There's The Girl

Album: Bad Animals (1987)
Charted: 34 12
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Nancy Wilson of Heart wrote this song with Holly Knight, who co-wrote their hit "Never" from 1985. It tells the story of a girl who has deep feelings for a guy who is head-over-heels for another girl who doesn't appreciate him - a classic love triangle. "Can you say that you don't want her anymore?" she asks him when he sees her.

    In a 2021 Songfacts interview with Knight, she told the story: "I had the melody and the chorus, and it took us a while to write those lyrics because we'd write a little bit and then we'd get distracted and she'd go on the road, so it was written over time. Sometimes, something gets lost in translation when it's written over time, and I'm very surprised and happy to say that the song ended up being really popular. I see some of the comments on YouTube, and people love that song. I get asked about it all the time."

    "I recently heard a story of what it meant to Nancy," she added. "It was my title but she had a personal experience with a friend that went through it, that had been in love with somebody and saw them with another girl. We really didn't talk about that, so when I read it I was like, 'OK, that's interesting.'"
  • Ann Wilson handles most of the lead vocals for Heart, but Nancy Wilson - the group's guitarist - sings lead on this one. The song was written specifically for Nancy to sing; Heart's first #1 hit was "These Dreams," a song Nancy sang that appeared on their previous album, Heart.
  • This was the third single from the Bad Animals album, following "Alone" and "Who Will You Run To." It was produced by Ron Nevison, who also worked on their previous album and helped create the sound that crossed them over to a huge pop audience in the '80s.
  • The music video has smoke, two Sphinxes, and some kind of cyborg drum kit. And also Nancy Wilson in tails. Directed by Jeff Stein, it's a classic early MTV video with lots of intriguing imagery that doesn't necessarily make sense.

Comments: 2

  • Jd BradshawAnother favorite song by Heart...
  • Rishav from BiharI want a beautiful girl
see more comments

Editor's Picks

When Rock Belonged To Michelob

When Rock Belonged To MichelobSong Writing

Michelob commercials generated hits for Eric Clapton, Genesis and Steve Winwood in the '80s, even as some of these rockers were fighting alcoholism.

Mike Campbell

Mike CampbellSongwriter Interviews

Mike is lead guitarist with Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, and co-writer of classic songs like "Boys Of Summer," "Refugee" and "The Heart Of The Matter."

Protest Songs

Protest SongsMusic Quiz

How well do you know your protest songs (including the one that went to #1)?

Best Band Logos

Best Band LogosSong Writing

Queen, Phish and The Stones are among our picks for the best band logos. Here are their histories and a design analysis from an expert.

Michael Schenker

Michael SchenkerSongwriter Interviews

The Scorpions and UFO guitarist is also a very prolific songwriter - he explains how he writes with his various groups, and why he was so keen to get out of Germany and into England.

American Hits With Foreign Titles

American Hits With Foreign TitlesSong Writing

What are the biggest US hits with French, Spanish (not "Rico Suave"), Italian, Scottish, Greek, and Japanese titles?