Girish Mahajan (Editor)

Are You Gonna Be My Girl

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Format
  
CD

Genre
  
Garage rock revival

Label
  
Elektra

Recorded
  
2003

Length
  
3:33

Released
  
August 25, 2003 (2003-08-25) May 24, 2004 (2004-05-24) (US Release)

"Are You Gonna Be My Girl" is a song by Australian rock band Jet, featured on their 2003 album Get Born. It was the first single from the album, released in 2003 in Australia and the United Kingdom, and in 2004 in the United States.

Contents

The song hit number 29 on the Billboard Hot 100 making it their 1st Top 40 hit and their highest charting single; it also hit number 3 on the Modern Rock Tracks and number 7 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks. Even though it did not hit number 1 like the next hit, "Cold Hard Bitch", "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" stayed longer on the charts and is the band's most successful song, often regarded as their signature song.

Structure

Written by Nic Cester and Cameron Muncey, the song is often cited for similarities to Iggy Pop's "Lust for Life" (particularly its drum pattern and near-identical guitar riff); and the 1999 song "Screwdriver" from The White Stripes. The band, however, argues that "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" has more in common with 1960s Motown songs, namely "I'm Ready For Love" by Martha And The Vandellas and "You Can't Hurry Love" by The Supremes.

Chris Cester responded to the media debacle, stating in a Jared Story interview that the beat was taken from Motown, referring to a meeting between Iggy Pop and himself:

"It's funny because I asked him point blank about that. He said I was crazy. He said that when he and David Bowie were writing "Lust for Life", they were ripping off Motown's beat. It's funny that he said that to me because we also thought we were ripping off Motown more than "Lust for Life". To be honest with you that kind of annoyed me a lot, because I always thought it was really lazy. People just go well Lust for Life is more well-known so that's what they go for, but if you listen to a song like "You Can't Hurry Love" (The Supremes) I think you'll find its closer to "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" than "Lust for Life" ever was. And that's what Iggy said as well."

Music video

The music video is shot in black and white, and shows Jet performing in a blank studio. As they play, black ink starts pouring out of their equipment and forms a landscape resembling the cover art on their album Get Born and The Beatles album Revolver. The video was shot at Vinopolis, London. Cameron Muncey can be seen wearing an AC/DC shirt.

  • The song was used in several video games, TV shows and films including Eurotrip, What Happens in Vegas, Flushed Away, Zoey 101, Rock Band, Guitar Hero Live, Madden NFL 2004, and Rocksmith 2014.
  • The song is used in the 2006 film Flushed Away, in a scene where the main character Roddy St. James is flushed down the toilet by Sid.
  • The song is used as the main theme song for Live at the Apollo.
  • The song was used in Apple's advertising for the iPod Classic 3 and by Vodafone for a TV advert.

    • Australian versions

  • iTunes EP
    1. "Are You Gonna Be My Girl"
    2. "Last Chance"
    3. "Hey Kids"
    4. "You Were Right"

    American versions

  • iTunes EP
    1. "Are You Gonna Be My Girl (UK Acoustic Version)"
    2. "That's Alright Mama"
    3. "Cigarettes and Cola"
    4. "You Were Right"
    5. "Are You Gonna Be My Girl"

    Personnel

  • Nic Cester – lead vocals, guitar
  • Chris Cester – drums, tambourine, backing vocals
  • Cameron Muncey – lead guitar, backing vocals
  • Mark Wilson – bass guitar

    • APRA Awards

    The APRA Awards are presented annually from 1982 by the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA).

    References

    Are You Gonna Be My Girl Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA