Cornflake Girl

Cornflake Girl Never was a cornflake girl thought that was a good solution hangin with the raisin girls she's gone to the other side givin us a yo heave ho things are getting kind of gross and I go at sleepy time this is not really happening you bet your life it is Peel out the watchword just peel out the watchword She knows what's going on seems we got a cheaper feel now all the sweeteaze are gone gone to the other side with my encyclopedia they musta paid her a nice price she's puttin on her string bean love this is not really happening you bet your life it is Rabbit where'd you put the keys girl and the man with the golden gun thinks he knows so much thinks he knows so much Rabbit where'd you put the keys girl

"This song, I read Possessing the Secret of Joy Alice Walker, and the way that the mothers sold the daughters to the butchers to have their genetalia removed, people are listening to this going 'Oh my God can't she have a twinkie and get over it?' Well this stuff isn't, it's not negative to me or sad. It's a very safe to be able to talk about this stuff and also have a laugh, and we have a laugh during the record, there are moments of, maybe it's a sick little laugh, but you know it's a laugh nonetheless, and it's very freeing. Again, it's betrayal of women with women. I mean guys can be pretty brutal, we all can be to each other, but women towards women is a pretty ugly thing, and it's done mostly in secret. So Cornflake is just the shock of 'She's gone to the other side, this is getting kind of gross, and I go at sleepy time. This is not really happening, you bet your life it is..." (from the WHFS Tea with the Waitress interview)

I never really gave Cornflake Girl a second thought. It just seemed like a light-hearted song to me. Then I read the book that inspired it. The book itself is extremely intense. I read it in two days and parts of it brought me to tears. Walker did an excellent job with the narration. I love her style. The way she titled each chapter and the varying viewpoints weaved throughout the novel are brilliant. I can't wait to read more from her.

"A New York Times bestseller, this is the story of Tashi Johnson, a tribal African woman now living in North America. As a young woman, a misguided loyalty to the customs of her people led her to submit to the tribal initiation rite of passage. Severely traumatized, she spends the rest of her life trying to reconcile her African heritage with her experience as a modern woman in America." (from BarnesandNoble.com)

After reading the book, the song takes on a completely different feel. It doesn't seem like a light-hearted song anymore. It wasn't until I read the book that actually understood the depth of the song.