BOY + GIRL?



performed on:
This sly, upbeat number with vocals by Janet Kieran was a fixture in the last few weeks of the Science tour and showed up on the following album, CHILD. It was written as a new song to take on the road during Science tour rehearsals by the entire band except Tina, with the lyrics by Nick on the same "David Byrne kick" that produced "Hearts," though in the case of "Boy + Girl?" Nick added "but that's really the way I felt as a kid." He added a verse about girls for the album recording.

Although Nick names the album track as a "conventional midtempo rocker," his definition of "midtempo" seems liberal; the live versions were midtempo, but the CHILD version is slowed down to "Wisdom" speed. It's still bass-driven and swinging, but it's a far cry from the tour version. On CHILD, the song is sung by Jay and Janet with Nick on the bridge. Fans were dissatisfied with this performance, angry that it sapped the energy of the Science tour renditions. Worse yet, a faster take from Tina's period was in the running for CHILD as late as summer 2004; Jeff didn't even know about the change until he received his copy of the album.

Nick sings the song again in 2005 live performances; he often screams more than he sings.


I hate boys
Because they've got too many needs
They want to swing on the tree
And crawl in the ground
That's not the life I need

I hate girls
Beacuse I don't know what they want
I saw one, she was walkin' around
She gathered acorns in a milk carton
Then you know, she dumped 'em back on the ground

So I just sit on my tree
And wait for the bell to ring.