Beck — Girl
Album: Guero
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Your rating:
Total ratings: 499
Released: 2005
Length: 3:26
Plays (last 30 days): 0
Avg rating:
Your rating:
Total ratings: 499
Length: 3:26
Plays (last 30 days): 0
I saw her, yeah I saw her
With her black tongue tied round the roses
Fist pounding on a vending machine
Toy diamond ring stuck on her finger
With a noose she can hang from the sun
Put it out with her dark sunglasses
Walking crooked down the beach
She spits on the sand where their bones are bleaching
And I know I'm gonna steal her life
She doesn't even know what's wrong
And I know I'm gonna make her die
Take her where her soul belongs
And I know I'm gonna steal her life
Nothing that I wouldn't try
Hey, my cyanide girl
Hey, my cyanide girl
My cyanide girl
Hey, my cyanide girl
I saw her, yeah I saw her with her hands tied back
And her rags were burning
Crawling out from a land filled life
Scrawling her name upon the ceiling
Throw a coin in a fountain of dust
White noise, her ears are ringing
Got a ticket for a midnight hanging
Throw a bullet from a freight train leaving
And I know I'm gonna steal her life
She doesn't even know what's wrong
And I know I'm gonna make her die
Take her where her soul belongs
And I know I'm gonna steal her life
Nothing that I wouldn't try
Hey, my cyanide girl
Hey, my cyanide girl
My cyanide girl
Hey, my cyanide girl
With her black tongue tied round the roses
Fist pounding on a vending machine
Toy diamond ring stuck on her finger
With a noose she can hang from the sun
Put it out with her dark sunglasses
Walking crooked down the beach
She spits on the sand where their bones are bleaching
And I know I'm gonna steal her life
She doesn't even know what's wrong
And I know I'm gonna make her die
Take her where her soul belongs
And I know I'm gonna steal her life
Nothing that I wouldn't try
Hey, my cyanide girl
Hey, my cyanide girl
My cyanide girl
Hey, my cyanide girl
I saw her, yeah I saw her with her hands tied back
And her rags were burning
Crawling out from a land filled life
Scrawling her name upon the ceiling
Throw a coin in a fountain of dust
White noise, her ears are ringing
Got a ticket for a midnight hanging
Throw a bullet from a freight train leaving
And I know I'm gonna steal her life
She doesn't even know what's wrong
And I know I'm gonna make her die
Take her where her soul belongs
And I know I'm gonna steal her life
Nothing that I wouldn't try
Hey, my cyanide girl
Hey, my cyanide girl
My cyanide girl
Hey, my cyanide girl
Comments (87)add comment
PisukeSorame wrote:
Love this entire CD!
Me likey this one.
Anyone else hear Outkast's "Hey Ya" in this?
Hey, my sun-eyed girl
SoundsGoodToMe wrote:
Even at his freakiest, I doubt Brian Wilson would be capable of these lyrics.
Is he channeling Brian Wilson on this song or what?
Even at his freakiest, I doubt Brian Wilson would be capable of these lyrics.
This is my eight year old daughter's favourite song right now. How appropriate :)
this really caught me off guard after primitive radio gods... good song though :)
Though this song has one of the worst-slash-funniest faux guitar solos of all time (and since it is Beck, I am sure it is intentional), I love it.
it's cyanide girl. but i think i like mice on a girl much better.
TheFriendlyCat wrote:
I am going with "Sun-Eyed", although I like "mice on a girl"....
"my son, a girl" is good too, lol.
I am going with "My Cyanide Girl"--just love the Beach Boys harmonies juxtaposed against the bleak lyrics--se entry below. Catch Beck live if you again--he puts on a great show and his backup band are great!
I am going with "Sun-Eyed", although I like "mice on a girl"....
"my son, a girl" is good too, lol.
how bout "my son, a girl?"
dpath2o wrote:
c'mon ... ridiculously good
I was right with you through ridiculous...
rosedraws wrote:
Hey. Mice on a girl.
"Eeeeeeek!"
rosedraws wrote:
Hey. Mice on a girl.
I hear it too!
c'mon ... ridiculously good
As much as I try NOT to like this song it just grooves me out every time I hear it.
S~
Hey. Mice on a girl.
What does everyone have against $15 Casio keyboards??
grouchygreg wrote:
How about 'masonite girl'?
Even better!!!
