"A Girl Like You" is a song by British singer-songwriter Edwyn Collins from his third solo studio album, Gorgeous George (1994)[3] It was released as a single in December 1994 by Setanta Records and peaked at number four on the UK Singles Chart. Outside the United Kingdom, "A Girl Like You" topped the charts in Belgium (Flanders) and Iceland and peaked within the top ten in several countries, including Australia, France, Germany and Sweden, the top 20 of the charts in Canada and the top 40 of the charts in the United States. There were different versions of the music video made for the song, directed by John Flansburgh and Gavin Evans. NME ranked "A Girl Like You" number 38 in their "NME Writers' Top 50 Singles of 1995",[4] while Spin ranked it number eight in their list of the 20 best singles of 1995.[5]
The song was later sampled by Uniting Nations in their song "Everything About You[6]".
Background and production
Collins both wrote and produced the song, and has told that it was about a "mythical girl".[7] The Sex Pistols drummer Paul Cook performed on the recording.[8] The song had started out as "a more thrashy kind of guitar thing.[9]
Critical reception
Steve Baltin from Cash Box felt that Collins "has one of the year's more surprising hits with this very Bowie-esque song that's been all over Modern Rock for the past month." He added, "Slightly funky and very catchy, "A Girl Like You" is a track that will get under your skin."[10] In his weekly UK chart commentary, James Masterton declared it as "magical", noting that here "hardcore Northern Soul meets the 1990s to delicious effect."[11]Cathi Unsworth from Melody Maker viewed it as a "John Barry-spiked thriller" and a "little mystery", where "Collins sings with demonic relish over creepy jazz piano and fretful guitars. Overtly cool."[12] A reviewer from Music Week gave it four out of five, commenting, "Ignored by the UK last November but scoring throughout the rest of Europe, the white-soul-swinging track gets a timely re-release."[13] Keith Cameron from NME called it a "flared nostril Motown-patented stomp".[14]
Another NME editor, Mark Sutherland, wrote, "So while, to us, the chart success of "A Girl Like You" may seem but a curious sideshow to the whole Britpop fandango, to Edwyn it must surely be glorious vindication: proof positive that the world will listen. Even if Belgium, where "A Girl Like You" reached Number One FIRST time around, has to lead the way." Sutherland also felt that its "mix of pop classicism and indie off-kilterness is a great deal more at home in a Top 40 where something as bonkers as Robson & Jerome rules the roost."[15]Charles Aaron from Spin commented that here, Collins "opens his throat (and maybe even his heart), crooning with what sounds like aching conviction, "You've made me acknowledge the devil in me / I hope to God I'm talkin' metaphorically." The production is irresistibly off-beat with Spectorish drums, tinkling vibes, laconically searing fuzz guitar and squishy faux-turntable scratches. Plus, I love the way he pronounces "protest singers" (rhymes with "Miss Otis lingers")."[16]
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
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