1997 Sultry Hit, Written in 45 Minutes by a 17-Year-Old Artist, Accidentally Became a Feminist Anthem
By the time 1996 rolled around, we as a society were fully immersed in peak "Grrrl Power" culture. Shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer were dominating ratings while bands and artists like Sleater-Kinney, Tracy Chapman, and Sarah McLachlan ruled the airwaves. And there is no denying that Fiona Apple was integral to that time period and the "Third-Wave Feminist" movement.
When her album Tidal debuted, no one was expecting the ferocity or intensity coming from such a young talent. By 1997, a year after the song debuted, "Criminal" spent 20 weeks on the chart, ultimately peaking at No. 21 on the Billboard Hot 100. Even thirty years later, it has endured as a masterpiece.
But what you may not know is that her biggest mainstay contribution, hailed as one of the most prolific modern feminist songs, was whipped up in 45 minutes at the tender age of 17 to appease some record executives. As she was polishing off her debut album, Apple's label, Sony Music, asked her for a "more obvious" first single. In an act of what would be the first of many defiances, Apple penned the iconic song and took it as far as it could go.
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When she shot the music video with Mark Romanek, she explicitly sought a more overt sexual edge to the visuals, explaining that she did it to take back control of the narrative that she had to use her sexuality to get gains in her career. The video shows her in various stages of undress among bare-minimum and half-naked men, which serves as a commentary on using sexuality as a weapon.
In an interview with Rolling Stone in January 1998, Refinery29 reported Apple opened up about her gaunt appearance in the video, explaining she developed an eating disorder following her rape at age 12. "It wasn't about getting thin, it was about getting rid of the bait that was attached to my body," she said.
She also made unapologetic waves with a profanity-laden speech at the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards after winning Best New Artist in a Video for "Sleep to Dream."
"What I want to say is, everybody out there that's watching - everybody that's watching this world - this world is bulls-t," she boldly proclaimed. "You shouldn't model your life about what you think that we think is cool and what we're wearing and what we're saying and everything. Go with yourself. Go with yourself."
And in case you needed to be even more impressed, Vice reports that Apple whipped that haunting song up at just the tender age of 14.
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How It Became a Feminist Anthem
All of these dramatic and, more importantly, evocative moments, combined with the energy surrounding them, turned what feels like a "sexy, sultry" song into a feminist anthem. Throughout Tidal, Far Out Magazinenotes Apple shows off her lyrical prowess enough to really make listeners look beyond the lascivious nature of her words and imagery.
"I'm treating the audience that is watching this video the same way the character in the song treats a man: ‘Look at me, look how pretty I am. I don't have to give you anything else because look how pretty I am. And look how successful I am, look how much power I can get just by letting this light shine on me in a certain way,'" the outlet reports she said.
Though Apple has not chased the same mainstream commercial success later in her career, she has still hit many milestones as an artist, including a 90-word album title that earned her a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records.
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This story was originally published July 13, 2026 at 1:45 PM.