Girl Crush, originally a hit song by American country band Little Big Town, was written by Hilary Lindsay, Lori McKenna, and Liz Rose. The three are collectively known as ‘The Love Junkies’ and have written for projects such as the movie ‘A Star Is Born’ and even for Taylor Swift.
The song is about a woman who’s jealous of the new relationship her ex is now in, wishing they could be close to that woman in order to be close to their ex once more. The song earned Little Big Town two Grammy Awards in 2016 for Best Country Group Performance and Best Country Song.
On the 25th of September 2017, Harry Styles sang Girl Crush at the Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, USA, during the first leg of his world tour as a solo artist. This was the first time he had performed the song, and the acoustic rendition was released as a Spotify single two days later.
On the surface, this might not seem like a big deal. So many artists cover well-known songs and it’s usually a business or PR move, especially if the artist has an album coming out that they’re promoting, if they’re wanting to change genres in which they perform, or if they want to appeal to a new demographic of fans. Certainly, Harry had just released his first solo album and would have been working on promotion opportunities during this time. However, upon closer inspection, it becomes clear that the choice to cover this song was more than merely being PR and sales related.
It’s common for artists to cover songs by other artists who are also signed with the same label as them, because as both artists generate income, the label reaps the rewards. An example of this would be when Harry co-wrote with Meghan Trainor. Meghan is signed to Epic, which is owned by Columbia, and distributed by SONY, so when Harry and Meghan worked together, the result generated more money for SONY. However, Girl crush was written under the Capitol Nashville label, which is also distributed by multiple companies depending on the location, such as Capitol Music Group (USA), EMI (UK), and Universal Music Group (International). Since Capitol and UMG are SONY’s biggest competitors, it’s very interesting that Harry was allowed to cover this song. Harry would have had to advocate for that song to his label and he would have had to pay significant royalties to the song writers, Capitol, UMG, etc, in order to be able to sing the cover live, record the single, and make revenue off of the single. This whole process would have been a huge financial cost to Harry and yet he still chose to sing that particular song.
With this in mind, it’s reasonable to assume that Harry must have felt passionately about Girl Crush in order to go through that rigamarole. The song must have meant so much to him that the royalties and other stipulations put on him was worth it. This is very much like when he paid royalties to Shania Twain, who was signed to Mercury (UMG), in order to be able to sing her music at Coachella. Likewise with Fleetwood Mac (Warner Music Group), Harry paid royalties to be able to sing The Chain. The fact that Harry felt so strongly about Girl Crush that he was willing to go through all of this effort and huge financial cost just highlights just how important the song is to him and really gives credence to the idea that he connected with the song on a personal level. Clearly, Harry had something to say that he wished to communicate through singing and releasing this song.
Harry has often communicated via his music, either through his lyrics, metaphors, or poignant music videos. Prior to releasing Girl Crush, Harry had released three singles, Sign Of The Times, Kiwi, and Two Ghosts. All three songs have layers to their lyrics, not to mention the subtexts within the music videos for the songs. After releasing Girl Crush, Harry continued with this theme of letting his music speak for him, examples of which would be the music videos for Adore You, Music For A Sushi Restaurant, and Daylight. So, what could Harry be trying to communicate by selecting this song to cover? In order to answer that, we need to look closer at the song itself.
Firstly, let’s look at the title. What in the Dickens actually is a ‘Girl Crush?’ Well, Dictionary.com describes it as a slang term that refers to a woman having non-sexual, non-romantic admiration for another woman, much in terms of a role model or someone they want to emulate. Little Big Town performed this song with Karen Fairchild on vocals, singing that they had a ‘Girl Crush,’ not because they were attracted to the woman, but because they wanted to be the woman their ex was now with. It’s very much a song about heteronormative relationships, longing, and jealousy. With this in mind, and looking only at the title, it’s highly implied that Harry is singing a song where admires or wishes he were the woman in the song in some way.
