# Cotton Eye Joe (Rednex song)

"Cotton Eye Joe" is a song by the Swedish Eurodance group Rednex, released in August 1994 by Jive and Zomba as the lead single from their debut studio album, Sex & Violins (1995). Based on the traditional American folk song "Cotton-Eyed Joe", it blends the group's Eurodance style with traditional American instruments like the banjo and fiddle. The song was written by Janne Ericsson, Örjan "Öban" Öberg, and Pat Reiniz, and produced by Reiniz. The vocal verses are performed by Annika Ljungberg, while the "Cotton Eye Joe" chorus is sung by Göran Danielsson, who does not appear in the music video, which was directed by Stefan Berg. The song became a number one hit in at least eleven countries and reached numbers 25 and 23 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and Cash Box Top 100 charts, respectively. In 2002, "Cotton Eye Joe" was remixed into a new dance version and included on Rednex's first greatest hits album, The Best of the West (2002).

## Composition

"Cotton Eye Joe" is based on the traditional country folk song "Cotton-Eyed Joe" and begins with the chorus sung by the male vocalist. Nearly a minute into the track, the female vocalist delivers the first of two verses. The song has a runtime of 3 minutes and 14 seconds, a tempo of 132 BPM, and a time signature of 4/4. It is written in the key of A minor. In the 2002 book, Move Your Body (2 The 90s): Unlimited Eurodance, writer Juha Soininen wrote that the song "broke the euro mould by letting a man sing the refrain while a woman sang the middle part."

## Chart performance

The Rednex version of the song (using "Eye" instead of "Eyed"), along with a dance-mix version, was highly successful in Europe. It held the number one position for 15 weeks in Norway, 13 weeks in Switzerland, 10 weeks in Germany, 8 weeks in Sweden, 7 weeks in Austria, and 3 weeks on the UK Singles Chart. In the UK, the single reached the top spot in its fifth week on the chart, on 8 January 1995. 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 two in January 1995.
In Oceania, the song topped the New Zealand Singles Chart for 6 consecutive weeks. In Australia, it peaked at number eight in April 1995. In the US, it peaked in April/May 1995 at number 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 23 on the Cash Box Top 100.
"Cotton Eye Joe" was awarded a gold record in Australia (35,000 copies), the Netherlands (50,000 copies), and the US (500,000 copies). It also received a platinum record in Austria (50,000 copies), New Zealand (10,000 copies), Sweden (50,000 copies), Switzerland (50,000 copies), and the UK (650,000 copies), and a 2× platinum record in Germany (1 million copies) and Norway.

## Critical reception

Johnny Loftus from AllMusic named "Cotton Eye Joe" 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 of 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 noted 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." A reviewer from Knoxville News Sentinel described it as "techno-hoedown". In his weekly UK chart commentary, James Masterton deemed it "a massive party smash no matter where you are".
Howard Cohen from The Miami Herald wrote that "every decade has its novelty song", adding that "it deserves credit for its gumption, at least." Pan-European magazine Music & Media said "it takes three to set a trend: the Grid's "Swamp Thing", the Two Cowboys' "Everybody Gonfi-Gon" and Bravado's 'Harmonica Man'. Rednex are the next modern barn dance act." A reviewer from Music Week gave it five out of five, 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." 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." Stuart Bailie from NME wrote, "A fantastic western dance (and if you haven't thrown shapes to this at The Broken Spoke in Austin, well, you've missed out, mate) is given the full-on techno treatment, like that cowboy outfit The Grid have done already this year. Maybe another novelty turn, but fun with it." Neil Spencer from The Observer viewed it as "an initially amusing joke". James Hamilton from the Record Mirror Dance Update declared it a "happily galloping Swedish disco hoedown with square dance caller, fiddle and banjo". Chuck Campbell from Scripps Howard News Service felt 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."

