Pretty Girl (Clairo song)

Tag: Redirect target changed

{{Infobox song

#REDIRECT [[Diary 001]]

| name = Pretty Girl

{{Rcat shell|{{R from song}}}}

| cover = <!--just the file name-->

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = [[Clairo]]

| EP = ''[[Diary 001]]

| B-side =

| released = {{Start date|2017|08|04}}

| recorded =

| studio =

| genre = * [[Bedroom pop]]

* [[synth-pop]]

| length = 2:58

| label = [[Fader Label|Fader]]

| writer = Clairo

| producer = Clairo

| prev_title = Flaming Hot Cheetos

| prev_year = 2017

| next_title = 4Ever

| next_year = 2018

}}

"'''Pretty Girl'''" is a song by American singer-songwriter [[Clairo]]. It was first included on the [[compilation album]] ''The Le Sigh Vol. III'', which was released through [[Father/Daughter Records]] in August 2017, and it was released as a single on August 4, 2017. It was later featured on her debut [[extended play]], ''[[Diary 001]]'', which was released in May of the following year. Its lyrics are about a past relationship in which Clairo felt compelled to alter and silence herself to be considered attractive; its lo-fi [[GarageBand]] production, consisting of a drum machine and synths, led to the song being deemed [[bedroom pop]].

"Pretty Girl" became Clairo's breakout song after its music video, which she filmed on her laptop camera and uploaded to [[YouTube]] in August 2017, went viral. She soon signed to [[Fader Label]] with the help of her father, whom [[Reddit]] users accused of covertly engineering the song's success after discovering that he was a marketing executive, which led to her being criticized online as an "[[industry plant]]".

==Release and music video==

Before releasing "Pretty Girl", American singer-songwriter [[Clairo|Claire Cottrill]] uploaded her first song online, a [[Cover version|cover]] of a [[Maroon 5]] song, to her [[Facebook]]. She began performing under the name Clairo as a teenager, performing other covers and uploading her own mixes to [[SoundCloud]] and [[Bandcamp]].<ref name="FO">{{cite web |last1=Palmer |first1=Elle |title=Clairo: the poster girl of internet stardom |url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/clairo-the-poster-girl-of-internet-stardom/ |website=[[Far Out (website)|Far Out]] |access-date=August 20, 2024 |date=August 17, 2023}}</ref> She initially recorded "Pretty Girl" for ''The Le Sigh Vol. III'', the third volume of a collection of [[cassette]] compilations highlighting female and nonbinary [[indie rock]] acts by the music publication ''The Le Sigh'' whose proceeds went toward the [[Transgender Law Center]], which was released on August 4, 2017 through [[Father/Daughter Records]] and limited to 250 copies.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Rettig |first1=James |title=The Le Sigh Announces Vol. III Compilation Feat. Katie Dey, Emily Reo, T-Rextasy, & More |url=https://www.stereogum.com/1952783/the-le-sigh-announces-vol-iii-compilation-feat-katie-dey-emily-reo-t-rextasy-more/music/ |website=[[Stereogum]] |access-date=August 19, 2024 |date=July 18, 2017}}</ref><ref name="PforkProve" />

