"So Help Me Girl" is a song written by Howard Perdew and Andy Spooner, and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

singer

Joe Diffie Joe Logan Diffie (December 28, 1958 – March 29, 2020) was an American country music singer and songwriter. After working as a demo singer in the mid 1980s, he signed with Epic Records' Nashville division in 1990. Between then and 2004, Diffie ...

. It was released in January 1995 as the third single from his fourth studio album, ''

Third Rock from the Sun ''Third Rock from the Sun'' is the fourth studio album by American country music artist Joe Diffie. Diffie's breakthrough album, the first five tracks were all released as singles, and all charted on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks ...

'' (1994). The song reached number two on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart, where it debuted at number 59 for the week of February 4, 1995, and number 84 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.

Music video

The

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for "So Help Me Girl" was directed by Gerry Wenner and premiered in early 1995.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Gary Barlow version

"So Help Me Girl" was covered by English singer and songwriter

Gary Barlow Gary Barlow (born 20 January 1971) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He is the lead singer of the British pop group Take That. Barlow is one of the United Kingdom's most successful songwriters, havi ...

, and released as the third single from his debut solo album, '' Open Road'' (1997), in the United Kingdom on July 14, 1997, and as the lead single from the album in the US later in the year. Following the success of the album in the UK, Barlow signed a record deal with Arista records for it to be released in the US. He reworked the album for the American market and subsequently released a remixed version of "So Help Me Girl" as the lead single there. Produced by

David Foster David Walter Foster (born November 1, 1949) is a Canadian musician, composer, arranger, record producer and music executive who chaired Verve Records from 2012 to 2016. He has won 16 Grammy Awards from 47 nominations. His music career spans mor ...

, it was released in 65 countries around the world and topped the charts in 13 countries. In the UK, it peaked at number 11 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 ...

. And in the US, the single peaked at number 44 on the ''

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 ...

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

, number three on the ''Billboard'' Adult Contemporary Chart and number 58 on the ''Billboard'' Radio Charts.

Critical reception

Larry Flick Larry Flick is an American journalist, former dance music columnist, single reviewer, and Senior Talent Editor for ''Billboard'' magazine, where he worked for 14 years. Now he produces and hosts Sirius XM radio shows. Flick started in the music ...

from ''

'' gave the American version of "So Help Me Girl" a positive review, saying that it did not stray from Barlow's work in the group

Take That Take That are an English pop group formed in Manchester in 1990. The group currently consists of Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen. The original line-up also featured Jason Orange and Robbie Williams. Barlow is the group's lead singe ...

. He also praised his "boyish teen-idol charm" and "flexible

tenor A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...

." A reviewer from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...

'' rated it three out of five, adding that "the song's

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

roots are barely discernible on this

update which turns it into a swoony, low-key ballad to give Barlow another hit." David Sinclair from ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' wrote, "Old

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

song given a dreary,

pop ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner.J. M. Cur ...

treatment."

Music video

Two

s were released for ''So Help Me Girl''. The first video, accompanying the European release of the single, features Barlow taking a girl home after a night out, and waking up the next morning and realising that he has cheated on his girlfriend. He performs the majority of the song in the bedroom, before moving to a piano for the final scenes, which depict a fight between his girlfriend and the girl he took home. The second video, accompanying the American release of the single, begins with Barlow sitting alone on a bridge and throwing a rose into the water below, whilst a mysterious woman looks on. He then continues to perform the song whilst looking through the windows of a darkened house, where he spots a young girl. The video continues with Barlow walking through a lighted tunnel of moving cars, before returning to the house and performing the final line of the song to the girl personally.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSoJ5uR1rqU Official Music Video of So Help Me Girl

Track listings

* UK CD1 # "So Help Me Girl" (4:28) # "Million To One" (3:25) # "Offer My Peace" (3:56) # "So Help Me Girl" (C Swing Mix) (4:30) * UK CD2 # "So Help Me Girl" (4:28) # "So Help Me Girl" (

Peter Mokran Peter Mokran is an American mixer, producer, engineer and musician. Early life Mokran was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. Growing up, he studied classical guitar, while also learning engineering and programming as a teen.Paul Tingen“Sec ...

Mix) (4:38) # "Interview" (11:35) * Cassette / 7" Jukebox Vinyl # "So Help Me Girl" (4:28) # "Million To One" (3:25) * American single # "So Help Me Girl" (US Edit) (4:38) # " Back for Good" (Live) (4:01)

Charts

References

{{Authority control 1995 singles 1997 singles Joe Diffie songs Gary Barlow songs Song recordings produced by David Foster Song recordings produced by Bob Montgomery (songwriter) Epic Records singles Arista Records singles Country ballads Pop ballads Music videos credited to Alan Smithee 1994 songs