Graveyard Girl Explained

Graveyard Girl
Cover:M83 - Graveyard Girl.jpg
Type:single
Artist:M83
Album:Saturdays = Youth
Recorded:2007; Rockfield Studios, Wales
Length:4:51
Prev Title:Couleurs
Prev Year:2008
Next Title:Kim & Jessie
Next Year:2008

"Graveyard Girl" is a song by French electronic act M83. Written by Anthony Gonzalez with his brother Yann, it was released in April 2008 as the second single from M83's fifth studio album, Saturdays = Youth.

Background and composition

Anthony Gonzalez cited English band Tears for Fears and Scottish band Cocteau Twins, as well as John Hughes teen films The Breakfast Club and Sixteen Candles, as inspirations for Saturdays = Youth.[1] [2] A girl resembling Molly Ringwald appears on the album cover, and the lyrics and music video for "Graveyard Girl" further highlight these influences.[3] "I wanted to have the feeling of a teenager mixed with this period of the Eighties," Gonzalez said.[1] The song tells the story of a goth girl Gonzalez once knew who "worships Satan" but "dreams of a sister like Molly Ringwald."[4]

Critical reception

Spin's Mosi Reeves called "Graveyard Girl" one of the album's "few compelling songs."[5] Dave Hughes of Slant Magazine said the song is "certainly the most typically, successfully pop moment this difficult, often transcendent act has ever produced." Pitchfork's Amy Phillips wrote that "Anthony Gonzalez makes the teen years seem idyllic, a time in life when all emotion is pure and beautiful," and that the song is "melodramatic, overblown, and even a little bit silly. But then again, so is high school."[6] Jer Fairall of PopMatters suggested that on "Graveyard Girl", M83 found "pure pop perfection by dipping into the pool of mid-'80s synth-pop."[7] Treble's Tyler Parks noted: "It is quite possible that no one has ever sung quite so sweetly of someone worshipping Satan."[8]

Accolades

PublicationCountryAccoladeYearRank
PitchforkUSTop 100 Tracks of 2008200846
PopMattersUSBest 50 Singles of 2008200817
RockdeluxSpainLo Mejor de 2008[9] 200940
TrebleUSTop 50 Songs of 200820081
The Village VoiceUS2008 Pazz & Jop[10] 200846

Other versions and appearances

A remix by French DJ-producer Yuksek serves as the single's B-side. ParkerLab's Dusted remix appears on M83's We Own the Sky EP, released in 2009. "Graveyard Girl" is used in the 2010 film The Last Song.[11]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 7 April 2008. Stosuy. Brandon. New M83 Video - 'Graveyard Girl' . . 24 August 2011.
  2. Leven. Jeff. 15 April 2008. M83: 'Saturdays = Youth' - Music Reviews. . 24 August 2011.
  3. Hughes. Dave. 14 April 2008. Review: M83, Saturdays=Youth . . 24 August 2011.
  4. Web site: Norris. John. 24 June 2008. M83's Anthony Gonzalez Talks 'Saturdays = Youth', His Ode To Teenage Life . https://web.archive.org/web/20221001015007/https://www.mtv.com/news/5ff9ga/m83s-anthony-gonzalez-talks-saturdays-youth-his-ode-to-teenage-life-by-john-norris. dead. October 1, 2022. . 24 August 2011.
  5. Reeves. Mosi. April 2008. Reviews: New CDs. Spin. 24. 4. 100. 0886-3032.
  6. Web site: 15 December 2008. The 100 Best Tracks of 2008 . . 24 August 2011. 6.
  7. 7 December 2008. The Best Singles of 2008 . . 24 August 2011.
  8. Web site: Parks. Tyler. 8 December 2008. The Top 50 Songs of 2008. Treble. 24 August 2011. 5.
  9. January 2009. Lo Mejor de 2008. Rockdelux. 1. 269. 1138-2864.
  10. News: Pazz & Jop Singles. The Village Voice. 24 August 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20090201112814/https://www.villagevoice.com/pazznjop/singles/2008/. 1 February 2009.
  11. Web site: Reynolds. Simon. 26 April 2010. 'The Last Song' - Movie Review . . 24 August 2011.