Graveyard Girl

"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.

"Graveyard Girl"
Single by M83
from the album Saturdays = Youth
Released28 April 2008 (2008-04-28)
Recorded2007; Rockfield Studios, Wales
Genre
Length4:51
Label
Songwriter(s)
  • Anthony Gonzalez
  • Yann Gonzalez
Producer(s)
  • Ken Thomas (producer)
  • Ewan Pearson
  • Anthony Gonzalez (co-producers)
M83 singles chronology
"Couleurs"
(2008)		 "Graveyard Girl"
(2008)		 "Kim & Jessie"
(2008)

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."[3] 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
Publication Country Accolade Year Rank
Pitchfork Media US Top 100 Tracks of 2008[6] 2008 46
PopMatters US Best 50 Singles of 2008[7] 2008 17
Rockdelux Spain Lo Mejor de 2008[9] 2009 40
Treble US Top 50 Songs of 2008[8] 2008 1
The Village Voice US 2008 Pazz & Jop[10] 2008 46

Track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Graveyard Girl"
  • Anthony Gonzalez
  • Yann Gonzalez
4:51
2."Graveyard Girl" (Yuksek remix)
  • A. Gonzalez
  • Y. Gonzalez
5:13

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.[11] "Graveyard Girl" is used in the 2010 film The Last Song.[12]

gollark: Technically I *could* transmit FM radio. Also technically, I can't transmit it at any significant power and doing so would be illegal.
gollark: idea: replace osmarks internet radio™ with a constant 440Hz buzzing noise.
gollark: There was some sort of US plan to have orbital nuclear-bomb-pumped X-ray lasers in orbit, but it never went anywhere.
gollark: Well, I could use the orbital laser network to knock them out of the sky beforehand.
gollark: About whatnow?

References
  1. "New M83 Video - 'Graveyard Girl'". Stereogum. 2008-04-07. Retrieved 2011-08-24.
  2. Leven, Jeff (2008-04-15). "M83: 'Saturdays = Youth' - Music Reviews". Paste. Retrieved 2011-08-24.
  3. Hughes, Dave (2008-04-14). "M83: 'Saturdays = Youth' - Review". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 2011-08-24.
  4. Norris, John (2008-06-24). "M83's Anthony Gonzalez Talks 'Saturdays = Youth', His Ode To Teenage Life". MTV. Retrieved 2011-08-24.
  5. Reeves, Mosi (April 2008). "Reviews: New CDs". Spin. 24 (4): 100. ISSN 0886-3032.
  6. Phillips, Amy (2008-12-15). "The 100 Best Tracks of 2008". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 2011-08-24.
  7. Fairall, Jer (2008-12-19). "The Best Singles of 2008". PopMatters. Retrieved 2011-08-24.
  8. Parks, Tyler (2008-12-08). "The Top 50 Songs of 2008". Treble. Archived from the original on 2011-10-01. Retrieved 2011-08-24.
  9. "Lo Mejor de 2008". Rockdelux. 1 (269). January 2009. ISSN 1138-2864.
  10. "Pazz & Jop Singles". The Village Voice. Retrieved 2011-08-24.
  11. "New M83 Video - 'Graveyard Girl'". Stereogum. 2009-03-30. Retrieved 2011-08-24.
  12. Reynolds, Simon (2010-04-26). "'The Last Song' - Movie Review". Digital Spy. Retrieved 2011-08-24.
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