Cinderella

Album: Big Ideas (2024)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • "Cinderella" isn't a fairytale retelling, but rather a wild ride through the mood swings and transient lifestyle Remi Wolf was experiencing while writing her second album, Big Ideas.

    "Constant travel and rapid changes led me to feel such a roller coaster of emotion," she explained. "Moving from feeling really insecure to feeling really good to feeling manic and depressed and then feeling OK again, while desperately craving a grounding figure to tell me I was doing a good job."
  • There's a sense of self-empowerment too. "This song was me stepping in as my own fairy godmother telling myself that I was in control," Wolf said.
  • The chorus is a darkly humorous twist on the classic fairytale.

    Like Cinderella making babies on the company's dime
    We're making pennies out of paper, better find a new slime


    Who says the put-upon stepsister didn't have a little fun (and maybe make some mischief) after all those chores?
  • Remi Wolf co-wrote and co-produced the song with her regular producer, Solomonophonic. They laid it down at Electric Lady Studios in New York City with the aim of creating a '70s nostalgia sound that still feels like a record made today.
  • After Wolf initially made the song with just herself and Solomonophonic, she brought in some horn players to "round out the sauce," including Leon Michels on saxophone. A producer and multi-instrumentalist, Michels played saxophone in Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings and has also performed with The Black Keys and Norah Jones (he produced her 2024 Vision album).
  • Remi Wolf co-directed the video with Ragan Henderson. Look out for a cameo from Canadian singer-songwriter Mac DeMarco, who plays an ice cream man.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Loudon Wainwright III

Loudon Wainwright IIISongwriter Interviews

"Dead Skunk" became a stinker for Loudon when he felt pressure to make another hit - his latest songs deal with mortality, his son Rufus, and picking up poop.

Chris Tomlin

Chris TomlinSongwriter Interviews

The king of Christian worship music explains talks about writing songs for troubled times.

Leslie West of Mountain

Leslie West of MountainSongwriter Interviews

From the cowbell on "Mississippi Queen" to recording with The Who when they got the wrong Felix, stories from one of rock's master craftsmen.

Director Wes Edwards ("Drunk on a Plane")

Director Wes Edwards ("Drunk on a Plane")Song Writing

Wes Edwards takes us behind the scenes of videos he shot for Jason Aldean, Dierks Bentley and Chase Bryant. The train was real - the airplane was not.

Gavin Rossdale On Lyric Inspirations and Bush's Album The Kingdom

Gavin Rossdale On Lyric Inspirations and Bush's Album The KingdomSongwriter Interviews

The Bush frontman on where he finds inspiration for lyrics, if his "machine head" is a guitar tuner, and the stories behind songs from the album The Kingdom.

Graham Nash

Graham NashSongwriter Interviews

Graham Nash tells the stories behind some of his famous songs and photos, and is asked about "yacht rock" for the first time.