What Is The Song In Taco Bell's Super Bowl 2022 Commercial?
If you happen to catch Taco Bell's 2022 Super Bowl commercial, you may notice that the irresistible guitar riff that punctuates the ad's colorful narrative is by no means a new track. Though it's been covered by "Say So," "Kiss Me More," and "Need to Know" rapper and singer Doja Cat, the song is still mostly in keeping with the vibe of the original, particularly since Doja Cat's raspy alto recalls that of the song's original lead vocalist, Courtney Love.
In the commercial, Doja Cat is trapped in a sterile clown cafeteria dripping with the sad, school days malaise depicted in Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall" (though the ad's "commentary" is undoubtedly less serious). Over the intercom — in a dig at Taco Bell competitor McDonald's — a lifeless voice repeatedly informs students that "the ice cream machine is still broken." Thankfully, Doja Cat and her clown cohorts are able to break free of their academic imprisonment, and as the artist gives the camera a knowing look, a motivating melody comes crashing into the scene just before the clowns crash their car through the campus gate.
That deliberate, adrenaline-filled assault of semi-poppy, polished but aggressive chords is the opening of Hole's "Celebrity Skin," off their 1998 album of the same name (via Spotify). If you're unfamiliar with the tune, here's the rundown on this glittering late '90s gem and its revival.
Celebrity Skin is seeing a renaissance
Co-written and produced by the Smashing Pumpkins' Billy Corgan, "Celebrity Skin" was Courtney Love's way of addressing her transformation from tabloid train wreck to up-and-coming Hollywood A-lister. In "'Celebrity Skin' at 20: Hole, Hollywood and the Reinvention of Courtney Love," Rolling Stone's Brittany Spanos astutely likens the song to Britney Spears' 2007 hit "Piece of Me." "You want a part of me?" Love asks rhetorically in the song. "Well, I'm not selling cheap."
The less-than-subtle lyrics have understandably been altered (with Love's help, according to a Taco Bell press release) to fit the commercial. It is, after all, advertising the ways in which fiery taco sauce helps us "Live Más" as opposed to poking back at an antagonistic public. Subsequently, "I'm all I want to be: a walking study in demonology" has been changed to "I'm all I want to be. I walk in fire. You can't get rid of me." Fair enough. Demonology is, like, so 1998 anyway.
Even if you weren't among the many music lovers who celebrated the song's original release, it's possible you're familiar with it for a different reason. Notably, it plays over the end credits of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's "Captain Marvel" and is the only song featured in the film to have debuted after the film is set, in 1995 (via Independent). Between the MCU and the Super Bowl, it's safe to say this "Cinderella goes grunge" anthem is enjoying a serious revival as of late.