# Nookie (Limp Bizkit song)

"Nookie" is a song by the American rap rock band Limp Bizkit, released on June 15, 1999 as the lead single from their second album Significant Other.

## Lyrics and background

In a 2008 interview with British rock magazine Kerrang, guitarist Wes Borland said the following about how the lyrical content turned out: "The music was cool, but I didn't like the lyrics at all. The funny thing is that Nookie was actually the working title. When we were in the studio there was a porn magazine that had the word 'nookie' on the cover, so I was like, 'This song's called Nookie!', I never thought someone would actually run with it. I suppose it's all my fault." However, in an interview with SongFacts, he would claim the initial beat was sampled by DJ Lethal from "an Italian porn movie from the '70s or something", which then inspired the name "Nookie".
Fred Durst said about the song, "It's about my ex-girlfriend, how she treated me like shit, and I couldn't leave her, wouldn't get over it," he said. "She screwed my friends and used me for my money. I tried to figure out why I did it, and I figured I did it all for the nookie."

## Music video

In the music video, filmed in Long Island City, Durst sings the song while walking through city streets drawing a crowd of female followers as he leads them to a secret concert performance of the song in an alley. The band allowed hundreds of fans to participate, playing the song in front of the large crowd. All the guys went to one side of the stage, and the girls on the other side. When Durst sang the chorus at certain parts, he would hold out his microphone to the crowd, getting that particular side to sing. This was, according to Durst, to show that "guys go off hard, but girls go off even harder". At the end of the video, Durst gets arrested and taken away by the police for disturbing the peace.

## Track listing

* "Nookie" – 4:28
* "Counterfeit" (Lethal Dose Remix) – 3:21
* "Counterfeit" (Phat Ass Remix) – 3:05
* "Nookie" (video)
* "Faith" (video)

## Commercial performance

"Nookie" made Limp Bizkit extremely popular, helping its parent album Significant Other become certified 7× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It was their first single to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, debuting at number 80 on July 31, 1999 and staying on the chart for 11 weeks. It also went to number 74 on the Radio Songs chart, number six on the Mainstream Rock chart, and number three on the Alternative Songs chart. The song's music video went to number one on MTV's Total Request Live six times during late July and August of 1999. "Nookie" was also the band's first single to chart internationally, reaching #13 in Australia, #33 in New Zealand, and #36 in the Netherlands.
The song gained Limp Bizkit its first Grammy nomination for Best Hard Rock Performance, which it lost to Metallica's "Whiskey In The Jar".

## Reception

Pharrell Williams, while recording N.E.R.D.'s 2008 album Seeing Sounds, cited this song as part of the band's incentive and drive to record more energetic music, noting it as the last energetic hit single before the album's release. According to Stereogum, "aside from the infantile lyrics, the awful rapping, and the yelling, it’s really not that bad of a song". Author Dave Holmes wrote that "Nookie" is "terrible, yet the kids ate it up". In 2022, Louder Sound and Kerrang ranked the song number two and number three, respectively, on their lists of Limp Bizkit's greatest songs.

## Charts

| Charts (1999) | Peak position |
| Australia (ARIA) | 13 |
| El Salvador (Notimex) | 5 |
| Netherlands (Single Top 100) | 36 |
| New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) | 33 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 | 80 |
| US Alternative Airplay (Billboard) | 3 |
| US Mainstream Rock (Billboard) | 6 |

## Certifications

| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
| New Zealand (RMNZ) | Gold | 15,000$^‡$ |
| $^‡$ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |||

## Citations

* ↑ Young, Chris (May 27, 2013). "Faithful Limp Bizkit fans pack the Observatory". Orange County Register. Retrieved November 19, 2014. Released the summer before Y2K, that band's sophomore album Significant Other dominated modern-rock airwaves with instant nu-metal anthems like "Nookie" and "Break Stuff".
* ↑ Grierson, Tim. "Top 10 Essential Rap-Rock Songs". About.com. Archived from the original on March 27, 2013. Retrieved November 19, 2014.
* ↑ Rosenblatt, Josh (August 22, 2008). "The Longshots". The Austin Chronicle.
* ↑ "Nookie". AllMusic. Retrieved November 19, 2014.
* ↑ "Nookie - Limp Bizkit". AllMusic. Retrieved November 19, 2014.
* 1 2 "A Deep Dive Into The Music Video For Limp Bizkit's Nookie". Kerrang!. 23 February 2019. Retrieved 2022-09-18.
* ↑ "Wes Borland of Limp Bizkit and Black Light Burns : Songwriter Interviews".
* ↑ Teri vanHorn (June 22, 1999). "Limp Bizkit Score With 'Nookie' From Significant Other". MTV. Archived from the original on December 29, 2015. Retrieved 2022-09-18.
* ↑ Carlson, Jen (2015-08-19). "The Worst Times NYC Was Featured In A Music Video, Ranked". Gothamist. Retrieved 2022-09-18.
* ↑ Devenish 2000.
* ↑ Bush, John. "Limp Bizkit | Biography & History". AllMusic.
* ↑ "American album certifications – Limp Bizkit – Significant Other". Recording Industry Association of America.
* 1 2 3 4 "Limp Bizkit". Billboard. Retrieved 2022-09-18.
* ↑ "Inside Total Request Live | Merchants Of Cool | FRONTLINE | PBS". www.pbs.org. Retrieved 2022-09-18.
* ↑ Micallef, Ken (2008-06-01). "N.E.R.D - Old Money, New Money". Remix Magazine. Primedia Business Magazines & Media. Archived from the original on 2008-09-21. Retrieved 2009-01-14.
* ↑ "Video Hangover: Limp Bizkit – "Nookie"". Stereogum. 2007-08-07. Retrieved 2022-09-18.
* ↑ Holmes 2016, p. 182.
* ↑ Hobson, Rich (February 7, 2022). "The 25 best Limp Bizkit songs ever". Louder Sound. Retrieved August 23, 2022.
* ↑ "The 20 greatest Limp Bizkit songs – ranked". Kerrang. August 5, 2022. Retrieved August 23, 2022.
* ↑ "Limp Bizkit – Nookie". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
* ↑ "Britney Spears se coloca entre las más escuchadas". El Siglo de Torreón (in Spanish). October 17, 1999. p. 88. Archived from the original on December 1, 2022. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
* ↑ "Limp Bizkit – Nookie" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
* ↑ "Limp Bizkit – Nookie". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
* ↑ "Limp Bizkit Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
* ↑ "Limp Bizkit Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
* ↑ "Limp Bizkit Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
* ↑ "New Zealand single certifications – Limp Bizkit – Nookie". Radioscope. Retrieved January 19, 2025. Type Nookie in the "Search:" field.