Cotton Eye Joe

"Cotton Eye Joe" is a song by Swedish Eurodance group Rednex, released in August 1994 as the first single 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 music video for the song, directed by Stefan Berg. It was a number one hit in at least eleven countries, and reached number 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 23 on the Cash Box Top 100 in the US. In 2002, "Cotton Eye Joe" was remixed in a new dance version, and was released on Rednex's first greatest hits album, The Best of the West (2002). 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 into 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 an A key and a minor mode, and a time signature of 4 beats per bar. In the 2002 book, Move Your Body (2 The 90s): Unlimited Eurodance, writer Juha Soininen states 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 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 8 January 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 two in January 1995. In Oceania, it 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 with a gold record in Australia (35,000), the Netherlands (50,000) and the US (500,000).