"Cotton Eye Joe" is a song by Swedish Eurodance group Rednex from their debut studio albumSex & Violins. Based on the traditional American folk song "Cotton-Eyed Joe", it combines the group's style with traditional American instruments such as banjos and fiddles. The vocal verses are performed by Annika Ljungberg, while the "Cotton Eye Joe" chorus is sung by Göran Danielsson, who never appears in the video. In 2002, "Cotton Eye Joe" was remixed in a dance version, and was released from Rednex's greatest hits album, The Best of the West.
Chart performances
The Rednex version of the song, along with a dance-mix version, was very successful in Europe, where it remained at number one in Norway for 15 weeks, Switzerland for 13 weeks, Germany for 10 weeks, Sweden for 8 weeks, Austria for 7 weeks, and for 3 weeks on the UK Singles Chart. In Ireland, it peaked at number 2 in January 1995. In Oceania, it topped the New Zealand Singles Chart for 6 consecutive weeks. In Australia it peaked at number 8 in April 1995. In the US, it peaked at number 25 in March 1995.
Critical reception
Bill Lamb from About.com commented, "What happens when you combine folk, techno, and bluegrass music? It goes something like this hit". Larry Flick from Billboard described it as "country hoedown fiddling sewn into a raucous pop/rave dance beat". He noted that it had "cheeky rap poking stereotypical fun at Southerners". J.D. Considine from The Daily Gazette said it is "the piece de resistance, a track so infernally catchy that you almost don't notice how screamingly funny it is." Tom Ewing from Freaky Trigger said that "Cotton Eye Joe” work "on that basic, energetic, ass-moving level". He added that "the hollering diva interludes actually change things up a little, though that decades-old hook is solid enough to stand on its own." Dave Sholin from the Gavin Report wrote that "this group from Sweden puts a techno spin on a square dance staple" and stated that its "fresh, unique approach makes 'Cotton Eye Joe' so hot." Knoxville News Sentinel described the song as "techno-hoedown" in their review of Sex & Violins. Music & Media commented that "it takes three to set a trend: the Grid's "Swamp Thing", the Two Cowboys's "Everybody's Gon Figon" and Bravado's "Harmonica Man". Rednex are the next modern barn dance act." John Kilgo from The Network Forty called it a "outright winner", adding that "this novelty track is not only catchy and fun, but uptempo as well."
Music video
The music video for "Cotton Eye Joe" was directed by Swedish director Stefan Berg. The video won the prize for the best Swedish dance video at the 1995 Swedish Dance Music Awards. It featured the band performing in a barn during a hoedown where the guests did activities such as dancing, playing and splashing in old wild west baths, and riding a mechanical bull. Several signs can be seen in the barn, with inscriptions like "Horses outside", "No bath!" and "No sex allowed". The video ends with a short fast motion clip of a girl riding the mechanical bull.
Impact and legacy
placed "Cotton Eye Joe" at #51 in their list ofThe 100 Biggest 90's Dance Anthems Of All Time in November 2011. BuzzFeed listed the song at number 97 in their list of The 101 Greatest Dance Songs Of the '90s in 2017. Paste Magazine ranked the song number 17 in The 60 Best Dancefloor Classics list in 2017. ThoughtCo listed the song at number 92 in their list of The Top 100Best Party Songs of All Time in 2018. 2001 BDO World Champion John Walton uses this as his walk-on music. "Cotton Eye Joe" is frequently played for a segment called "Coin Quest" in the Adult Swimtelevision seriesFishCenter Live.
