes used to treat venomous bites, respiratory ailments, and mouth sores. The plant’s oil is also said to be used as an abortive and and inducing delayed menses. According to some sources I read the dose in which the herb is used as an abortive is almost lethal. This post is not meant to encourage it's consumption.

From Wikipedia:
The herb Pennyroyal is sometimes used as an abortifacient. An alternate explanation is that the song is just what it seems about at face value: a person "sitting and drinking pennyroyal tea." In Cobain's Journals, there is an entry where he explains (as much as possible for someone who said that his songs did not have a single meaning) the tracks on In Utero. The explanation simply reads: "herbal abortive... it doesn't work, you hippie."