Breaking up the Girl
Encyclopedia
"Breaking Up the Girl" is a 2001 alternative rock
song written, recorded and produced by Garbage
for their third studio album
Beautiful Garbage.
In North America
, "Breaking Up the Girl" was serviced to alternative radio
as the second single
to be lifted from the album. The single release coincided with Rolling Stone
publishing their critics' Albums of the Year list, on which Beautiful Garbage was ranked the sixth best release of 2001. "Breaking Up the Girl" was licensed out as the theme tune to Is It College Yet?
, the final episode of their long-running animated series Daria
, which premiered on MTV
as a TV movie in January 2002.
"Breaking Up the Girl" was subsequently released internationally in April 2002, where it supported the band's UK and European tour
. The single reached the top forty in both Australia
and United Kingdom
.
in Madison
, Wisconsin
during the year-long writing sessions for Beautiful Garbage. At some point in this period of time, Shirley Manson
had overheard the rest of the band working on the body of the song, and was inspired to write the melody
and lyrics
. During the development of the song, Garbage experimented with Beatles-like
harmonies and ad-libs
over the coda
. and layered a vocal from Manson onto a matching guitar part. "We sampled her going 'aah' and Duke played guitar," Butch Vig
explained,"and that made it sound like a weird little melodic quote, not necessarily a vocal part". Although it was one of the album's straightforward rock
songs, Garbage couldn't agree on the bass
/kickdrum pattern in the chorus
, trying various transmutations of a one-bar
phrase
. Using his Fender Precision Bass
and pick
, session musician Daniel Shulman
created a McCartney-esque
bass
movement
for the verse. Vig felt that the strumming of the guitar chords gave the song a Big Star
feel.
A decade earlier, when her Scottish band Angelfish
were struggling, Manson had lived in South Queensferry
where her friends included Andrew Greig
, the poet Iain Banks
, Duncan McLean
and Alan Warner
. At the time she felt washed up, and became reclusive with depression."It was Andrew who came by every morning and knocked on my door. He forced me out of bed and dragged me along the beach. He'd say "If you just keep going along the beach you'll get back on track", Manson later recalled. "He kept me moving. And I did get back on track. Very shortly after that, I got the call to go and join Garbage". Manson credited Greig with saving her career, a debt she tacitly acknowledged by quoting the line "I'm afraid there is much to be afraid of" from his 1994 long poem
Western Swing. Lyrically Manson felt that "Breaking Up the Girl" was "a cautionary tale. It's basically saying the world we're living in is harsh and you've got to live in the moment. Focus on the now. If there's something in your life that isn't good then get rid of them." Duke Erikson
expanded, "the light, poppy, melodic feel to the song belies the seriousness of the lyrics".
released "Breaking Up The Girl" as the second North American single from Beautiful Garbage, to Modern Rock
and Triple A
radio format
s in December 2001. Garbage had just completed a second support slot on U2
's Elevation Tour
in Miami, Florida
; the band spent the rest of the month promoting the Beautiful Garbage album in the United States
, recording a VH1
Behind The Music
special (for broadcast after the new year
) and performing "Breaking Up the Girl" on The Tonight Show
on December 12. After the Daria premiere, Interscope re-serviced "Breaking Up the Girl" to Top 40 radio
stations in February 2002. The single failed to make any Billboard charts
. Garbage began a two-month North American tour in mid-April, which was routed into the American Southwest during May; at that time "Breaking Up the Girl" went into heavy rotation on MTV en Español. Garbage's tour ended at the start of June with a concert at Mexico City
's National Auditorium
; "Breaking Up the Girl" was subsequently released in Mexico through Universal
as a five-track CD maxi.
The UK release of "Breaking Up the Girl" was scheduled to follow the band's concert tour in April 2002. The band performed the song on cd:uk
prior to the commencement of the live dates, which ran for eight consecutive nights. On April 8, Mushroom Records
issued the single as a 3×CD single set
backed with three b-sides
: "Confidence", an out-take from Beautiful Garbage and featured drums performed by Matt Chamberlain
; "Happiness Pt.2", a discarded demo
reworked by Butch Vig
while he was recovering from a Hepatitis
infection the previous year; and a cover version
of Velvet Underground's "Candy Says
", featuring a bass guitar
part by the band's engineer
Billy Bush
and recorded during tour rehearsals. The three tracks were spread out over the three discs, as were an acoustic
version and a QuickTime
music video
of the title track, and two remix
es of "Breaking Up the Girl" produced by Brothers In Rhythm
and Timo Maas
; and a version of "Cherry Lips (Go Baby Go!)