I always heard "sonar girl"... but that's maybe because I've got a job in robotics :-)
since the lyrics are being questioned, check this out from beck.com:
I saw her, yeah I saw her with her black tongue tied
Round the roses
Fist pounding on a vending machine
Toy diamond ring stuck on her finger
With a noose she can hang from the sun
And put it out with her cheap sunglasses
Walking crooked down the beach
She spits on the sand where their bones are bleaching
And I know I'm gonna steal her eye
She doesn't even know what's wrong
And I know I'm gonna make her die
Take her where her soul belongs
And I know I'm gonna steal her eye
Nothing that I wouldn't try
My..... girl
My..... girl
I saw her, yeah I saw her with her hands tied back
And her rags were burning
Crawling out from a landfilled life
Scrawlin her name upon the ceiling
Throw a coin in a fountain of dust
White noise, her ears are ringing
Got a ticket for a midnight hanging
Throw a bullet from a freight train leaving
And I know I'm gonna steal her eye
She doesn't even know what's wrong
And I know I'm gonna make her die
Take her where her soul belongs
And I know I'm gonna steal her eye
Nothing that I would not try
My..... girl
so, it's inentionally ambiguous/mumbled?
Yeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaahhhhhh!
Besides the annoing synth at the beginning is quite a nice song...
love the guitar solo, like a good wooden roller coaster - just on the edge of out of control.
robadr wrote:
A real variety of versions on the lyric sites...
How about 'masonite girl'?
A real variety of versions on the lyric sites:
(click here) (summer)
(click here) (cyanide)
(click here) (sun-eyed)
I'd vote for 'sun-eyed'.
am wrote:
Summer
southern.
fried_duk wrote:
Ugg! I love this song, and i just missed it.
Ugg! I heard this song, and I wish just missed it.
Wow, I had the lyrics all wrong, still very diggable!!
Great song! Love how his voice sounds. Never fails to pick me up...the album is sublime.
so morbid. yet so catchy.
Just got the album last week and really like it!
This dichotomy is what makes the song really interesting. The first verse has roses and diamond rings and the sun and the beach. But looking closer, the diamond ring isn't real, the sun has a noose on it, and bones are bleaching in the sand. These are powerful, striking images. It's quite a portrait Beck has painted here.
"BOY"... & he certainly has.
Is he channeling Brian Wilson on this song or what?
tictocsailor wrote:
One much darker possibility: "my cyanide girl"
Looks like you're right. Here is what I found:
"Girl" is one of the catchier songs Beck has ever written. At the same time, it's one of the darker lyrics he's ever written. Asked about it, he said,
Originally, the lyrics to 'Girl' were really upbeat, and then it didn't work for me somehow. You need the dichotomy. If you're doing something happy and light, you need the shadows. That was something that the Pixies did so well. Frank Black is a genius at these happy songs, and then you listen to the lyrics and they're based on (Spanish film director Luis) Bunuel films of cows' eyes getting cut.
This dichotomy is what makes the song really interesting. The first verse has roses and diamond rings and the sun and the beach. But looking closer, the diamond ring isn't real, the sun has a noose on it, and bones are bleaching in the sand. These are powerful, striking images. It's quite a portrait Beck has painted here.
From this site.
Hope that helps =)
This CD is fantastic from start to finish.
I'm going with sun-eyed girl
tictocsailor wrote:
One much darker possibility: "my cyanide girl" according to one of the lyric sites. This seems to go with rest of the lyrics.
Could be....it does seem to fit well. It sounds more like sun-eyed to me now.
This from whiskeyclone.net
Beck led us on, as in the liner notes of the album, the chorus is printed as "My...girl." Like that, ellipses and everything. Thanks Beck.
So now we're stuck with lots of theories until someone can straight-up ask Beck, and gets a real answer in return.
*UPDATE: Beck was finally asked by a journalist about the lyrics. He's not talking. Neither is his keyboardist, Brian LeBarton, by the way. This is what was written:
Equally unclear is the chorus to Beck's current single, "Girl," a lovely summertime jam which appears to be about killing a girl. In the Guero liner notes, the lyric is written as "Hey, my ... Girl," and Beck isn't about to fill in that ellipsis. In fact, in traditional Beck style, he's claiming that the whole thing is the result of a stream-of-consciousness, off-the-cuff ad lib. Which he decided to leave in, since it fit with the song's overall vibe.
Curiously Beck! I'm giving it a 10 just for messin' with our heads.
tictocsailor wrote:
One much darker possibility: "my cyanide girl" according to one of the lyric sites. This seems to go with rest of the lyrics.
I never even gave it a thought until looking at this thread. I was sure he was saying "my southern girl" all along.
AWESOME song! the whole CD is great!
I love Beck's music, having said that I think this album really grooves from track 4 to the end
Steppenwolf wrote:
My vote is for "my sun-eyed girl"
One much darker possibility: "my cyanide girl" according to one of the lyric sites. This seems to go with rest of the lyrics.
am wrote:
Summer
My vote is for "my sun-eyed girl"
I can only conclude that I must be missing the Beck gene. I just don't get this guy at all.
Ugg! I love this song, and i just missed it.
This is just super-entertaining stuff. Love Beck
this CD is a good one.
worth the $ it's got a real neat feel
8)
hey.....FYI, he's not saying "summer," he's saying something like "SONNER" It's somewhat of a secret I guess, he doesn't even write it down on the CD insert, anyone know??
