| "Girls in Their Summer Clothes" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byBruce Springsteen | ||||
| from the albumMagic | ||||
| Released | January 15, 2008 | |||
| Recorded | March–April 2007 | |||
| Genre | Alternative rock,pop rock | |||
| Length | 4:20 | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Songwriter | Bruce Springsteen | |||
| Producer | Brendan O'Brien | |||
| Bruce Springsteen singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "Girls in Their Summer Clothes" onYouTube | ||||
"Girls in Their Summer Clothes" is a song by American recording artistBruce Springsteen, from his albumMagic.
Matched with a pop-oriented melody, Springsteen's full-throated singing, and a pop-orchestral arrangement,[1] the lyric portrays a series of warm small-town vignettes:
"Girls in Their Summer Clothes" has been cited as a singularly "breezy" song on the album,[2] thoughA. O. Scott ofThe New York Times notes: "Not that 'Girls in Their Summer Clothes' is untouched by melancholy. Its narrator, after all, stands and watches as the girls of the title 'pass me by.'"[3] Jay Lustig ofThe Star-Ledger writes that the song "unfolds gradually and at its own eccentric pace, with the music, and Springsteen's vocals, getting progressively more intense."[1] At the51st Grammy Awards, the song was nominated forBest Rock Song andBest Solo Rock Vocal Performance, winning the former.[4]
It was released foriTunesdigital download on January 15, 2008, as a single-like "bundle"[5] consisting of two audio tracks and an accompanying video.[5] As such the "Winter Mix" of the song was presented, which featured a single not doubled Springsteen vocal track, some added or enhanced percussion parts, and similar small changes. In addition to the Winter Mix, a live version was included. The release achieved minor chart success, reaching positions 95 on theBillboard Hot 100,[6] 67 on thePop 100,[6] and 62 onHot Digital Songs.[6] It also hit 27 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock charts.
Themusic video for the song (entitled "Girls in Their Summer Clothes (Winter Mix)") was directed byMark Pellington. Filmed on theJersey Shore on a cold winter day, it showed girls and women of various ages, interspersed with shots of Springsteen strumming his vintageGibson J-45 acoustic guitar. The backingE Street Band was not shown. Parts of the video mirrored the song's imagery, especially the diner scene.
"Girls in Their Summer Clothes" was regularly featured on the 2007–2008Magic Tour, often as the first encore song, although it suffered being dropped during a number of shows in early portions of 2008. One such first leg of tour performance was recorded and included in the January 2008 digital download bundle.
Although the song's lush pop-orchestral production approach was extended on many of the tracks of Springsteen's 2009 albumWorking on a Dream, "Girls in Their Summer Clothes" was little played on Springsteen and the E Street Band's associatedWorking on a Dream Tour.
In typically delayed fashion, the song garnered two nominations for theGrammy Awards of 2009:Best Rock Song andBest Solo Rock Vocal Performance.[7] It won the first, but lost the second toJohn Mayer's "Gravity". Springsteen subsequently confessed that he had not been tracking this closely: "I didn't even know I was up for a Grammy! I opened the newspaper on Monday and saw that I had won, and thought, 'Well, that's great!'"[4]
| Chart (2007) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| USBillboard Hot 100[8] | 95 |
| USAdult Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[9] | 8 |
| USDigital Song Sales (Billboard)[10] | 62 |
From album liner notes:
Additional musicians:
String Section:
