Girl's Not Grey

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"Girl's Not Grey"
AFI - Girl's Not Grey cover.jpg
Single by AFI
from the album Sing the Sorrow
ReleasedJanuary 12, 2003[1]
Recorded2002
GenrePop punk, emo[2]
Length3:10
LabelDreamWorks
Songwriter(s)Hunter Burgan, Adam Carson, David Paden Marchand, Jade Puget
AFI singles chronology
"The Days of the Phoenix"
(2000) 		"Girl's Not Grey"
(2003) 		"The Leaving Song Pt. II"
(2003)

"Girl's Not Grey" is a song by American rock band AFI. It was released as the debut single from their sixth studio album Sing the Sorrow in 2003. "Girl's Not Grey" was released to radio on February 4, 2003.[3] It is the band's third most successful single, peaking at #7 on the Alternative Songs Chart and #14 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Chart. A music video directed by David Slade was made for the song.

It is a playable track in the video games Rock Band 2 and Guitar Hero Live, and a downloadable track for the video game Guitar Hero 5 and the iPod Touch application Tap Tap Revenge.

Critical reception[]

"Girl's Not Grey" received generally positive reviews from critics, who considered it a pop punk song from the album. Allmusic reviewer Johnny Loftus felt that the chorus of the backing voices shifted the song from hardcore punk to pop, and called the single "a car-radio singalong of pure genius".[4]

Music video[]

A music video directed by David Slade was released shortly after the single's release. According to the Fuse TV program IMX, the video is similar to Slade's previously directed music video, "Sour Girl" by Stone Temple Pilots, featuring a strange environment and human-sized rabbit characters as well. The music video is similar to Lewis Carroll's novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, featuring a little girl that follows a rabbit into an alternate reality.

It features the band performing in an alley, where a girl follows a pink human-sized rabbit to an alternate reality. The band are seen performing in the location as well. The location is mostly made up of the color pink, featuring a pink sky, pink flower petals encircling the area, and the girl is dressed in pink as well. The band is shown performing in the alley again, covered in black paint. Meanwhile, in the alternate reality, the girl continues to follow the rabbit until it leads her to the top of a hill, where she sees AFI performing the chorus. Although she seems happy, she is devastated after realizing the pink rabbit has disappeared. A whirlwind of pink flower petals begin to encircles her, and although she struggles to set herself free, she disappears, leaving behind her pair of golden ballet slippers. The pink flower petals then burst out of vocalist Davey Havok's chest at the end of the video.

An alternate version simply features the band performing in the alley and covered in black paint, but does not feature the girl, human-sized rabbits, or the alternate reality itself. This is the more infamous version, and is often found on the Internet, rather than broadcast television.

Live performances[]

"Girl's Not Grey" was first performed live on January 8, 2002 at the Forum in Inglewood, California. As of 1 April 2019, it has been performed 538 times, making it the most performed song by AFI.[5]

Track listing[]

UK 7"

  1. "Girl's Not Grey" – 3:10
  2. "The Hanging Garden" (Live at BBC)[a] – 3:45

Europe

  1. "Girl's Not Grey" – 3:10
  2. "This Celluloid Dream" (Demo) – 4:18
  3. "Synesthesia" (Demo) – 4:35
  4. "Girl's Not Grey" (Final) Clip – 3:11

Germany

  1. "Girl's Not Grey" – 3:10
  2. "This Celluloid Dream" (Demo) – 4:18

UK CD 1

  1. "Girl's Not Grey" - 3:10
  2. "The Hanging Garden" (live at BBC) - 3:45
  3. "Synesthesia" (Demo) - 4:35
  4. "Girl's Not Grey" (Final) Clip - 3:11

UK CD 2

  1. "Girl's Not Grey" - 3:10
  2. "Reiver's Music" (336 Sessions) - 3:23
  3. "Now The World" (336 Sessions) - 4:01
  4. "Girl's Not Grey" (Prelude) Clip - 3:11

Chart positions[]

Chart (2003) Peak
position
UK Singles (OCC)[6] 22
US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[7] 7
US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (Billboard)[8] 14
US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[9] 33

References[]

Footnotes

  1. ^ Previously covered by AFI for the A Fire Inside EP

Citations

  1. ^ "AFI's Girl's Not Grey". Punknews.org. January 11, 2003. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
  2. ^ "Top 100 Emo Songs of All Time". The Boston Phoenix. Archived from the original on 2015-03-24. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
  3. ^ "FMQB Airplay Archive: Modern Rock". Friday Morning Quarterback Album Report, Incorporated. Archived from the original on March 22, 2013. Retrieved October 30, 2016.
  4. ^ Loftus, Johnny. "Sing the Sorrow – AFI". Allmusic. Retrieved January 7, 2011.
  5. ^ "Girl's Not Grey by AFI song statistics". Setlist.fm. Retrieved April 1, 2019.
  6. ^ "AFI: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 21, 2016.
  7. ^ "AFI Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved June 21, 2016.
  8. ^ "AFI Chart History (Bubbling Under Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved June 21, 2016.
  9. ^ "AFI Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved June 21, 2016.

External links[]

Girl's Not Grey official video on YouTube

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