Song Review – Brandy Clark’s “Girl Next Door”
Brandy Clark is what passes these days for a modern elite-level mainstream songwriter. The problem is the modern elite-level mainstream songwriter is a much different animal than the troubled, disheveled cowboy poet scribbling rhymes on stained cocktail napkins as they strain to give the world some insight into their troubled mind through weary life-earned wisdom. Today’s songwriter is workshopping ideas with other professional wordsmiths on plushy microfiber couches with frappy fair trade brews steaming up sleek post-modern designed rooms, and Skyping brainstorming sessions during banker’s hours.
Brandy Clark is one of the revered and decorated ringleaders of the new school songwriting-by-committee process. Though the results may always be more appealing than the next tractor rap the “Peach Pickers” pull out of a corn field bro off, it sometimes can still smack more of product than the raw inspiration set to words country music used to be known for.
“Girl Next Door” is the lead single from Brandy’s sophomore album Big Day in a Small Town set to be released on April 1st, and above all else, the song is very “lead single-like.” The production crew tried to furtively slide this song past you as maybe a sensible country pop tune with even a slight underlying retro texture, but “Girl Next Door” is pretty straightforward disco country and looks to dovetail in with the danceability of many of today’s hits, regardless of how organic the sounds may be compared to some of its compatriots. Despite back-end production differences between “Girl Next Door” and the next big Sam Hunt single sequenced by some DJ, the creators are hoping Joe Q. Listener won’t notice; only critics and colleagues who will hopefully try to sugar coat the truth: “Girl Next Door” is an unadulterated bid for radio play.
Once again Brandy Clark’s motivation is to shatter the peaceful facade of suburbia with a more subversive message, while stirring in a bit of the ever-present “badass” persona that has so permeated female country in recent years. Don’t misunderstand, the writing of “Girl Next Door” is pretty slick, and the pentameter of the delivery is what catches the ear beyond the repetitive beat. But the song doesn’t really go anywhere beyond presenting a character the target audience can live vicariously through—one who doesn’t give a damn and is her own woman, telling men they better take her as she is and can’t be blamed if she can’t be trusted.
Instead of revealing self-doubt, regret, or loneliness, the girl in “Girl Next Door” is unapologetic, while any sort of story or baseline of what created this somewhat reckless persona is left untold. The white picket fence of the lyric video reinforces how this song is supposed to discredit social graces as societal conformity. Unlike other country music characters created in songs like Patty Loveless’ “That Kind of Girl” for example, there’s nothing really endearing or human about Brandy Clark’s anti-heroine. She’s not lost and yearning for love. There’s nothing that makes you sympathize or identify with her. She just seems like a girl with an attitude problem who doesn’t care that her house is dirty or her hair isn’t perfect because screw you.
There’s nothing exceptionally bad about “Girl Next Door,” it’s more about how unexceptional and predictable it is. In other words, it’s just yet another lead single for a new album upcoming in 2016, and it will probably mark the worst song of the entire effort.
(4/10)
– – – – – – – – – – – –
“Girl Next Door” was written by Brandy Clark, Jessie Jo Dillon, and Shane McAnally.
January 23, 2016 @ 9:35 am
I’m to the point with Shane McAnally that I was with Dallas Davidson or Rhett Akins a couple of years ago. When I see his name as a writer or producer I know the song is going to be mediocre and half baked at best and utterly offensive at worst.
Suppose he will be all over Clark’s album if their past is any indicator.
January 23, 2016 @ 6:29 pm
…he had a cowrite on most of Pageant Material, too. Including Dimestore Cowgirl.
January 23, 2016 @ 9:40 am
This is fair enough Trigger 🙂 And it’s obvious you still respect her which is only right. She IS Brandy Clark. If this song breaks the radio walls that keep her and women as good as her out, then the stellar upcoming album gets heard by people who need to hear better music. The album cuts are golden. And I think she’s going to do better with this studio version of GND than Ashley Monroe did with Onto Something Good (Ashkey also released a radio geared opening single from a five star Country album) I get it Brandy…Woman is smart & I trust her
January 23, 2016 @ 10:00 am
I never fell for or understood her hype. Sure, she is superior to the “Peach Pickers” but so are the first drafts of 1st graders.
