"Your Best American Girl" is a song by Japanese-American singer

Mitski Mitski Miyawaki (born Mitsuki Laycock; September 27, 1990), known professionally by the mononym Mitski, is a Japanese-born American singer-songwriter. Mitski self-released her first two albums, '' Lush'' (2012) and '' Retired from Sad, New Caree ...

, from her fourth studio album, ''

Puberty 2 ''Puberty 2'' is the fourth studio album by Japanese-American indie rock singer-songwriter Mitski, released on June 17, 2016, the first release through Dead Oceans. It was produced by longtime collaborator Patrick Hyland. Upon its release, ''Puber ...

'' (2016). The song was released on March 1, 2016, as the

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

from the album. It was written by Mitski and produced by Patrick Hyland. "Your Best American Girl"'s instrumentation has been described as consisting of

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

strum In music, strumming is a way of playing a stringed instrument such as a guitar, ukulele, or mandolin. A strum or stroke is a sweeping action where a finger or plectrum brushes over several strings to generate sound. On most stringed instrument ...

ming,

dream pop Dream pop (also typeset as dreampop) is a subgenre of alternative rock and neo-psychedelia that emphasizes atmosphere and sonic texture as much as pop melody. Common characteristics include breathy vocals, dense productions, and effects such as ...

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

s, and a grungy, distorted guitar. The song's lyrics are autobiographical, discussing Mitski's want for a relationship with someone, but accepting that her racial identity and upbringing obstruct her from this goal.

Background and release

"Your Best American Girl" was written by Mitski. It was produced and mastered by Patrick Hyland. The song was recorded in the now-defunct Acme Studios in Westchester, New York. "Your Best American Girl" was released on March 1, 2016, to digital retailers and label

Dead Oceans Dead Oceans is an American independent record label formed in 2007 and based in Bloomington, Indiana, with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Austin, London, Paris, Amsterdam, and Berlin. Dead Oceans is part of Secretly Group, which also ...

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, where it was able to be

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for free. It was also available as an instant gratification track for those who pre-ordered ''

'' on

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Composition

"Your Best American Girl" is a punk rock and

pop-punk Pop punk (or punk pop) is a rock music genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop. It is defined for its emphasis on classic pop songcraft, as well as adolescent and anti-suburbia themes, and is distinguished from other pu ...

song that is three minutes and thirty-two seconds long. ''

Consequence of Sound ''Consequence'' (previously ''Consequence of Sound'') is an independently owned New York-based online magazine featuring news, editorials, and reviews of music, movies, and television. In addition, the website also features the Festival Outlook ...

'' has described the song as "start ngoff as a sauntering acoustic indie number build nguntil it breaks as a shining punk song"". The song's lyrics are autobiographical, discussing Mitski's want for a relationship with someone, but accepting that her racial identity and upbringing obstruct her from this goal. According to ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

'', the song "grows from an acoustic

with some twinkling

synths A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and f ...

, to sharp bursts of

feedback Feedback occurs when outputs of a system are routed back as inputs as part of a chain of cause-and-effect that forms a circuit or loop. The system can then be said to ''feed back'' into itself. The notion of cause-and-effect has to be handled ...

that would fit right in on

Weezer Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1992. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Rivers Cuomo (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Patrick Wilson (drums, backing vocals), Scott Shriner (bass guitar, keyboards, backing v ...

's '' Pinkerton."'' Katie Rife of '' A.V. Club'' likened the "crashing waves of guitars" present in the song to

Pixies A pixie (also pisky, pixy, pixi, pizkie, and piskie in Cornwall and Devon, and pigsie or puggsy in the New Forest) is a mythical creature of British folklore. Pixies are considered to be particularly concentrated in the high moorland areas arou ...

. Ciara Dolan of ''

'' noted a possible continuation of ''Retired From Sad, New Career in Business'' "Strawberry Blonde", calling "Your Best American Girl" "the ..realization that itskican’t ..change her own shape to fit into that of this all-American boy".

Critical reception

"Your Best American Girl" was voted the fifth-best song of 2016 in ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...

'''s 44th annual Pazz & Jop critic's poll. Reviewing the song, Jillian Mapes of ''Pitchfork'' praised the song's empowering theme, believing it to be realistic and universal. Mapes also gave the song the "Best New Track" award. In a review of ''

'', Ciara Dolan of ''

'' called the song one of the "Essential Tracks" from its parent album. Katie Rife of ''A.V. Club'' lauded the track, stating that it was a "a powerful assertion of

cultural identity Cultural identity is a part of a person's identity, or their self-conception and self-perception, and is related to nationality, ethnicity, religion, social class, generation, locality or any kind of social group that has its own distinct cultur ...

and

self-acceptance Self-acceptance is acceptance of self. Definition Self-acceptance can be defined as: * the awareness of one's strengths and weaknesses, * the realistic (yet subjective) appraisal of one's talents, capabilities, and general worth, and, * feelings ...

". Writing for ''

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'', Tom Breihan called "Your Best American Girl" a " omentof great rock catharsis". Ryan E.C. Hamm of ''Under the Radar'' complimented the song's lyricism, guitars, and feedback, stating that the recording " arksback to the very best of

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

of the early '90s". Including the song on their "30 Best Songs of 2016 So Far" list, ''Rolling Stone'' stated that the song "tightrope alkedthe chasm between romantic ideals and cultural reality to make for breathtaking music". Several publications placed "Your Best American Girl" on their respective year-end singles lists. Ranking the song the second best of 2016,

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

wrote that the "song is brilliant for many reasons", but most notably because " fthe way it forces us each to conjure up our 'all-American boy' and then take issue with the fact that coming up with a picture of him was so easy". Also ranking the song the second best of 2016, '' Paste'' described the song as an "angst-ridden anthem about an identity crisis". Rating the "Your Best American Girl" the sixteenth best song of the year, Pitchfork called the track was "universally resonant and personally specific". Multiple publications also placed "Your Best American Girl" on decade-end or all-time singles lists.

placed it 16th on their list of the 200 Greatest Songs By 21st Century Women+, and Billboard included it in their list of 100 Songs that Defined the 2010s. ''

'' also listed it 7th on their list of the 200 Best Songs of the 2010s. From over 35 outlets, global critic aggregator

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went on to rank "Your Best American Girl" as the 9th greatest song of the 2010s. Opinion Police cited the track as the 2nd Best Song of the 2010s.

Music video

The music video was produced by Zia Anger and released on April 13, 2016. The video features Mitski making out with her own hand while a stereotypically white American couple passionately kiss nearby. According to Mitski, the video "plays on the idea of, as a Japanese girl, never quite fitting in with the genre's surplus of white American guys." Billboard has said of the video "if the arrangement played with male-centric tropes, the music video was more of an ode to women that came before her." Cinematographer Ashley Connor has stated that the video intentionally references videos from artist

PJ Harvey Polly Jean Harvey (born 9 October 1969) is an English singer, songwriter, and musician. Primarily known as a vocalist and guitarist, she is also proficient with a wide range of instruments. Harvey began her career in 1988 when she joined loca ...

videos "the sort of ‘woman with guitar and nothing else in a white space." Describing the production of the video, Connor has said the following:

“And at the end of the take, the entire crew, everybody just stopped and clapped for her. Zia and I just kind of looked at each other like, ‘F--k yeah, man. That's how you do it.’”

Track listings

* Digital download # "Your Best American Girl" 3:32

Release history

References

External links

* {{Mitski 2016 singles 2016 songs American indie rock songs American punk rock songs Dead Oceans singles Mitski songs Songs written by Mitski