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"Hey Boy Hey Girl" is a song by the British
big beat Big beat is an electronic music genre that usually uses heavy breakbeats and synthesizer-generated loops and patterns – common to acid house/techno. The term has been used by the British music industry to describe music by artists such as ...
duo
the Chemical Brothers The Chemical Brothers are an English electronic music duo formed by Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons in Manchester in 1989. They were pioneers (along with the Prodigy, Fatboy Slim, the Crystal Method, and other acts) in bringing the big beat genre t ...
. The song contains a sample from "
The Roof Is on Fire "The Roof Is on Fire" is a song by Rock Master Scott & the Dynamic Three, released as a single in 1984. It reached number five on the ''Billboard'' Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales chart. It is known for its chorus: It is also known for the l ...
" by
Rock Master Scott & the Dynamic Three Rock Master Scott & the Dynamic Three was an old-school hip hop group best known for the singles "Request Line" and "The Roof Is on Fire", both of which have been sampled by many other groups, for a large variety of genres. Rock Master Scott & ...
. "Hey Boy Hey Girl" was released as the first single from the Chemical Brothers' third studio album, ''
Surrender Surrender may refer to: * Surrender (law), the early relinquishment of a tenancy * Surrender (military), the relinquishment of territory, combatants, facilities, or armaments to another power Film and television * ''Surrender'' (1927 film), an ...
'' (1999), on 31 May 1999. Upon its release, the song peaked at number three on the
UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
in June 1999 and remained on the chart for 10 weeks. It also reached the top 10 in Finland, Iceland, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway and Spain, as well on Canada's ''
RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...
'' Dance Chart. In the latter country, it did not make it onto the ''RPM'' Top Singles chart, but it did debut and peak at number three on the
Canadian Singles Chart The Canadian Singles Chart was a chart compiled by the American-based music sales tracking company, Nielsen SoundScan, which began publication in November 1996. It was published every Wednesday and also published on Thursday by '' Jam!''/Canoe. I ...
.


Critical reception

'' Daily Record'' commented, " Ed Simons and
Tom Rowlands The Chemical Brothers are an English electronic music duo formed by Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons in Manchester in 1989. They were pioneers (along with the Prodigy, Fatboy Slim, the Crystal Method, and other acts) in bringing the big beat genre t ...
are back with another fantastic dance single. It's another block rockin' hit." In October 2011, ''
NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' placed it at number 50 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years", writing that the song "
tarts A tart is a baked dish consisting of a filling over a pastry base with an open top not covered with pastry. The pastry is usually shortcrust pastry; the filling may be sweet or savoury, though modern tarts are usually fruit-based, sometimes with ...
with a menacing,
trance Trance is a state of semi-consciousness in which a person is not self-aware and is either altogether unresponsive to external stimuli (but nevertheless capable of pursuing and realizing an aim) or is selectively responsive in following the dir ...
laden groove" and " uildsto an absolute dance stomper".


