Boyfriend (Ashlee Simpson song)

Song information

The lyrics of the song consist of Simpson insisting to another girl that "You really got it wrong: I didn't steal your boyfriend." Simpson has denied rumors that the song refers to an alleged relationship with Wilmer Valderrama, ex-boyfriend of Lindsay Lohan, saying "It's not about one person in particular, it's just something every girl can relate to...It's a song about [how] every girl out there sometimes thinks you stole her boyfriend. It's just making fun of that." She has, however, said that the song was her way of making fun of something she went through, and has said that she leaves the question of who the song is about up to the imagination; in one interview, Ryan Seacrest observed that she grinned every time she denied that it was about "anyone in particular".

The song has been described as "a punky love triangle jam". One review noted its rock guitar positively while saying that the song lacked "distinctiveness".

Originally, "L.O.V.E." had been planned to be released as the first single from I Am Me, but "Boyfriend" soon replaced it ("L.O.V.E." did, however, become the album's second single).

Months after it was promoted in the U.S., "Boyfriend" began to be promoted in the UK; Simpson went to the UK and performed the song on television shows there in January and February 2006. It was the only song from I Am Me released in the UK due to the commitments Simpson had in the U.S.

A popular well known remix was done by Eddie Baez. The remix had rock and dance elements mixed together.

Music video

The single's music video, directed by Marc Webb, was filmed in Los Angeles, California over two days, August 31–September 1, 2005. It was the subject of an episode of the MTV show Making the Video that aired on September 12, with the completed video premiering at the end of the episode. Simpson appeared to premiere the video on Total Request Live on September 13, and it debuted on the TRL top ten countdown on September 14 at #9, rising to number #3 the next day, and reaching #1 on September 20. It spent a total of three days at #1, and was on the countdown for 32 days, with its last day being November 7.

The video starts off with a car chase as Simpson is pursued by the police. Eventually she evades them and reaches a junkyard, where she and her band perform the song before a crowd of young people. At the end of the video Simpson jumps into the arms of Efren Ramirez, and he carries her away.

The music video won the award for Best Pop Video at the MTV Australia Video Music Awards in April 2006.

Chart performance

"Boyfriend" debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 in September at #71 thanks in part to its strong downloads, and in its second week of release, it climbed from #71 to #24 (also rising from #32 to #7 on the Hot Digital Songs chart), making it Simpson's second biggest hit on the Hot 100 to date ("Pieces of Me" reached #5 on the Hot 100 in 2004). Though it continued to drop for a couple of weeks after reaching #24, it later rebounded on the charts and hit a new peak of #19, making "Boyfriend" Simpson's second top twenty U.S. hit. In its 17th week on the chart, after falling out of the top 50, "Boyfriend" rebounded from #75 to #34; this put it ahead of "L.O.V.E.", Simpson's second I Am Me single, which was at #36 and also rising on the Hot 100.

"Boyfriend" is also Ashlee's third song to reach the top 10 in Australia, where it debuted on the chart for the week ending October 31 and had the highest debut of the week at #8; this was her highest debut to date on the ARIA chart. However, it wasn't able to be her highest peak ("Pieces of Me" reached #7), since it fell to #9 on the following week, then to #10 in its third week on the chart and to #12 in its fourth week. "Boyfriend" was also accredited as a gold single in Australia.

In Canada, "Boyfriend" peaked at #99.

In the UK, "Boyfriend" was released on 30 January 2006 and charted in early February. It debuted and peaked at number 12 (spending four weeks in the top 40), her lowest charting single so far (although it was her third top 20 hit), behind "Pieces of Me" (peaking at #4) and "La La" (peaking at #11).

"Boyfriend" was on the RIANZ Top 40 Singles chart in New Zealand from November 2005 to January 2006. The song debuted at #23 in early November, where it remained in its second week, before rising to #21 in its third week. It then fell to number 30 before rising back to number 26 in its fifth week. In its sixth week it fell again to number 37, and was then off the chart for two weeks before returning at number 40; subsequently it fell off the chart again for one week and then returned at number 37 for its eighth and final week on the chart.

The song reached number 19 in Norway. In Austria, it debuted and peaked at number 45.

Performances

Simpson performed "Boyfriend" on Sessions@AOL on the Internet and subsequently on Saturday Night Live on the October 8/9 episode, as the second of her two performances that night (the first being "Catch Me When I Fall"). On the album's U.S. release date, October 18, she performed the song on Good Morning America and Total Request Live, and then on the October 21 episode of The Tonight Show and the October 24 episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Aside from these performances, she also sings "Boyfriend" on tour.

In January 2006, she performed the song on Top of the Pops Reloaded in the UK. Ashlee then went on to perform "Boyfriend" on the UK's Top Of The Pops on February 5. On April 12, she sang "Boyfriend" at the MTV Australia Video Music Awards (which she also hosted), before starting to sing "L.O.V.E."

Track listing and formats

These are the formats and track listings of major single releases of "Boyfriend".

1. "Boyfriend"
2. "Boyfriend" (Instrumental)
3. "La La" (Fernando Garibay Edit)
4. "Boyfriend" (Video)

1. "Boyfriend"
2. "Boyfriend" (Garcia & Page remix)
3. "La La" (Fernando Garibay edit)
4. "Boyfriend" (video)

1. "Boyfriend"
2. "Pieces of Me" (album version)

1. "Boyfriend"
2. "Boyfriend" (Frantic Remix)

Remixes and other versions