Southern Girls
{{about||the Saliva song|Cinco Diablo}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Southern Girls
| cover = Southern Girls single cover.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Cheap Trick
| album = In Color
| B-side = You're All Talk
| released = 1977
| recorded = 1977
| studio = Kendun Recorders, Los Angeles{{cite web|title=Cheap Trick - In Color|year=1998 |url=http://www.discogs.com/Cheap-Trick-In-Color/release/2497823|publisher=Discogs|accessdate=2012-06-07}}
| venue =
| genre =
- Rock{{cite news|first= Noel|last= Murray|title= A beginners’ guide to the heyday of power-pop, 1972-1986|website= The A.V. Club |date= 11 October 2012|access-date= 19 December 2024|url= https://www.avclub.com/a-beginners-guide-to-the-heyday-of-power-pop-1972-198-1798234154|quote=...classic, catchy rock anthems like “Southern Girls,” “Come On, Come On,” and “I Want You To Want Me"...}}
- power pop{{cite book|first= John M. |last= Borack |author-link= John M. Borack |title= Shake Some Action: The Ultimate Power Pop Guide |year= 2007 |page= 41 |publisher= Not Lame Recordings |isbn= 978-0-9797714-0-8}}
| length = 3:43
| label = Epic
| writer = Rick Nielsen, Tom Petersson
| producer = Tom Werman
| prev_title = I Want You to Want Me
| prev_year = 1977
| next_title = Surrender
| next_year = 1978
}}
"Southern Girls" is a song written by Rick Nielsen and Tom Petersson that was first released by Cheap Trick on their 1977 album In Color, produced by Tom Werman.{{cite web|title=In Color credits|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/in-color-mw0000195525/credits|website=Allmusic|accessdate=2012-06-07}} It was also released as a single. It has been covered by a number of artists, including Bangs, Everclear and Gilby Clarke.
Lyrics and music
"Southern Girls" was in Cheap Trick's repertoire by September 1975, when it was included on a demo the band made at Ardent Studios in Memphis, which also included "Come On, Come On," "Taxman" and the still unreleased "Fan Club." Authors Mike Hayes and Ken Sharp detect influences on the song from The Beach Boys and The Yardbirds.{{cite book|title=Reputation is a Fragile Thing|author1=Hayes, M. |author2=Sharp, K. |name-list-style=amp |pages=29, 46, 178, 218|year=1998|publisher=Poptastic|isbn=978-0-9662081-0-8}} Allmusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine concurs with the Beach Boys influence, calling it a "'California Girls' homage".{{cite web|title=In Color|author=Erlewine, S.T.|author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/in-color-r3730|website=Allmusic|accessdate=2012-05-25}} UPI's Bruce Meyer also notes that it cops "some Beach Boys licks and harmonies."{{cite news|title=Cheap Trick: A Great New Band|author=Meyer, B.|newspaper=Beaver County Times|date=September 14, 1977|page=15|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=WBwvAAAAIBAJ&pg=1373,2545510&dq=southern-girls+cheap-trick&hl=en|accessdate=2012-05-25}} Nielsen compared the drum beat of the song to a "glam style Gary Glitter rhythm. Bun E. Carlos' drumming on the song has been praised by critics, and it is one of Carlos' favorite Cheap Trick songs. For example, author John M. Borack claims that Carlos' drumming "propels this poppy, peppy treat straight into the stratosphere.{{cite book|title=Shake Some Action: The Ultimate Power Pop Guide|author=Borack, J.M.|pages=40–42, 130|year=2007|publisher=Shake Some Action - PowerPop |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pqtGTJgE4rEC&pg=PA40|isbn=9780979771408}} Nielsen also claims that one of the beauties of the song is that it only uses a few chords.
The lyrics were inspired by women the band met in Canada, north of their Illinois roots; it is actually about girls from Southern Canada. However, using the phrase "Southern Canadian Girls" in the hook didn't sound good to Nielsen, so he just left it as "Southern Girls."
The single version of "Southern Girls" differed from the album version in using a "repeat-fade ending", which producer Tom Werman liked better than the album approach.
