"Bitch" (also known by its censored title "Nothing In Between" and later as "Bitch (Nothing In Between)") is a song by American singer-songwriter

Meredith Brooks Meredith Ann Brooks (born June 12, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist best known for her 1997 hit song "Bitch", for which she was nominated for a Grammy Award. Career Brooks started her music career in 1976 as a member of ...

and co-written with Shelly Peiken. The song was released to American radio in March 1997 as the lead single from Brooks' second album, ''

Blurring the Edges ''Blurring the Edges'' is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter Meredith Brooks. It was released on May 6, 1997, by Capitol Records. Following the release of her self-titled debut album in 1986 and her departure from the short-liv ...

'' (1997), and was issued as a commercial single on May 20, 1997. The song was produced by punk notable

Geza X Geza Gedeon (born September 28, 1952), professionally known as Geza X, is an American producer. He was a personality in the Los Angeles punk scene in the late 1970s. He is now a producer. He was born in Indiana and moved to California when he was a ...

. In the United States, the song steadily rose on the '' Billboard'' Hot 100, eventually peaking at number two for four weeks. The song also peaked at number two in Australia and Canada and reached number six in the United Kingdom. In

Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologi ...

, at the

APRA Music Awards of 1998 The Australasian Performing Right Association Awards of 1998 (generally known as APRA Awards) are a series of awards held in May 1998. The APRA Music Awards were presented by Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and the Australasian ...

, it won the award for Most Performed Foreign Work. The song ranked at number 79 on VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of the '90s", and was nominated for

Best Female Rock Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance was an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to female recording artists for works (songs or albums) conta ...

and

Best Rock Song The Grammy Award for Best Rock Song is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality songs in the rock music genre. Honors in several ...

at the

40th Annual Grammy Awards The 40th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 25, 1998, at Radio City Music Hall, New York City. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. Rock icon Bob Dylan, Alison Krauss & Union Station, and R. Kelly were the ...

Writing and inspiration

"Bitch" was written by Brooks and Shelly Peiken. The song originated from feelings of frustration that Peiken felt in regards to her stalling music career. These feelings of frustration inspired the song's opening lyrics—"I hate the world today"—which resulted in Peiken conceptualizing a song titled "Bitch". Peiken reached out to Brooks to collaborate on the song, commenting: " rookshad a lot of spunk, and I knew she could relate to this idea." Brooks claimed that she was additionally inspired to write the song after reading the writings of psychiatrist

Carl Jung Carl Gustav Jung ( ; ; 26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who founded analytical psychology. Jung's work has been influential in the fields of psychiatry, anthropology, archaeology, literature, phi ...

. The song was written in a single day in a spare bedroom of Peiken's home in

Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles Laurel Canyon is a mountainous neighborhood in the Hollywood Hills region of the Santa Monica Mountains, within the Hollywood Hills West district of Los Angeles, California. The main thoroughfare of Laurel Canyon Boulevard connects the neighbo ...

. In an interview with '' Billboard'', Brooks described the song as being about self-acceptance, referring to the word " bitch" as a

term of endearment A term of endearment is a word or phrase used to address or describe a person, animal or inanimate object for which the speaker feels love or affection. Terms of endearment are used for a variety of reasons, such as parents addressing their ch ...

. Brooks intended to reclaim the word, removing the pejorative connotations surrounding it. She further explained the meaning of the song:

I'm not "an angry young girl" - or whatever the phrase of the moment is - but I'm human. It's not to excuse ranting and raving, but I don't think there's anything wrong with having "a mood". I don't think we all need to keep the mask on all the time.

Capitol Records was initially hesitant to release "Bitch" as the lead single from ''

'' (1997) due to the song's explicit lyrical content. The label's vice president of artists and repertoire, Perry Watts-Russell, and producer

both expressed their concerns about the song's lyrics potentially having a negative impact on its commercial performance. Peiken explained that the record label considered censoring the song, although she and Brooks convinced the label to release the song to

airplay Airplay is how frequently a song is being played through broadcasting on radio stations. A song which is being played several times every day (spins) would have a significant amount of airplay. Music which became very popular on jukeboxes, in n ...

with the lyrics intact. Following the release and subsequent success of the song, Brooks commented that she believed "Bitch" achieved its intended purpose of being a "celebration of Everywoman's multiple psyches."

Composition

According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by

Alfred Publishing Alfred may refer to: Arts and entertainment *'' Alfred J. Kwak'', Dutch-German-Japanese anime television series * ''Alfred'' (Arne opera), a 1740 masque by Thomas Arne * ''Alfred'' (Dvořák), an 1870 opera by Antonín Dvořák *"Alfred (Interl ...

, the song is written in the key of A major and is set in

time signature The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note va ...

of common time with a

tempo In musical terminology, tempo ( Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (ofte ...

of 92

beats per minute Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery ...

. Brooks' vocal range spans two octaves, from E₃ to C₅.

Critical reception

Stephen Thomas Erlewine of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

cited "Bitch" as an " Alanis clone", critiquing the "semi-profane lyrics to the caterwauling chorus". Other music critics similarly compared the song to that of singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette with '' Billboard'', ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...

'', and the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'', all making note of the musical similarities between Morissette's work at the time in comparison with "Bitch".

