"Girlfriend" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter

Charlie Puth Charles Otto Puth Jr. (; born December 2, 1991) is an American singer and songwriter. His initial exposure came through the viral success of his song videos uploaded to YouTube. Puth initially signed with the record label eleveneleven after pe ...

, released on June 25, 2020. The song's cover art was revealed three days before its release.

Background and composition

The song was written by Puth and Jacob Kasher, several years before releasing it, while Puth was on the

Voicenotes Tour The Voicenotes Tour was the third concert tour by American singer Charlie Puth, in support of his second studio album ''Voicenotes'' (2018). The tour began in Toronto, Canada at the Budweiser Stage on July 11, 2018, and concluded in Tokyo, Japan ...

. Puth set out to "reinvent" himself with the song, attributing

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as an inspiration. Puth announced the release of the song on social media on June 22, 2020. He stated on

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that the song is one of his favorite songs that he's made. This song marks his first solo release of 2020. Puth stated in a press release that the song is about being persistent and "letting someone know that your feelings for them aren’t going to just go away". He has also said that this song was used to express his feelings because he is bad at communicating. According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by

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, the song is written in the key of

D-flat major D-flat major (or the key of D-flat) is a major scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B and C. Its key signature has five flats. It is enharmonically equivalent to C-sharp major. The D-flat major scale is: : Its r ...

and is set in

time signature The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note value ...

of common time with a

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...

of 100

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. Puth's vocal range spans two octaves, from E♭₄ to E♭₆.

Reception

Heran Mamo of ''

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'' referred to "Girlfriend" as a "swoon-worthy summer bop", praising the song's "infectious pop beat". In the United States, "Girlfriend" debuted and peaked at number 28 on the

Digital Songs Sales The Digital Songs or Digital Song Sales chart (previously named Hot Digital Songs) ranks the best-selling digital songs in the United States, as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published by ''Billboard'' magazine. Although it originally starte ...

chart for the issue dated July 11, 2020.

Music video

The music video for the song was released on July 9, 2020. The video shows Puth getting ready for a date at his house and then having a dance party. In a statement, Puth stated that this was his first video where he has showed his personality wholeheartedly. He has also said that the video represents what he wants people to do when they listen to his music.

Live performances

Puth performed the song on ''

The Late Late Show with James Corden ''The Late Late Show with James Corden'' (also known as ''Late Late'') is an American late-night talk show on CBS. It is the fourth and current iteration of '' The Late Late Show''. Airing in the U.S. from Monday to Friday nights at 12:37:28am ...

'' on June 25, 2020. He performed the song on the ''

Today Show ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and talk morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It was ...

'' on July 3, 2020.

Track listings and formats

* Digital download / Streaming # "Girlfriend" – 2:57 * Digital download / Streaming # "Girlfriend" (Live from Corden) – 2:59 * Digital download / Streaming # "Girlfriend" (

Haywyre Martin Sebastian Vogt (born August 8, 1992), better known by his stage name Haywyre, is a Grammy nominated American electronic music producer, pianist, and performer. He is known for fusing elements of classical, jazz and funk into various genre ...

Remix) – 2:38

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from

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. * Charlie Puth – producer, programmer, vocals, and writer * Nili Harary – A&R Administration * Jeremie Inhaber – assistant mixer * Robin Florent – assistant mixer * Scott Desmarais – assistant mixer * Dmitry Gorodetsky – bass * Jan Ozveren – guitar * Chris Athens – masterer * Manny Marroquin – mixer * Chris Galland – mixing engineer * Jacob Kasher Hindlin – writer

Charts

Release history

References

{{authority control 2020 singles Charlie Puth songs 2020 songs Songs written by Charlie Puth Atlantic Records singles Songs written by Jacob Kasher