"Girl Loves Me" is a song by English musician David Bowie. It is the fifth track on Bowie's twenty-sixth and final studio album, Blackstar, released on 8 January 2016, Bowie's birthday and two days before his death. The track was written by Bowie and produced by Bowie and Tony Visconti. "Girl Loves Me" peaked at number 87 on the Dutch Top 100 and number 146 on the UK Singles Chart.
| "Girl Loves Me" | |
|---|---|
| Song by David Bowie | |
| from the album Blackstar | |
| Released | 8 January 2016 |
| Recorded | 2015 |
| Studio |
|
| Genre | |
| Length | 4:51 |
| Label | ISO |
| Songwriter(s) | David Bowie |
| Producer(s) |
|
| Blackstar track listing | |
7 tracks
| |
Composition
edit"Girl Loves Me" is notable for its usage of Polari and Nadsat in its lyrics, the latter of which is a fictional slang created by Anthony Burgess which was used very often in his 1962 novel A Clockwork Orange.[1][circular reference][2]
The song also includes a reference to the Chestnut Tree, a bar in the final part of the dystopian novel 1984 by George Orwell. This is partly used because the Chestnut Tree is a place in the novel where the protagonist goes to find he no longer feels emotions for his love, and this song's lyrics have obvious references to love, hence the title.
Critical reception
editRolling Stone calls "Girl Loves Me" their favourite moment from Blackstar, labelling it as "dark, trippy and sexy in ways only the late, great icon could pull off."[3] NME labels the song as a "menacing, militaristic tattoo," and suggests that Bowie was possibly influenced by rappers Future and Young Thug on the song.[4]
Charts
edit| Chart (2016) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Netherlands (Single Top 100)[5] | 87 |
| Portugal (AFP)[6] | 70 |
| Sweden Heatseeker (Sverigetopplistan)[7] | 2 |
| UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[8] | 146 |
| US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (Billboard)[9] | 40 |
References
edit- ^ Greenman, Kyle (9 January 2016). "The Beautiful Meaninglessness of David Bowie". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on 12 January 2016. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
- ^ Eastmond, Dean (30 September 2016). "Remembering Polari, the Forgotten Language of Britain's Gay Community". Vice. Vice Media.
- ^ "David Bowie, "Girl Loves Me"". Rolling Stone. 18 January 2016. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
- ^ Richards, Sam (8 January 2016). "NME Reviews – David Bowie – 'Blackstar'". NME. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
- ^ "David Bowie – Girl Loves Me" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
- ^ "David Bowie – Girl Loves Me". AFP Top 100 Singles. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
- ^ "Veckolista Heatseeker, vecka 2, 2016" (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
- ^ "Chart Log UK - New Chart Entries - 16.01.2016". zobbel.de. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
- ^ "David Bowie Chart History (Hot Rock & Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 27 January 2016.