"Cherry Pie" is a song by the American
glam metal band Warrant. "Cherry Pie" is the
titular track from Warrant's album
Cherry Pie, and both were released
in
1990.
Background
"Cherry Pie," which is arguably Warrant's most well-known song, was
not actually planned to be put on the album.
Joey Allen of Warrant has stated that the album
was originally going to be called "Quality You Can Taste" (Frontman
Jani Lane recalled this differently, stating that the title was
supposed to be "Uncle Tom's Cabin"), but the president of
Columbia Records,
Don
Lenner, wanted a rock anthem, so he called Jani Lane. Lane
wrote "Cherry Pie" in about fifteen minutes. Allen stated that
"...the whole marketing and everything for that record changed. It
was definitely driven by the label and not the band. The song was
written down on a pizza box which is now on display in the Hard
Rock Cafe in Destin, FL, part of the Destin Commons.
Many of the band members feel that "Cherry Pie" is not actually one
of the better songs on the album, and see the song as a double
edged sword: it brought them fame, but many of their other songs
are overshadowed by the major hit. On
VH1's
HEAVY: The Story Of Metal - Episode 3: Looks That Kill,
Lane expressed his regret for writing the song, stating that "I
could shoot myself in the fucking head for writing that song."
However, he later clarified that he had been under personal stress
at the time of the VH1 interview, and had no ill feelings towards
his association with the song.
Lyrics and tune
The lyrics contain many metaphorical and blatant references to
sex: "Well, swingin' on the front porch/Swingin'
on the lawn/Swingin' where we want/'Cause there ain't nobody home",
"Swingin' in there/'cause she wanted me to feed her/So I mixed up
the batter/And she licked the beater", etc.
The lyrics are generally about a man bragging about his sexual
exploits (
swingin') with a woman who is
very attractive and who is the object of desire of many men.
However, at the end of the song, the woman's father finds out about
the pair's relationship: "Swing in the bathroom/Swingin' on the
floor/Swingin' so hard/We forgot to lock the door/In walks her
daddy/Standin' six foot four/He said you ain't gonna swing/With my
daughter no more."
The song title itself may be another blatant reference to sex.
Here, the terms both "Cherry" and "Pie" may be used sexually, as
Cherry is slang to refer to a virgin (as used in the context "pop
one's cherry" or to take their virginity, specifically when
breaking the hymen during sex), and Pie is slang for
vagina.
The tune bears a strong resemblance to both
Def Leppard's hit
Pour Some Sugar on Me and
Joan Jett's hit
I
Love Rock and Roll. Notably, both of these songs have lyrics in
the same vein as "Cherry Pie."
Cultural references
One of the phrases in the song, "Swingin' to the left/And swingin'
to the right/If I think about baseball/I'll swing all night yeah"
is a reference to the practice of delaying orgasm by concentrating
on something other than the act, most typically baseball in
humorous media. The song also plays on the children's song "I
scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream" when the line "I
scream, you scream, we all scream for her/Don't even try 'cause you
can't ignore her" is sung.
Chart success
"Cherry Pie" soon became a
Top Ten hit on the
Billboard Hot 100, reaching number
10. "Cherry Pie" also reached number 19 on the
Mainstream Rock Tracks. The song has
been cited by many as a "
rock anthem".
In 2009, it was named the 56
th best hard rock song of
all time by
VH1.
Despite its success, a daylong MTV special on the best and worst
music videos of all time,
MTV's Triumphs and Tragedies,
listed the song's video as one of the worst.
Video
The video for "Cherry Pie" received heavy airplay on
MTV and other music video stations. It featured the
members of Warrant and a scantily clad woman (model
Bobbie Brown) who is seen dancing throughout
the video.
However, Canadian cable-TV music network,
MuchMusic
refused to air the "Cherry Pie" video on the grounds that it was
"offensively sexist".
Bobbie became involved with Jani Lane soon after the video was
shot, and married him in
1991.
Cultural references
Cultural impact
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