Cotton Eye Joe (Rednex song)

"Cotton Eye Joe" is a song by Swedish Eurodance group Rednex from their debut studio album "Sex & Violins" (1995). 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".
Composition.
"Cotton Eye Joe" is based on the old traditional country folk song "Cotton Eyed Joe" and opens with the chorus sung by the male singer. Almost a minute in the song, the female singer performs the first of two vocal verses. It has a tempo of 132 BPM and runs 3 minutes and 14 seconds long with a A key and a minor mode. The song has high energy and is very danceable with a time signature of 4 beats per bar. In the 2002 book, "Move Your Body (2 The 90s): Unlimited Eurodance", writer Juha Soininen noted that it "broke the euro mould by letting a man sing the refrain while a woman sang the middle part." 
Critical reception.
Bill Lamb from About.com said, "What happens when you combine folk, techno, and bluegrass music? It goes something like this hit". Johnny Loftus from AllMusic deemed it a "backwater Euro-dance novelty". Larry Flick from "Billboard" described it as "country hoedown fiddling sewn into a raucous pop/rave dance beat", noting that the song has "cheeky rap poking stereotypical fun at Southerners". J.D. Considine from "The Daily Gazette" called it "the piece de resistance, a track so infernally catchy that you almost don't notice how screamingly funny it is." Jim Farber from "Daily News" complimented the band for managing "to crack the pop singles chart at a time when even country stars who sell millions of albums can't make hay on the pop song list." David Browne from "Entertainment Weekly" commented, "For sheer audaciousness, it’s not surprising that the record is garnering such attention. Where else can you hear a barn-dance staple gone techno, complete with dance-diva wailing and manic banjos and fiddles?" Tom Ewing from Freaky Trigger said that "Cotton Eye Joe” work "on that basic, energetic, ass-moving level", adding 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", stating that its "fresh, unique approach makes 'Cotton Eye Joe' so hot." "Knoxville News Sentinel" described it as "techno-hoedown". Howard Cohen from "The Miami Herald" wrote that "every decade has its novelty song", adding that "it deserves credit for its gumption, at least." "Music & Media" said "it takes three to set a trend: the Grid's "Swamp Thing", the Two Cowboys's "Everybody Gonfi-Gon" and Bravado's "Harmonica Man". Rednex are the next modern barn dance act." "Music Week" gave it 5 out of 5, describing it as "Europop meets country in an irritatingly catchy tune", that is "guaranteed to pack the dance floors at party time and a cast iron cert of a hit." James Hamilton from the magazine's "RM" Dance Update declared it a "happily galloping Swedish disco hoedown with square dance caller, fiddle and banjo". John Kilgo from "The Network Forty" complimented "Cotton Eye Joe" as a "outright winner", stating that "this novelty track is not only catchy and fun, but uptempo as well." Chuck Campbell from "Scripps Howard News Service" said it "has the same novelty appeal" as "I'm Too Sexy", "but in addition to the aggressive dance rhythm and offbeat vocals, the Rednex song also features an impossibly high-voiced woman and manic fiddle and banjo."
Chart performance.
The Rednex version of the song (using "Eye" instead of "Eyed"), 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 the latter, the single reached the top spot in its fifth week on the chart, on January 8, 1995. Additionally, it also peaked at number-one in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands and Scotland, as well as on the Eurochart Hot 100. 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 May 1995. "Cotton Eye Joe" was awarded with a gold record in Australia, the Netherlands and the US. It also received a platinum record in Austria, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK, and a 2× platinum record in Germany and Norway.
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. It was uploaded to YouTube in August 2013. As of September 2020, the video has more than 117.8 million views.
Impact and legacy.
MTV Dance placed "Cotton Eye Joe" at #51 in their list of "The 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 100 Best 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 Swim television series "FishCenter Live".
Jimmy Fallon sang a soft rock-style version of this song on his eponymous late-night talk show as part of the "Musical Genre Challenge".