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Song Name: Girl U Want

Artist: DEVO

Appears On:

Live in Central Park, Live at the Observatory, Santa Ana, CA (live versions)

Run Time: 2:55 (album version)

Year Written: 1979

Year Released: 1980 (album version)

Years Performed: 1979-present [1] setlist.fm stats

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:[]

  • 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] [4]
  • This track continues the DEVO tradition of Mark singing lyrics altered from the expected so the listener has to figure out the lyrics used. The expected "love" lyric in "Girl U Want" was altered to lust and performed ambiguously.
Other lyrics altered to unexpected ambiguity include "silver linings" mutated to sniffy linings "soft" corrected to stroft and "greenest tree" purposely changed to greenhouse tree.
Mark sometimes clearly sings "undefined lust" instead of "undefined love" and "greenest tree" instead of "greenhouse tree" in live performances.
Mark does not fully voice the lyric "love" in the album version, leaving the word ambiguous and open for interpretation.
Mark uses the word "lust" in the versions on Recombo DNA and on the Tank Girl soundtrack. [5]

Onstage Behavior:

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 lust
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:[]

Appears on We're All DEVO!, The Complete Truth About De-Evolution
"Girl U Want - Video"   Devo - MySpace
Girl

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. [6] 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

  1. DEVO Live Guide. Website keyword search for "girl u want".
  2. YouTube. "Girl U Want (1982-10-30)" 3-DEVO. "A CEN Satellite Presentation."
  3. YouTube. Jula Bell comments for "Tank Girl Opening Credits".
  4. Jula Bell Official Page. (2022, December 3). Movie soundtracks • Jula Bell Official Page • Everything About the Artist Jula Bell. julabell.com/movie-soundtracks/ “In the 80’s Jula Bell started doing voice overs and sound track work. She worked with Mark Mothersbaugh (Tank Girl opening sequence duet with Devo for Girl U Want...
  5. Tank Girl Script - transcript from the soundtrack of the Lori Petty and Naomi Watts movie. (n.d.). Drew’s Script-O-Rama. http://www.script-o-rama.com/movie_scripts/t/tank-girl-script-transcript-lori.html (begins with transcript of Girl U Want ‘95 - with Mark’s vocal.)
  6. Green, Michelle. (1985, July 08). "While She May Not Be Perfect, Laraine Newman Braces Herself for Another Shot at Stardom." People Magazine, Vol. 24, No. 2. People. people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20091240,00.html (From archive.org.)

External Links:

"Girl U Want" -- Rock Band Wiki
"Girl U Want" -- Wikipedia


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