Bitch (Meredith Brooks song)

"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. Peiken reached out to Brooks to collaborate on the song, commenting: "[Brooks] had a lot of spunk, and I knew she could relate to this idea." The song was written in a single day in a spare bedroom of Peiken's home in Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles. Brooks intended to reclaim the word, removing the pejorative connotations surrounding it. Peiken explained that the record label considered censoring the song, although she and Brooks convinced the label to release the song to airplay with the lyrics intact. ==Composition==

According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Alfred Publishing, the song is written in the key of A major and is set in time signature of common time with a tempo of 92 beats per minute. Brooks' vocal range spans two octaves, from E3 to C5. ==Critical reception==

Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic 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, and the Los Angeles Times all making note of the musical similarities between Morissette's work at the time in comparison with "Bitch". Record producer Geza X 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 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 for "Bitch" was directed by Paul Andressen in Los Angeles, California. 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' Bridges to Babylon Tour. Brooks left the stage early after the audience began booing and throwing bottles, batteries, and coins at her. In response, Brooks cited the crowd's behavior as misogynistic and illustrative of the dangers of mob mentality. ==Legacy==

In 2017, Billboard ranked "Bitch" number 50 in their list of "The 100 Greatest Pop Songs of 1997", writing, "You undoubtedly remember the thing for its cathartic chorus, in which Meredith Brooks declares herself to be the spectrum of all things feminine and human — though only one of them was memorable to enough to risk getting censored on top 40 radio. Still, when you listen next, pay attention to the underrated verses; Brooks grinning and teasing her way through a relationship that attempts in vain to pigeonhole her personality (''Yesterday I cried/ You must've been relieved to see the softer side'')." In 2022, Avril Lavigne cited "Bitch" as the one song she wishes she could have written and she expressed interest in covering the song. ==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 version) – 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 single • "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 (Hollywood, California) • Mastered at Gateway Mastering (Portland, Maine) Personnel • Meredith Brooks – writing, vocals, background vocals, guitars • Shelly Peiken – writing • Paul Bushnell – bass • David Ricketts – keyboards • Josh Freese – drums • Geza X – drum loop programming, production, engineering • Jim Ebert – mixing, engineering • Bob Ludwig – mastering ==Charts==

Weekly charts Year-end charts ==Certifications and sales==

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 parodied the song as "Blair Witch", a parody about the film The Blair Witch Project (1999). Kim Gordon 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. In the 2025 episodic video game Dispatch, the character Flambae (voiced by Lance Cantstopolis) sings a version of the song re-written as a diss track about his supervisor, Robert. Singer and rapper Lizzo recreated the chorus to Bitch for her 2026 single of the same name. ==See also==