Record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure. Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

deliberately sought a hit single that sounded like Morissette's songs, yet he was fired soon afterward even when "Bitch" achieved major success, due to conflicts with Brooks' record label. David Fricke from ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' remarked its "the notice-me snap".

Chart performance

In the United States, "Bitch" debuted at number 57 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart for the issue dated April 26, 1997. The song spent a total of 35 weeks on the chart, peaking at number two for the issue dated July 12, 1997.

Music video

The accompanying

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

for "Bitch" was directed by Paul Andressen in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. The video features Brooks on guitar while performing the song on a shimmering floral background. Throughout the course of the song, several objects typically associated with women are shown floating around the singer.

Live performances

The song was performed as part of Brooks' opening set on

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

' Bridges to Babylon Tour. Brooks left the stage early after the audience began

booing Booing is an act of publicly showing displeasure for someone or something, such as an entertainer or an athlete, by loudly yelling "Boo!" and sustaining the "oo" sound by holding it out. People may also make hand signs such as the thumbs down sig ...

and throwing bottles, batteries, and coins at her. In response, Brooks cited the crowd's behavior as

misogynistic Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women. It is a form of sexism that is used to keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the societal roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practiced f ...

and illustrative of the dangers of

mob mentality Herd mentality, mob mentality or pack mentality describes how people can be influenced by their peers to adopt certain behaviors on a largely emotional, rather than rational, basis. When individuals are affected by mob mentality, they may make dif ...

Track listings and formats

* US CD single and cassette # "Bitch" – 4:13 # "Down by the River" – 4:15 * US maxi-CD single # "Bitch" (album version) – 4:13 # "Bitch" (untied) – 3:56 # "Bitch" (Transistor mix) – 4:07 # "Bitch" ( Tee's In-House mix) – 6:13 # "Down by the River" – 4:15 * UK CD and Australian maxi-CD single # "Bitch" (edit) – 3:58 # "Bitch" (Transistor mix) – 4:07 # "Bitch" (Madgroove mix) – 3:45 # "Bitch" (E-Team Funky Bitch edit) – 3:05 * UK 7-inch vinyl # "Bitch" (edit) – 3:58 # "Bitch" (Madgroove mix) – 3:45 * European and French CD single # "Bitch" (edit) – 4:12 # "Bitch" (Transistor mix) – 4:07 * European maxi-CD single # "Bitch" (edit) – 3:58 # "Bitch" (untied version) – 3:56 # "Bitch" (Todd Terry's Inhouse mix) – 6:13 # "Down by the River" – 4:15 * Japanese CD single # "Bitch" – 4:13 # "Down by the River" – 4:14 # "Bitch" (Transistor mix) – 4:07

Credits and personnel

Credits and personnel are adapted from ''Blurring the Edges'' album booklet. Studios * Recorded at City Lab Sound Design (Hollywood, California) * Mixed at

Sunset Sound Factory The Sound Factory (also known as Sunset Sound Factory) is a recording studio in Los Angeles, California. The Sound Factory was built in the 1960s on Selma Avenue in Hollywood. At the time, it served as the home of Moonglow Records and the Moon ...

(Hollywood, California) * Mastered at Gateway Mastering (

Portland, Maine Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropo ...

, US) Personnel * Meredith Brooks – vocals, background vocals, guitars * Paul Bushnell – bass * David Ricketts – keyboards * Josh Freese – drums *

– drum loop programming,

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...

* Jim Ebert – mixing, engineering * Bob Ludwig – mastering

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

Release history

Covers and parodies

In 2000, Australian comedian Chris Franklin released a parody of the song titled "Bloke" with the lyrics changed to reflect the stereotypical Australian male lifestyle. The song peaked at number one on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart. American comedy music group

Raymond and Scum The Background Raymond and Scum is a comedy rock band based in Southern California. Vocalist Jeff Smith and guitarist Matthew Dunn formed the band while they were still in high school. Their songs were regularly played on the syndicated Dr. Demen ...

parodied the song as "Blair Witch", a parody about the film ''

The Blair Witch Project ''The Blair Witch Project'' is a 1999 American supernatural horror film written, directed and edited by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez. It is a fictional story of three student filmmakers—Heather Donahue, Michael C. Williams, and Josh ...

'' (1999).

Kim Gordon Kim Althea Gordon (born April 28, 1953) is an American musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the bassist, guitarist, and vocalist of alternative rock band Sonic Youth. Born in Rochester, New York, she was raised in Los Angeles, Califor ...

of the band Sonic Youth has stated that their song "Female Mechanic Now on Duty" was inspired by "Bitch". "It's worth mentioning," says Kim, "that the song, 'Female Mechanic on Duty' was inspired by 'Bitch' by that famous Lilith-type female singer, Meredith Brooks. It's an answer song." In 2016, Britney Spears gave a spoken word performance of the song during her '' Britney: Piece of Me''

concert residency A concert residency (also known as musical residency or simply residency) is a series of concerts, similar to a concert tour, but only performed at one location. ''Pollstar'' Awards defined residency as a run of 10 or more shows at a single ven ...

References

{{Authority control Meredith Brooks songs 1996 songs 1997 debut singles APRA Award winners Capitol Records singles List songs Song recordings produced by Geza X Songs with feminist themes Songs written by Meredith Brooks Songs written by Shelly Peiken