Cornflake Girl

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“Cornflake Girl”
“Cornflake Girl” cover
Single by Tori Amos
from the album Under the Pink
Released May 5, 1994
Genre Alternative Rock
Length 05:06
Label Atlantic
Writer(s) Tori Amos (lyricist and composer)
Producer Tori Amos
Eric Rosse
Tori Amos singles chronology
God"
(1994)		 "Cornflake Girl"
(1994)		 "Pretty Good Year"
(1994)
Music sample
"Cornflake Girl"
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"Cornflake Girl" is a song by American singer-songwriter Tori Amos. It is the eighth track on Amos' 1994 album Under the Pink. 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[1], and was #35 in radio station Triple J's 1994 Hottest 100 poll, appearing on the compilation album of that year's Hottest 100.[2]

Contents

[edit] Inspiration and meaning

The inspiration for "Cornflake Girl" came from Alice Walker's novel Possessing the Secret of Joy, about a young African woman going through the ritual of female genital cutting. Amos was angered by the idea that a mother could subject her daughter to such a brutal act, and the song arose as an exploration of the idea of betrayal between women. In the song two factions of women are referred to; the "Raisin Girls" are "multicultural" and open-minded while the "Cornflake Girls" of the title are "narrowminded and full of prejudice".[3]

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". The mistake may be related to Amos's appearance as a young woman in a Kellogg's "Just Right" cereal commercial.

The song was covered by post-hardcore band Jawbox as a hidden track on their self-titled 1996 album[4], as well as by the band Tapping the Vein on the Tori Amos tribute album Songs of a Goddess[5].

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".[6]

[edit] Track listing

US Single

  1. Cornflake Girl- Radio Edit (3:54)
  2. Sister Janet (4:00)
  3. Daisy Dead Petals (3:03)
  4. Honey (3:47)

Australian Single

  1. Cornflake Girl (5:05)
  2. Sister Janet (4:00)
    Piano Suite
  3. All The Girls Hate Her (2:23)
  4. Over It (2:11)

UK Limited Edition

  1. Cornflake Girl (5:05)
  2. A Case Of You (4:38)
  3. If 6 Was 9 (3:59)
  4. Strange Fruit (4:00)

[edit] 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. This version was considered slightly too "strange" for American audiences and a second version was made, which was co-directed by Amos herself along with Nancy Bennett. The American video features Tori driving a truck full of girls around a typical American desert.

[edit] Charts

Chart (1992) Position
U.S. Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles 7
U.S. Hot Modern Rock Tracks 12
U.K. Singles Chart 4

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Summary Of Tori's Chart Positions In Australia & The U.K., 30 June 2001.
  2. ^ hottest 100 1994, Triple J.
  3. ^ Quotes from interviews with Tori Amos.
  4. ^ Hajari, Nisid: Music Capsule Review: Jawbox, Entertainment Weekly, July 26, 1996.
  5. ^ Amazon.com: A Tribute To Toria Amos - Songs Of A Goddess
  6. ^ Lyrics: Body of Water, MTV.