## Music video

The accompanying music video for "Cotton Eye Joe" was directed by Swedish director Stefan Berg. It won the prize for the best Swedish dance video at the 1995 Swedish Dance Music Awards. The video features 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. Göran Danielsson, who sings the "Cotton Eye Joe" chorus, never appears in the video. It received heavy rotation on MTV Europe and was A-listed on Germany's VIVA. In the US, the video generated massive reaction on its first week on The Box. "Cotton Eye Joe" was later made available on Rednex's official YouTube channel in 2013.

## Impact and legacy

MTV Dance ranked "Cotton Eye Joe" number 51 in their list of "The 100 Biggest 90's Dance Anthems of All Time" in November 2011. BuzzFeed ranked it 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 ranked it number 92 in their list of "The Top 100 Best Party Songs of All Time" in 2018, adding, "What happens when you combine folk, techno, and bluegrass music? It goes something like this hit". Billboard magazine ranked "Cotton Eye Joe" number 49 in their list of "The 100 Greatest Jock Jams of All Time" in February 2024, writing, "A dangerously stomping Eurocountry reinvention of a 150-plus-year-old folk song, and one of the most demented crossover hits of the ’90s."
2001 BDO World Champion John Walton uses this as his walk-on music. "Cotton Eye Joe" was 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. In 2021, the Ontario Hockey League team the Guelph Storm stopped using the song during games after consultation with local groups alleging the song has racist origins. The song is played in the viral video "Evolution of Dance".
In 2013, "Cotton Eye Joe" played a big part in the plot of the New Girl episode "Elaine's Big Day".
On August 12, 2023, "Cotton Eye Joe" interrupted a tiebreaker during a Canadian Open match between Iga Świątek and Jessica Pegula. The point was replayed. The song could later be heard playing over the loudspeakers after Pegula went on to defeat Świątek in three sets.
In August 2024, fans of the Disney Channel cartoon Gravity Falls discovered that inputting the name of the character Fiddleford Hadron McGucket into a website created by series creator Alex Hirsch as a tie in for a recent book related to the series, it would redirect to the "Cotton Eye Joe" video on YouTube. Rednex themselves later congratulated fans who had discovered it and shared a video related to it.

## Track listings

* Original CD
* "Cotton Eye Joe" (original single version) – 3:14
* "Cotton Eye Joe" (Madcow Mix) – 4:46
* "Cotton Eye Joe" (Madcow Instrumental) – 4:46
* "Cotton Eye Joe" (Overworked Mix) – 6:20
* "Cotton Eye Joe" (Original Instrumental) – 3:08
* 2002 CD
* "Cotton Eye Joe 2002" – 3:33
* "Cotton Eye Joe 2002" (Dance Nation Remix) – 7:32
* "Cotton Eye Joe 2002" (Aquagen Remix) – 7:45
* "Ride the Hurricane's Eye" (Winnetoons version) – 3:02
* "Cotton Eye Joe 2002" (extended version) – 5:56

## Sales and certifications

| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
| Australia (ARIA) | Gold | 35,000$^^$ |
| Austria (IFPI Austria) | Platinum | 50,000$^*$ |
| Denmark (IFPI Danmark) | Platinum | 90,000$^‡$ |
| Germany (BVMI) | 2× Platinum | 1,000,000$^^$ |
| Italy (FIMI) | Gold | 50,000$^‡$ |
| Netherlands (NVPI) | Gold | 50,000$^^$ |
| New Zealand (RMNZ) | Platinum | 10,000$^*$ |
| Norway (IFPI Norway) | 2× Platinum | |
| Sweden (GLF) | Platinum | 50,000$^^$ |
| Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland) | Platinum | 50,000$^^$ |
| United Kingdom (BPI) | 2× Platinum | 1,200,000$^‡$ |
| United States (RIAA) | Gold | 500,000$^^$ |
| $^*$ Sales figures based on certification alone. $^^$ Shipments figures based on certification alone. $^‡$ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |||