"Girl's Not Grey" is a song by American rock band AFI. It was released as the debut single from their sixth studio album, ''

Sing the Sorrow ''Sing the Sorrow'' is the sixth studio album by American rock band AFI. Recorded at Cello Studios in Los Angeles, California between 2002 and 2003, the album was produced by Jerry Finn and Butch Vig. It was the band's final release under the N ...

'' (2003), debuting on radio on February 4, 2003. It is the band's third most successful single, peaking at No. 7 on the

Alternative Songs Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks between 1988 and 2009, and Alternative Songs between 2009 and 2020) is a music chart published in the American magazine ''Billboard'' since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-play ...

Chart and No. 14 on the

Bubbling Under Hot 100 Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...

Chart.

David Slade David Aldrin Slade (born 26 September 1969) is an English film and television director and actor. His works include the films ''Hard Candy (film), Hard Candy'', ''30 Days of Night (film), 30 Days of Night'' and ''The Twilight Saga: Eclipse''. ...

directed a music video, featuring elements which have been described as similar to those in ''

Alice in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (also known as ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English Children's literature, children's novel by Lewis Carroll, a mathematics university don, don at the University of Oxford. It details the story of a ...

''. It is a playable track in the video games ''

Rock Band 2 ''Rock Band 2'' is a 2008 rhythm game developed by Harmonix, published by MTV Games, and distributed by Electronic Arts. It is the sequel to ''Rock Band (video game), Rock Band'' (2007) and the second installment in the Rock Band, ''Rock Band ' ...

'' and ''

Guitar Hero Live ''Guitar Hero Live'' is a 2015 rhythm game developed by FreeStyleGames and published by Activision. It is the seventh main instalment and the twelfth overall instalment in the ''Guitar Hero'' series. The game was released for PlayStation 3, ...

'', and a downloadable track for the

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

Guitar Hero 5 ''Guitar Hero 5'' is a 2009 rhythm game developed by Neversoft and published by Activision. It is the fifth main installment and the ninth overall installment in the Guitar Hero, ''Guitar Hero'' series. The game was released internationally in ...

'' and the

iPod Touch The iPod Touch (stylized as iPod touch) is a discontinued line of iOS-based mobile devices designed and formerly marketed by Apple Inc. with a touchscreen-controlled user interface. As with other iPod models, the iPod Touch can be used as a po ...

application ''

Tap Tap Revenge ''Tap Tap Revenge'' (also known as ''Tap Tap Revenge Classic'') was a music game created by Nate True, and developed and published by Tapulous for iOS in July 2008. It is the first game in Tapulous' ''Tap Tap'' series. Development for the game ...

''.

Background

According to guitarist

Jade Puget Jade Errol Puget (born November 28, 1973) is an American musician and producer, best known as the guitarist for the rock band AFI (joined in 1998), the guitarist/writer for the straight edge hardcore band XTRMST, and the keyboardist/synthes ...

, most of the songs for ''

'' had already been written by the time he wrote the music for the song in a hotel in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. Vocalist

Davey Havok David Paden Marchand (born David Paden Passaro, November 20, 1975), known professionally as Davey Havok, is an American singer who is the lead vocalist of the Rock music, rock band AFI (band), AFI, the synth-pop band Blaqk Audio, the hardcore pu ...

then wrote the lyrics, with Puget penning the background vocals. Puget later reflected that he had thought the song could have been the album opener, but he was the only band member to think so.

Critical reception

"Girl's Not Grey" received generally positive reviews from critics, who considered it a

pop-punk Pop-punk (also punk-pop, alternatively spelled without the hyphen) is a rock music fusion genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop music, pop. It is defined by its fast-paced, energetic tempos, and emphasis on classic pop s ...

song from the album.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

reviewer Johnny Loftus felt that the chorus of the backing voices shifted the song from hardcore punk to pop, and called the single "a car-radio singalong of pure genius".