" by Eli Janney. The single peaked at #27 on the UK Singles Chart
. The following week, Pepsi Chart Show broadcast a live recording of Garbage performing "Breaking Up the Girl" on-stage at the Brixton Academy during the tour, while Top of the Pops
broadcast a performance of the single pre-recorded by the band the previous November.
In Europe
, PIAS Recordings
issued "Breaking Up the Girl" across the continent as a five track enhanced CD
maxi collecting together both remixes, "Use Me" (an album out-take released earlier in the United Kingdom and Australia on the b-side of "Cherry Lips") and an enhanced music video section; as a two-track CD single backed with a radio edit
of the Timo Maas remix; and an exclusive 12" vinyl format of multiple remixes. Garbage returned to tour European rock festivals in June 2002 (follow-up single "Shut Your Mouth
" was released to support these dates). Prior to these shows, Garbage completed a mini-tour of Spain
sonsored by telecom
company Telefónica
in Salamanca
, Madrid
, Bilbao
and Barcelona
. During this time, "Breaking Up the Girl" reached #33 on the Spanish airplay chart.
Following up Garbage's first Australian top ten hit ("Cherry Lips"), FMR scheduled the release of "Breaking Up the Girl" to begin low-key, with the remixes impacting clubs from March 1, 2002, eight weeks in advance of the single's street date. The song was serviced to Australian radio stations and the music video to television networks on March 25. FMR issued "Breaking Up the Girl" to stores on April 29. The single was issued as 2×CD single set, backed with "Candy Says", "Confidence" and Eli Janney's remix of "Cherry Lips" on the first disc, and the acoustic version, Brothers in Rhythm and Timo Maas mixes on a limited edition second disc. At the start of May, "Breaking Up the Girl" debuted on the ARIA Charts
at #19, the band's second single to reach the top twenty in Australia. The single also debuted at #2 on the ARIA Alternative chart. FMR launched a television ad campaign during May, with heavy emphasis on "Breaking Up the Girl"; Beautiful Garbage recharted and reclimbed the album charts
chart to #27. At the end of June, "Breaking Up the Girl" eventually bowed out of the Top 100 at #96 after an eight week run. In New Zealand
, Beautiful Garbage rebounded on the RIANZ album chart during April, reaching #16."Breaking Up the Girl" did not make the RIANZ singles chart.
The promotional video
for "Breaking Up the Girl" was directed by Francis Lawrence
and shot over December 5/6, 2001 in Los Angeles
.
Two version of the video were made. The first version released contained footage
lifted from the Daria
series mixed with montage footage of Garbage performing and shots of the band filming the video. The video was premiered on January 21, 2002 on MTV
during the intermission to the first showing of the Daria
movie Is It College Yet?
. MTV Europe
playlisted the video at the end of March.
The second released version, which became the main edit of the video, which was broadcast worldwide from February 2002. The video began with a CGI
shot of a shattered rose
, which disintegrated as the band appear. While Manson features heavily during the verses, the band perform together during the choruses. For the latter part of the video, all of the montage shots of Garbage disintegrate like the rose at the beginning, and the video ends with the rose reforming. The pace of the video is kept up using aggressive editing and cutting between shots filmed with zoom
and fisheye lens
es.
The international edit of the "Breaking Up the Girl" music video was first made commercially available in QuickTime
format on the CD-ROM
enhanced section
of the "Breaking Up the Girl" singles. The video, like the song, did not appear on 2007's Absolute Garbage.
The CD format of Beautiful Garbage contained an enhanced element
where users could remix four tracks from the album, of which "Breaking Up the Girl" was one of. Created in conjunction with Sonic Foundry
, using a customized version of their drag-and-drop
ACID Pro
music sequencer
software, the remixes utilized samples and loops cut direct from the album masters
. The enhanced section could be accessed when the user was online; a simplified version of the software featuring only "Androgyny
" loops was accessible when the user was offline.
In 2007, the Timo Maas remix of "Breaking Up the Girl" was remastered
, edited
and included on the Absolute Garbage
greatest hits
album bonus disc Garbage Mixes. Four rejected mixes by Jimmy Caulty and Black Dog Productions surfaced in May 2011.
