Released September 16, 1997 Length 5:42 Producer(s) Andrew Slater | Format CD Single Label Work, Columbia | |
Writer(s) Fiona Apple (lyricist/composer) | ||
"Criminal" is a song by Fiona Apple. Apple said that the song is about "feeling bad for getting something so easily by using your sexuality." It was released as the third single from the album Tidal in September 1997, and is Apple's biggest hit, peaking at #21 on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as #4 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. The song won the Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance at the 40th Grammy Awards and was nominated for Best Rock Song. The song was listed at number 71 on Blender magazine's 2005 list of "The 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born". It reached #55 on VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of the 90's.
Contents
Music video
The song's music video was directed by Mark Romanek with cinematography by Harris Savides. The video features Apple sulking in various states of undress, and The New Yorker described her as "looking like an underfed Calvin Klein model." It explores themes of voyeurism and adolescence. In 1998, the video won an MTV Video Music Award for Best Cinematography.
Track listing
- "Criminal" – 5:42
- "Sleep to Dream" (live) – 4:36
Cover versions
In 2006, singer Natalie Cole covered "Criminal" for her album Leavin'.
In 2011, the band The Pretty Reckless played a live cover of "Criminal" for KHFI-FM.
In 2014, actress Sarah Paulson covered the song in the episode "Massacres and Matinees" on American Horror Story: Freak Show.