This Girl Gets Around

Album: Footloose Soundtrack (1984)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Sammy Hagar wrote this song for the 1984 film Footloose. It's about the character Ariel Moore (played by Lori Singer), who is a seemingly innocent girl and the daughter of a preacher, but she is in fact a rebellious daredevil trying to live down her upbringing.
  • "This Girl Gets Around" is an outlier on the Footloose soundtrack, a rocker in a collection of pop songs and ballads. That's intentional, showing the rough edges of the character it's about.

    Songs on the soundtrack include the #1 Deniece Williams hit "Let's Hear It For The Boy," the Mike Reno & Ann Wilson duet "Almost Paradise," and the title track by Kenny Loggins.
  • Sammy Hagar was a busy man in 1984. In addition to this song, he also released the album VOA, which includes his hit "I Can't Drive 55," and he put out an album called Through The Fire as Hagar Schon Aaronson Shrieve, a one-off with Neal Schon, Kenny Aaronson and Michael Shrieve.

    In 1985, Hagar took over as lead singer in Van Halen, replacing David Lee Roth.
  • Hagar used members of his band on this song, including guitarist Gary Pihl and bass player Bill Church.
  • The Footloose soundtrack ended up selling over 9 million copies, earning Hagar some hefty royalties. He's made some shrewd financial decisions in his career, including starting a tequila company that he later sold for millions. How does he spend his fortune? A lot of it goes toward cars - he's particularly fond of Ferraris.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Rick Astley

Rick AstleySongwriter Interviews

Rick Astley on "Never Gonna Give You Up," "Cry For Help," and his remarkable resurgence that gave him another #1 UK album.

Shawn Mullins

Shawn MullinsSongwriter Interviews

"Lullaby" singer Shawn Mullins on "Beautiful Wreck," beating the Devil, and his writing credit on the Zac Brown Band song "Toes."

Bryan Adams

Bryan AdamsSongwriter Interviews

What's the deal with "Summer of '69"? Bryan explains what the song is really about, and shares more of his songwriting insights.

Sending Out An SOS - Distress Signals In Songs

Sending Out An SOS - Distress Signals In SongsSong Writing

Songs where something goes horribly wrong (literally or metaphorically), and help is needed right away.

Facebook, Bromance and Email - The First Songs To Use New Words

Facebook, Bromance and Email - The First Songs To Use New WordsSong Writing

Where words like "email," "thirsty," "Twitter" and "gangsta" first showed up in songs, and which songs popularized them.

Max Cavalera of Soulfly (ex-Sepultura)

Max Cavalera of Soulfly (ex-Sepultura)Songwriter Interviews

The Brazilian rocker sees pictures in his riffs. When he came up with one of his gnarliest songs, there was a riot going on.