This month on Twitter, @sotachetan hosts #BrandedInSongs – which is a head-on collision of my personal world of music and my professional world of branding and advertising. The challenge is to simply pick a song with a brand name in its lyrics or title. I added one more criteria to my picks, which is this: the songs themselves must be as iconic as the brands they mention. No filler here.
Music charts are very revealing – not just about certain bands, songs or genres. They’re also very telling about different countries. One of the biggest differences in chart positions for several decades now exists between the UK and the US. When I see a song chart really high in the UK, but barely make moves on the US charts, I have often have just one conclusion: there are just more true music fans in the UK by far. “Cornflake Girl”, an incredible song, was a big hit there, but it was relegated to a bit of a cult status in the U.S.
Now, “Cornflake Girl” is one of Tori Amos’ most well-known songs and one of the tracks she plays most in a live setting. So it’s not obscure by any means. But here in the States, it should’ve been much bigger. The song has all the makings of an epic composition. It’s a reminder that Tori, on her best days, could go toe to toe with Kate Bush. The vocals are sublime. And the composition is as ambitious as pop gets. You bet your life it is.
“Never was a cornflake girl. Thought it was a good solution Hanging with the raisin girls. She's gone to the other side.”