Cosmic Girl (song)

Composition

"Cosmic Girl" is a disco song, a dance music song based on rhythmic "looped beats" "to give it an off-center, otherworldly" sound. The syncopated rhythm contains 10 pulses which occur inside a 32-beat pattern, with pulses on beats 2, 5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 22, 23 and 26. Coincidentally, the first four beats of this pattern are the same as the George Gershwin song "I Got Rhythm". Jamiroquai's psychedelic lyric evokes a spacey environment, using terms such as "zero gravity", "hyperspace", "galaxy" and "quasar". A disco-era aura is achieved by incorporating early electronic synthesizers along with disco-style string parts also produced by synthesizers.

Performance

While the single, and especially its chart performance, received mixed reviews from critics, it has become one of the better-known tracks of the band, and a concert staple. Live versions usually last for 7–8 minutes, nearly double the duration of the album version. In 2006, it was reissued as part of the "Classic Club Mixes" series, which also included "Space Cowboy", "Deeper Underground", "Love Foolosophy" and "Alright". The B-side to the single was an instrumental, "Slipin' 'N' Slidin'", a rather obscure song originating from another old Jamiroquai tune called "Mr Boogie", which was a live-only song. "Slipin 'N' Slidin'", just like "Mr Boogie", also had a vocal version.

Music video

The video, directed by Adrian Moat, shows three famous supercars driving and racing each other through several highways and mountain roads across a desert landscape from clear day-light to dawn. The cars on the video are a black Ferrari F355 Berlinetta, a purple Lamborghini Diablo SE30 and a red Ferrari F40. Jay Kay appears to be driving the purple Lamborghini with Stuart Zender on the co-pilot seat, but the drivers of the other cars are not shown in detail. It has four different edits: Versions 1–3, and the so-called 'Jay's cut' version. Before filming, Jay's Diablo had to be shipped overseas for the video shoot. Apparently, the company which was hired to transport the car had a driver that was keen to drive the car. Jay let the guy drive the car, but he was involved in an accident which wrecked the car, rendering the $239,000 car completely unusable. The car that appears in the video was rented from a local collector. The F40 was provided by the Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason, who drove in the video as well. While filming, the driver's side window in Jay Kay's Lamborghini was accidentally smashed. Due to the tight timescales involved, the video was still shot, but with the window removed. This is why Jay Kay appears to be driving around the desert late at night with his windows down. Jay Kay mentioned in an interview that the Lamborghini had its windscreen removed to aid with the filming, due to space limitations inside, and the windscreen angle from outside. The missing windscreen can be seen when the Lamborghini overtakes the black Ferrari on an uphill shot. The video was filmed at the Cabo de Gata, in Spain.

Track listing

1. "Cosmic Girl" (Radio Edit) – 3:45
2. "Slipin' 'N' Slidin'" – 3:36
3. "Didjital Vibrations" – 5:47
4. "Cosmic Girl" (Classic Radio Mix) – 4:02

1. "Cosmic Girl" (Album Version) – 4:03
2. "Cosmic Girl" (Quasar Mix) – 7:41
3. "Cosmic Girl" (David Morales Classic Mix) – 9:22
4. "Cosmic Girl" (Cosmic Dub) – 6:47

1. "Cosmic Girl" (Album Version) – 4:03
2. "Cosmic Girl" (Classic Mix)
3. "Cosmic Girl" (Quasar Mix) – 7:41
4. "Cosmic Girl" (Cosmic Dub) – 6:47
5. "Cosmic Girl" (Quasar Dub)

1. "Cosmic Girl" (Radio Edit) – 03:45
2. "Slipin N' Slidin'" – 03:36

1. "Cosmic Girl" (Radio Edit) – 03:45