Cornflake Girl

Album: Under The Pink (1994)
Charted: 4
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This song is based on a book by Alice Walker called Possessing The Secret Of Joy, which details the practice of female genital mutilation in areas of Africa. In an interview with NME Classic Songs, Tori recalled discussing the issue with a friend:

    "We were talking about the fact that the women are betrayed, by a grandmother, a mother, or an older sister - that the women you trust the most are taking you into this butchery. And we had a term for those people, those girls that would turn on you, that wouldn't be there for you, that would maybe expose something you trusted them with, and really let you down - a complete wreckage. So those girls were called Cornflake Girls."
  • The cereal bowl is used as a metaphor for divisions among women. The "Cornflake Girls" are close-minded while the "Raisin Girls" are open to new ideas.
  • Before she became famous, Tori appeared in a commercial for Kellogg's "Just Right" cereal, beating out Sarah Jessica Parker, who was also unknown at the time, for the part. Tori played piano in the ad. Kellogg's also makes Corn Flakes.
  • Tori's record company released a series of Corn Flakes boxes with her picture on them to promote this song to record companies. They are now collector's items. >>
    Suggestion credit:
    Maria - Toronto, Canada
  • Who's the Rabbit in the song? Tori told NME: "Rabbit is someone that I knew, a fantastic, magical creature that would live in the woods, that would work maybe six months of the year with her partner, who was Fox; they were Rabbit and Fox. They would live in the woods of Oregon - I'm talking about the great woods, not just a park - and they would live out in the wilds. So Rabbit living in the wilds with Fox, I thought that was romantic."
  • Two music videos were made. Andy Delaney and Monty Whitebloom, known as Big TV!, directed the UK version, which is a twisted take on the Wizard of Oz. Tori directed the US version herself, along with Nancy Bennett, which follows the singer tooling around the desert with a truckload of girls.
  • Tori fought hard for the whistling that comes in over her piano at the beginning of the song. Everyone else - including her then-boyfriend/producer Eric Rosse - was in favor of a mandolin line that guitarist Steve Caton came up with. "Everybody really liked that," she told The Baltimore Sun in 1994. "And even in the mix studio, I was screaming at the top of my lungs that it had to be a whistle. I want the cowboys coming over the hill. Eric was laughing his head off, and the mixer, Kevin Killen, said to me, 'This whistle is naff, Tori.' And I said, 'Well, guess what, Kevin. When you make your own song, you can put your own mandolin on it. This is a whistle. F--king put it in. Put the sample in.' So I got my whistle, and I'm happy as a clam to this day."
  • While most of the album was written and recorded in New Mexico, this track evolved out of a piano riff Tori came up with while living across from a reggae hangout in London. On an unseasonably warm day, she heard a faraway groove coming through her open window and started jamming to it. "Within pretty much a day's time I had a piano riff for what would become 'Cornflake Girl,'" she explained in the liner notes to her 2006 compilation, A Piano. "I was just playing along, and then, when the music stopped, I found myself still playing that riff."

    But the song was far from being complete. It needed help from other musicians, and even an entirely different climate, to bring it to fruition. She recalled: "About a year later, when I took the song into the studio for recording, other musicians came on and the original bass riff started to become something else. The legendary George Porter, Jr., brought his own variation of New Orleans voodoo, having been an instrumental part of The Meters. Eric had developed a loop that he said he was inspired to create after hearing me play my original riff for hours and hours. It's an interesting progression to note that 'Cornflake Girl' was inspired by a groove-loop kind of percussive rhythm. Then I wrote the piano part, and to the piano part yet another percussive part was written. Then to that new and improved loop Paulinho Da Costa came and layered the track with even yet another syncopated, percussive part that included big sleigh bells and all kinds of things.

    So despite 'Cornflake''s initial quick and spontaneous creation, all the mini sections and compositional details took over a year to resolve. Sometimes you get a real burst of inspiration, and then all you have is a riff. You don't really have a completed thought. It took me going very far away from where it had started to really finish it. Taking it from the city of London to the desert of New Mexico so that it could find its own character."
  • The success of the single helped propel Under The Pink, Amos' sophomore solo album, to the top of the UK albums chart. The American singer began courting listeners across the pond with her previous release, Little Earthquakes. Atlantic Records rightfully predicted she'd make a better showing in the UK, where there was a greater appreciation for eccentric artists. Under The Pink, however, brought her a bit more notoriety in the US, where it peaked at #12.
  • This was used on the TV series Legion in the 2018 episode "Chapter 19."

