Fell in Love with a Girl

"Fell in Love with a Girl"
Single by The White Stripes
from the album White Blood Cells
Released April 23, 2002 (2002-04-23)
Format
Recorded 2001
Studio Easley Studio
(Memphis, Tennessee)
Genre Garage rock[1]
Length 1:50
Label XL
Songwriter(s) Jack White
Producer(s) Jack White
The White Stripes singles chronology
"Hotel Yorba"
(2001)
"Fell in Love with a Girl"
(2002)
"Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground"
(2002)

"Hotel Yorba"
(2001)
"Fell in Love with a Girl"
(2002)
"Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground"
(2002)

"Fell in Love with a Girl" is a song by the American garage 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 2002, it peaked at number 21 on both the US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart and the UK Singles Chart. The song was covered in 2003 as "Fell in Love with a Boy" by Joss Stone and as a lounge song by Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine 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" vinyl record for Black Friday Record Store Day 2012 on opaque red vinyl by Third Man Records and later issued on standard black vinyl.

Critical reception

The single met with widespread critical acclaim. The May 3, 2007 issue of Rolling Stone magazine listed the song as one of the forty songs that changed the world.[2] In 2011, NME placed it at number 6 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".[3] The Times said that the track "mixes the blues with the Pixies."[4] The Village Voice's "Pazz & Jop critics' poll named "Fell in Love with a Girl" the sixth-best song of 2002.

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.[5]

In an interview for The Work of Director Michel Gondry DVD, Jack stated that the White Stripes' long-time collaboration with Gondry started by accident; for "Fell in Love with a Girl", Jack stated that he wanted to work with the director who did Beck's video for "Devils Haircut", referring to Mark Romanek. Their record company mistakenly hired Gondry, thinking he was the director of "Devils Haircut". Jack didn't mind, as he did the video for Beck's "Deadweight", which Jack also liked.

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." However, once the video became a hit, Lego contacted the White Stripes again and asked if they could reconstruct the deal to have Lwfo packaged with the single. This time, however, Jack White refused.

The Work of Director Michel Gondry DVD also reveals that one section, lasting only a few seconds, used computer animation to simulate the Lego bricks.

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."[6] 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!"[7] Pitchfork deemed it the best video of the decade.[8]

The video was spoofed on the Family Guy episode "Ocean's Three and a Half".

The music video won the 2002 MTV Video Music Award for Breakthrough Video, Best Special Effects, Best Editing and was nominated for a Video of the Year.

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. *Part 1 with the identical track listing as the US Version.

  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)**

**This is the same recording of the song that would one year later be an album track on Elephant and eventually be released as a single.

Charts

Chart (2002) Peak
position
Scotland (Official Charts Company)[9] 38
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[10] 12
UK Indie (Official Charts Company)[11] 2
US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (Billboard)[12] 21
US Alternative Songs (Billboard)[13] 12

Joss Stone version

"Fell in Love with a Boy"
Single by Joss Stone
from the album The Soul Sessions
Released January 26, 2004 (2004-01-26)
Format
Recorded May 5, 2003
Studio The Studio
(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Genre
Length 3:38
Label
Songwriter(s) Jack White
Producer(s)
Joss Stone singles chronology
"Fell in Love with a Boy"
(2004)
"Super Duper Love"
(2004)

"Fell in Love with a Boy"
(2004)
"Super Duper Love"
(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 on January 26, 2004 as the album's lead single.

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."[14] PopMatters reviewer Jason MacNeil commented that Stone gives the song "a groove-riddled, funky hip-shaker that never loses momentum."[15] Rolling Stone said the tune sounded like "a lost Memphis-soul classic."[16] However, Jim Greer of Entertainment Weekly viewed her version as "the only misguided ploy" on the album.[17] 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."[18]

Track listings

  1. "Fell in Love with a Boy" (radio version) – 2:25
  2. "Victim of a Foolish Heart" (live at Ronnie Scott's, London, November 25, 2003) – 6:25
  1. "Fell in Love with a Boy" (radio version) – 2:25
  2. "Victim of a Foolish Heart" (live at Ronnie Scott's, London, November 25, 2003) – 6:25
  3. "Fell in Love with a Boy" (acoustic version) – 3:30
A. "Fell in Love with a Boy" (radio version) – 2:25
B. "Super Duper Love (Are You Diggin' on Me?) Pt. 1" – 4:20

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of The Soul Sessions.[19]

Charts

Chart (2004) Peak
position
Belgium (Ultratip Flanders)[20] 16
Belgium (Ultratip Wallonia)[21] 17
Ireland (IRMA)[22] 46
Italy (FIMI)[23] 36
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[24] 80
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[25] 23
Scotland (Official Charts Company)[26] 18
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[27] 18
UK R&B (Official Charts Company)[28] 5

Other appearances

References

  1. Stiernberg, Bonnie. "The 50 Best Garage Rock Songs of All Time". Paste. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  2. http://archive.rollingstone.com/Desktop#/20070503/84
  3. http://www.nme.com/list/150-best-tracks-of-the-past-15-years/248648/page/15
  4. Connolly, Paul (December 15, 2001). "Rock", The Times.
  5. Fell In Love With a Girl Songfacts
  6. Farber, Jim April 12, 2002). "FILE UNDER...VIDEOS." Entertainment Weekly (648):77
  7. 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
  8. http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/7695-the-top-50-music-videos-of-the-2000s/5/
  9. "Archive Chart: 2002-03-03". Scottish Singles Top 40. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
  10. "White Stripes: Artist Chart History" Official Charts Company. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
  11. "Archive Chart: 2002-03-03" UK Indie Chart. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
  12. "The White Stripes – Chart history" Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 for The White Stripes. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
  13. "The White Stripes – Chart history" Billboard Alternative Songs for The White Stripes. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
  14. Lynskey, Dorian (January 16, 2004). "CD: Joss Stone, The Soul Sessions – Music – The Guardian". The Guardian. UK. Retrieved July 21, 2009.
  15. MacNeil, Jason (January 14, 2003). "Joss Stone: The Soul Sessions – PopMatters Music Review". PopMatters. Retrieved July 21, 2009.
  16. (March 18, 2004). "CHARTS", Rolling Stone. (Issue 944):84
  17. Greer, Jim (October 10, 2003). "The Soul Sessions – Music Review – Entertainment Weekly". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved July 21, 2009.
  18. McGregor, Andrew (February 23, 2004). "BBC – Music – Review of Joss Stone – The Soul Sessions". BBC Music. Retrieved July 21, 2009.
  19. The Soul Sessions (CD liner notes). Joss Stone. Relentless Records. 2003. CDREL2.
  20. "Ultratop.be – Joss Stone – Fell in Love with a Boy" (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
  21. "Ultratop.be – Joss Stone – Fell in Love with a Boy" (in French). Ultratip. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
  22. "Chart Track: Week 7, 2004". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
  23. "Italiancharts.com – Joss Stone – Fell in Love with a Boy". Top Digital Download. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
  24. "Dutchcharts.nl – Joss Stone – Fell in Love with a Boy" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
  25. "Charts.org.nz – Joss Stone – Fell in Love with a Boy". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
  26. "Archive Chart: 2004-02-01". Scottish Singles Top 40. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
  27. "Joss Stone: Artist Chart History" Official Charts Company. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
  28. "Archive Chart: 2004-02-01" UK R&B Chart. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
  29. "The White Stripes Add Three More Tracks To Rock Band!". March 5, 2010. Retrieved October 4, 2010.
  30. "Of Montreal covers The White Stripes". Retrieved March 23, 2013.
  31. Video on YouTube
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