My Best Friend's Girl (song)
Encyclopedia
"My Best Friend's Girl" is a song by American rock
band The Cars
from their 1978 self-titled debut album
on Elektra Records. Written by Ric Ocasek
and produced by Roy Thomas Baker
, the song was released as the album's second single. It peaked at number 35 on the U.S. Hot 100
chart, and reached number three in the UK. "My Best Friend's Girl" was included on the soundtrack to the 1979 film Over the Edge
, and the song appears on numerous compilation albums, such as the band's 1985 Greatest Hits
, 1995's Just What I Needed: The Cars Anthology
, and 2002's Complete Greatest Hits. A live version of the song by The New Cars
appears on their 2006 debut album, It's Alive!
.
of the guitar, a two-bar progression moving from I to IV to V in F. Hand claps enter in bar
five, and after the eight-bar intro
, the first verse begins featuring Ric Ocasek
's vocals over a lead guitar lick in the key of F. An organ is introduced in the first chorus
, followed by a rockabilly
guitar lick
which leads to the second verse. The song is composed in contrasting verse-chorus form.
The lyrics depict a man's frustration with a girl who is dating his best friend after the man dated her. The narrator coolly
notes, "She's my best friend's girl, but she used to be mine."
singles chart for the week ending October 21. It peaked at number 35 on the charts in December. In addition, the song reached number 40 on the Dutch Top 40
, number 55 in Canada, and number 67 in Australia. The song was the highest-charting UK single of the band's career, peaking at number three in November 1978.
The single was the first picture disc
available commercially in the UK.
Music critics have given the track generally favorable reviews. Allmusic's Donald A. Guarisco called the song "one of the classics of the Cars' catalog,"
and Rolling Stone
writer Kit Rachlis
called it a wonderful pop song.
"My Best Friend's Girl" was ranked the 12th best song of 1978 by critics Dave Marsh
and Kevin Stein, and it was named one of "The 1001 Best Songs Ever" in a 2003 issue of Q
magazine.
Some critics have noted the song's similarity in style to Fountains of Wayne
's 2003 hit single
"Stacy's Mom
".
performed "My Best Friend's Girl" at their final concert on March 1, 1994 in Munich
.
Punk rock
band The Frustrators
included a cover version
of the song on their 2002 album Achtung Jackass.
Bluegrass
novelty band Hayseed Dixie
covered the song on their 2002 album A Hillbilly Tribute to Mountain Love
.
Australian hard rock
band The Choirboys
performed the song on their 2006 album Big Bad & Acoustic.
Jamaican reggae
singer Half Pint covered it on his 2008 album No Stress Express.
Kris Delmhorst includes it on her 2011 album Cars; her version of the song was getting airplay at Starbucks outlets in October of that year.
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band The Cars
The Cars
The Cars are an American rock band that emerged from the early New Wave music scene in the late 1970s. The band consisted of lead singer and rhythm guitarist Ric Ocasek, lead singer and bassist Benjamin Orr, guitarist Elliot Easton, keyboardist Greg Hawkes and drummer David Robinson...
from their 1978 self-titled debut album
The Cars (album)
The Cars is the self-titled debut album by the American rock band The Cars released in 1978. With the popular tracks "Just What I Needed" and "My Best Friend's Girl" getting heavy airplay on AOR radio stations, the album sold one million copies by the end of the year and steadily climbed the...
on Elektra Records. Written by Ric Ocasek
Ric Ocasek
Ric Ocasek is an American musician and music producer. He is best known as lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for the rock band, The Cars....
and produced by Roy Thomas Baker
Roy Thomas Baker
Roy Thomas Baker is a multiple award-winning Anglo-American music producer, songwriter, arranger and Recording Academy Governor, who has produced Platinum and Gold certified pop and rock records from the 1970s to the present.- Career :Baker began his career at Decca Records in England at the age...
