"Hey Boy Hey Girl" is a song by the British big beat duo the Chemical Brothers. The song contains a sample from "The Roof Is on Fire" by Rock Master Scott & the Dynamic Three, but the actual sample is taken from Armand van Helden's 1992 track "I Can't Wait (House Head & B-Boy Collaboration Mix)", as the riff at 11 seconds into "I Can't Wait" is also sampled in "Hey Boy Hey Girl" at the beginning. "Hey Boy Hey Girl" was released as the first single from the Chemical Brothers' third studio album, Surrender (1999), on 26 May 1999 in Japan and on 31 May in the United Kingdom. The song peaked at number three on the UK Singles Chart in June 1999 and remained on the chart for 10 weeks. It also reached the top 10 in Canada, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway and Spain.
Critical reception Daily Record commented, "Ed Simons and Tom Rowlands are back with another fantastic dance single. It's another block rockin' hit.""Chartslot". Daily Record. 18 June 1999. Retrieved 3 December 2020. In October 2011, NME placed it at number 50 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years", writing that the song "[starts] with a menacing, trance laden groove" and "[builds] to an absolute dance stomper".
Music video The music video (directed by Dom and Nic) opens with a group of schoolchildren on board a coach. The camera focuses on a young girl who opens a medical book of pictures of the human skeleton. A blond boy spits on the page, then smiles at her as he walks away. The children go to the Natural History Museum, where the same boy tries to scare the girl with a skull in his hood. She chases him, but falls near the bottom of a flight of stairs and fractures her wrist. At the hospital, she gets an X-ray of her hand.
The video then shows her brushing her teeth whilst picturing herself as only bones. The background behind her morphs into a toilet area at the Ministry of Sound nightclub, South London. When she reverts into a person, she is older (played by Hanne Klintøe). She passes a couple having sex in a stall, but she only sees them as skeletons. She exits the toilets and heads to the nightclub's bar, where a man (uncredited appearance of Rick Warden) tries to talk with her. She then pictures him as a skeleton and feels his jawbone before leaving. She then goes to the dance floor, and sees all the clubbers dancing as skeletons.
She exits the nightclub, and the Chemical Brothers themselves make a brief cameo appearance, stepping out of a taxi with DJ equipment. She then steps into that same taxi, where she sees the driver as a skeleton. He then asks her 'Where you going, baby?' in a camp, droll voice.
Track listings Standard CD and cassette single "Hey Boy Hey Girl" – 4:48 "Flashback" – 5:18 "Scale" – 3:43
Standard 12-inch single "Hey Boy Hey Girl" (extended version) – 6:01 "Flashback" – 5:18 "Scale" – 3:43
European CD single "Hey Boy Hey Girl" (radio edit) – 3:32 "Flashback" – 5:18
Credits and personnel Credits are lifted from the Surrender album booklet.
Studios Recorded at Orinoco Studios (South London, England) Edited at Berwick Street Studios (London, England) Mastered at The Exchange (London, England)
Personnel
The Chemical Brothers – production Tom Rowlands – writing Ed Simons – writing Gregory Carlton Wigfall – writing Richard Lee Fowler – writing Charles Pettiford – writing Celite Evans – writing Jerry Bloodrock – writing Steve Dub – engineering Cheeky Paul – editing Mike Marsh – mastering
Charts
Weekly charts Chart (1999)PeakpositionCanada (Nielsen SoundScan)3Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)11Greece (IFPI)7Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 40)5Italy (Musica e dischi)13
Year-end charts Chart (1999)PositionBelgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)93Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)94Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)179Sweden (Hitlistan)91UK Singles (OCC)74
Certifications
Release history Region Date Format Label(s) Catalogue Japan 26 May 1999 CD VJCP-12125 United Kingdom 31 May 1999 CHEMSD8 12-inch vinyl CHEMST8 Cassette CHEMSC8 Canada 1 June 1999 CD Virgin United States 22 February 2000 Alternative radio
References