Fell in Love with a Girl explained

Fell in Love with a Girl
Cover:Fellinlovewithagirlnew.jpg
Type:single
Artist:the White Stripes
Album:White Blood Cells
Recorded:February 2001[1]
Studio:Easley-McCain Recording (Memphis, Tennessee)
Genre:
Label:
Producer:Jack White
Prev Title:Hotel Yorba
Prev Year:2001
Next Title:Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground
Next Year:2002

"Fell in Love with a Girl" is a song by the American rock band the White Stripes, written and produced by Jack White for the band's third studio album, White Blood Cells (2001). Released as the album's second single in February 2002, it peaked at number 21 on both the US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart and the UK Singles Chart. It was also the band's first single to reach the U.S. Alternative Songs chart, peaking at number 12.

The song was covered in 2003 as "Fell in Love with a Boy" by Joss Stone and as a parody lounge song by Richard Cheese for their 2002 album Tuxicity. It was also included on a polka medley by "Weird Al" Yankovic, "Angry White Boy Polka", from his 2003 album Poodle Hat.

The single was re-released as a 7-inch vinyl record for Black Friday Record Store Day 2012 on opaque red vinyl by Third Man Records and later issued on standard black vinyl.

Composition

"Fell in Love with a Girl" is an uptempo alternative rock and garage punk song that runs for a duration of one minute and fifty seconds.[3] The track retains a brash rock instrumentation which consists of guitar and drums. It is built a slashing rhythm guitar groove set to a high-speed, stuttering beat with thrashing crash cymbals and skipped snare drum. According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Universal Music Publishing Group, the song is written in the time signature of common time, with a fast tempo of 192 beats per minute.[3] "Fell in Love with a Girl" is composed in the key of B major, while Jack White's vocal range spans from a low of B3 to a high of A4.[3] The song has a basic sequence of B–A–D–E during the introduction and verses and follows F–A–D–E–F–A–F at the refrain as its chord progression.[3]

The song opens with Jack White singing his lines with a manic vocal delivery at loud volume. His breathless performance exudes visceral intensity and quirky, exaggerated inflections. White's lyricism contains a dense slew of words laced with anxious banter and snappy humor. The musical arrangement comes to an abrupt halt at the last line of each verse. In substitution of a chorus, "Fell In Love with a Girl" features an infectious backing vocal line. After each verse, Jack White incessantly belts a wordless sing-along composed of "ah-ah-ah-ah" harmonizing.[4]

Critical reception

The song was met with widespread critical acclaim. Comparing it to that of the Ramones, Tom Maginnis from AllMusic called it "an attention-grabbing chunk of primal punk rock confection that flames out in a breathless one minute and 50 seconds. ... Surrendering is the only option; to fight against the infectious brutal and relentless energy of "Fell in Love With a Girl" is an exercise in futility."[4] The May 3, 2007, issue of Rolling Stone magazine listed the song as one of the forty songs that changed the world.[5] In 2011, NME placed it at number 6 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".[6] The Times said that the track "mixes the blues with the Pixies."[7] The Village Voices "Pazz & Jop critics' poll named "Fell in Love with a Girl" the sixth-best song of 2002. Paste and Stereogum ranked the song number six and number two, respectively, on their lists of the greatest White Stripes songs.[8] [9]

Music video

The music video is a Lego animation directed by Michel Gondry. Gondry's son was featured at the beginning of the video, building Lego blocks. It was shot frame by frame with each frame having the Lego bricks rebuilt, sometimes in a complex manner to seem as if it were an actual shot, and then formed together to give the illusion of motion. The video mostly consists of red, white, and black color. The White Stripes couldn't strike a deal with Lego, so they had to buy a large amount of Lego boxes for the video.[10]

In The Work of Director Michel Gondry interview, Jack also said that the White Stripes contacted the Lego Group in hopes of having a small Lego set packaged with each single of the record, with which one could build a LEGO version of Jack and Meg White. The Lego Group refused, saying: "We don't market our product to people over the age of twelve."[11]

Entertainment Weekly said that "the images enhance the lyrics...You can take the metaphor even deeper. As with Legos, love and sex can ultimately take whatever form your imagination desires."[12] Entertainment Weekly included it on its end-of-the-decade, "best-of" list, saying, "An idea so simple it's a wonder no one thought of it before 2002: rock & roll Legos!"[13] Pitchfork deemed it the best video of the decade.[14]

The music video received four nominations for Video of the Year, Breakthrough Video, Best Visual Effects, Best Editing at the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards, winning the latter three.