January 23, 2016 @ 12:34 pm
She talks a good game, she has that in common with Musgraves and a number of other Nashville “outsiders” (outsider in name only), but I agree that both Clark and Musgraves have been pretty “meh” for me. I don’t hate either of them, this terrible song aside, but I can’t imagine going to see one of them in concert. They are mainly good because they are semi-mainstream-ish, generally their production is rooted closer to Country than Pop or Rock and they both talk a good game about fighting the boys club of mainstream Country music. That said, neither of them is going to knock guys like Isbell or Simpson off their throne.
January 24, 2016 @ 12:21 am
CountryKnight, I would suggest the following songs from “12 Stories”:
“What Will Keep Me Out of Heaven”
“Just Like Him”
“Hold My Hand”
“In Some Corner”
“Illegitimate Children” (this one is quite funny)
All of these are excellent examples of top-notch songwriting, and Brandy endows them all with gorgeous vocals.
January 23, 2016 @ 10:38 am
I understand she’s trying to get radio play, but this is definitely not good. I hate the guitars. HATE. And this is coming from someone who thinks 13 Stories is the best mainstream country album of the decade.
She played three or four new songs when I saw her live that were great, so I’m hoping I can just skip this one and enjoy the rest of the record.
January 23, 2016 @ 11:13 am
I know this is off topic Trigger but I was wondering if you have listened to the latest Brothers Osborne album?
January 26, 2016 @ 11:12 am
Yes, it’s on the list to review. Doesn’t mean I will review it, but it’s on the list.
January 23, 2016 @ 11:54 am
I love Brandy Clark’s music but I’m not sold on this single. I understand the lead single is going to be more radio friendly. Ashley Monroe’s single Onto Something Good was not a really good indication of what The Blade album was like; I’m hoping that’s the case with Brandy’s new album.
January 23, 2016 @ 12:12 pm
Agreed. I really enjoyed her first album. If this is just an outlier then I can ignore it, but I hope it’s not indicative of the album as a whole.
January 23, 2016 @ 1:28 pm
Agreed with both of you. I can’t say I was keen on “On the Something Good” when I first heard it — I mostly found it pleasant but forgettable — but I don’t feel inclined to skip it when I put the album on.
That may not be the case with this song if/when I get Brandy’s next album. While I think “If you want the Girl Next Door, then go next door” is a pretty good hook, I’d say that’s really all it has going for it; lyrically, there’s no real story or character here because the narrator tends to define herself more by what she ISN’T than by what she actually is (beyond cliche`s like being “twisted” and a “mess”), and musically, I find it even more in-your-face obnoxious than Shania Twain’s mid-to-late ’90s hits like “Any Man of Mine” and “Honey, I’m Home”. :p
January 23, 2016 @ 2:43 pm
I think “On to Something Good” is much better than this song. It’s certainly not my favourite song on the album and I don’t ever listen to it on its own, but I don’t skip it either when I listen to the album.
January 23, 2016 @ 6:33 pm
Are you the Frank the Tank that is on CSNBSS?
January 23, 2016 @ 6:40 pm
No, that’s not me. I post on some other country music sites from time to time, but I don’t even know what CSNBSS is.
January 24, 2016 @ 9:26 am
Oh ok.
It is a sports message board. There is a poster there with the same name.
Just wondering.
January 23, 2016 @ 11:29 pm
Yeah, I was gonna mention “On to Something Good” as a possible precedent for this, but it looks like I’m not the only one who thought of that. 😉
I remember thinking when that song was released as a single that it might signify Ashley Monroe making a turn towards pure pop, but that track was only one piece of the pie, and I ended up loving some of the other material on The Blade, which I still need to spend some more time with.
I agree that “On to Something Good” was pleasant compared to this song, however.
January 23, 2016 @ 11:56 am
As with Kacey Musgraves, folks get sucked in because it’s not as terrible as what mainstream radio serves us. But please let the greatness of the past be our measuring stick, not the crap that is our present. The whole “expose suburbia” and “mention pot a few times” bull is sooooo tired and should not give any credibility. Compare her (and every other songwriter) to what has stood the test of time. I can’t believe that Stapleton gets the evil eye from some because of some brushes with bro country, yet mediocrity served over and over with some snark and sarcasm is lauded as part of the saving country music process. That’s just as silly as assuming that a guy with a big beard is legit.
