"My Best Friend's Girl" is a song by American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

the Cars The Cars were an American rock band formed in Boston in 1976. Emerging from the new wave scene in the late 1970s, they consisted of Ric Ocasek ( rhythm guitar), Benjamin Orr (bass guitar), Elliot Easton (lead guitar), Greg Hawkes (keyboards), ...

from their 1978 self-titled debut album on Elektra Records, released on June 6 of that year. Written by Ocasek as a song about something that "probably ... happened to a lot of people," the track found radio success as a demo in 1977. Written by

Ric Ocasek Richard Theodore Otcasek (March 23, 1944 – September 15, 2019), known as Ric Ocasek, was an American singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He was the primary co-lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, songwriter, and frontman for the rock ...

and produced by

Roy Thomas Baker Roy Thomas Baker (born 10 November 1946) is an English record producer, songwriter and arranger, who has produced rock and pop and songs since the 1970s. Career Baker began his career at Decca Records at the age of 14 and later worked as an a ...

, the song was released as the album's second single. It peaked at number 35 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, and reached number three in the UK. It has since been positively received by critics and included in compilation albums for the band.

Background

"My Best Friend's Girl" was written by

for the Cars' self-titled debut album. Ocasek later said the lyrics were not inspired by any personal incident, saying "Nothing in that song happened to me personally. I just figured having a girlfriend stolen was probably something that happened to a lot of people." Ocasek also said that the lyrics for the chorus were an afterthought, saying, "At some point, I realized my lyrics didn't include the words 'My Best Friend's Girl.' So I pulled out the lyrics someone had typed up and added a chorus in the margin in pen: 'She's my best friend's girl/She's my best friend's girl/But she used to be mine. The song first appeared in 1977 on Boston radio stations WCOZ and WBCN from the said demo tape, along with "

Just What I Needed "Just What I Needed" is a song by American rock band The Cars from their self-titled debut album (1978). The song, which first achieved radio success as a demo, took inspiration from the Ohio Express and the Velvet Underground. The song is sun ...

". DJ Maxanne Sartori, who was given the tapes of these songs by Ric Ocasek, recalled, "I began playing the demos of 'Just What I Needed' and 'My Best Friend's Girl' in March during my weekday slot, from 2 to 6 p.m. Calls poured in with positive comments." Shortly thereafter, it became one of the stations' most requested songs.

Composition

"My Best Friend's Girl" begins with chords in the lower

register Register or registration may refer to: Arts entertainment, and media Music * Register (music), the relative "height" or range of a note, melody, part, instrument, etc. * ''Register'', a 2017 album by Travis Miller * Registration (organ), th ...

of the guitar, a two-bar progression moving from I to IV to V in F. Hand claps enter in

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

five, and after the eight-bar

intro Introduction, The Introduction, Intro, or The Intro may refer to: General use * Introduction (music), an opening section of a piece of music * Introduction (writing), a beginning section to a book, article or essay which states its purpose and ...

(following descending synthesizer sounds from

David Robinson David Maurice Robinson (born August 6, 1965) is an American former professional basketball player who played for the San Antonio Spurs in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1989 to 2003, and minority owner of the Spurs. Nicknamed ...

's Syndrums,) the first verse begins featuring

's vocals over a lead guitar lick in the key of F. An electronic piano (a Yamaha CP-30) is introduced in the first

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song) or refrain, line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in which all verse ...

, followed by a

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western music ...

guitar lick which leads to the second verse. The song is composed in contrasting verse-chorus form. The song was originally written and recorded in

E major E major (or the key of E) is a major scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has four sharps. Its relative minor is C-sharp minor and its parallel minor is E minor. Its enharmonic equivalent, ...

, one

semitone A semitone, also called a half step or a half tone, is the smallest musical interval commonly used in Western tonal music, and it is considered the most dissonant when sounded harmonically. It is defined as the interval between two adjacent no ...

lower, then the entire master tape was sped up to place it in F major. Many live performances show the band performing the song in E. The lyrics depict a man's frustration with a woman who is dating his best friend after the man dated her. The narrator coolly notes, "She's my best friend's girl, but she used to be mine."

Release

Released in October 1978, "My Best Friend's Girl" entered the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 singles chart for the week ending October 21. It peaked at number 35 on the charts in December. In addition, the song reached number 40 on the

Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 ( nl, Nederlandse Top 40) is a weekly music chart compiled by ''Stichting Nederlandse Top 40''. It started as a radio program titled "Veronica Top 40", on the offshore station Radio Veronica in 1965. It remained "The Veronica ...

