A-side "Petróleumlámpa" Released 1970 Length 5:49 | B-side "Gyöngyhajú lány" Recorded 1969 | |
Genre Psychedelic rock, progressive rock, hard rock | ||
"Gyöngyhajú lány" (The girl with pearly hair) is a song by Hungarian rock band Omega. It was written in 1968, composed in 1969, and released on their album 10 000 lépés. "Gyöngyhajú lány" was very popular in many countries, including Germany, Great Britain, France, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, and Bulgaria.
The lyrics were written by Anna Adamis, the music was composed by Gábor Presser and the song was sung by János Kóbor.
In 1970 the single Petróleumlámpa / Gyöngyhajú lány was released and the song gained popularity.
Omega also recorded other versions of this song in foreign languages: English (Pearls in Her Hair) and German (Perlen im Haar).
Gyöngyhajú lány was covered in Poland (as Dziewczyna o perłowych włosach), Czech Republic (as Dívka s perlami ve vlasech), Yugoslavia (as Devojka biserne kose by Griva), Bulgaria (as Батальонът се строява / Batalyonat se stroyava by Дует "Южен Вятър" / Duet "Juzhen Vyatar") and Lithuania (as Meilės Nėra by Keistuolių Teatras). It was also covered by Scorpions (as White Dove on Live Bites) and Frank Schöbel (as Schreib es mir in den Sand). The song was also remixed (e.g. by Kozmix).
In 2013, hip-hop artist Kanye West sampled the song in the outro of "New Slaves" without personally asking the band for permission, although the sample was cleared for use in the album by their label, Hungaroton Records. However, in May 2016 songwriter Gábor Presser filed a lawsuit seeking $2.5 million in damages for copyright infringement for the use of the sample.
In March 2014, the song was used for the reveal trailer of the video game This War of Mine.