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Criminal (Fiona Apple song)
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Wikipedia article
{{Infobox song
| name = Criminal
| cover = CriminalCover.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Fiona Apple
| album = Tidal
| B-side = "Sleep to Dream" (live)
| released = July 1997
| recorded = 1996
| studio = Ocean Way Recording (Los Angeles, California)
| genre =
| length = 5:42
| label =
| writer = Fiona Apple
| producer = Andrew Slater
| prev_title = Sleep to Dream
| prev_year = 1997
| next_title = Never Is a Promise
| next_year = 1997
| misc =
}}
"'Criminal'" is a song by American recording artist Fiona Apple, released in July 1997 as the third single from her debut studio album, 'Tidal'. Apple has stated that the song is about "feeling bad for getting something so easily by using your sexuality".[https://web.archive.org/web/20090306105716/http://www.blender.com/guide/articles.aspx?ID=1771 "The 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born: 51-100"]. 'Blender'. October 2005. Retrieved June 29, 2007. Apple's highest-charting single, it peaked at number 21 on the 'Billboard' Hot 100 (her only entry to date), as well as number four on the 'Billboard' Modern Rock Tracks.
The song won the Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance at the 40th Grammy Awards and was nominated for Best Rock Song. "Criminal" was listed at No. 55 on VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of the '90s", and No. 71 on 'Blender' magazine's 2005 list of "The 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born".
Music video
The song's music video was directed by Mark Romanek in May 1997 with cinematography by Harris Savides. It was released a month later in June 1997. Visual enhancements including the retroreflector in Fiona's eyes and additional lighting vignettes were created by visualist Ash Beck. The video features Apple sulking in various states of undress, and 'The New Yorker' described her as "looking like an underfed Calvin Klein model",Frere-Jones, Sasha. [http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2005/10/10/051010crmu_music "Extraordinary Measures"]. 'The New Yorker'. October 10, 2005. Retrieved June 18, 2007. known as the "heroin chic" look. It explores themes of voyeurism and adolescence.Zeltner, Mark. [http://www.imagesjournal.com/issue05/features/fiona.htm "Fiona Apple's 'Criminal' and Video Voyeurism for the '90s"]. 'Images', issue 5. Retrieved June 28, 2007. In 1998, the video won an MTV Video Music Award for Best Cinematography.
The video was featured in the 1997 MTV special "Beavis and Butt-Head Do Thanksgiving". Up until 'Beavis and Butt-Head's revival in 2011, it was the last to be critiqued by the duo, along with Marilyn Manson's "Long Hard Road Out of Hell" video, which was also featured in the special.
Track listings
* 'US CD, 7-inch, and cassette single'
# "Criminal" 5:41
# "Sleep to Dream" (live) 4:35
* 'European CD single'
# "Criminal" (album version)
# "Slow Like Honey" (live version)
* 'Australian CD single'
# "Criminal" (radio edit)
# "Slow Like Honey" (live)
# "The Child Is Gone" (live)
# "Never Is a Promise" (live)
Charts
Certifications and sales
Cover versions
Singer Natalie Cole covered the song for her twentieth studio album 'Leavin' (2006). Len Righi of 'The Morning Call' wrote that she was surprised at Cole's ability to transform the "agonizing, brazen lament" into "a funky, Tina Turner-type, rump-shaker".
Legacy
The music video for "Criminal" was the main inspiration for It Was Romance frontperson Lane Moore's music video to her song "Hooking Up with Girls", with many visuals as well as costumes inspired by the video.[http://www.nylon.com/articles/it-was-romance-hooking-up-with-girls-remake-fiona-apple-criminal It Was Romance's New Video Is A Remake Of Fiona Apple's "Criminal" A 90s dream come true][http://observer.com/2016/09/the-lesbian-homage-to-fiona-apples-criminal-is-exactly-what-you-need-right-now/ This Lesbian Homage to Fiona Apples Criminal Is Exactly What You Need Right Now]
It was ranked at No. 423 on Rolling Stone's "Top 500 Best Songs of All Time" in 2021.
References
Category:1997 singles
Category:1997 songs
Category:American alternative rock songs
Category:Columbia Records singles
Category:Fiona Apple songs
Category:Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance
Category:Music videos directed by Mark Romanek
Category:Songs written by Fiona Apple
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