January 23, 2016 @ 12:29 pm
Honestly the biggest thing I hold against Clark and Musgraves is the fact that they seem to constantly work with Shane Mcanally who has turned out to be one of the worst things to happen to Country radio is a long, long time. See his ties with Sam Hunt as his producer. I almost find Shane Mcanally worse than Dallas Davidson in terms of crappy Nashville songwriters, since Mcanally has legitimately shown he can write a good song before, while Dallas Davidson has pretty much been a one-note hack since the day he popped out of the womb.
January 23, 2016 @ 12:43 pm
He also produced the new Old Dominion album.
January 23, 2016 @ 7:44 pm
I forgot about him producing the Old Dominion garbage. Sure didn’t need that one banging around the atmosphere. And Brandy Clark still sucks.
January 24, 2016 @ 1:05 am
In response to some of the “Musgraves and Clark are mediocre shills” type of comments:
Personally, I do think artists like Kacey Musgraves and Brandy Clark have a part to play in changing the culture of country music. That is, if “saving” country music involves opening people’s minds to the genre who would otherwise be ambivalent toward it, by reaching them with high-quality music and songwriting.
In my experience, there are a surprising number of people outside the country genre, including a lot of pop and indie music listeners, who have taken a shine to Kacey Musgraves and like her flair, for whatever reason. I’ve heard her music discussed in places where I wouldn’t expect to hear country music discussed at all. The same it true of Brandy Clark, especially among journalist and critic types. I know a lot of “big shot” pop music critics went absolutely gaga over 12 Stories, which is a fairly traditional country story-telling album, with Vulture’s Jody Rosen naming it his favorite album of 2013 in all genres. (You could throw Ashley Monroe’s name in this discussion as well.) Maybe the positive response to these artists is partially due to some kind of sociopolitical subtext, or to the fact that a lot of people have simply never heard good country music before, but in my mind, the fact that they aren’t necessarily at the same artistic peak as Sturgill Simpson or Jason Isbell is kinda beside the point, since they reach people those artists don’t necessarily reach.
January 24, 2016 @ 4:43 am
I think that there are 3 main differences between Kacey and most traditional country that cause her to stand out in terms of appealing to pop fans:
1) She is openly socially liberal, which is quite rare in country music. One of the main reasons that pop fans (especially folk fans) who might like the country sound dislike the genre anyway is due to its socially conservative bent. Kacey negates that factor.
2) Her lyrics diverge from the country storytelling tradition and instead feature a more generalized and abstract style favored by pop fans.
3) Compared to other traditional country artists, she is quite young both in terms of her own age and in her lyrical themes. Country singers at their career peaks have historically been well into their 30s, and Brandy Clark, Sturgill Simpson, and Jason Isbell all fit that mold. Kacey Musgraves, on the other hand, is in her late 20s, which is the typical career peak age for pop artists. Her lyrics also center around a lifestyle of dating and short-term relationships, while other traditional country artists’ themes focus on marriage and family.
In many ways, Kacey is a pop-country lyricist with a very traditional sound.
As for Brandy Clark, “12 Stories” is much more in the mold of tried and true trad-country. Most of the songs, though, include themes of blue-collar hardship that mainstream country has tried to avoid for the last few decades. “Take A Little Pill” and “Get High” depict drug addiction, “Pray to Jesus” points out financial hopelessness, “Illegitimate Children” brings up the topic of unwanted pregnancies in a very humorous manner, and the gorgeous “Just Like Him” (the best song on the album, IMO) hints at domestic violence. Many of the songs focus on modern themes of divorce, such as the aptly named “The Day She Got Divorced”.
That type of “edginess” and social relevance is probably why “12 Stories” earned so much critical appeal from outside the country world.
January 25, 2016 @ 6:50 am
I really like about half of Kacey Musgraves music a lot. But to behonest, I always feel like I’m just a little too old to be listening to a lot of her music.
You did a great job of putting into words the reasons why she would appeal to a younger, pop leaning crowd. But – I don’t know that that’s necessarily a good thing. I thought the younger, pop leaning crowd was half the problem, lol.
