"Jackie's Strength" is a song by

Tori Amos Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos; August 22, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She is a classically trained musician with a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Having already begun composing instrumental pieces on piano, Amos won a full ...

, released as the second single from her 1998 album ''

From the Choirgirl Hotel ''From the Choirgirl Hotel'' is the fourth studio album by American singer and songwriter Tori Amos, released on May 5, 1998. A departure from her previous albums, it was more a heavily produced project featuring elements of electronic music and ...

''. It reached #54 on the U.S. Hot 100 chart. The

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

single, released the following year, reached number one on the

Hot Dance Club Play Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as t ...

chart in the U.S. The lyrics refer to

Jackie Onassis Jackie or Jacky may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackie (given name), a list of people and fictional characters named Jackie or Jacky ** Jackie, current ring name of female professional wrestler Jacqueline Moore ** Jackie Lee (I ...

, there is also a brief reference to the

Kennedy assassination John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 un ...

("Shots rang out, the police came"), though Amos herself explained that the song also concerns her own personal doubts about marriage.Quotes from interviews with Tori Amos
Amos reiterated this in an interview with columnist Steven Daly in ''

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

'' (Issue #789; June 25, 1998).

Background

"Jackie's Strength" is really... I was asked to get married, right? And I was quite nervous because I never thought I'd get married before. It just wasn't something that I was gonna do. Even though I believe in monogamy, just having the church and state condone my union wasn't important to me. And in fact, I really didn't want that. So, when he asked me, it brought up, obviously, a lot of things. And I started going back in my little movie in my head, different moments of my life. And I remember my mother telling me that the day Kennedy died, John F. Kennedy, that she put me down, she had to lay me down because her heart started to slow down and she couldn't breathe. And um, all she thought of was Jackie and the strength that it would take Jackie to lead the nation.. which she did. And I really knew that I was gonna need some kind of strength because I'm made up of like two personalities. There's one side of me that could very easily have ended up at the 7-Eleven sitting outside drinking a Slurpee in my wedding dress and just missing the whole thing. And then there's the other one that did make it to the church. So, this song is about the one that drank the Slurpee. She's still out there somewhere.

Music video

The music video, which is in

black and white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

, portrays Amos as a bride on her wedding day. She travels in a taxi cab, hiding from her wedding party as the taxi passes by the church where she is to be married. The video includes imagery of realistic situations such as

teen pregnancy Teenage pregnancy, also known as adolescent pregnancy, is pregnancy in a female adolescent or young adult under the age of 20. This includes those who are Legal adult, legally considered adults in their country. The WHO defines adolescence as the ...

pre-marital sex Premarital sex is sexual activity which is practiced by people before they are married. Premarital sex is considered a sin by a number of religions and also considered a moral issue which is taboo in many cultures. Since the Sexual Revolution ...

, interracial relationships and use of medication by elderly persons. It was directed by James Brown.

Track listing

US Enhanced CD single

Includes videos of "Jackie's Strength" and "Raspberry Swirl" # "Jackie's Strength" - 4:17 # "Never Seen Blue" - 3:41 # "Beulah Land" - 2:56

US CD remix single

# "Jackie's Strength (Wedding Cake Edit)" - 4:03 # "Father Lucifer (Sylkscreen Remix)" - 4:30 # "Jackie's Strength (Wedding Cake Club Mix)" - 8:40 # "Jackie's Strength (One Rascal Dub #1)" - 6:24 # "Father Lucifer (Sylkscreen Remix Instrumental)" - 4:26 # "Jackie's Strength (Wedding Cake Meltdown Mix)" - 8:19 # "Jackie's Strength (One Rascal Dub #2)" - 5:02 # "Jackie's Strength (Bonus Beats)" - 2:41

Charts

Year-end charts

Reception

More than 10,000 units of the single have been sold as of October 3, 1998. It also peaked at number 33 in Billboard Hot 100 Singles Sales.