"Absolutely (Story of a Girl)" is a song by American rock band Nine Days for the group's fourth studio album, The Madding Crowd (2000). The song was released as the lead
single from The Madding Crowd in April 2000 through 550 Music and Epic Records. The song is an upbeat power pop anthem written by guitarist/vocalist John Hampson for his wife, who was his girlfriend at the time it was composed. Brian
Desveaux, the group's other guitarist, also receives songwriting credit. The song represented a breakthrough for the band after years of attempting to interest major record labels. It was recorded in Atlanta, Georgia, at Tree Sound Studios with producer
Nick DiDia. The song became the band's only hit single; it reached number six on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States, and it peaked within the top 10 in Canada and New Zealand. The song's music video was directed by Liz Friedlander and received airplay on MTV and VH1. The band's follow-up single, "If I Am",
fared worse than its predecessor, and Nine Days became a one-hit wonder. The song was later featured, both in audio and in dialogue, in the movie Everything Everywhere All at Once. Multiple alternate versions of the song were written by Hampson for the
movie.[1][2]
Songfacts®:
With bands like Vertical Horizon and Lifehouse all over the airwaves, Nine Days was a welcome addition to playlists with "Absolutely (Story of a Girl)." The song was written by their lead singer John Hampson, and the girl who "Cried a river and drown the whole world" was his girlfriend, Teresa Savino, who later became his wife. The song was a huge success, but Nine Days was not able to follow it up; Epic Records dropped the band and wouldn't release their second album because they didn't hear a hit. Hampson became a high school English teacher.
"'Story of a Girl,' is autobiographical," Hampson tells Impose magazine. "I exaggerated things and used tons of figurative language to express something, but it's about me, and it's about my wife - who was then my girlfriend - and her wanting to get engaged. I just wasn't ready. I was basically stalling her and making her cry. I was good at that."
This was used in the TV shows Dawson's Creek (in the 1999 episode "None of the Above") and Daria (in the 2001 episode "Boxing Daria").
Written byJohn HampsonLanguageEnglishISWC T-071.056.973-5 ASCAP, ISWC, JASRAC
Published by HAZELSONGS ASCAP, GEMA
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First release by Nine Days (May 16, 2000) Originals
Absolutely (Story of a Girl)
Adaptations
An adaptation is a musical work which uses most of the music or lyrics of another musical work.
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Absolutely (Story of a Girl) written by John Hampson English May 16, 2000
- Story of a Squirrel written by J. John Jackson English October 9, 2001
Versions
Absolutely (Story of a Girl) written by John Hampson English
Absolutely (Story of a Girl) | Nine Days | May 16, 2000 | First release | ||
Absolutely (Story of a Girl) | Hyannis Sound | 2001 | A cappella | ||
Absolutely (Story of a Girl) | Kidz Bop Kids | August 2002 | |||
Absolutely (Story of a Girl) | The Madison Project | January 2003 | A cappella | ||
Absolutely (Story of a Girl) | Four Year Strong | July 21, 2009 | |||
Story of a Girl | Xtension Chords | 2009 | A cappella | ||
Absolutely (Story of a Girl) | Future Idiots | August 24, 2010 |
Story of a Squirrel written by J. John Jackson English
Story of a Squirrel | ApologetiX | October 9, 2001 | First release |
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