That said, I have both her albums and listen to them a lot. I do see quality in a lot of her music. And that definitely IS a good thing.
January 23, 2016 @ 12:02 pm
I’m confident she’ll still deliver a mostly solid album, but what’s the point of releasing a poppy, generic song here? Radio is going to ignore her either way. Look how badly Ashley Monroe’s bid for radio play failed last year.
January 23, 2016 @ 12:24 pm
I’m generally positive on Brandy Clark — I thought 12 Stories was excellent — but I really, really dislike this. The guitars, the tempo, the production, all of it. I would say it’s DOA, but I’ve given up trying to figure out country radio.
January 23, 2016 @ 1:02 pm
I don’t really know what she is trying to do. Country radio won’t play her anyway, and if it did I think a song like “Hold My Hand” would have better chances than this pop mess. Sometimes radio plays a critical acclaimed artist (think of Stapleton), but it sure won’t play a critical acclaimed artist who tries to chase the metro country trends (think of Gary Allan).
She will flop just like Monroe did with Onto Something Good (which however was way better than this track). She will just add the sell-out single to the flop.
January 23, 2016 @ 1:23 pm
Disappointed.
I loved the 12 Stories album. Spun it for months upon months.
I feel like I’d hate this song less if the music itself was entirely different. Lyrically, I’m not opposed to it. Maybe the degradation of lyrics in general has softened me up.
January 23, 2016 @ 2:01 pm
I was able to find an acoustic performance of it on Youtube — a LOT more bearable (the melody actually reminds me a bit of “Mama’s Broken Heart,” especially on the chorus), even if the lyrics still made me cringe a little bit… :\
January 23, 2016 @ 2:49 pm
I saw Brandy play it live a couple weeks ago opening for Brothers Osborne and loved the song. I couldn’t wait for a studio version and for the album since I loved 12 Stories. Then it was released and I hate the production. Gena brought up Mama’s Broken Heart and my initial thought after hearing the studio version of Girl Next Door was that I wanted more of Mama’s Broken Heart and less of whatever the hell Jay Joyce did with this.
January 23, 2016 @ 1:29 pm
i have to say this song is downright terrible. so annoying and out of her comfort zone. Hell at least Gary Allan’s Hangover Tonight had a nice bluesy sound and it kind of reminded me about ‘Runaway’. But this is absolute garbage. I understand the song’s message but frankly it’s not that great, musically this is Beautiful Drug 2. thank you Zac. And radio will screw this song because it’s just pathetic.
January 23, 2016 @ 1:40 pm
Big 12 Stories fan here, but that really sucked. I had high hopes for this album, but could not finish that song. Hope the rest is better
January 23, 2016 @ 1:50 pm
I don’t care for this song at all. Also, It’s hard for me to reconcile statements she has made about caring about country music with recording a song that is so formulaic and EDM riddled.
January 23, 2016 @ 2:20 pm
They basically made an EDM song with electric instruments and thought that would absolve them of that criticism. If anything, it makes it worse because they know better.
January 23, 2016 @ 2:32 pm
I think it’s a pretty big stretch to say its an EDM song with electric instruments.
January 23, 2016 @ 1:52 pm
Wow! I don’t recall hearing this broad before, but that was fucking terrible!
January 23, 2016 @ 2:26 pm
I think Brandy Clark will always be one of those fringe talented songwriter artists that needs someone else to vocalize her talents for the most impact. She is “meh” to me, too, as a performer.
From the description here, this sounds like it sucks major wind.
January 23, 2016 @ 2:32 pm
The most glaring issue I have with “Girl Next Door” is that, scanning the lyrics, this song thinks it’s something more clever and important than it really is.
The song that immediately sprung to mind when reading the lyrics was Meredith Brooks’ 1997 cult hit “Bitch”. That song remains one of my absolute favorite hit songs of that era due to its nuance, effectiveness in articulating both attitude and tenderness, its triumphant chorus and the propulsive guitars. All around, it remains a damn classic and is just as relevant now as it was then as evident by this spate of fierce female anthems.
But besides the points Trigger already mentions about the lack of context or nuance in Clark’s delivery………………………..where, lyrically, “Bitch” felt down to earth and conversational……………..”Girl Next Door” smacks as pretentious in comparison.