Music video

The music video (directed by
Dom and Nic dom&nic is the working name of directors Nic Goffey and Dominic Hawley. They have been directing music videos and commercials since 1994. They have won numerous awards for their work, including the Gold Lion at the 1999 Cannes International Adv ...
) opens with a group of schoolchildren on board a
coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...
. The camera focuses on a young girl who opens a medical book of pictures of the human skeleton. A blond boy spits on the page, then smiles at her as he walks away. The children go to the
Natural History Museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more. ...
, where the same boy tries to scare the girl with a skull in his hood. She chases the boy in the museum, but falls near the bottom of a flight of stairs and fractures her wrist. At the hospital, she gets an X-ray of her hand. It then shows her brushing her teeth whilst picturing herself as only bones. The background behind her morphs into a toilet area at the
Ministry of Sound Ministry of Sound or Ministry of Sound Group is a multimedia entertainment business based in London with a nightclub, shared workspace and private members' club, worldwide events operation, music publishing business and fitness studio. James ...
nightclub, South London. When she reverts into a person, she is older (played by Hanne Klintoe). She passes a couple having
sex Sex is the trait that determines whether a sexually reproducing animal or plant produces male or female gametes. Male plants and animals produce smaller mobile gametes (spermatozoa, sperm, pollen), while females produce larger ones (ova, oft ...
in a stall, but she only sees them as skeletons (this shot was omitted from some pre-
watershed Watershed is a hydrological term, which has been adopted in other fields in a more or less figurative sense. It may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, called a "watershe ...
television edits of the video). She exits the bathroom and heads to the nightclub's bar, where a man (uncredited appearance of
Rick Warden Richard George Warden is an English actor. Warden studied at Dr Challoner's Grammar School and received a B.A. honours in history at Churchill College, Cambridge, 1994. He married actress Lucy Barker on 1 May 2004. He is probably best known ...
) tries to talk with her. She then pictures him as a skeleton and feels his jawbone before leaving. She then goes to the dance floor, and sees more people as skeletons, almost as if she has
X-ray An X-ray, or, much less commonly, X-radiation, is a penetrating form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation. Most X-rays have a wavelength ranging from 10  picometers to 10  nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30&nb ...
vision. She exits the nightclub, and
the Chemical Brothers The Chemical Brothers are an English electronic music duo formed by Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons in Manchester in 1989. They were pioneers (along with the Prodigy, Fatboy Slim, the Crystal Method, and other acts) in bringing the big beat genre t ...
themselves make a brief cameo appearance, stepping out of a taxi with DJ equipment. She then steps into that same taxi, where she sees the driver as a skeleton. He then asks her 'Where you going, baby?' in a camp, droll voice.


Track listings

Standard CD and cassette single # "Hey Boy Hey Girl" – 4:48 # "Flashback" – 5:18 # "Scale" – 3:43 Standard 12-inch single # "Hey Boy Hey Girl" (extended version) – 6:01 # "Flashback" – 5:18 # "Scale" – 3:43 European CD single # "Hey Boy Hey Girl" (radio edit) – 3:32 # "Flashback" – 5:18


Credits and personnel

Credits are lifted from the ''
Surrender Surrender may refer to: * Surrender (law), the early relinquishment of a tenancy * Surrender (military), the relinquishment of territory, combatants, facilities, or armaments to another power Film and television * ''Surrender'' (1927 film), an ...
'' album booklet. Studios * Recorded at Orinoco Studios (South London, England) * Edited at Berwick Street Studios (London, England) * Mastered at The Exchange (London, England) Personnel * The Chemical Brothers – production ** Tom Rowlands – writing ** Ed Simons – writing * Gregory Carlton Wigfall – writing * Richard Lee Fowler – writing * Charles Pettiford – writing * Celite Evans – writing * Jerry Bloodrock – writing * Steve Dub – engineering * Cheeky Paul – editing * Mike Marsh – mastering


Charts and certifications


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Certifications


Release history


Cover versions

In 2018 Belgian Producer duo
Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike are a Belgian–Greek DJ duo composed of brothers Dimitri Thivaios and Michael Thivaios. They were ranked No. 1 on ''DJ Mag''s Top 100 DJs list in 2015 and 2019, and were ranked No. 2 in 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2020 ...
released a remake of the song titled ''Here We Go (Hey Boy, Hey Girl)'' together with Dutch producer
Nicky Romero Nick Rotteveel (; born January 6, 1989), professionally known as Nicky Romero or Monocule, is a Dutch DJ, record producer and remixer from Amerongen, Utrecht Province. He has worked with, and received support from DJs, such as Tiësto, Fedde l ...
on their
Tomorrowland Tomorrowland is one of the many themed lands featured at all of the Magic Kingdom styled Disney theme parks around the world owned or licensed by The Walt Disney Company. Each version of the land is different and features numerous attractions t ...
2018 EP In 2020 French producer
David Guetta Pierre David Guetta ( , ; born 7 November 1967) is a French DJ and music producer. He has over 10 million album and 65 million single sales globally, with more than 10 billion streams. In 2011, 2020 and 2021, Guetta was voted the number one D ...
(under his ''Jack Back'' alias) released a remake of the song titled ''Superstar DJ''.


References

{{Authority control 1999 singles 1999 songs The Chemical Brothers songs Astralwerks singles Song recordings produced by David Guetta Songs written by Ed Simons Songs written by Tom Rowlands