Comments: 20

  • Danielle from NetherlandsThe song is now used as closure in the 10th and cliffhanger end of the series 'My life with the Walter Boys' on Netflix (Europe).
  • Mountainkid from Humboldt & Trinity County, Northern CaAs mentioned in the previous comment by by the user Sharec13, this song was placed at the end of episode 1 season 2 of “Jellowjackets”. Additionally the song “Bells for her”, another ballad coming from the same album with reference to females betraying females, was used as the ending song for the second episode. It’s highly speculated that the third song that shares the same dark and visceral concept of female brutality inflicted upon other women “The Waitress” will be used in the upcoming third episode as it’s one of only three songs on that album that share some leant meaning to the beginning of this season of “Yellowjackets “
  • Sharec13 from San DiegoCornflakes Girl was also used at the end of Yellowjackets on Showtime. Season 2, episode 1.
  • Whatever from Same"rabbit" was never any of her business, and neither is anyone else.
  • Anybody from Nearhas anyone ever put a restraining order on her, or did she utterly destroy them before that was possible?!
  • Ears With Feet from On The RoadTori does not sound, or make music like, Kate Bush. Period. No comparison. You can be devotees of both, but they are totally different. :D
  • Steve from Next DoorIt's worth noting that the lyric 'cornflake girl' was used in a billy bragg song a few years BEFORE the tori single was release
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornflake_Girl#Cover_versions
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x89xVTIe3CQ
  • Theresa from Murfreesboro, TnCool song - the video is hilarious!
  • Ra from Asheville, NcSarah, Shannon, Sara: You're all correct.

    John Harvey Kellogg's ideas were informed by Graham's writings. Cornflakes were a (somewhat accidental) product of his experiments with grain diets, which were supposed to 'reduce passions'. Will Keith Kellogg then marketed them, and his brother John was very unhappy with that (even suing him unsuccessfully to prevent him using the Kellogg name!)
  • Sarah from Nashville, TnIn response to Sarah, Sunny...you may be confusing the food that was created to stop the urge to masturbate with cornflakes. It was, in fact, the graham cracker. Created by Rev. Sylvester Graham in 1822 as part of the "graham diet" which was initiated to supress unholy urges. (I think it's odd that graham crackers are a major snack given to children)...
  • Sadie from Dallas, TxTori's best friend "beenie" does back-up vocals on this track.
  • Cindy from Portland, OrI'm surprised no one has commented on the imagery of rape. Tori is a rape survivor; I've always assumed she's referring to it when she sings about "the man with the golden gun" and how "This is not really happening...You bet your life it is."
  • Bob from Manchester, EnglandObviously you have not listened to the two or you are serious Kate Bush fans (who seem to take exception to Tori's, quite innocent "Who is Kate Bush?" comment.). Like chalk and cheese. Kate is excellent as is Tori BUT they are not the same.
  • Tango Fistula from Gila Bend, Aztwo words. KATE BUSH. 2 more words. VERY PRECIOUS.
    id make out with her but thats about it.
  • Pete from Nowra, Australiadefinitely a Kate Bush soundalike......
  • Josef from Corpus Christi, TxD.C. based group Jawbox covered this song on their self titled Album and last live tour. I like it better than the Amos version since I love their arrangement of the song as well as the guitar work.
    Another good point is Bassist Kim Colletta singing in the backgroud. Great Song!! A must listen to version of the original!!
  • Shannon from Westland, MiIt was not the entrepreneur, Will Keith Kellogg, but his prudish brother, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, who ran a sanitarium (which is quite ironic) that invented Cornflakes; "These were an unsweetened addition to the diets of Dr. Kellogg's patients, who suffered from a variety of ailments, which Dr. Kellogg believed could be cured by a strict vegetarian diet, vigorous exercise, sexual abstinence, and regular enemas." Will essentially stole John?s work and founded his business in Battlecreek Michigan creating the sugar-laden cereal industry that Tori Amos made a commercial for eighty-odd-years later.
  • Geri from Nova Scotia, CanadaThis song speaks for every girl that was ever "unpopular" in high school and instead of letting it defeat you, turn it into your strength. You go girl...
  • Sara from Sunny, CaI don't know how accurate this is, but somewhere along the line, I heard that in the early 20th century, a prudish entrepreneur sought to create a food so wholesome that it would sqwelch the urge to masturbate. The result? Cornflakes. Hence, Tori never was a Cornflake girl, and she thought that was a good solution. I for one, agree.
  • Nick from Arlington Heights, IlIn the late 80's Amos was in a hair metal band called "Y Kant Tori Read?" that included future Guns n Roses drummer Matt Sorum
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Second Wind Songs

Second Wind SongsSong Writing

Some songs get a second life when they find a new audience through a movie, commercial, TV show, or even the Internet.

Tom Keifer of Cinderella

Tom Keifer of CinderellaSongwriter Interviews

Tom talks about the evolution of Cinderella's songs through their first three albums, and how he writes as a solo artist.

Spooner Oldham

Spooner OldhamSongwriter Interviews

His keyboard work helped define the Muscle Shoals sound and make him an integral part of many Neil Young recordings. Spooner is also an accomplished songwriter, whose hits include "I'm Your Puppet" and "Cry Like A Baby."

Dave Pirner of Soul Asylum

Dave Pirner of Soul AsylumSongwriter Interviews

Dave explains how the video appropriated the meaning of "Runaway Train," and what he thought of getting parodied by Weird Al.

Chris Tomlin

Chris TomlinSongwriter Interviews

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

Billy Steinberg - "Like A Virgin"

Billy Steinberg - "Like A Virgin"They're Playing My Song

The first of Billy's five #1 hits was the song that propelled Madonna to stardom. You'd think that would get you a backstage pass, wouldn't you?