, who had the chance to listen to the track as soon as it was mixed, described the song as being "redolent of vintage Blondie
". Jerry Ewing of Classic Rock
wrote that the song was "wonderful, guitar-based rock, with a magic sprinkling of melody" "This serene delight showcases Garbage's softer side," wrote Sunday Mail
s Billy Sloan, "Its soft sound contrasts against the spurned vocals; a testament to the chameleon
-like style that is the glory of Garbage" A reviewer for Smash Hits! wrote, "[It's] not as instantly memorable as ["Cherry Lips"]... this radio-friendly rock-tinged pop will have your toes tapping away to the beat in no time". Chuck Taylor of Billboard
compared the song to Republica
's "Ready to Go
" writing "this track conjures up images... of Manson frolicking in a daisy patch. It's all back to Earth with the lyric, which pretty much calls the subject to a loser for hurting a girl. You've been warned, now just enjoy the pace." Jason Arnopp of Kerrang!
described "Breaking Up the Girl" as "[It] glides along sultry, sad and dreamy, driven by a practically recognisable acoustic guitar
."
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
song written, recorded and produced by Garbage
Garbage (band)
Garbage are an alternative rock band formed in Madison, Wisconsin in 1994. The group consists of Scottish singer Shirley Manson and American musicians Duke Erikson , Steve Marker and Butch Vig . All four members are involved in songwriting and production...
for their third studio album
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
Beautiful Garbage.
In North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, "Breaking Up the Girl" was serviced to alternative radio
Alternative Radio
Alternative Radio is an internationally syndicated, one-hour, weekly radio program, featuring serious interviews with humanitarian and progressive thinkers. Begun in 1986, it evolved from a program that journalist David Barsamian hosted on community radio station KGNU-FM, in Boulder, Colorado. AR...
as the second single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
to be lifted from the album. The single release coincided with Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
publishing their critics' Albums of the Year list, on which Beautiful Garbage was ranked the sixth best release of 2001. "Breaking Up the Girl" was licensed out as the theme tune to Is It College Yet?
Is It College Yet?
Is It College Yet? is the second of two movie-length installments featured in MTV's animated series Daria. The first music video for "Breaking Up the Girl" by Garbage premiered as part of the film, featuring a Daria montage, and the song was promoted as the "theme song" for College; the song used...
, the final episode of their long-running animated series Daria
Daria
Daria is an American animated television series produced by Paramount Television, and created by Glenn Eichler and Susie Lewis Lynn for MTV. The series focuses on Daria Morgendorffer, a smart, acerbic, and somewhat misanthropic teenage girl who observes the world around her...
, which premiered on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
as a TV movie in January 2002.
"Breaking Up the Girl" was subsequently released internationally in April 2002, where it supported the band's UK and European tour
Beautiful Garbage tour
The Beautiful Garbage tour was the third world concert tour cycle by American/Scottish alternative rock group Garbage, which took the band throughout North and Central America, Europe, Japan, Australia and New Zealand in support of its third album Beautiful Garbage.The Beautiful Garbage tour takes...
. The single reached the top forty in both Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
Song profile
"Breaking Up the Girl" was written and recorded by Garbage between April 2000 and May 2001 at Smart StudiosSmart Studios
Smart Studios was a recording studio located at 1254 E Washington Ave in Madison, Wisconsin. It was set up in 1983 by Butch Vig and Steve Marker to produce local bands....
in Madison
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
, Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
during the year-long writing sessions for Beautiful Garbage. At some point in this period of time, Shirley Manson
Shirley Manson
Shirley Anne Manson is a Scottish recording artist and actress, best known internationally as the lead singer of the alternative rock band Garbage. For much of her international career Manson commuted between her home city of Edinburgh to the United States to record with Garbage but now lives and...
had overheard the rest of the band working on the body of the song, and was inspired to write the melody
Melody
A melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity...
and lyrics
Lyrics
Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of...
. During the development of the song, Garbage experimented with Beatles-like
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
harmonies and ad-libs
Ad-Libs
Ad-Libs is an improvisational comedy troupe based in Dallas, Texas. Combining improvisation along with video segments, Ad-Libs was conceived by Phil Larsson in 1986...
over the coda
Coda (music)
Coda is a term used in music in a number of different senses, primarily to designate a passage that brings a piece to an end. Technically, it is an expanded cadence...