“Debbie debutante”? “Virgin Mary metaphor”? “Marsha Brady”? Are you sure Pat Monahan didn’t co-write this? What are presented as clever rhymes instead seem forced and showy and achieve little in actually fully fleshing out a fascinating character with a multifaceted essence to her.
Secondly, where Meredith Brooks succeeded with “Bitch” in still coming across as equal parts fun and likeable as she was edgy, Brandy Clark just comes across as cranky and even a little threatening in “Girl Next Door”. By the end of the song, I imagine most would surely sympathize with the righteous frustrations of countless women being pressured to conform to rigid ideals of beauty, mannerisms and gender roles among much else…………….yet feel put off by her tone and left thinking: “Forget it, it’s just not worth coming up to her front door!”
And then we have this bridge couplet:
*
“The thing that turns you on,
is what you’ll wanna change.
But you have a better chance,
of slowing down a train.”
*
Seriously? What’s the point of even wasting two and a half minutes of oxygen if you’re already heavily in doubt the subject doesn’t understand you as is? It’s a bridge like that which leaves “Girl Next Door” feeling more like a confused kiss-off song than a self-affirming anthem like “Bitch”.
I haven’t even addressed the music and production yet and, honestly, I don’t even have an issue with either and are the least of my concerns here. It’s scarcely country, but I gathered Brandy Clark as a performer who doesn’t confine herself to any single style and the disco-influenced arrangement sounds serviceable and doesn’t hit you over the head. Actually, it works pretty well.
Its shortcomings reside in the tonal and lyrical departments. And, yeah, this isn’t by any means a bad song all things considered…………………just a disappointing regression from “12 Stories”.
I’m thinking a Light to Decent 5 out of 10 for this.
January 23, 2016 @ 3:28 pm
“The song that immediately sprung to mind when reading the lyrics was Meredith Brooks”™ 1997 cult hit ‘Bitch’. That song remains one of my absolute favorite hit songs of that era due to its nuance, effectiveness in articulating both attitude and tenderness…”
Good call! 🙂 I always liked that song too, and I think it holds up well as both a rockin’ tune and as an ode to embracing all that you are. In a stark contrast to Brandy’s song, which feels more like warning or possibly even trying to push a man away, Meredith’s narrator has already invited the guy into her world, as she expresses appreciation for his patience and sympathizes with his confusion.
January 23, 2016 @ 3:34 pm
I genuinely feel like Brandy Clark is trying to make a “Bitch” for the Millennial generation here………………..but along the way forgot exactly why many find “Bitch” endearing in the first place: its charm and appreciative tone to complement the sass.
January 23, 2016 @ 6:36 pm
Nadia,
You hit upon my biggest complaint about Musgraves and Clark. They think that their lyrics are so clever.
January 23, 2016 @ 10:17 pm
Occasionally, they truly are.
Definitely not here, though. Nor with “Biscuits:. Hell, I have regularly stated how overrated I find “Follow Your Arrow”.
But I do genuinely think they have their share of direct hits as well. “12 Stories” had a handful of them, as did “Pageant Material”. And not surprisingly, they usually happen when they don’t sound like they’re trying too hard.
January 23, 2016 @ 2:37 pm
Ha! What was that horseshit I just listened to? 4/10 was way too high there, trigger. After making it almost 1 minute through that train wreck I look forward to seeing this album fail. Just terrible
January 23, 2016 @ 2:54 pm
She’s becoming like me. A total f*cking sell out.
January 23, 2016 @ 5:00 pm
You mean an American actor and director, known for PCU (1994), The Great Outdoors (1988) and Warlock: The Armageddon? (1993) 😉
January 24, 2016 @ 7:47 pm
No , Nadia . I’m pretty sure Chris is talking about himself the pseudo-country music vocalist …a total f**king sell out
January 24, 2016 @ 8:09 pm
Just ribbing him! 😉
Seriously, though! Click on “Chris Young”! 😉
January 23, 2016 @ 2:57 pm
I’m gonna laugh my ass off if this(for all its efforts to be a pop song) doesn’t chart as well as Nobody to Blame, and Tennessee Whiskey.
