Wild Girl

Album: Balm In Gilead (2009)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Rickie Lee Jones wrote most of this song in the mid-'80s but didn't record it, in part because she couldn't figure out who it was about. After her daughter Charlotte was born in 1988, Jones decided the song was about her, and finished it up. It finally appeared in 2009 on her Balm in Gilead album. One of the reasons Jones didn't give up on the song is that her mother loved it.
  • Jones commented in press materials that Balm In Gilead "is unique because most of it was written over the last 20 years. All the other records, I've written in a year or two or three after finishing the previous one. This one has threads from many, many years." She added that this R&B-flavored opener, "which ended up being about my daughter, was started before (1989's) Flying Cowboys, and it was waiting all these years to finish. For me, the album feels close to a debut, because the only time you ever have to spend all these years writing a song is your first record, right?"
  • Regarding the inspiration for this song, Jones told Paul Zollo (in More Songwriters On Songwriting), "I was thinking of that girl in high school that everybody sleeps with but nobody likes. Who is she? What happened to her? And how could I save her?"

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Julian Lennon

Julian LennonSongwriter Interviews

Julian tells the stories behind his hits "Valotte" and "Too Late for Goodbyes," and fills us in on his many non-musical pursuits. Also: what MTV meant to his career.

Annie Haslam of Renaissance

Annie Haslam of RenaissanceSongwriter Interviews

The 5-octave voice of the classical rock band Renaissance, Annie is big on creative expression. In this talk, she covers Roy Wood, the history of the band, and where all the money went in the '70s.

Women Who Rock

Women Who RockSong Writing

Evelyn McDonnell, editor of the book Women Who Rock, on why the Supremes are just as important as Bob Dylan.

Concert Disasters

Concert DisastersFact or Fiction

Ozzy biting a dove? Alice Cooper causing mayhem with a chicken? Creed so bad they were sued? See if you can spot the real concert mishaps.

Protest Songs

Protest SongsMusic Quiz

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

George Clinton

George ClintonSongwriter Interviews

When you free your mind, your ass may follow, but you have to make sure someone else doesn't program it while it's wide open.