, number 55 in Canada, and number 67 in Australia. The song was the highest-charting UK single of the band's career, peaking at number three in November 1978. The single was the first

picture disc Picture discs are gramophone (phonograph) records that show images on their playing surface, rather than being of plain black or colored vinyl. Collectors traditionally reserve the term picture disc for records with graphics that extend at lea ...

available commercially in the UK. "My Best Friend's Girl" was included on the soundtrack to the film '' Over the Edge'' (1979), and the song appears on numerous compilation albums, such as the band's ''

Greatest Hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...

'' (1985), '' Just What I Needed: The Cars Anthology'' (1995), and '' Complete Greatest Hits'' (2002). A live version of the song by

the New Cars The New Cars were a band formed in 2005 by two of the original members of the 1970s/1980s new wave band the Cars. The band was composed of original Cars members Elliot Easton and Greg Hawkes, along with vocalist/guitarist Todd Rundgren, vocalist ...

appears on their debut album, '' It's Alive!'' (2006). The song originates from late 1976-early 1977 as another successful demo, like "Just What I Needed", of the song was done.

Reception

Music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

have given the track generally favorable reviews. ''

Billboard Magazine ''Billboard'' (stylized as ''billboard'') is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style related to the music ...

'' described the song as a "melodic youth-oriented rocker" that uses "catchy handclaps" to generate the feel of an early 1960s song. ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' said that "the guitar work is derivative but the enthusiasm is refreshing" and praised the vocals and organ playing.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

's Donald A. Guarisco called the song "one of the classics of the Cars' catalog", and ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' writer

Kit Rachlis Kit Rachlis is an American journalist and editor who has held posts at ''The Village Voice'', '' LA Weekly'', ''Los Angeles Times'', ''Los Angeles'' magazine, ''The American Prospect'', ''The California Sunday Magazine,'' and currently ''ProPubli ...

called it a wonderful pop song. "My Best Friend's Girl" was ranked the 12th best song of 1978 by critics

Dave Marsh Dave Marsh (born March 1, 1950) is an American music critic, and radio talk show host. He was an early editor of ''Creem'' magazine, has written for various publications such as ''Newsday'', ''The Village Voice'', and ''Rolling Stone (magazine), ...

and Kevin Stein, and it was named one of "The 1001 Best Songs Ever" in a 2003 issue of '' Q'' magazine. Some critics have noted the similarity in style of

Fountains of Wayne Fountains of Wayne was an American rock band that formed in New York City in 1995. The band included founding members Chris Collingwood, Adam Schlesinger, Jody Porter, and Brian Young. They released five albums from 1996 to 2011 before effec ...

's 2003

hit single A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single or simply a hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record' ...

Stacy's Mom "Stacy's Mom" is a song by American rock band Fountains of Wayne. It is the third track on their third studio album, ''Welcome Interstate Managers'', and was released to radio as the album's first single on May 19, 2003, through S-Curve Recor ...

" to this song.

Track listing

;7" vinyl #"My Best Friend's Girl" (Ocasek) – 3:44 #"Moving in Stereo" (Hawkes, Ocasek) – 5:15

Personnel

– lead vocals, rhythm guitar *

Elliot Easton Elliot Easton (born Elliot Steinberg, December 18, 1953) is an American guitarist. He played lead guitar and sang backing vocals for The Cars, and his guitar solos are an integral part of the band's music. Easton has also recorded music as a so ...

– lead guitar, backing vocals *

Benjamin Orr Benjamin Orzechowski (September 8, 1947 – October 3, 2000), known professionally as Benjamin Orr, was an American musician best known as the bassist, co-lead vocalist, and co-founder of the rock band The Cars. He sang lead vocals on sever ...

– backing vocals, bass guitar *

– drums, percussion, Syndrums, backing vocals *

Greg Hawkes Gregory A. Hawkes (born October 22, 1952) is an American musician best known as the keyboardist for the rock band The Cars. Hawkes, a native of Fulton, Maryland, United States, attended Atholton High School where he played in a band called Teeth ...

– keyboards, saxophone, backing vocals

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{authority control The Cars songs 1978 singles Songs written by Ric Ocasek Song recordings produced by Roy Thomas Baker Elektra Records singles 1978 songs Songs about jealousy