January 23, 2016 @ 2:58 pm
I have to agree with the consensus in the comments — this song is profoundly disappointing and 4/10 is too generous. You said it best, in regard to the lyrics, “there”™s nothing really endearing or human about Brandy Clark”™s anti-heroine. She”™s not lost and yearning for love. There”™s nothing that makes you sympathize or identify with her. She just seems like a girl with an attitude problem who doesn”™t care that her house is dirty or her hair isn”™t perfect because screw you.”
Given the terrible instrumentation and these glaring problems with the lyrics, this is 2/10 at best. And we are all tired of these “bad girl” lyrics that have become all too commonplace among, otherwise talented, female songwriters in Nashville. It was cool and fun at first, and Miranda popularized it, but it’s tired now and boring.
January 23, 2016 @ 3:47 pm
Some male singer/songwriter needs to pen a song called “Let Me Make Mistakes.” Not that Brandy Clark is this way with her partners but many people who wave the “I’m Not Perfect” flag turn around and expect perfection from their significant other. This song says some things that need to be said but it also enables all those people who apply double standards to their partners.
January 23, 2016 @ 4:07 pm
I agree.
This is why nuance plays a leading factor in how I review the songwriting for any given track. Except in specific instances where the context calls for something decidedly more black-and-white, or if the song is more autobiographical and intended as a portrait of someone, I can’t connect with songs that have such a one-sided, pigheaded disposition.
That’s why someone like Miranda Lambert has always been hot and cold with me. She has incredibly nuanced songs like “All Kinds of Kinds” and “More Like Her”, and then incredibly narrow-sighted songs where you can’t help but wonder if it’s the same artist or not.
January 23, 2016 @ 4:14 pm
I loved 12 Stories and disagree with those who don’t like her live show.I though the review might be a little rough on her.Then I played the song .This is awful.Another potential contributor to country’s salvation goes down in flames.Dang.
January 23, 2016 @ 4:56 pm
Sweet baby Zlatan! This hurts. Fucking hurts. Most of the bile released these days at least got a melody of sorts. This is pure evil. And don’t get me started on the lyrics. Djeezuz.
January 23, 2016 @ 5:23 pm
I have been meaning to check out brandy clark as I have heard good things but this is straight up garbage.
January 23, 2016 @ 6:14 pm
Very disappointed in this. Another stupid “dance” country song. I can’t stand the sound/beat of it. Its just frustrating,as a fan of Brandy, that she puts out a song like this.
January 23, 2016 @ 6:14 pm
proving something I said earlier that Brandy Clark was part of the problem.
Also, Saving Jane’s some by the same name is much better,
January 23, 2016 @ 7:02 pm
My girlfriend and I listen to this and “somewhere on a beach” back to back. It wasn’t a good day for us.
January 23, 2016 @ 7:37 pm
Argh. Hate the sound. Is Brandy Clark’s voice in that mess somewhere?
And the song…it took a committee to write that? It doesn’t go anywhere. Each verse just hashes over the same thing: she’s a “bad girl” and good girls are boring. About halfway through the song I was thinking “okay, I get it, let’s move on”.
January 23, 2016 @ 11:02 pm
I have to agree with the majority sentiment here. This song is disappointing, and sorta bewildering.
First of all, the glossy pop production is distracting, and it actually clashes with Brandy Clark’s vocals, which is typically one of her big strengths. (By the way, I’m not convinced this guy Jay Joyce is some kind of brilliant producer – at least not in the country genre.)
Beyond that, the lyrics are heavy-handed and kinda clunky, and come across like “slam poetry” night at the feminist student union. I mean, besides the fact that the “badass woman” trope in country music has generally grown stale (and I did like “Kerosene” by Miranda, and other earlier songs of this type), the attitude behind this particular song seemed weirdly hostile in a way that I couldn’t really articulate until I read this article. To echo what Trigger in the review above about the song’s lack of context, it seems to me that typically with these type of “lashing out” songs, there’s some kind of impetus or reason behind the protagonist’s bad attitude. With this, there isn’t anything like that, so it just seems strangely aggressive.