. and layered a vocal from Manson onto a matching guitar part. "We sampled her going 'aah' and Duke played guitar," Butch Vig
Butch Vig
Butch Vig is an American musician and record producer, best known internationally as the drummer of the Madison, Wisconsin-based alternative rock band Garbage and the producer of multi-platinum selling album Nevermind by Nirvana....
explained,"and that made it sound like a weird little melodic quote, not necessarily a vocal part". Although it was one of the album's straightforward rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
songs, Garbage couldn't agree on the bass
Bass drum
Bass drums are percussion instruments that can vary in size and are used in several musical genres. Three major types of bass drums can be distinguished. The type usually seen or heard in orchestral, ensemble or concert band music is the orchestral, or concert bass drum . It is the largest drum of...
/kickdrum pattern in the chorus
Refrain
A refrain is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse; the "chorus" of a song...
, trying various transmutations of a one-bar
Bar (music)
In musical notation, a bar is a segment of time defined by a given number of beats of a given duration. Typically, a piece consists of several bars of the same length, and in modern musical notation the number of beats in each bar is specified at the beginning of the score by the top number of a...
phrase
Phrase (music)
In music and music theory, phrase and phrasing are concepts and practices related to grouping consecutive melodic notes, both in their composition and performance...
. Using his Fender Precision Bass
Fender Precision Bass
The Fender Precision Bass is an electric bass.Designed by Leo Fender as a prototype in 1950 and brought to market in 1951, the Precision was the first electric bass to earn widespread attention and use. A revolutionary instrument for the time, the Precision Bass has made an immeasurable impact on...
and pick
Guitar pick
A guitar pick is a plectrum used for guitars. A pick is generally made of one uniform material; examples include plastic, nylon, rubber, felt, tortoiseshell, wood, metal, glass, and stone...
, session musician Daniel Shulman
Daniel Shulman
Daniel Shulman is an American performer of bass guitar. Although he has made a significant contribution as a session musician, working with Run-DMC and Meredith Brooks, he is best known for his work with the Scottish-American band Garbage from 1995 until 2002....
created a McCartney-esque
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
movement
Movement (music)
A movement is a self-contained part of a musical composition or musical form. While individual or selected movements from a composition are sometimes performed separately, a performance of the complete work requires all the movements to be performed in succession...
for the verse. Vig felt that the strumming of the guitar chords gave the song a Big Star
Big Star
Big Star was an American rock band formed in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1971 by Alex Chilton, Chris Bell, Jody Stephens and Andy Hummel. The group broke up in 1974, but reorganized with a new line-up nearly 20 years later...
feel.
A decade earlier, when her Scottish band Angelfish
Angelfish (band)
Angelfish was a short-lived mid-1990s alternative rock group originating from Edinburgh, Scotland, formed as a side-project to Scottish group Goodbye Mr. Mackenzie, after keyboardist and backing vocalist Shirley Manson was signed as a solo artist to circumvent the Mackenzies' existing record contract...
were struggling, Manson had lived in South Queensferry
South Queensferry
South Queensferry , also called Queensferry, is a former Royal Burgh in West Lothian now part of the City of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located some ten miles to the north west of the city centre, on the shore of the Firth of Forth between the Forth Bridge and the Forth Road Bridge, approximately 8...
where her friends included Andrew Greig
Andrew Greig
Andrew Greig is a Scottish writer. He grew up in Anstruther, Fife. He studied philosophy at the University of Edinburgh and is a former Glasgow University Writing Fellow and Scottish Arts Council Scottish/Canadian Exchange Fellow...
, the poet Iain Banks
Iain Banks
Iain Banks is a Scottish writer. He writes mainstream fiction under the name Iain Banks, and science fiction as Iain M. Banks, including the initial of his adopted middle name Menzies...
, Duncan McLean
Duncan McLean (writer)
Duncan McLean is a Scottish novelist, playwright, and short story writer.-Life and works:Duncan McLean was born in Fraserburgh and has lived in Orkney since 1992. While based in Edinburgh in the 1980s, he started writing songs, stand-up routines, and plays for the Merry Mac Fun Co, a street...
and Alan Warner
Alan Warner
Alan Warner , a Scottish novelist, grew up in Connel, near Oban.He is the author of six novels: the acclaimed Morvern Callar , winner of a Somerset Maugham Award; These Demented Lands , winner of the Encore Award; The Sopranos , winner of the Saltire Society Scottish Book of the Year Award; The Man...
