"Meet Virginia" is a song written and recorded by American

roots rock Roots rock is a genre of rock music that looks back to rock's origins in folk, blues and country music. It is particularly associated with the creation of hybrid subgenres from the later 1960s, including blues rock, country rock, Southern rock, ...

band

Train In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and Passenger train, transport people or Rail freight transport, freight. Trains are typically pul ...

. It was released in 1999 as the second single from their eponymous first album, ''

''. The song reached a peak of number 20 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in January 2000, becoming their first top-20 hit and their first single to chart on the Hot 100. It also reached the top 20 in Canada, peaking at number 15 on the ''

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 ...

'' Top Singles chart.

Background

When asked whether the girl in the song was real or imaginary, Train's Twitter page said, "She's real parts of real woman icthat make up a woman that I've always wanted to meet". Singer Patrick Monahan added that one of the women who inspired the song was bassist Charlie Colin's girlfriend. One day , Train was playing pickup softball with some members of

Counting Crows Counting Crows is an American rock band from San Francisco, California. Formed in 1991, the band consists of guitarist David Bryson, drummer Jim Bogios, vocalist Adam Duritz, keyboardist Charlie Gillingham, David Immerglück, bass guitarist Mil ...

, another

Bay area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Gov ...

band . Charlie's girlfriend came over from a wedding shower still wearing a long dress and high heels, and proceeded to play shortstop for Train's team. This inspired the line, "Wears high heels when she exercises".

Reception

Roxanne Blanford of

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 ...

says "Meet Virginia" is one of a few songs from the album ''Train'' that has "inspired hooks and reflective lyrics". Christa L. Titus, of ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' magazine in her review of their second album, called the song an "ode to a wrong-side-of-the-tracks girl full of quirky contradictions."

Music video

"Meet Virginia" has a music video that takes place inside a diner and stars actress

Rebecca Gayheart Rebecca Gayheart (born August 12, 1971) is an American actress and model. She began her career as a teen model in the 1980s and subsequently appeared in a student short film by Brett Ratner, with whom she had an extensive relationship. In the ea ...

. The video was shot at the Merritt Bakery and Restaurant in Oakland, California. Located on the south-western shore of Lake Merritt at 203 East 18th Street. The restaurant closed after a fire in 2016.

Track listing

Australian maxi-CD single # "Meet Virginia" (pop version) – 3:44 # "Meet Virginia" (album version) – 4:00 # "If You Leave" (live) – 3:26 # "I Am" (live) – 4:35 # "Train" (live) – 5:50

Credits and personnel

Credits are adapted from the US promo CD liner notes. Studio * Mastered at A&M Mastering Studios (Hollywood, California, US) Train * Train – writing, production *

Patrick Monahan Patrick Monahan (born February 28, 1969) is an American musician, singer and songwriter. He is best known as the lead singer and sole constant member of the band Train. He has collaborated with multiple artists and recorded a solo album, '' Las ...

– vocals, percussion * Rob Hotchkiss – guitars, harmonica, vocals * Jimmy Stafford – guitars, mandolin, vocals * Charlie Colin – bass * Scott Underwood – drums, percussion Other musicians *

Charlie Gillingham Charles Thomas Gillingham (born January 26, 1960) is a keyboardist and multi-instrumentalist best known for his performance on the Hammond B-3 organ, accordion, piano, and keyboards for the band Counting Crows. He has also played the bass guitar ...

– organ,

Mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which pushes a length of magnetic tape against a capstan, which pulls it across a playback head. A ...

, piano Additional personnel * Curtis Mathewson – production * Mike McHugh – engineering * Charles Quagliana – engineering *

Matt Wallace Matt Wallace is an American record producer. He is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley,Tim Devine Tim Devine is an American music executive and entrepreneur. The founder of Webcastr, Devine is best known for his work as an a&r executive. Early life and education Devine spent his childhood in Chicago, Kansas City, New York and New Jersey a ...

– A&R

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References

{{Authority control 1998 songs 1999 singles Columbia Records singles Songs written by Pat Monahan Train (band) songs