Track listings

  1. "Fell in Love with a Girl"
  2. "Let's Shake Hands"
  3. "Lafayette Blues"
  1. "Fell in Love with a Girl"
  2. "Lovesick" (Live at the Forum, London December 6, 2001)
  3. "I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself" (Live at BBC Radio-1 Evening Session)**

The single comes with a multimedia section featuring the "Fell in Love with a Girl" video.

  1. "Fell in Love with a Girl"
  2. "I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself" (Live at BBC Radio-1 Evening Session)**

Personnel

Personnel are taken from the UK CD1 liner notes.[15]

Release history

RegionDateFormat(s)Label(s)
United KingdomFebruary 25, 2002XL[16]
New ZealandMay 27, 2002CD[17]

Joss Stone version

Fell in Love with a Boy
Cover:Joss Stone - Fell in Love with a Boy.png
Border:yes
Type:single
Artist:Joss Stone
Album:The Soul Sessions
Recorded:May 5, 2003
Studio:The Studio (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Next Title:Super Duper Love
Next Year:2004

In 2003, English singer Joss Stone covered the song, retitled "Fell in Love with a Boy", for her debut studio album, The Soul Sessions (2003). It was released in the United States on January 12, 2004, as the album's lead single. In the United Kingdom, a limited-edition 7-inch single and CD single were issued on January 26, 2004. "Fell in Love with a Boy" debuted and peaked at number 18 on the UK Singles Chart. The song also peaked at number 23 in New Zealand and number 36 in Italy.

Critical reception

The single received mostly positive reviews from critics. Dorian Lynskey of The Guardian raved that "Fell in Love with a Boy" is the best track from The Soul Sessions as well as "the freshest and most deliciously inauthentic."[18] PopMatters reviewer Jason MacNeil commented that Stone gives the song "a groove-riddled, funky hip-shaker that never loses momentum."[19] Rolling Stone said the tune sounded like "a lost Memphis-soul classic."[20] However, Jim Greer of Entertainment Weekly viewed her version as "the only misguided ploy" on the album.[21] Andrew McGregor wrote for BBC Music that it "blends so well into the funky soul landscape that those less familiar with contemporary rock might miss the ironic juxtaposition altogether."[22]

Track listings

  1. "Fell in Love with a Boy"
  2. "Victim of a Foolish Heart"

A. "Fell in Love with a Boy"

B. "Super Duper Love (Are You Diggin' on Me?) Part 1"

  1. "Fell in Love with a Boy"
  2. "Victim of a Foolish Heart"
  3. "Fell in Love with a Boy"

Credits and personnel

Credits are adapted from the liner notes of The Soul Sessions.[26]

Studios

Personnel

Release history

RegionDateFormat(s)Label(s)
United StatesJanuary 12, 2004Triple A radioS-Curve[28]
United KingdomJanuary 26, 2004[29] [30]

