From Weezerpedia

"American Girls" is a song from the soundtrack to the 1998 film Meet the Deedles. It was the only song officially released by Homie, a side-project formed by Rivers Cuomo in 1997 after Weezer entered a period of hiatus.

Overview

"American Girls" was first recorded by Rivers Cuomo on his DA-88 machine in September of 1997, while living in Boston. When asked about his songwriting structure in an e-mail correspondence in 2001, Cuomo responded: "Round about the time I wrote American Girls, I started getting interested in what one of my professors calls "Strophic" composition: where one verse is essentially the same as the last. I think this form produces less "emotional" music, but the masters of the form, including the Beatles and Nirvana, don't seem to let their listeners down with it. I'll admit I haven't found a way to pull it off yet." [1]

Following the departure of Matt Sharp from Weezer, Cuomo began performing shows around Boston as both Weezer "try-out" shows as well as shows under his new side-project, Homie. "American Girls" was first performed live at the first of these "try-out" shows at a club in Cambridge in October of 1997. At this show, Cuomo introduced the song by saying that it was about "how American girls can be kinda rough sometimes." Cuomo was joined by future Weezer bassist Mikey Welsh on bass, Kevin Stevenson (of the band The Shods) on guitar, and Zeph Courtney (of Chevy Heston and Stompbox) on drums. The group also played it at another show that same month, and one additional time at the second of two Homie shows on November 21. These live performances are sometimes referred to my fans as the "hard rock" or "rocked out" version of the song, in contrast to the slowed-down ballad form of the Meet the Deedles release.

Cuomo recorded additional demos of "American Girls" the following winter, including a demo at his home in Cambridge, as well as a "pro" demo engineered by Ross Humphrey. Cuomo subsequently recorded a full Homie album with Fred Eltringham (of Gigolo Aunts) and Drew Parsons (of Tracy Bonham's band) at a studio (most likely Fort Apache), but the album was never released, and it's not known if "American Girls" was among the songs recorded.

A new version of "American Girls" was recorded in Boston for the soundtrack to the film Meet the Deedles, released March 24, 1998. Though it is technically attributed to Homie, "American Girls" was the final recording, to date, to feature the Weezer line up of Rivers Cuomo, Matt Sharp, Brian Bell, and Pat Wilson. The recording also features instrumentation from Yuval Gabay and Sebastian Steinburg of Soul Coughing, guitar by Greg Brown of the band Cake, and additional vocals from Cuomo's childhood friends Justin Fisher and Adam Orth as well as Geffen A&R representative Todd Sullivan.

Audio

Personnel

Meet the Deedles

Lyrics

Darling, I'm afraid to close my eyes when I'm going to bed

I'm afraid you'll crack the phone down over my head

Why are all American girls so rough?

Damn, the girl can't ever hurt you enough



Lady, you knock me on my knees and I can't stand up

You got the look in your eye and you smack my butt

Why are all American girls so rough?

Why do all American girls act so tough?

Why are all American girls so rough?



Jackboot digging in my ribs

It ain't no real hoot

So baby, take it easy

Let's try to be friends



Why are all American girls so rough?

Damn! The girl can't ever hurt you enough



Lady, you knock me on my knees and I can't stand up

You got the look in your eye and you smack my butt

Why are all American girls so rough?

Why do all American girls act so tough?

Why are all American girls so rough?



American girls (doo-doo-doo-doo)

American girls (doo-doo-doo-doo)