Crazy Girl Explained

Crazy Girl
Cover:EYB_Crazy Girl single.jpg
Type:single
Artist:Eli Young Band
Album:Life at Best
Genre:Country
Label:Republic Nashville
Prev Title:Guinevere
Prev Year:2010
Next Title:Even If It Breaks Your Heart
Next Year:2011

"Crazy Girl" is a song recorded by the Eli Young Band, an American country music group. It was released in March 2011 as the fifth single of their career, and the first from their album Life at Best. It won song of the year at the 2012 ACM Awards. The song became their first number 1 hit on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and was named the Number 1 country song of 2011 on the Billboard Year-End Hot Country Songs chart.

Content

Liz Rose co-wrote the song with Curb Records artist Lee Brice. According to Rose, the idea for the song came after the two began talking about how "females[…] have our crazy moments". Of the opening stanza, Rose said, "I know I've had those relationships on both sides, where you wanted to tell somebody[…]'Why don't you just chill? I'm not going anywhere!" Brice added that the song's melody "just took us to a place. It was kind of a sensitive kind of song, but it still had this edge to it that was really cool." He also thought that Rose was "good" at writing with a new artist such as him.[1] Bassist Jon Jones said of the song, "Any time you find one [song] that's written a little differently, that's good."[2]

Critical reception

Kyle Ward of Roughstock gave the song four stars out of five, praising the "particularly good" melody and the "effectively charming" lyrics, although he thought that it would have been better with a third verse.[3] Ben Foster of Country Universe gave the song a C grade, saying that the narrator's attitude sounds "plain disrespectful of the woman's feelings." He goes on to say that "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."[4]

Music video

The music video was directed by Brian Lazzaro and premiered in March 2011. A live music video was directed by Mason Dixon. The music video features a man and a woman, presumably a couple. The man rescues the woman from a psychiatric hospital. As they are about to leave the hospital, the video cuts to a guard behind them with his hands on his hips. Finally, this man, part of the Eli Young Band, wakes up on the tour bus with his girlfriend curled up beside him.

Chart performance

Year-end charts

Chart (2011)Position
US Country Songs (Billboard)[5] 1
US Billboard Hot 100[6] 76

Decade-end charts

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Eli Young Band, 'Crazy Girl' — Lyrics Uncovered. Conaway. Alanna. June 27, 2011. Taste of Country. July 1, 2011.
  2. Web site: Eli Young Band gets to return fans' appreciation. Sauro. Tony. June 4, 2011. Recordnet.com. July 1, 2011.
  3. Web site: Eli Young Band — "Crazy Girl". Ward. Kyle. March 25, 2011. Roughstock. July 1, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110402072503/http://www.roughstock.com/blog/eli-young-band-crazy-girl-single-review. April 2, 2011. dead.
  4. Web site: Eli Young Band — "Crazy Girl". Foster. Ben. October 4, 2011. CountryUniverse. October 21, 2011.
  5. Best of 2011: Country Songs . . . 2011 . December 10, 2011.
  6. Best of 2011: Hot 100 Songs . . . 2011 . 2011-12-09.
  7. Decade-End Charts: Hot Country Songs. Billboard. January 23, 2020.