I’m just going to put it out there. This song seriously irritates me.
The concept is a guy reassuring his woman of his affection for her. Lines like “Just have to walk away sometimes” suggest that the couple went through a period of estrangement, which makes it understandable why the woman might doubt her man’s genuine love for her.
But honestly, if this situation were to play out in real life, would the guy really get anywhere by calling her “crazy girl” and “silly woman,” before saying “Don’t you know that I love you?” It reminds me of the same cocky attitude heard in The Lost Trailers’ “How ‘Bout You Don’t,” and it sounds just plain disrespectful of the woman’s feelings.
Beyond the chorus, the verses are innocuous enough, but there’s just nothing here to overcome the fact that the song’s hook falls spectacularly flat.
Written by Liz Rose and Lee Brice
Grade: C
Listen: Crazy Girl
I haven’t felt so divided about a single in a while. I love the sound of it, especially that weird, whirry steel thing at the beginning and end, and they sell it with undeniable skill – that “make you all mine” in the second verse is such a cool vocal moment. I’ve always considered Eli Young Band a less potentially grating version of Rascal Flatts.
And yet, this is my least favorite type of song. I hate the title pun that isn’t really a pun, and I almost never like when a male artist poses as the savior of insecure girls (which is also why I hate Bruno Mars’ material) – it almost never feels sincere and just comes across as patronizing.
I’m starting to really hate title puns, which almost mentioned in the review, but didn’t. “Homeboy” is another example, though the title pun was the least of that song’s problems.
The sound seemed a bit typical to me. For the most part, it neither added to nor took away from the songs overall appeal to me.
Ditto to everything in your second parargraph, including Bruno Mars (Ick).
I’m glad to have an opportunity to chime in on this song myself. My complaint echoes Mr. Foster’s, though he expressed it better and more succinctly than I could.
The affection indicated by the lyrics (” …don’t you know that I love you… “) Just can’t overcome the condescending tone of couplets like “crazy girl” and “silly woman“, which (by contemporary standards) seem just a few uncomfortable degrees removed from actual epithets. Whenever I encounter this song on the radio, I tend to switch to another station with an eye-roll, and a damned near reflexive internal recitation of some alternate lyrics that remove the veil of affection and better reflect what I see as the song’s essential disrespect: “stupid *****, come here let me **** you…”
The song’s affectionate disrespect reminds me of that found in American media in the 60’s and early 70’s: the “I Think I’ll Keep Her” Geritol commercial (opposition to which inspired Mary Chapin Carpenter’s song “He Thinks He’ll Keep Her”), or National Airlines’ coquettish “Fly Me” campaign.
(Both of which predated my birth, by the way; I became familiar with them by studying old Doonesbury comics).
Most girls I know that hear this song say they love it. How can you say it’s degrading to women? Your a guy.
I think the reading of the song is different if you’re someone who has been in the position of the narrator in the song.
You could just as easily see this argument happening and the man desperately responding to the female asking “Do you love me” by saying “Are you crazy?”
I’m not saying it’s great writing or anything but there are a few reads to the song where the terms “crazy” and “silly” may not sound as condescending as they do at first glance.
So basically- yes the situation could play out the way the song indicates- albeit with maybe another line in the middle of those two phrases.
Also to. you can’t just discount the verses because they set up why the guy would ask his girlfriend or wife if she is crazy. It’s not as if he is just accusing her of being nuts. He is doing so in the context of- yes I may get angry and walk away at times but I’m never leaving for good and it doesn’t mean I love you any less than I do.
I wasn’t necessarily ‘discounting’ the verses. The thing is that a song’s title hook is such a central component that it’s critical to the song’s overall success or failure (artistically speaking), and in this case, I didn’t consider the verses strong enough to offset that deficiency.
@Jake
I’m not saying that the song is degrading to women as a gender group. I’m saying that in the context of the situation presented, the narrator’s manner of addressing his female companion is disrespectful and condescending.
I don’t think that gender gaps significantly alter the fact that it’s inappropriate to address a person as “crazy” or “silly” in a scenario that calls for seriousness, so I don’t think my being male detracts from the sentiments I’ve expressed.
I know that there are some girls and women who like the song, and I know some myself, but I’m sure each female listener will develop her own personal opinion of the song, such that no particular view could be said to represent the opinion held by women in general.
I think we can agree the “crazy girl” and “silly woman” tags aren’t patronizing in and of themselves; like Brian outlines, you might affectionately kid your significant other with such names while you’re trying to cheer them up or put a passing concern to rest. I think that’s how EYB meant it. But like Ben points out, they set that joke-y language in this scenario where the woman is apparently crying, so…it just unintentionally makes the guy seem insensitive. I see it as sloppy more than sexist.
(Though again, I think the song is patronizing in a more general sense.)
…i know, it leaves my musical taste in doubtful territory, but i really like this song (and the lost trailer’s one) quite a bit, when i hear them.
then again, i also like the biscuits at shoney’s.