, the song was released as the album's second single. It peaked at number 35 on the U.S. Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
chart, and reached number three in the UK. "My Best Friend's Girl" was included on the soundtrack to the 1979 film Over the Edge
Over the Edge (film)
Over the Edge is a drama film directed by Jonathan Kaplan released in 1979. Due to the negative publicity surrounding a wave of recent youth gang films, Over the Edge had a limited theatrical release in late 1979...
, and the song appears on numerous compilation albums, such as the band's 1985 Greatest Hits
Greatest Hits (The Cars album)
Greatest Hits is a six-time platinum-selling compilation album by the new wave band The Cars. It was released in October 1985 on Elektra Records.-Track listing:All songs written by Ric Ocasek.# "Just What I Needed" – 3:43...
, 1995's Just What I Needed: The Cars Anthology
Just What I Needed: The Cars Anthology
Just What I Needed: The Cars Anthology is a career compilation from the 80s New Wave rock group The Cars...
, and 2002's Complete Greatest Hits. A live version of the song by The New Cars
The New Cars
The New Cars was a band formed in 2005 with two of the original members of the 1970s/1980s new wave band The Cars. The band was composed of Todd Rundgren, drummer Prairie Prince, Kasim Sulton, and original Cars members Greg Hawkes and Elliot Easton...
appears on their 2006 debut album, It's Alive!
It's Alive! (album)
It's Alive! is the album released by The New Cars. The album features fifteen live tracks, thirteen of which are songs known as being performed by the original Cars. The remaining two, "I Saw the Light" and "Open My Eyes", were popularized by New Cars member Todd Rundgren...
.
Composition
"My Best Friend's Girl" begins with chords in the lower registerRegister (music)
In music, a register is the relative "height" or range of a note, set of pitches or pitch classes, melody, part, instrument or group of instruments...
of the guitar, a two-bar progression moving from I to IV to V in F. Hand claps enter in bar
Bar (music)
In musical notation, a bar is a segment of time defined by a given number of beats of a given duration. Typically, a piece consists of several bars of the same length, and in modern musical notation the number of beats in each bar is specified at the beginning of the score by the top number of a...
five, and after the eight-bar intro
Introduction (music)
In music, the introduction is a passage or section which opens a movement or a separate piece. In popular music this is often abbreviated as intro...
, the first verse begins featuring Ric Ocasek
Ric Ocasek
Ric Ocasek is an American musician and music producer. He is best known as lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for the rock band, The Cars....
's vocals over a lead guitar lick in the key of F. An organ is introduced in the first chorus
Refrain
A refrain is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse; the "chorus" of a song...
, followed by a rockabilly
Rockabilly
Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music, dating to the early 1950s.The term rockabilly is a portmanteau of rock and hillbilly, the latter a reference to the country music that contributed strongly to the style's development...
guitar lick
Lick (music)
In popular music genres such as rock or jazz music, a lick is "a stock pattern or phrase" consisting of a short series of notes that is used in solos and melodic lines...
which leads to the second verse. The song is composed in contrasting verse-chorus form.
The lyrics depict a man's frustration with a girl who is dating his best friend after the man dated her. The narrator coolly
notes, "She's my best friend's girl, but she used to be mine."
Release and reception
Released in October 1978, "My Best Friend's Girl" entered the U.S. Billboard Hot 100Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
singles chart for the week ending October 21. It peaked at number 35 on the charts in December. In addition, the song reached number 40 on the Dutch Top 40
Dutch Top 40
The Dutch Top 40 is a weekly music chart, which started as the "Veronica Top 40", because the offshore radio station Radio Veronica was the first to introduce it. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" until 1974, when the station was forced to stop broadcasting...
, number 55 in Canada, and number 67 in Australia. The song was the highest-charting UK single of the band's career, peaking at number three in November 1978.
The single was the first picture disc
Picture disc
Picture discs are gramophone records that show images on their playing surface, rather than being of plain black or coloured vinyl.-Development:...
available commercially in the UK.
