Recorded May 1993 | Label Atlantic, EastWest | |
B-side "Sister Janet" "Daisy Dead Petals" "Honey" "A Case of You" "If 6 Was 9" "Strange Fruit" "All the Girls Hate Her/Over It (Piano Suite)" Released January 10, 1994 (UK)
January 17, 1994 (UK limited edition)
February 14, 1994 (AUS)
May 5, 1994 (US) Genre Alternative rock, baroque pop Length 5:06 (Album Version)
3:54 (Edit) | ||
"Cornflake Girl" is a song by American singer–songwriter and musician Tori Amos. It was released as the first single from her second studio album Under the Pink. It was released on January 10, 1994, by EastWest Records in the UK, and on May 5, 1994, by Atlantic Records in North America. Singer Merry Clayton provided backup singing and sang the "man with the golden gun" bridge.
Contents
Background
The song reached #4 on the UK singles chart, and was Amos' most successful international hit at the time. In Australia, the song peaked at #19, and was placed at #35 on the radio station Triple J's 1994 Hottest 100 poll. The song was also ranked in Blender magazine's The 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born at #433.
Inspiration and meaning
The inspiration for "Cornflake Girl" came from a conversation she was having with a long time friend about female genital mutilation on the African continent, specifically how a close female family member would betray the victim by performing the procedure. Tori has said that growing up, the name they gave to girls who would hurt you despite close friendship was "cornflake girls."
The reference to cornflakes and raisins comes from their distribution in a box of breakfast cereal, implying that "raisin girls" are much harder to find than "cornflake girls". Amos has spoken in interviews about being referred to glibly as "the cornflake girl" due to the song's title being applied to her, when she considers herself a "raisin girl". Moreover, she specifically states in the first line of the song: "Never was a cornflake girl." The confusion may be related to her 1985 commercial for Kellogg's Just Right, made before she achieved widespread fame. Just Right includes both raisins and cornflakes, so the song and the cereal are related either through coincidence or intent.
Atlantic released a series of cornflakes boxes with picture of Amos on them to promote this. They are now collector's items.
The term "cornflake girl" also appears in the lyrics of the Billy Bragg song "Body of Water" from his 1991 album Don't Try This at Home with the line "Oh, to become a pearl / In the wordy world of the cornflake girl".
Releases
Two separate "Cornflake Girl" CD singles were released in the UK. The first, released on January 10, 1994, contains three original b-sides: "Sister Janet", "All the Girls Hate Her" and "Over It"; the latter two being part of a Piano Suite. The second, released on January 17, 1994, was a limited edition picture CD housed in a digipak, containing cover versions of the songs "A Case of You" by Joni Mitchell, "If 6 Was 9" by Jimi Hendrix and "Strange Fruit" by Billie Holiday. The first CD single was replicated for the German and Australasian release, and its b-sides were re-used for the US "God" and "Cornflake Girl" releases. Other than "A Case of You" appearing on a US promotional CD compilation and a limited 2-CD Australian tour edition of "Under the Pink", the three cover versions on the limited UK "Cornflake Girl" CD single have not been released on any other title to date, and are not available to purchase through digital retailers. As such, this CD remains a collectible item.
The United States "Cornflake Girl" CD single is housed in a digipak case.
- "Cornflake Girl"
- "Sister Janet"
- "Cornflake Girl" – 5:05
- "Sister Janet" – 4:00
- "All The Girls Hate Her" – 2:23
- "Over It" – 2:11
- "Cornflake Girl" – 5:05
- "A Case of You" – 4:38
- "If 6 Was 9" – 3:59
- "Strange Fruit" – 4:00
- "Cornflake Girl" (Edit) – 3:54
- "Sister Janet" – 4:00
- "Daisy Dead Petals" – 3:03
- "Honey" – 3:47
Music video
There were two different videos for "Cornflake Girl". The UK version was directed by Big TV!, two directors from the UK. Tori said that is based on The Wizard of Oz, except that Dorothy goes to Hell instead. Tori stated that she wanted there to be "two different visual expressions" of the song. The US video features Tori driving a truck full of women around a typical American desert.
Cover versions
The song was covered by post-hardcore band Jawbox as a hidden track on their self-titled 1996 album, as well as by the band Tapping the Vein on the Tori Amos tribute album, Songs of a Goddess. In 2007, after Amos had to pull out of an appearance on the Australian comedy program The Sideshow, musical comedy trio Tripod performed the song in her place.
On March 25, 2010, British electronic musician Imogen Heap covered the song live in Australia. The performance was done per request by the winner of an online charity auction who paid about $4000 USD to win the item "VIP Experience Meet Imogen Heap + A Song Just For You".