. At the time she felt washed up, and became reclusive with depression."It was Andrew who came by every morning and knocked on my door. He forced me out of bed and dragged me along the beach. He'd say "If you just keep going along the beach you'll get back on track", Manson later recalled. "He kept me moving. And I did get back on track. Very shortly after that, I got the call to go and join Garbage". Manson credited Greig with saving her career, a debt she tacitly acknowledged by quoting the line "I'm afraid there is much to be afraid of" from his 1994 long poem
Long poem
The long poem is a literary genre including all poetry of considerable length. Though the definition of a long poem is vague and broad, the genre includes some of the most important poetry ever written....
Western Swing. Lyrically Manson felt that "Breaking Up the Girl" was "a cautionary tale. It's basically saying the world we're living in is harsh and you've got to live in the moment. Focus on the now. If there's something in your life that isn't good then get rid of them." Duke Erikson
Duke Erikson
Douglas Elwin Erickson , better known as Duke Erikson, is a founding member of the band Garbage. At 16 years old he formed his first band, The British. Erickson studied art history, and financed his studies with numerous jobs such as carpenter or truck driver...
expanded, "the light, poppy, melodic feel to the song belies the seriousness of the lyrics".
Single release
Interscope RecordsInterscope Records
Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that currently operates as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-History:...
released "Breaking Up The Girl" as the second North American single from Beautiful Garbage, to Modern Rock
Modern rock
Modern rock is a rock format commonly found on commercial radio; the format consists primarily of the alternative rock genre...
and Triple A
Adult album alternative
Adult album alternative is a radio format. A spinoff from the album-oriented rock format, its roots trace to the 1960s and 1970s from the earlier freeform and progressive formats....
radio format
Radio format
A radio format or programming format not to be confused with broadcast programming describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. Radio formats are frequently employed as a marketing tool, and constantly evolve...
s in December 2001. Garbage had just completed a second support slot on U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
's Elevation Tour
Elevation Tour
The Elevation Tour was a worldwide concert tour by the Irish rock band U2. Launched in support of the group's 2000 album All That You Can't Leave Behind, the tour visited arenas in 2001. After the band's previous two extravagant stadium tours, Zoo TV and PopMart, the Elevation Tour returned the...
in Miami, Florida
Miami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
; the band spent the rest of the month promoting the Beautiful Garbage album in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, recording a VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
Behind The Music
Behind the Music
Behind the Music is a television series on VH1. It originally ran from 1997 to 2006, before it was stopped and only aired new episodes sporadically. The series places its generality on documentation of musical artists or groups who are interviewed and profiled, and discuss how their careers became...
special (for broadcast after the new year
New Year
The New Year is the day that marks the time of the beginning of a new calendar year, and is the day on which the year count of the specific calendar used is incremented. For many cultures, the event is celebrated in some manner....
) and performing "Breaking Up the Girl" on The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno that initially aired from May 25, 1992 to May 29, 2009, and resumed production on March 1, 2010. The fourth incarnation of the Tonight Show franchise made its debut on May 25, 1992, three days following Johnny...
on December 12. After the Daria premiere, Interscope re-serviced "Breaking Up the Girl" to Top 40 radio
Contemporary hit radio
Contemporary hit radio is a radio format that is common in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top 40 music charts...
stations in February 2002. The single failed to make any Billboard charts
Billboard charts
The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine...
. Garbage began a two-month North American tour in mid-April, which was routed into the American Southwest during May; at that time "Breaking Up the Girl" went into heavy rotation on MTV en Español. Garbage's tour ended at the start of June with a concert at Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
's National Auditorium
National Auditorium
National Auditorium is an entertainment centre located at Paseo de la Reforma #50, Chapultepec in Mexico City right in front of the Polanco hotel zone next to Campo Marte....
; "Breaking Up the Girl" was subsequently released in Mexico through Universal
Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group is an American music group, the largest of the "big four" record companies by its commanding market share and its multitude of global operations...
as a five-track CD maxi.