Clairo uploaded a music video for the song to [[YouTube]] in August 2017, which was filmed in her childhood bedroom in about 30 minutes using [[Photo Booth]] on her [[MacBook]] laptop.<ref name="Dazed">{{cite web |last1=Cliff |first1=Aimee |title=Getting real with viral pop star Clairo |url=https://www.dazeddigital.com/music/article/42329/1/clairo-pretty-girl-pop-star-interview |website=[[Dazed (magazine)|Dazed]] |access-date=August 20, 2024 |date=November 27, 2018}}</ref> It features her dancing in her bed and lip syncing to the song, including to a plastic toy of Gizmo from the 1984 film ''[[Gremlins]]'',<ref name="PforkProve" /> while wearing earbuds, sweatshirts, and no makeup.<ref name="FO" /> She described her appearance in the video as an effort "to portray that I don't need those things to make myself who I am".<ref name="Fadetanz">{{cite web |last1=Tanzer |first1=Myles |title=Clairo on 'Pretty Girl' and making chill pop songs for the whole internet to enjoy |url=https://www.thefader.com/2017/10/19/clairo-pretty-girl-video-interview |website=[[The Fader]] |access-date=August 20, 2024 |date=October 19, 2017}}</ref> The song's lyrics also appear in bright pink [[Closed captioning|closed captions]] at the bottom of the screen.<ref name="NYerker">{{cite web |last1=Battan |first1=Carrie |title=Clairo and the Fuzzy, D.I.Y. Sounds of Bedroom Pop |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/08/19/clairo-and-the-fuzzy-diy-sounds-of-bedroom-pop |website=[[The New Yorker]] |access-date=August 20, 2024 |date=August 12, 2019}}</ref> For ''[[The Ringer (website)|The Ringer]]'', Lindsay Zoladz wrote that Clairo exhibited an "an undeniable [[Everyman|everygirl]] charisma" in the video and ''[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]''{{'}}s Sasha Geffen compared the video's aesthetic to that of artist [[Molly Soda]].<ref name="CurCase" /><ref name="Pfork001">{{cite web |last1=Geffen |first1=Sasha |title=Clairo: Diary 001 EP |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/clairo-diary-001-ep/ |website=Pitchfork |access-date=August 20, 2024 |date=May 31, 2018}}</ref> It quickly went viral on YouTube and, through her father's connection with [[Jon Cohen (entrepreneur)|Jon Cohen]], she soon signed a 12-song deal with [[Fader Label]].<ref name="NYT">{{cite web |last1=Coscarelli |first1=Joe |title=Clairo's 'Pretty Girl' Went Viral. Then She Had to Prove Herself. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/23/arts/music/clairo-pretty-girl-diary-001.html |website=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=August 19, 2024 |date=May 23, 2018}}</ref> The video had over 17 million views on YouTube by 2018, over 40 million by 2019, and over 75 million by 2021.<ref name="CurCase" /><ref name="NPRSling">{{cite web |last1=Simon |first1=Scott |title=Clairo Languishes Over Domesticity - Past, Present And Future - In New Album 'Sling' |url=https://www.npr.org/2021/07/31/1023146121/clairo-languishes-over-domesticity-past-present-and-future-in-new-album-sling |publisher=[[NPR]] |access-date=August 20, 2024 |date=July 31, 2021}}</ref> The video's virality led to the song becoming her breakout hit.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Douris |first1=Raina |last2=Myers |first2=John |title=How Clairo Turned A Viral Bedroom Video Into A Successful Music Career |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/world-cafe/2019/12/23/790265246/how-clairo-turned-a-viral-bedroom-video-into-a-successful-music-career |publisher=[[NPR]] |access-date=August 20, 2024 |date=December 23, 2019}}</ref> It was later included on her debut six-song [[extended play]], ''[[Diary 001]]'', which was released in May 2018.<ref name="Dazed" /><ref>{{cite web |last1=Renshaw |first1=David |title=Clairo shares diary 001 EP |url=https://www.thefader.com/2018/05/25/clairo-diary-001 |website=The Fader |access-date=August 20, 2024 |date=May 25, 2018}}</ref>