Next, let’s look at the song lyrics:
I’ve got a girl crush
Hate to admit it but
I got a heart rush
It’s slowin’ down
I got it real bad
Want everything she has
That smile and that midnight laugh
She’s givin’ you now
I want to taste her lips
Yeah, ’cause they taste like you
I want to drown myself
In a bottle of her perfume
I want her long blond hair
I want her magic touch
Yeah, ’cause maybe then
You’d want me just as much
I’ve got a girl crush
I’ve got a girl crush
I don’t get no sleep
I don’t get no peace
Thinkin’ about her
Under your bed sheets
The way that she’s whisperin’
The way that she’s pullin’ you in
Lord knows I’ve tried
I can’t get her off my mind
I want to taste her lips
Yeah, ’cause they taste like you
I want to drown myself
In a bottle of her perfume
I want her long blond hair
I want her magic touch
Yeah, ’cause maybe then
You’d want me just as much
I’ve got a girl crush
I’ve got a girl crush
Hate to admit it but
I got a heart rush
It ain’t slowin’ down
Quite often, when an artist covers a song, they change the pronouns within the lyrics to reflect their own gender and sexual orientation, which generally fits in with society’s heteronormative narrative. It’s a very common practice and can be seen in many popular cover songs, such as Ellie Goulding’s cover of Elton John’s Your Song. The love interest in the song remains the same as Elton John is gay, but Ellie changes the pronouns to suit her own gender identity elsewhere in the lyrics. Another example would be Tainted Love by Soft Cell. This was originally by Gloria Jones and when Soft Cell covered it, they changed the pronouns to reflect a heterosexual narrative.
Now, based on the song title, it wouldn’t have been possible to change the pronouns to masculine, but it would have been possible to use the gender neutral pronouns ‘they/their/them’, therefore keeping the lyrics murky and not attracting too much attention. However, Harry didn’t change any of the lyrics to reflect his apparently straight public image, opting to keep the entire song exactly as it was first written. This is a huge deal, given that Danii Minogue brought attention to Danyl Johnson’s pronoun use when he performed Jennifer Hudson’s And I’m Telling You. Here, he changed the lyrics in the line ‘you’re the best man I’ve ever known’ to ‘the best girl,’ causing Danni to ask Danyl why he did that when the papers at the time were hinting that he might not be straight. Although this was in poor taste, Danni Minongue denied it was meant in a derogatory manner and meant only to tease, but it certainly highlighted that this type of decision in a song isn’t taken lightly. Similarly, when Calum Scott performed Dancing On My Own on Britain’s Got Talent in 2015, he left the pronouns the same. The song is similar to Girl Crush, where the singer is watching their ex with their new partner and feels jealous. However, when Calum didn’t change the pronouns, the media fixated on the situation and Calum was forced out of the closet. When talking to the HuffPost UK, Calum stated: ‘But…my interpretation of the song was always…from a gay man’s perspective, you know? I didn’t change the pronouns of the song because I wanted it to come from that place, and because that helped so many people I just stood by it and said, “you know, if people don’t like it, that’s absolutely fine, Roby’s version is still there to be enjoyed”, you know? And so, each to their own, I guess.’ It shows Calum’s strength of character that he didn’t let the negative media attention deter him from pursuing a career in music, but the situation should never have been a hot topic in the first place. However, when Harry released Girl Crush, the move was seen as bold, with Billboard describing his style as ‘Bowie-esque.’ Even Youtubers have weighed in on this, with DJ from Templeton Music Academy commenting, ‘I’m getting kinda a vibe of what this guy is motif-wise as a musician,’ commenting that Harry is moving away from toxic masculinity and into his own ‘era’.
Another notable point with Harry’s cover is that the lyrics around the pronouns are highly telling. For example:
I got it real bad
Want everything she has
That smile and that midnight laugh
She’s givin’ you now
Any time we see a line which could be taken heterosexually – ‘I got it real bad’ – it’s clarified by the following line – ‘Want everything she has’ – to let you know that the singer doesn’t want the woman, but wants to be the woman. We see this throughout the song, as the singer states they think of the woman’s beauty and even her smell, not out of desire, but out of jealousy:
I want to drown myself
In a bottle of her perfume
I want her long blond hair
I want her magic touch
Yeah, ’cause maybe then
You’d want me just as much
The mentions of pining within the song, although at first glance can sound like a romantic crush on the woman, are actually obsessive jealous thoughts:
I don’t get no sleep
I don’t get no peace
Thinkin’ about her
Under your bed sheets
The way that she’s whisperin’
The way that she’s pullin’ you in
Lord knows I’ve tried
I can’t get her off my mind
It’s an insight into a mind that can’t move past someone who has taken their place with the person they love. If only they could be like her then their relationship with their ex wouldn’t have ended and they wouldn’t be heartbroken.