Other appearances

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Sister? Lover? An Interview with The White Stripes. Maerz. Jennifer. June 5, 2001. whitestripes.net. https://web.archive.org/web/20100611223108/http://www.whitestripes.net/articles-show.php?id=04. June 11, 2010. February 4, 2023.
  2. Bonnie . Stiernberg . The 50 Best Garage Rock Songs of All Time . . September 9, 2016 . August 1, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170801001515/https://www.pastemagazine.com/blogs/lists/2014/08/the-50-best-garage-rock-songs-of-all-time.html?a=1 . dead .
  3. Web site: The White Stripes "Fell in Love with a Girl" Guitar Tab in D Major – Download & Print. White. Jack. Musicnotes.com. Universal Music Publishing Group.
  4. Web site: Maginnis, Tom. The White Stripes – Fell in Love With a Girl Song Review by Tom Maginnis . . July 4, 2010.
  5. Web site: Redirecting . archive.rollingstone.com . January 17, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110813010736/http://archive.rollingstone.com//desktop/#/20070503/84 . August 13, 2011 . dead.
  6. Web site: 150 Best Tracks Of The Past 15 Years. Nme.com. October 6, 2011. June 7, 2021.
  7. Connolly, Paul (December 15, 2001). "Rock", The Times.
  8. Web site: The 10 Best White Stripes Songs. Bo. Moore. Paste. February 4, 2011. May 27, 2023.
  9. Web site: The 10 Best White Stripes Songs. Carl. Williott. Stereogum. February 26, 2014. May 27, 2023.
  10. Web site: Fell In Love With A Girl by The White Stripes. Songfacts.com. June 7, 2021.
  11. Web site: White Stripes - Fell in Love With a Girl (making). February 25, 2024. www.youtube.com.
  12. Farber, Jim April 12, 2002). "FILE UNDER...VIDEOS." Entertainment Weekly (648):77
  13. Geier, Thom; Jensen, Jeff; Jordan, Tina; Lyons, Margaret; Markovitz, Adam; Nashawaty, Chris; Pastorek, Whitney; Rice, Lynette; Rottenberg, Josh; Schwartz, Missy; Slezak, Michael; Snierson, Dan; Stack, Tim; Stroup, Kate; Tucker, Ken; Vary, Adam B.; Vozick-Levinson, Simon; Ward, Kate (December 11, 2009), "THE 100 Greatest MOVIES, TV SHOWS, ALBUMS, BOOKS, CHARACTERS, SCENES, EPISODES, SONGS, DRESSES, MUSIC VIDEOS, AND TRENDS THAT ENTERTAINED US OVER THE PAST 10 YEARS". Entertainment Weekly. (1079/1080):74-84
  14. Web site: Pitchfork: Staff Lists: The Top 50 Music Videos of the 2000s . pitchfork.com . January 17, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090901194440/http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/7695-the-top-50-music-videos-of-the-2000s/5/ . September 1, 2009 . dead.
  15. Fell in Love with a Girl . 2002 . UK CD1 liner notes . . XLS 142CD.
  16. New Releases – For Week Starting 25 February 2002: Singles. Music Week. 35. February 23, 2002. August 23, 2021.
  17. Web site: New Releases. netcd.co.nz. May 27, 2002. https://web.archive.org/web/20020602084114/http://www.netcd.co.nz/NewReleases.html. June 2, 2002. November 8, 2023.
  18. Web site: Lynskey . Dorian . CD: Joss Stone, The Soul Sessions – Music – The Guardian . UK. The Guardian . January 16, 2004 . July 21, 2009.
  19. Web site: MacNeil . Jason . Joss Stone: The Soul Sessions – PopMatters Music Review . . January 14, 2003 . July 21, 2009.
  20. (March 18, 2004). "CHARTS", Rolling Stone. (Issue 944):84
  21. Greer . Jim . The Soul Sessions – Music Review – Entertainment Weekly . Entertainment Weekly . October 10, 2003 . July 21, 2009 . April 25, 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090425164327/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,492393,00.html . dead .
  22. Web site: McGregor . Andrew . BBC – Music – Review of Joss Stone – The Soul Sessions . . February 23, 2004 . July 21, 2009.
  23. Fell in Love with a Boy. Joss Stone. 2004. UK & European CD single liner notes. Relentless Records, Virgin Records. RELCD3, 0724355394224.
  24. Fell in Love with a Boy. Joss Stone. 2004. UK limited 7-inch single sleeve. Relentless Records, Virgin Records. REL 3, 0724355378576.
  25. Fell in Love with a Boy. Joss Stone. 2004. European maxi-CD single liner notes. Relentless Records, Virgin Records. 724354810824.
  26. The Soul Sessions. The Soul Sessions. Joss Stone. 2003. UK CD album liner notes. Relentless Records. CDREL2, 7243 5 96835 2 2.
  27. Web site: Tipparade-lijst van week 11, 2004. dutch. Dutch Top 40. March 25, 2023.
  28. Going for Adds. Radio & Records. 1537. 24. January 9, 2004. June 14, 2021.
  29. Web site: Joss Stone – Fell in Love with a Boy (Relentless). Manchester Evening News. August 13, 2004. June 14, 2021.
  30. Key Releases: Singles. Music Week. 29. January 24, 2004.
  31. Web site: The White Stripes Add Three More Tracks To Rock Band! . March 5, 2010 . October 4, 2010 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100310025258/http://www.rockband.com/news/more-white-stripes-dlc . March 10, 2010 .
  32. Web site: Of Montreal covers The White Stripes. The A.V. Club. March 23, 2013.