The Girl in That Song : Fact or Fiction

by Amanda Flinner

Take it from Billy Joel: writing a song about a girl is not a good idea. "Every time I wrote a song for a person I was in a relationship with, it didn't last," Joel said. "It was kind of like the curse. Here's your song - we might as well say goodbye now."

So you might not have lasting love, but at least you'll have a lasting hit. Some artists skirted the issue by singing about fictional females, but plenty of songs are about real girls, too. Can you tell the fact from the fiction about "The Girl in That Song"?

List of song written for a girl

More Fact or Fiction

Comments: 7

Hsoj from Hellgot all the ones from music legends correct, and the Knack and Rick Springfield too ... then you throw me a one hit wonder like the Plain White T's for me to get wrong
Lisa from Denmarkfour right! :D
Linda from NjOne wrong. Who said this was harder than the music quiz?
Sasha from Murray St. this was even harder than the music quiz..
Niles from Belpre,ohnot too bad for a 67 yr. ol' man
Scotty from Cheyenne, WyNeat thing about Songfacts, once someone claims to have the "facts" about a song, go to the song location in the archives and look at all the speculation that's gone before...the recollections of a man's father and an encounter with Walter Becker for "Rikki Don't Lose that Number" is a trip!
Jim from North Billerica, MaI got one wrong. I have to admit I did guess at one or two.

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More Songfacts:

Crash Into MeDave Matthews Band

The Dave Matthews Band song "Crash Into Me" seems pretty romantic, but the guy in the song is kind of a stalker. Matthews calls him "the kind of man you'd call the police on."

The OneMemphis Bleek

Rapper Memphis Bleek's 2005 album track "The One" is notable for featuring a then-unknown Rihanna on the hook. It was the Barbadian singer's first-ever major-label appearance.

ShoutThe Isley Brothers

Otis Day And The Knights, the fictional band created to perform "Shout" in the movie Animal House, became a real band, performing the song at colleges and other venues.

StanEminem

Thanks to Eminem's song, the word "stan" was added to the Oxford American Dictionary in 2017. It means an obsessive fan.

VogueMadonna

Every film star mentioned in Madonna's "Vogue" has since died. The last was Lauren Bacall, who passed away in 2014.

Cinnamon GirlNeil Young

Neil Young was married when he wrote "Cinnamon Girl," which clearly was not about his wife. He had a hard time explaining it to her.