"Girls / Girls / Boys" is a song by American rock band Panic! at the Disco. It was released as the third single from their fourth studio album, Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die!, on October 7, 2013. The music video for the song, directed by DJay Brawner, was also released on the day after. It peaked at number 31 on the Billboard Hot Rock Songs chart. It was the final single released with drummer Spencer Smith and bassist Dallon Weekes, as well as the last song released by Panic! at the Disco as a band, with further music being released as a solo project by Brendon Urie.
| "Girls / Girls / Boys" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Panic! at the Disco | ||||
| from the album Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die! | ||||
| Released | October 7, 2013 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 3:26 | |||
| Label | Fueled by Ramen | |||
| Songwriter(s) | ||||
| Producer(s) | Butch Walker | |||
| Panic! at the Disco singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Writing and composition edit
"Girls / Girls / Boys" was co-written by Brendon Urie and Dallon Weekes. The lyrics have been described as "racy",[3][4] as the song depicts a love triangle complicated by the female love interest's attraction to women, described by Urie in an interview as being "barsexual" rather than bisexual.[5][6] In a 2018 interview with Paper, Urie stated the song was a recollection of his first threesome experience.[7]
The bass line of "Girls / Girls / Boys" is performed by Weekes,[8] who was compared to Duran Duran bassist, John Taylor.[9]
In an interview with Bass Player in December 2013, Weekes commented on the song's bass line.
"I wrote that on my own, and nobody really wanted to use it for the album. I was actually going to give it to a friend of mine in the band Neon Trees to use. But as we moved on with the writing, I tried to figure out what it was that I liked so much about the song, and I realized it was the bass line. So I took that from it, and we ended up writing a totally different song around it."[8]
Music video edit
The music video for "Girls / Girls / Boys" was directed by DJay Brawner and released the day after the single.[10] The video was compared to the music video of D'Angelo's, "Untitled (How Does It Feel)",[3] which Urie cited as an inspiration to the video.[4] The video uses the same black background as Untitled, and is also done in a single shot, pulling back to show a nude Urie, and stopping just before showing the pubic region; there has been a rumour that he was wearing very low pants.[11] A director's cut of the music video was released on July 28, 2014. The version is identical to the original, except it includes two women kissing each other and heavily touching Urie near the end of the video.[12][13]
Chart performance edit
| Chart (2013) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (Billboard)[14] | 31 |
Certifications edit
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom (BPI)[15] | Silver | 200,000‡ |
| United States (RIAA)[16] | Platinum | 1,000,000‡ |
|
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
References edit
- ^ a b Pettigrew, Jason. "Panic! At The Disco Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die!". Alternative Press. Archived from the original on July 1, 2017. Retrieved March 24, 2016.
- ^ "Review: Panic! At The Disco – 'Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die!'".
- ^ a b Kraus, Brian. "Panic! At The Disco release "Girls/Girls/Boys" music video and announce headlining tour". Alternative Press. Retrieved March 24, 2016.
- ^ a b Coulehan, Erin. "Panic at the Disco Get Racy, Recreate D'Angelo's 'Untitled'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved March 24, 2016.
- ^ Sargent, Jordan. "Panic! at the Disco's 'Girls/Girls/Boys' Video Spoofs D'Angelo's Nudity". Spin. Retrieved March 24, 2016.
- ^ Brendon Urie on 'Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die!': Part 2, retrieved 2022-04-12
- ^ Hazehurst, Beatrice (July 6, 2018). "Brendon Urie Lays It All Out". Paper. Paper Communications. Retrieved August 19, 2018.
- ^ a b D’Auria, Jon. "Dallon Weekes: Modern Meets Vintage". Bass Player. Retrieved March 24, 2016.
- ^ "'Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die' review: Eclectic Panic! At the Disco". Newsday. Retrieved March 24, 2016.
- ^ "DJay Brawner On Directing Panic! At The Disco's 'Girls/Girls/Boys' Music Video". Retrieved March 30, 2016.
- ^ "Still-Unanswered Questions in 'Untitled' Video Remake". NPR.
- ^ "Panic! At The Disco release "Girls/Girls/Boys" (Director's Cut) music video". Alternative Press. Retrieved April 13, 2016.
- ^ "Panic! At the Disco Reveal 'Girls/Girls/Boys' Director's Cut Video". RockSound. Retrieved April 13, 2016.
- ^ "Panic at the Disco 2 Chart History (Hot Rock & Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved March 24, 2016.
- ^ "British single certifications – Panic at the Disco – Girls/Girls/Boys". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved September 3, 2021.
- ^ "American single certifications – Panic! at the Disco – Girls/Girls/Boys". Recording Industry Association of America.