Music critics have given the track generally favorable reviews. Allmusic's Donald A. Guarisco called the song "one of the classics of the Cars' catalog,"
and Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
writer Kit Rachlis
Kit Rachlis
Kit Rachlis is an American journalist and editor who has held top posts at The Village Voice, LA Weekly, Los Angeles Times, and Los Angeles magazine. In April 2011, he became editor of The American Prospect magazine, a leading liberal political monthly based in Washington, D.C...
called it a wonderful pop song.
"My Best Friend's Girl" was ranked the 12th best song of 1978 by critics Dave Marsh
Dave Marsh
Dave Marsh is an American music critic, author, editor and radio talk show host. He was a formative editor of Creem magazine, has written for various publications such as Newsday, The Village Voice, and Rolling Stone, and has published numerous books about music and musicians, mostly focused on...
and Kevin Stein, and it was named one of "The 1001 Best Songs Ever" in a 2003 issue of Q
Q (magazine)
Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...
magazine.
Some critics have noted the song's similarity in style to Fountains of Wayne
Fountains of Wayne
Fountains of Wayne is an American power pop band that formed in New York City in 1996. The band consists of members Chris Collingwood, Adam Schlesinger, Jody Porter and Brian Young.-Early years:...
's 2003 hit single
Hit single
A hit single is a recorded song or instrumental released as a single that has become very popular. Although it is sometimes used to describe any widely-played or big-selling song, the term "hit" is usually reserved for a single that has appeared in an official music chart through repeated radio...
"Stacy's Mom
Stacy's Mom
"Stacy's Mom" is a hit single by American band Fountains of Wayne, released in 2003 and taken from their album Welcome Interstate Managers....
".
Other versions
NirvanaNirvana (band)
Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...
performed "My Best Friend's Girl" at their final concert on March 1, 1994 in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
.
Punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
band The Frustrators
The Frustrators
The Frustrators are a punk rock band with Jason Chandler , Terry Linehan , Art Tedeschi , and Mike Dirnt...
included a cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of the song on their 2002 album Achtung Jackass.
Bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
novelty band Hayseed Dixie
Hayseed Dixie
Hayseed Dixie is an American band which began in the autumn of 2000 with the release of their first album, A Hillbilly Tribute to AC/DC. The band performs a mixture of cover versions of hard rock songs and original compositions in a style that is a unique fusion of bluegrass and rock music and are...
covered the song on their 2002 album A Hillbilly Tribute to Mountain Love
A Hillbilly Tribute to Mountain Love
A Hillbilly Tribute to Mountain Love is the second album by American band Hayseed Dixie, released in 2002 .-Track listing:#"My Best Friend's Girl" – 2:54#"Centerfold" A Hillbilly Tribute to Mountain Love is the second album by American band Hayseed Dixie, released in 2002 (see 2002 in...
.
Australian hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
band The Choirboys
The Choirboys (band)
The Choirboys are an Australian hard rock band from Sydney formed in 1979 with mainstays Mark Gable on lead vocals and Ian Hulme on bass guitar and were later joined by drummer Paul Wheeler. Their hit "Run to Paradise" reached No. 3 on the Kent Music Report Singles Chart in late 1987. The...
performed the song on their 2006 album Big Bad & Acoustic.
Jamaican reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
singer Half Pint covered it on his 2008 album No Stress Express.
Kris Delmhorst includes it on her 2011 album Cars; her version of the song was getting airplay at Starbucks outlets in October of that year.
Track listing
7" Vinyl- "My Best Friend's Girl" (Ocasek) – 3:44
- "Moving in Stereo" (Hawkes, Ocasek) – 5:15
Chart performance
| Chart (1978) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian ARIA Singles Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
67 |
| Canadian Singles Chart Canadian Singles Chart The Canadian Singles Chart is currently compiled by the U.S.-based music sales tracking company, Nielsen SoundScan . The chart is compiled every Wednesday, and is published by Jam! Canoe on Thursdays.... |
55 |
| Dutch Top 40 Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 is a weekly music chart, which started as the "Veronica Top 40", because the offshore radio station Radio Veronica was the first to introduce it. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" until 1974, when the station was forced to stop broadcasting... |
40 |
| UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
3 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
35 |