Song Name: Girl U Want
Artist: DEVO
Appears On:
- Freedom of Choice, Greatest Hits, Hot Potatoes, Pioneers Who Got Scalped, Social Fools: The Virgin Singles 1978-1982 (single/album version)
- Recombo DNA (demo alternate version)
- DEV-O Live, DEVO Live: 1980, New Traditionalists: Live 1981 Seattle, Now It Can Be Told - Devo At The Palace, Butch Devo And The Sundance Gig
- Live in Central Park, Live at the Observatory, Santa Ana, CA (live versions)
- E-Z Listening Cassette, E-Z Listening Disc (EZ version)
Run Time: 2:55 (album version)
Year Written: 1979
Year Released: 1980 (album version)
Years Performed: 1979-present [1]
Writing Credits: Mark Mothersbaugh/Gerald V. Casale
Sung By: Mark Mothersbaugh
Alternate Versions: E-Z Listening Version, Girl U Want 1995/Tank Girl U Want, Boy U Want/Devo 2.0 Version
Demo Versions: Girl U Want (demo alternate version), Freedom of Choice Home Version Demo
Song Connections: None
Trivia / Info:[edit | edit source]
- Partly inspired by The Knack's "My Sharona" according to a music critic.
- "Girl U Want" was the lead single for Freedom of Choice, and DEVO's third album was originally to be called "The Girl You Want".
- First performed live on 29 December 1979.
- WB released one "Girl U Want" single - the hard to find b/w "Mr. B's Ballroom." Virgin released the single overseas b/w "Turnaround," the spelling is "corrected" to "Girl You Want." WB released a promo single in the US.
- The E-Z Listening Version was so popular DEVO performed it on the 1982 tour with the full lyrics. [2]
- A rerecorded version appeared on the soundtrack for the film Tank Girl in 1995, becoming the first new DEVO recording since 1990. The movie version added a vocal track by Jula Bell. [3]
- Mark does not fully voice the lyric "love" in the album version, leaving the word open for interpretation.
- Mark uses the word "lust" in the versions on Recombo DNA and on the Tank Girl soundtrack.
Onstage Behavior:
- Mark sometimes sings "undefined lust" instead of "undefined love" and "greenest tree" instead of "greenhouse tree."
Lyrics:
- You're in a corner everywhere you turn
- You know you're headed for the "planet of burn"
- But the words get stuck on the tip of your tongue
- She's the real thing but you knew it all along
- She's just the girl, she's just girl
- The girl u want
- She sings from somewhere you can't see
- She sits in the top of a greenhouse tree
- She sends out an aroma of undefined love
- It drifts on down in a mist from above
- She's just the girl, she's just the girl
- The girl u want
- Look at you with your mouth watering
- Look at you with your mind spinning
- Why don't you just admit it's all over
- She's just the girl u want
- She's just the girl, she's just the girl
- The girl u want
- She's just the girl, she's just the girl
- The girl u want
- You're in a corner everywhere you turn
- You know you're headed for the planet of burn
- But the words get stuck on the tip of your tongue
- She's the real thing but you knew it all along
- She's just the girl, she's just the girl
- The girl u want
- She's just the girl, she's just the girl
- She's just the girl, she's just the girl
- The girl u want
Video:[edit | edit source]
- Appears on We're All DEVO!, The Complete Truth About De-Evolution
- "Girl U Want - Video" Devo - MySpace
The "Girl U Want" video title card
- Laraine Newman portrays the girl on the swing spraying the mist referenced in the song lyrics. Mark was Laraine's boyfriend at the time. [4] She plays Donut Rooter in We're All DEVO!
- Robert L. Mothersbaugh, Sr. again plays General Boy, who uses a device to remotely control two "robotic" dancers.
Live Video: "Girl U Want" appears on DEVO Live 1980, DEVO Live, Live In The Land Of The Rising Sun and Live at the Observatory, Santa Ana, CA
References
- ↑ DEVO Live Guide. Website keyword search for "girl u want".
- ↑ YouTube. "Girl U Want (1982-10-30)" 3-DEVO. "A CEN Satellite Presentation."
- ↑ YouTube. Jula Bell comments for "Tank Girl Opening Credits".
- ↑ People Magazine, Vol. 24, No. 2. July 08, 1985. "While She May Not Be Perfect, Laraine Newman Braces Herself for Another Shot at Stardom." By Michelle Green.
External Links:
- "Girl U Want" -- Rock Band Wiki
- "Girl U Want" -- Wikipedia
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