Reception
Record World praised the song in a contemporary review.{{cite magazine|magazine=Record World|date=December 10, 1977|accessdate=2023-02-15|title=Single Picks|page=38|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Record-World/70s/77/Record-World-1977-12-10.pdf}} In The Rough Guide to Rock, critic Jonathan Swift called "Southern Girls" a "classic," as did Allmusic's Erlewine.{{cite book|title=The Rough Guide to Rock|author=Swift, J.|editor=Buckley, P.|page=[https://archive.org/details/roughguidetorock0003unse/page/186 186]|year=2003|edition=3rd|publisher=Rough Guides|isbn=9781843531050|url=https://archive.org/details/roughguidetorock0003unse/page/186}}{{cite web|title=Budokan II|author=Erlewine, S.T.|author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/budokan-ii-r71690|website=Allmusic|accessdate=2012-05-25}} Author Scott Miller called it "a treasure."{{cite book|title=Music: What Happened?|author=Miller, S.|page=95|year=2010|publisher=125 Records|isbn=9780615381961}} CD Review stated that in "Southern Girls" Cheap Trick "knew how to wrap winning hooks around subversive romantic notions that made them sound punk credible."{{cite journal|title=Shake It Up! - American Power Pop II|journal=CD Review|volume=9|issue=7–12|year=1993}} Ed Masley of The Arizona Republic called "Southern Girls" In Color's "most infectious pop song."{{cite news|title=Cheap Trick's best 5 albums|author=Masley, E.|newspaper=The Arizona Republic|date=November 14, 2008|url=http://www.azcentral.com/ent/music/articles/2008/11/14/20081114cheaptrickhotlist.html|accessdate=2012-05-25}} Andrew McGinn of Springfield News-Sun claimed that "it doesn't get any catchier than 'Southern Girls.'"{{cite web|title=The lesser known but still good albums|author=McGinn, A.|url=http://www.springfieldnewssun.com/e/content/oh/story/entertainment/2007/03/01/sns030107lifemcginn.html|publisher=Springfield News-Sun|date=March 1, 2007|accessdate=2012-05-25}} Ultimate Classic Rock critic Annie Zaleski rated "Southern Girls" as Cheap Trick's 5th greatest song, commenting on its "swinging bar-band piano licks and a swaggering groove to go along with gritty guitars."{{cite web|title=Top 10 Cheap Trick songs|author=Zaleski, Annie|url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/cheap-trick-songs/|accessdate=2021-12-01|publisher=Ultimate Classic Rock|date=December 17, 2015}}
Other appearances
Although "Southern Girls" was included in the Budokan concerts, the live version was not included on the original 1979 release of Cheap Trick at Budokan, but it was later included on the 1994 live album Budokan II. It was later included on 1998's At Budokan: The Complete Concert and the 30th anniversary version of Cheap Trick at Budokan, released in 2009. which also included the performance of the song on DVD.{{cite web|title=At Budokan: 30th Anniversary Collectors Edition|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/at-budokan-30th-anniversary-collectors-edition-r1440547/review|author=Erlewine, S.T.|author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine|website=Allmusic|accessdate=2012-05-25}} SPIN claimed that while the live version does not "one-up the essentially perfect studio original," it does "thunder gorgeously."{{cite news|title=Cheap Trick Live at Budokan II|author=Cooper, D.|pages=90–91|date=August 1994|newspaper=SPIN}}
The song has been included on several Cheap Trick compilation albums, including Sex, America, Cheap Trick, Authorized Greatest Hits and The Essential Cheap Trick.{{cite web|title=Southern Girls|url=http://www.allmusic.com/song/southern-girls-mt0001483372|website=Allmusic|accessdate=2012-06-07}} It has also been included on several multi-artist power pop compilations.{{cite news|title=Power Pop|author=Brod, D.|page=119|date=October 2004|newspaper=SPIN}}
Covers
Bangs covered "Southern Girls" on their 2000 album Sweet Revenge.{{cite web|title=Sweet Revenge|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/sweet-revenge-r475803|author=Wiznitzer, A.|website=Allmusic|accessdate=2012-05-25}} CMJ described their version as "ghostly" and noted that "in less restrictive times this could have been their "Crimson and Clover."{{cite news|title=Bangs: Sweet Revenge Review|author=Carioli, C.|newspaper=CMJ New Music Monthly|date=August 2000|page=70}} J.M. Lim of the Associated Press called it "an entrancing mid-tempo turn" which helps "distinguish 'Sweet Revenge' from the usual garage bash set."{{cite news|title=Bangs: Sweet Revenge|author=Lim, J.M.|page=17|newspaper=Moscow-Pullman Daily News|date=June 15, 2000|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=PcQjAAAAIBAJ&pg=4271,1671958&dq=southern-girls+cheap-trick&hl=en|accessdate=2012-05-25}} Gilby Clarke also covered the song in 2000, on Cheap Dream: A Tribute to Cheap Trick.{{cite web|title=Cheap Dream: A Tribute to Cheap Trick|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/cheap-dream-a-tribute-to-cheap-trick-r483053|author=Campbell, A.|website=Allmusic|accessdate=2012-05-25}}
Everclear covered "Southern Girls" on their 2008 album The Vegas Years.{{cite web|title=The Vegas Years|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-vegas-years-r1341451/review|author=Erlewine, S.T.|author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine|website=Allmusic|accessdate=2012-05-25}} Stephen Thomas Erlewine described the Everclear version as a "lead-footed boogie."
The Decemberists played "Southern Girls" to close their March 27, 2007 show with a solo performance by Colin Meloy on acoustic guitar. The show was broadcast live on 88.5 WXPN FM in Upper Darby, PA.
Mike Doughty covered the song on his 2012 album The Flip Is Another Honey.
According to Cheap Trick lead singer Robin Zander, at one point Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings were considering having Nelson perform "Southern Girls" for the 1980 movie Urban Cowboy, but that didn't materialize.
Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong covered "Southern Girls" on the 2018 EP Razor Baby under his solo moniker The Longshot.{{cite web|url=https://open.spotify.com/track/2oFOKeQkROwO9WC0mH5vkn|title=Southern Girls|website=Spotify }}