Saw Beck open for the Stones in Columbus. What a charming show!! They pulled a wooden table out on stage and the band ate from the Stones catering while Beck serenaded them. Then the band rejoined the concert by playing percussion with various forks and knives and bowls and stuff.
Ya gotta hand it to him, he's inventive as hell...
I love Beck. Fun song.
am wrote:
Summer
Thanks!
Sideorder wrote:
Somebody help me out. What's he saying? My "what" Girl?
Summer
Any DC-area folks catch Beck at the Patriot Center last night?
I saw the show and I have to say I was not blown away. It was a decent show, but Beck has always been absolutely STELLAR. This show was not stellar. Maybe it was the fact that the place was only half-full or maybe it was the lousy venue. The GMU Patriot Center sucks as a rock venue.
Last year (or maybe the year before - whatever) Beck sold out Wolf Trap and he's packed them in everywhere else I've seen him. I wonder if sales of Guero are low. Even when the album receives accolades from the critics, this happens sometimes. I guess I'll just have to cross my fingers and hope that Beck's popularity wanes a bit and he goes back to playing nice sized clubs*. Maybe next time he'll opt for 2 nights at the 9:30 instead.
Anyway, if you saw the show, let me know what you thought of it.
* This might be problematic as his indebtedness to Scientology grows. I wish him well though with his body thetan issues and a happy road to OT level III.
EDIT: Hmmm...
Billboard, in April 2005 wrote:
With sales of 162,000 copies, Beck's "Guero" (Interscope) is forced to settle for a No. 2 entry, which is nonetheless the highest chart position of his 11-year career. His previous best came with 2002's "Sea Change," which debuted at No. 8 with sales of 90,000. To date, Beck's best-seller remains 1996's "Odelay" (DGC/Geffen) at 2.2 million copies.
Platypus wrote:
always sounds to me like he's singing "hey... my son a girl"
Or "my Sunoco".
Somebody help me out. What's he saying? My "what" Girl?
Love this album but gotta say that this is my least favorite song. Earthquake weather is fantastic, dj, try that one.
great video for this one... takes it's cue from the "fold-in" pages from Mad Magazine:
watch it here
Tasty, very Beck.
Platypus wrote:
always sounds to me like he's singing "hey... my son a girl"
agreed...
Heard this on the regular radio the other day. I love it. Still creative and fresh, way to go Beck :highfive.gif:
seems to be one of the better songs of this album.
gets a 3...
Beck owes us this happy ditty after his soundtrack to a suicide "Sea Change"
This might be Becks best tune on his best albulm to date! Well that's my opinion anyway! Long live Beck and his total originality!! :sunny.gif:
smokinsean wrote:
beck is ...beck...
S.
Indeed. Unless, of course, he is someone else!
This is a great album. For those of you that enjoy Beck, if you haven't bought this album yet, you should. Buy it, of course, through RP!!
always sounds to me like he's singing "hey... my son a girl"
beck is ...beck...
S.
Earthquake Weather
Why is the part where he says "sun-eyed?" girl in ellipsis in the lyrics? That is very strange.
dragnfly wrote:
I really like the sound of this song. I just can't figure out what he's saying. Hey my ?? girl ... It's just elipses in the album lyrics!
According to a quick Google search, it is "my summer girl"
jbtidwell wrote:
I would love to hear someone mash this with Hey Ya
Interesting... yeah!
I love the opening sounds. Totally 80s.
Could have done with otu the Pop on this one, otherwise Guero is pretty good.
pummisher wrote:
Sounds like something he would do.
Yep. It's bad enough.
At first listen this song seems pretty simple and clichéd (diamonds, sun, beach, etc.) and a bit too . . . ."happy"; but there's also this darker side to it which really just makes it great.
I really like the sound of this song. I just can't figure out what he's saying. Hey my ?? girl ... It's just elipses in the album lyrics!
I am on FIRE with this whole CD...but this song just GETS me. It was fun driving out of Miami with it playing.
FREAKIN' LOVE THIS ALBUM.
I think it's the best one I've bought so far this year. Even makes rap palatable to an old dude like me.
I would love to hear someone mash this with Hey Ya
Beck is back in a big way, this album ROCKS!
Love those Commodore 64 sound effects. That's it, I'm going to buy this baby.
I must admit, if this were a single, my reaction would be tepid. But it still doesn't suck.
it's not as good as the other songs on the album, but it doesn't totally suck. I could do, however, without the intro...it sounds as if Beck is playing with his Fisher-Price My First Phone
I wasn't saying it like it was a good thing.
njr wrote:
Hrm, not to me. I can't believe this is Beck. Yuck.
pummisher wrote:
Sounds like something he would do.
Hrm, not to me. I can't believe this is Beck. Yuck.
Sounds like something he would do.