==Production and composition==

Clairo wrote and produced "Pretty Girl" using [[GarageBand]] and a small keyboard in about two hours. It is a [[Lo-fi music|bedroom pop]],<ref name="ImmunityP">{{cite web |last1=St Asaph |first1=Katherine |title=Clairo: Immunity |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/clairo-immunity/ |website=Pitchfork |access-date=August 20, 2024 |date=August 2, 2019}}</ref><ref name="Qtus">{{cite web |last1=Barry |first1=Robert |title=Clairo — Immunity |url=https://thequietus.com/quietus-reviews/clairo-immunity-review/ |website=[[The Quietus]] |access-date=August 20, 2024 |date=August 1, 2019}}</ref> and [[synth-pop]]<ref name="PforkProve">{{cite web |last1=Moreland |first1=Quinn |title=Clairo Has Something to Prove |url=https://pitchfork.com/features/profile/clairo-immunity-interview/ |website=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]] |access-date=August 20, 2024 |date=August 1, 2019}}</ref> song inspired by 1980s pop music and written by Clairo about her feeling pressured to change her identity, silence herself, and conform to societal beauty standards for a past lover.<ref name="FO" /><ref name="Dazed" /><ref>{{cite web |last1=Jagota |first1=Vrinda |title=Viral Pop Singer Clairo Was Raised on the Internet |url=https://www.papermag.com/clairo-debut-ep-diary001 |website=[[Paper (magazine)|Paper]] |access-date=August 19, 2024 |date=May 25, 2018}}</ref> It begins with a four-count from a [[metronome]], and its instrumentation consists of a lo-fi drum machine and "rudimentary" synths,<ref name="NYerker" /> over which Clairo sings in a [[deadpan]] tone.<ref name="Qtus" /><ref name="CurCase">{{cite web |last1=Zoladz |first1=Lindsay |title=The Curious Case of Clairo |url=https://www.theringer.com/music/2018/7/25/17610744/clairo-diary-001-music-industry |website=[[The Ringer]] |access-date=August 20, 2024 |date=July 25, 2018}}</ref> She has stated that the song's lo-fi sound was unintentional and was a result of her resources for making the song being "pretty shitty", and has also described "Pretty Girl" as her "first original pop song".<ref name="Fadetanz" /> It was described by Joe Coscarelli of ''[[The New York Times]]'' as "coy" and "understated". Aimee Cliff of ''[[Dazed (magazine)|Dazed]]'' wrote that the lyrics "I could be a pretty girl/Shut up when you want me to" were "daintily scathing", while the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''{{'}} Mikael Wood called them "arch but tender" and ''Pitchfork''{{'}}s Katherine St. Asaph identified the lines as having "a sardonic popular-feminist message".<ref name="NYT" /><ref name="Dazed" /><ref name="LATdeb">{{cite web |last1=Wood |first1=Mikael |title=On impressive debut, Clairo broadens her bedroom pop while still brooding over love |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2019-07-31/clairo-immunity-album-review |website=[[Los Angeles Times]] |access-date=August 20, 2024 |date=July 31, 2019}}</ref><ref name="ImmunityP" />

==Reception==

Elle Palmer of ''[[Far Out (website)|Far Out]]'' wrote that "Pretty Girl" had a "quiet genius".<ref name="FO" /> For ''[[The New Yorker]]'', Carrie Battan called "Pretty Girl" "part teen fantasy and part meta-commentary on teen fantasies".<ref name="NYerker" /> Robert Barry of ''[[The Quietus]]'' praised "Pretty Girl" as having a "homespun charm" and "sound[ing] – winningly, wonderfully – cheap".<ref name="Qtus" /> Katherine St. Asaph, for ''Pitchfork'', commended the song's opening verse, in which she sings, "Polaroid of you dancing in my room/I think it was about noon/It's getting hard to understand how you felt in my hands", as "a precisely observed snapshot of the moment one notices there’s nothing anymore where heartbreak used to be" and "an early indicator that Claire Cottrill's heart lay in songwriting, not content production".<ref name="ImmunityP" />

Following the viral success of "Pretty Girl", music fans on [[Reddit]] theorized that the virality and authenticity of "Pretty Girl" had been manufactured by her father, Geoff Cottrill, after discovering that he had worked as a marketing executive for [[Coca-Cola]] and [[Converse (brand)|Converse]], where he ran the company's Rubber Tracks recording studio, and further described her as an [[industry plant]].<ref name="NYT" /><ref name="Dazed" /><ref name="PforkProve" /> In 2018, Lindsay Zoladz of ''The Ringer'' pushed back against the accusations, writing that "to believe that Geoff Cottrill was the mastermind behind 'Pretty Girl'" was "to give the Olds, and maybe even the advertising industry, more credit than they deserve".<ref name="CurCase" />

==References==

{{reflist}}