In addition, I’m also in the “radio probably won’t play this anyway, so why bother bending over backwards to court their favor” camp, assuming that’s Brandy Clark’s motivation here. At this point, especially in the “post-Chris Stapleton” musical world, it makes more sense for talented singer-songwriters to stick to their guns regardless of whether radio gets on board or not. That’s why this song seems like a misfire. Maybe I’m wrong and this will get Brandy Clark on the airwaves, but honestly, it doesn’t seem like a great radio single anyway. It doesn’t have much of a hook or a catchy chorus, and the chorus it does have is overly drawn-out and flat.
Anyway, it’s just one song. Hopefully the rest of the album will be better.
January 24, 2016 @ 7:49 pm
“come across as slam poetry” night at the feminist student union….”
lol lol lol lol ……dead on
January 24, 2016 @ 12:27 am
Very annoying song.
Brandy Clark is capable of both truly great tracks (like the ones I listed in my comment above) as well as noisy, melodically flat, “tough-woman” style pieces. This song is reminiscent of “Crazy Women”, my least favorite track from “12 Stories”.
Hopefully, “Girl Next Door” will be the worst song on her next album.
January 24, 2016 @ 2:10 am
That shit you hear at the beginning? I liked it better in Human League’s “Don’t You Want Me.”
January 24, 2016 @ 7:46 am
Yeah, I got a whole lot of nothing out of this song. Disappointing…
January 24, 2016 @ 9:25 am
This sounds a lot like something from the 1990s Lisa Loeb pop rock era.
January 24, 2016 @ 4:00 pm
Thank you. You’re on target with this one. Its so hard for me to listen to this song. But I should not give up hope that there is hope that Brandy can still give us songs better than this one. Crossing my fingers.
January 24, 2016 @ 6:14 pm
So it’s Crazy Women pt. 2. Celebrating bad behavior is not new. But to wear these songs like a badge of honor…
January 24, 2016 @ 6:34 pm
It looks like that white picket fence in the video is made of that plastic fake wood, which may be more on-point as commentary than the creators intended.
January 24, 2016 @ 7:33 pm
I love the shout out to Patty Loveless’ “That Kind of Girl”! So underrated. So many can still relate to the lyrics of being somewhere in between the “woman in red” and the “girl next door”. That song didn’t have much story either but you knew the character wanted a “real romance.” I hate the production of Brandy’s “Girl Next Door” and completely agree that it doesn’t go anywhere. But I disagree completely that this is just a girl with an attitude problem. The frustration in the song is a rebellion against the girl next door stereotype and “virgin Mary metaphor” women are badgered with. The persona isn’t about being “badass”, it’s about being allowed to be imperfect. But this song has no depth and gets boring fast when you realize nothing is being added to the subject.
January 24, 2016 @ 7:39 pm
-Totally over-the-top-non-country ‘ country ‘ trying to win a prize for who can use the most number of words to say nothing . This had better be Brandy Clark’s ” Your Man ” moment . I’ve resigned myself to the fact that every credible songwriter is allowed , maybe , ONE of ‘ those ‘ songs. Still….. a hard pill to swallow from someone we know can deliver so much better. Pathetic , really . Couldn’t she have been happy sending this out to the Kelsea Ballerinis or Carrie Underwoods or even the desperate Rebas of the world ? Even Lady A or Little Big Town would have gobbled this up . I mean …hell it even has the obligatory hand claps to go along with that 4 on the floor thump . Its’ stadium-ready disco-rock from someone who will likely NEVER ( and shouldn’t ever ) play a stadium , for God’s sake !! WTF . Will the real Brandy Clark please stand up and give her label the middle finger . Joke music for Joke radio .
January 25, 2016 @ 3:17 pm
The song is really fun & great live but the studio version is not my favorite! Still so much better than what is out on country radio.
January 25, 2016 @ 10:07 pm
I love it. Another facet of Brandy Clark to listen to over and over. She can rock it. One of my favorites from her.
January 30, 2016 @ 5:25 pm
Heard it on the radio today – 1/30. Listened through to see what the deejay had to say. “That was “Girl Next Door”, a new song by a new artist. Brandy Clark. I’m digging it”. New artist?…I suppose he said the same thing when he played Stapleton’s “Nobody to Blame”.
July 4, 2016 @ 9:16 am
I don’t think it’s that bad, but everything on 12 Stories is better.
The fact that Hungover wasn’t a top ten hit in an hourly rotation is all the indictment of mainstream country radio, to which I don’t listen, I need.