"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[5] 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.
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.[24] 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 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.
The song is played back in the viral video "Evolution of dance".
The accompanying 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.[25] 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 later published on Rednex' official YouTube channel in August 2013. It has amassed more than 147.7 million views as of July 2021.[26]