The single was re-released as a 7-inch vinyl record for Black Friday Record Store Day 2012 on opaque red vinyl by Third Man Records and later issued on standard black vinyl.
"Fell in Love with a Girl" is an uptempo alternative rock and garage punk song that runs for a duration of one minute and fifty seconds.[3][4] The track retains a brash rock instrumentation which consists of guitar and drums. It is built a slashing rhythm guitar groove set to a high-speed, stuttering beat with thrashing crash cymbals and skipped snare drum.[4] According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Universal Music Publishing Group, the song is written in the time signatureofcommon time, with a fast tempo of 192 beats per minute.[3] "Fell in Love with a Girl" is composed in the keyofB major, while Jack White's vocal range spans from a low of B3 to a high of A4.[3] The song has a basic sequence of B–A–D–E during the introduction and verses and follows F♯–A–D–E–F♯–A–F♯ at the refrain as its chord progression.[3]
The song opens with Jack White singing his lines with a manic vocal delivery at loud volume. His breathless performance exudes visceral intensity and quirky, exaggerated inflections.[4] White's lyricism contains a dense slew of words laced with anxious banter and snappy humor.[4] The musical arrangement comes to an abrupt halt at the last line of each verse.[4] In substitution of a chorus, "Fell In Love with a Girl" features an infectious backing vocal line. After each verse, Jack White incessantly belts a wordless sing-along composed of "ah-ah-ah-ah" harmonizing.[4]
The song was met with widespread critical acclaim. Comparing it to that of the Ramones, Tom Maginnis from AllMusic called it "an attention-grabbing chunk of primal punk rock confection that flames out in a breathless one minute and 50 seconds. ... Surrendering is the only option; to fight against the infectious brutal and relentless energy of "Fell in Love With a Girl" is an exercise in futility."[4] The May 3, 2007, issue of Rolling Stone magazine listed the song as one of the forty songs that changed the world.[5] In 2011, NME placed it at number 6 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".[6]The Times said that the track "mixes the blues with the Pixies."[7]The Village Voice's "Pazz & Jop critics' poll named "Fell in Love with a Girl" the sixth-best song of 2002. Paste and Stereogum ranked the song number six and number two, respectively, on their lists of the greatest White Stripes songs.[8][9]
The music video is a Lego animation directed by Michel Gondry. Gondry's son was featured at the beginning of the video, building Lego blocks. It was shot frame by frame with each frame having the Lego bricks rebuilt, sometimes in a complex manner to seem as if it were an actual shot, and then formed together to give the illusion of motion. The video mostly consists of red, white, and black color. The White Stripes couldn't strike a deal with Lego, so they had to buy a large amount of Lego boxes for the video.[10]
InThe Work of Director Michel Gondry interview, Jack also said that the White Stripes contacted the Lego Group in hopes of having a small Lego set packaged with each single of the record, with which one could build a LEGO version of Jack and Meg White. The Lego Group refused, saying: "We don't market our product to people over the age of twelve."[11]
Entertainment Weekly said that "the images enhance the lyrics...You can take the metaphor even deeper. As with Legos, love and sex can ultimately take whatever form your imagination desires."[12]Entertainment Weekly included it on its end-of-the-decade, "best-of" list, saying, "An idea so simple it's a wonder no one thought of it before 2002: rock & roll Legos!"[13]Pitchfork deemed it the best video of the decade.[14]
In 2003, English singer Joss Stone covered the song, retitled "Fell in Love with a Boy", for her debut studio album, The Soul Sessions (2003). It was released in the United States on January 12, 2004, as the album's lead single. In the United Kingdom, a limited-edition 7-inch single and CD single were issued on January 26, 2004. "Fell in Love with a Boy" debuted and peaked at number 18 on the UK Singles Chart. The song also peaked at number 23 in New Zealand and number 36 in Italy.
The single received mostly positive reviews from critics. Dorian Lynskey of The Guardian raved that "Fell in Love with a Boy" is the best track from The Soul Sessions as well as "the freshest and most deliciously inauthentic."[24]PopMatters reviewer Jason MacNeil commented that Stone gives the song "a groove-riddled, funky hip-shaker that never loses momentum."[25]Rolling Stone said the tune sounded like "a lost Memphis-soul classic."[26] However, Jim Greer of Entertainment Weekly viewed her version as "the only misguided ploy" on the album.[27] Andrew McGregor wrote for BBC Music that it "blends so well into the funky soul landscape that those less familiar with contemporary rock might miss the ironic juxtaposition altogether."[28]
The song was used in a UK television advert for radio station BBC Radio 6 Music. The advert depicted the first dance at a wedding, with the DJ choosing to play The White Stripes as opposed to the chosen song, much to the consternation of the family.[49]
"Fell in Love with a Girl" was the final song played on the airwaves of the influential Providence, Rhode Island radio station WBRU on August 31, 2017. After the song played, the DJs signed off and the radio fell silent. WBRU now operates exclusively as an internet radio station.
^Fell in Love with a Boy (UK limited 7-inch single sleeve). Joss Stone. Relentless Records, Virgin Records. 2004. REL 3, 0724355378576.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^Fell in Love with a Boy (European maxi-CD single liner notes). Joss Stone. Relentless Records, Virgin Records. 2004. 724354810824.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^The Soul Sessions (UK CD album liner notes). Joss Stone. Relentless Records. 2003. CDREL2, 7243 5 96835 2 2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
