A-side "Peggy Sue" Genre Rock | Format 7" vinyl Length 2:27 | |
Released August 28, 1978 (1978-08-28) Recorded October 1976 (1976-10)–1978 (1978) | ||
"Hey Little Tomboy" is a song written by Brian Wilson for American rock band the Beach Boys, released on their 1978 album M.I.U. Album, and as the B-side to their single "Peggy Sue". The song was nearly included as a track on Adult/Child before the album was rejected.
The Beach Boys' recording originates from March–October 1976 15 Big Ones/Love You sessions. Wilson, describing "Hey Little Tomboy" as a contender for the Love You track list, said: "It's about a little girl who is sort of a rough neck, and this guy convinces her to become a pretty girl, and sure enough she slowly turns into a pretty—she starts shaving her legs and wearing short sticks—puts lipstick on and makeup. So she's a little tomboy. … We're very happy with it."
Biographer Peter Ames Carlin wrote: "[the song] reveled uncomfortably in an adolescent girl who is putting away her skateboard and baseball mitt in order to get hot and heavy with the swain portrayed by Mike [Love]. … [it] may be the most unsettling moment in the entire recorded history of the Beach Boys."