Thirdly, let’s look at the melody of the song. Little Big Town originally recorded the song in the key of C Major with a BPM/tempo of 174 beats per minute. However, Harry’s cover is in the key of E Major and has a BPM/tempo of 144 beats per minute.
What’s the significance of this? Well, C Major is made up with white notes on the piano, which generally means there are no sharps or flats within the melody. This gives the song a lighter feel, even if the subject matter is serious or sad. Uberchord.com says, ‘Of the major keys, C may be most childlike and resilient. It’s so full of light that it can risk tackling darker subjects without hanging its head.’ Examples of other well-known songs which are in the key of C Major would be Imagine by John Lennon, Let It Be by The Beatles, and Time After Time by Cyndi Lauper. All of these have a greater meaning, or a sober subject matter, and yet still sound upbeat enough for people to sing along and enjoy them without it altering their mood.
Applying this to Little Big Town’s version of ‘Girl Crush’, when you couple C Major key with the tempo of 174 BPM, the result is calm acceptance. The singer is aware of the situation and seems almost content to live with it.
So why does Harry sing his version in E Major instead of C? Well, E Major has 4 sharp notes within the scale, giving it an entirely different sound. When listening to the song, you can hear the sharp notes on phrases like ‘heart rush’, ‘midnight laugh’, ‘drown myself,’ ‘I’ve tried’, and ‘maybe then.’ This draws attention to those lyrics as well as adding a mourning, crying tone, as if the singer is in pain or grieving. This certainly fits in with Uberchord.com, who states E Major has ‘a slightly gritty, grinding quality…making it the perfect vehicle for lyrics dealing with…sexual rejection, powerful physical desires, and vengeance.’ When you consider the key alongside the slower tempo of 144 BPM, the result is less accepting than Little Big Town’s version, and more filled with raw longing. Furthermore, the beat of the song is waltz-like, with the lines and melody split into rounds of 6. For example, ‘I want to taste her lips, Yeah cause they taste like you’ has the beat of 1 2 3 4 5 6, 1 2 3 4 5 6. This gives the song a wistful romantic tone, as a waltz is often a romantic, wedding-dance type of rhythm. However, Harry alters this wistful tone by having only his vocals on 1 2 3 and having the backing singers enhance the chord on 4 5 6. This has the effect of two things: firstly, it draws attention to the lines the backing singers are singing, and secondly it alters the tone into something painful and mournful. This is something that Soundslikenashville picked up on, describing it as ‘haunting,’ while Templeton Music Academy on Youtube stated that Harry’s cover was ‘unreal talent meets honest expression.’
Finally, the timing of releasing the song cover is notable. Since One Direction went on hiatus in 2015, Harry and Louis were unable to interact in the public eye. 2017 was particularly busy for them both in terms of stunting and working on their own projects, and so any interactions were more subtle and involved blue greening, certain clothing choices, and cryptic tweets. It’s worth remembering that around this time, Louis had teased his song ‘Always You’ through tweets and Instagram posts, drawing attention to the opening lyrics which clashed with one of the stunts he had participated in just a month prior. Harry had also participated in this, stating that his album was about himself and not any women and that Sweet Creature was about one specific person that he thinks of as his home during an interview with Zack Sang. His choice to cover this song, then, seems to be in response to some of the long-term stunts Louis was participating in at the time.
Compared to their other interactions, releasing ‘Girl Crush’ was a very loud, bold move. When you consider that Harry was having to stunt with different beards during this time period, it’s highly surprising he was allowed to release and sing such a telling song.