Music video

A music video directed by

was released shortly after the single's release. According to the

Fuse TV Fuse is an American television channel owned by Fuse Media, LLC, that was originally launched in 1994 as MuchMusic USA, a localized version of the Canadian cable channel MuchMusic, owned by CHUM Limited which was also the parent company of City ...

program ''

IMX Immature (later known as IMx) is an American R&B boy band, managed by record producer Chris Stokes. Its members include Marques "Batman" Houston (born August 4, 1981), Jerome "Romeo" Jones (born October 25, 1981), and Kelton "LDB" Kessee ( ...

'', the video is similar to Slade's previous video for " Sour Girl" by

Stone Temple Pilots Stone Temple Pilots, commonly abbreviated as STP, is an American Rock music, rock band formed in San Diego, California, in 1989. Originally consisting of lead vocalist Scott Weiland, guitarist Dean DeLeo, bassist Robert DeLeo, and drummer :Songs ...

, which also features a strange environment and human-sized rabbit characters. The concepts within the video are similar to the basic plot of

Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet, mathematician, photographer and reluctant Anglicanism, Anglican deacon. His most notable works are ''Alice ...

's novel ''

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (also known as ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English Children's literature, children's novel by Lewis Carroll, a mathematics university don, don at the University of Oxford. It details the story of a ...

'', featuring a little girl that follows a rabbit into an alternate reality. A completely black version of the band performs in an alley, where a blue-haired girl in black clothing follows a pink human-sized rabbit through Jade Puget to an alternate reality, where the band is seen performing in full color. The location is a mostly red and pink landscape, with pink flower petals falling. The rabbit is now blue and the girl's clothes pink, with her head now a plastic cartoon mask expressing euphoria. The girl continues to follow the rabbit to the top of a hill, where she sees the band performing. She is saddened after seeing that the rabbit has left her. She is enveloped by a whirlwind of petals, which consume her. Petals burst out of Havok's chest, and even fall in the alley where the colorless version of the band finishes playing the song. There is also an alternate version of the video which simply features the band performing in the alley covered in black paint but does not feature the girl, human-sized rabbits, or the alternate reality setting. By early 2023, the rabbit suit had been donated to the Punk Rock Museum in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

, which opened on April 1 of that year.

Live performances

"Girl's Not Grey" was first performed live on January 8, 2002, at the Forum in

Inglewood, California Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States, in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the city had a population of 107,762. ...

. As of April, 1, 2019, it had been performed 538 times, making it the most performed song by AFI. In an interview with ''

Alternative Press Alternative press may refer to: Individual publications * ''Alternative Press'' (magazine), an American music magazine Alternative journalism * Alternative media ** Alternative media (U.S. political left) ** Alternative media (U.S. political r ...

'', drummer Adam Carson noted that the song "really works as the first song in a set, which is why I think we've played that song probably more than anything".

Track listing

UK 7" #"Girl's Not Grey" – 3:10 #" The Hanging Garden" (Live at

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

) – 3:45 Europe #"Girl's Not Grey" – 3:10 #"This Celluloid Dream" ( Demo) – 4:18 #"Synesthesia" (Demo) – 4:35 #"Girl's Not Grey" (Final) Clip – 3:11 Germany #"Girl's Not Grey" – 3:10 #"This Celluloid Dream" (Demo) – 4:18 UK CD 1 #"Girl's Not Grey" - 3:10 #"The Hanging Garden" (live at BBC) - 3:45 #"Synesthesia" (Demo) - 4:35 #"Girl's Not Grey" (Final) Clip - 3:11 UK CD 2 #"Girl's Not Grey" - 3:10 #"Reiver's Music" (336 Sessions) - 3:23 #"Now The World" (336 Sessions) - 4:01 #"Girl's Not Grey" (Prelude) Clip - 3:11

Chart positions

References

Footnotes Citations

External links

{{authority control 2003 singles 2003 songs AFI (band) songs DreamWorks Records singles Flowers in culture Music videos directed by David Slade Song recordings produced by Butch Vig Songs written by Hunter Burgan Songs written by Adam Carson Songs written by Davey Havok Songs written by Jade Puget