"Uncle Tom's Cabin" is a song by

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

glam metal Glam metal (also known as hair metal or pop metal) is a subgenre of heavy metal that features pop-influenced hooks and guitar riffs, upbeat rock anthems, and slow power ballads. It borrows heavily from the fashion and image of 1970s glam r ...

band Warrant. It was released in April

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

as the third single from Warrant's second album '' Cherry Pie''. The song charted at #78 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and #19 on the

Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart in ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States, a category that combines the formats of active rock and heritage rock. The chart was launched in Ma ...

chart. In Australia, the single peaked at #85 on the

ARIA In music, an aria (Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompanime ...

singles chart in May 1991. A music video was made for the song, and later the song was re-visited by the band in 1999 on their '' Greatest & Latest'' album.

Background

According to frontman

Jani Lane Jani Lane (born John Kennedy Oswald; February 1, 1964 – August 11, 2011) was an American singer and the lead vocalist, frontman, lyricist and main songwriter for the glam metal band Warrant. From Hollywood, California, the band experienced su ...

, the original working title for the song was "I Know a Secret". Prior to the writing of the song "Cherry Pie", the album's title and first single was to have been "Uncle Tom's Cabin", a track which foreshadowed the kind of imaginative song writing which would later be more fully revealed on the '' Dog Eat Dog'' record. Although named after the classic novel by

Harriet Beecher Stowe Harriet Elisabeth Beecher Stowe (; June 14, 1811 – July 1, 1896) was an American author and abolitionist. She came from the religious Beecher family and became best known for her novel ''Uncle Tom's Cabin'' (1852), which depicts the harsh ...

, the song tells the story of a witness to the involvement of local police in a double murder.

Track listing

Charts

References

1990 songs 1991 singles Songs written by Jani Lane Warrant (American band) songs Columbia Records singles Murder ballads {{metal-song-stub