# Jackie's Strength > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Jackie's_Strength > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Jackie's_Strength.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackie's_Strength > Source revision: 1353434346 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) 1998 single by Tori Amos "Jackie's Strength" Artwork for 1998 US enhanced CD single Single by Tori Amos from the album From the Choirgirl Hotel B-side "Never Seen Blue" "Beulah Land" Released September 15, 1998 (US) February 23, 1999 (Remixes) Recorded 1997 Studio Martian Engineering (Cornwall)[1] Length 4:26 Label Atlantic Songwriter Tori Amos Producer Tori Amos Tori Amos singles chronology "Spark" (1998) "Jackie's Strength" (1998) "Cruel/"Raspberry Swirl" (1998) "**Jackie's Strength**" is a song by American singer-songwriter and pianist [Tori Amos](/source/Tori_Amos), released as the second single from her fourth studio album *[From the Choirgirl Hotel](/source/From_the_Choirgirl_Hotel)* (1998). It reached No. 54 on the U.S. [*Billboard* Hot 100](/source/Billboard_Hot_100) chart. The [remix](/source/Remix) single, released the following year, reached number one on the [Hot Dance Club Play](/source/Hot_Dance_Club_Play) chart in the U.S.[2] The lyrics refer to [Jackie Onassis](/source/Jacqueline_Kennedy_Onassis), there is also a brief reference to the [Kennedy assassination](/source/Kennedy_assassination) ("Shots rang out, the police came"), though Amos herself explained that the song also concerns her own personal doubts about marriage.[3] Amos reiterated this in an interview with columnist Steven Daly in *[Rolling Stone](/source/Rolling_Stone)* (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](/source/Black_and_white), 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](/source/Teen_pregnancy), [pre-marital sex](/source/Pre-marital_sex), interracial relationships and use of medication by elderly persons. It was directed by James Brown (the cinematographer, not funk and soul musician). ## Track listing ### September 1998 U.S. release **Cassette single** – Atlantic 4-84163 1. "Jackie's Strength" (Edit) – 4:17 1. "Never Seen Blue" – 3:41 1. "Beulah Land" – 2:56 **Enhanced CD single** – Atlantic 2-84163 1. "Jackie's Strength" (Edit) – 4:17 1. "Never Seen Blue" – 3:41 1. "Beulah Land" – 2:56 1. "Jackie's Strength" (Music Video) 1. "Raspberry Swirl" (Music Video) ### February 1999 U.S. release **Double 12-inch single** – Atlantic 0-84442 1. "Jackie's Strength" (Wedding Cake Club Mix) – 8:40 1. "Jackie's Strength" (Wedding Cake Edit) – 4:03 1. "Jackie's Strength" (One Rascal Dub #1) – 6:24 1. "Father Lucifer" (Sylkscreen Remix) – 4:30 1. "Jackie's Strength" (One Rascal Dub #2) – 5:02 1. "Father Lucifer" (Sylkscreen Instrumental) – 4:26 1. "Jackie's Strength" (Wedding Cake Meltdown Mix) – 8:19 1. "Jackie's Strength" (Bonus Beats) – 2:41 **CD maxi-single** – Atlantic 2-84442 1. "Jackie's Strength" (Wedding Cake Edit) – 4:03 1. "Father Lucifer" (Sylkscreen Remix) – 4:30 1. "Jackie's Strength" (Wedding Cake Club Mix) – 8:40 1. "Jackie's Strength" (One Rascal Dub #1) – 6:24 1. "Father Lucifer" (Sylkscreen Instrumental) – 4:26 1. "Jackie's Strength" (Wedding Cake Meltdown Mix) – 8:19 1. "Jackie's Strength" (One Rascal Dub #2) – 5:02 1. "Jackie's Strength" (Bonus Beats) – 2:41 ## Charts ### Weekly charts Chart (1998) Peak position US Billboard Hot 100[4] 54 US Dance Club Songs (Billboard)[5] 1 US Dance Singles Sales (Billboard)[6] 5 ### Year-end charts Chart (2001) Position Canada (Nielsen SoundScan)[7] 169 ## Reception More than 10,000 units of the single have been sold as of October 3, 1998.[8] It also peaked at number 33 in Billboard Hot 100 Singles Sales.[8] ## Release history Country Date Version Format Label Catalog Ref. United States September 15, 1998 Original CD Atlantic 2-84163 [9] Cassette 4-84163 Canada September 22, 1998 CD United States February 23, 1999 Remixes CD Atlantic 2-84442 [10] Double 12" 0-84442 Canada March 16, 1999 CD CD 84442 ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** [Erlewine, Stephen Thomas](/source/Stephen_Thomas_Erlewine). ["*From the Choirgirl Hotel* – Tori Amos"](http://www.allmusic.com/album/from-the-choirgirl-hotel-mw0000031539). *[AllMusic](/source/AllMusic)*. Retrieved August 10, 2015. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** [Whitburn, Joel](/source/Joel_Whitburn) (2004). *Hot Dance/Disco: 1974-2003*. Record Research. p. 20. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** [Quotes from interviews with Tori Amos](http://www.yessaid.com/talk/5jackiesstrength.html) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20090327140208/http://www.yessaid.com/talk/5jackiesstrength.html) 2009-03-27 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine) 1. **[^](#cite_ref-usa_4-0)** "[Tori Amos Chart History (Hot 100)](https://www.billboard.com/artist/Tori-Amos/chart-history/HSI)". *[Billboard](/source/Billboard_(magazine))*. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-sc_Billboarddanceclubplay_Tori_Amos_5-0)** "[Tori Amos Chart History (Dance Club Songs)](https://www.billboard.com/artist/Tori-Amos/chart-history/DSI)". *[Billboard](/source/Billboard_(magazine))*. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-sc_Billboarddancesales_Tori_Amos_6-0)** "[Tori Amos Chart History (Dance Singles Sales)](https://www.billboard.com/artist/Tori-Amos/chart-history/DSA)". *[Billboard](/source/Billboard_(magazine))*. Retrieved May 10, 2026. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** ["Canada's Top 200 Singles of 2001"](https://web.archive.org/web/20020726120310/http://jamshowbiz.com/JamMusicCharts/2001_singles2.html). *[Jam!](/source/Jam!)*. Archived from [the original](http://jamshowbiz.com/JamMusicCharts/2001_singles2.html) on July 26, 2002. Retrieved March 28, 2022. 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-billboard98_8-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-billboard98_8-1) ["Billboard"](https://books.google.com/books?id=FwoEAAAAMBAJ&q=%22tori+amos%22+%22jackie%27s+strength%22+-wikipedia&pg=PA99). 3 October 1998. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** [""from the choirgirl hotel" 2nd Single: Raspberry Swirl & Jackie's Strength"](https://thedent.com/raspjack.html). thedent.com. Retrieved December 24, 2023. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** [""from the choirgirl hotel" 4th North American Single: Jackie's Strength/Father Lucifer Remixes"](https://thedent.com/jsremix.html). thedent.com. Retrieved December 24, 2023. ## See also - [List of number-one dance hits (United States)](/source/List_of_number-one_dance_hits_(United_States)) v t e Tori Amos Discography List of songs Studio albums Little Earthquakes Under the Pink Boys for Pele From the Choirgirl Hotel To Venus and Back Strange Little Girls Scarlet's Walk The Beekeeper American Doll Posse Abnormally Attracted to Sin Midwinter Graces Night of Hunters Gold Dust Unrepentant Geraldines Native Invader Ocean to Ocean The Music of Tori and the Muses In Times of Dragons Compilations Tales of a Librarian A Piano: The Collection Little Earthquakes – The B-Sides Live albums To Venus and Back The Original Bootlegs Legs and Boots Live at Montreux 1991/1992 From Russia with Love Diving Deep Live EPs Crucify Hey Jupiter Scarlet's Hidden Treasures Exclusive Session Flavor (Peter Rauhofer Mixes) Christmastide Singles "Baltimore" "Me and a Gun" "Silent All These Years" "China" "Winter" "Crucify" "Cornflake Girl" "God" "Pretty Good Year" "Past the Mission" "Caught a Lite Sneeze" "Talula" "Professional Widow" "Hey Jupiter" "In the Springtime of His Voodoo" "Spark" "Jackie's Strength" "Cruel"/"Raspberry Swirl" "Bliss" "1000 Oceans" "Glory of the 80's" "Concertina" "Strange Little Girl" "A Sorta Fairytale" "Taxi Ride" "Don't Make Me Come to Vegas" "Mary" "Sleeps with Butterflies" "Sweet the Sting" "Big Wheel" "Bouncing Off Clouds" "Welcome to England" "Maybe California" "A Silent Night with You" "Carry" "Flavor" "Trouble's Lament" "Cloud Riders" "Speaking with Trees" Other songs "Putting the Damage On" "Dātura" Videos Little Earthquakes Live from New York Complete Videos: 1991–1998 A Sorta Fairytale Welcome to Sunny Florida Fade to Red Live at Montreux 1991/1992 Tours 5 ½ Weeks Tour Night of Hunters Tour Gold Dust Orchestral Tour Unrepentant Geraldines Tour Native Invader Tour Related articles Piece by Piece Comic Book Tattoo Delirium Y Kant Tori Read Y Kant Tori Read "The Big Picture" "Cool on Your Island" "Blue Skies" RAINN The Light Princess Original Cast Recording Authority control databases MusicBrainz work MusicBrainz release group --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Jackie's Strength](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackie's_Strength) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackie's_Strength?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.