The UK release of "Breaking Up the Girl" was scheduled to follow the band's concert tour in April 2002. The band performed the song on cd:uk
CD:UK
CD:UK was a British music television programme. Originally run in conjunction with SMTV Live, the programme was first aired on ITV on 29 August 1998 to rival the BBC's Live & Kicking and was the replacement for The Chart Show, which had been airing on the network for nine and a half years.In...
prior to the commencement of the live dates, which ran for eight consecutive nights. On April 8, Mushroom Records
A&E Records
A&E Records is an United Kingdom-based record label imprint, owned by Warner Music Group, and operates under the WEA International group of labels at WMG....
issued the single as a 3×CD single set
CD single
A CD single is a music single in the form of a standard size Compact Disc, not to be confused with the 3-inch CD single, which uses a smaller form factor. The format was introduced in the mid-1980s, but did not gain its place in the market until the early 1990s...
backed with three b-sides
B-Sides
B-Sides is an iTunes-exclusive album from the Coventry Trio The Enemy, consisting of ten songs that were B-sides to the single releases from their debut album We'll Live and Die in These Towns.-Track list:#Fear Killed the Youth of Our Nation...
: "Confidence", an out-take from Beautiful Garbage and featured drums performed by Matt Chamberlain
Matt Chamberlain
Matthew Chamberlain is an American drummer, producer and sound engineer. He is currently based in Los Angeles, California.-Early life:...
; "Happiness Pt.2", a discarded demo
Demo (music)
A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
reworked by Butch Vig
Butch Vig
Butch Vig is an American musician and record producer, best known internationally as the drummer of the Madison, Wisconsin-based alternative rock band Garbage and the producer of multi-platinum selling album Nevermind by Nirvana....
while he was recovering from a Hepatitis
Hepatitis
Hepatitis is a medical condition defined by the inflammation of the liver and characterized by the presence of inflammatory cells in the tissue of the organ. The name is from the Greek hepar , the root being hepat- , meaning liver, and suffix -itis, meaning "inflammation"...
infection the previous year; and a cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of Velvet Underground's "Candy Says
The Velvet Underground (album)
The Velvet Underground is the third album by American rock group The Velvet Underground. It was their first record to feature Doug Yule, John Cale's replacement. It was recorded in 1968 at TTG Studios in Hollywood, California. This album's softer sound marks a radical shift in approach in style...
", featuring a bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
part by the band's engineer
Audio engineering
An audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
Billy Bush
Billy Bush (producer)
Billy Bush is an American musician, audio engineer and record producer, best known as the sound engineer and live tech for the Madison, Wisconsin-based alternative rock band Garbage and the co-producer of albums Help Wanted by Eric Avery and Heart Burns by Tom Gabel.Bush was hired by Garbage in...
and recorded during tour rehearsals. The three tracks were spread out over the three discs, as were an acoustic
Acoustic music
Acoustic music comprises music that solely or primarily uses instruments which produce sound through entirely acoustic means, as opposed to electric or electronic means...
version and a QuickTime
QuickTime
QuickTime is an extensible proprietary multimedia framework developed by Apple Inc., capable of handling various formats of digital video, picture, sound, panoramic images, and interactivity. The classic version of QuickTime is available for Windows XP and later, as well as Mac OS X Leopard and...
music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
of the title track, and two remix
Remix
A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....
es of "Breaking Up the Girl" produced by Brothers In Rhythm
Brothers in Rhythm
Brothers In Rhythm is a house music duo consisting of producers / remixers and DJs Steve Anderson and Dave Seaman. As a duo and individually, they have remixed and/or produced tracks by Lulu, M People, Secret Life, Janet Jackson, Michael Jackson, New Order, Pet Shop Boys, Kylie Minogue, Garbage,...
and Timo Maas
Timo Maas
Timo Maas is an electronic music DJ/producer and remixer.-Career:Maas bought his first set of turntables at the age of 17, and played his very first DJ set in 1982 at a party in his friend's home...
; and a version of "Cherry Lips (Go Baby Go!)
Cherry Lips
"Cherry Lips", also known as "Cherry Lips " is a 2001 song written, recorded and produced by alternative rock group Garbage for their third studio album, Beautiful Garbage. It was released the following year by Mushroom Records as the albums second international single, with the exception of North...
" by Eli Janney. The single peaked at #27 on the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
. The following week, Pepsi Chart Show broadcast a live recording of Garbage performing "Breaking Up the Girl" on-stage at the Brixton Academy during the tour, while Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. After 25 December 2006 it became a radio program, now hosted by Tony Blackburn...
broadcast a performance of the single pre-recorded by the band the previous November.
In Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, PIAS Recordings
PIAS Recordings
[PIAS] Recordings is the recorded music division of the [PIAS] Entertainment Group, a European independent artist and label services company.The record labels that operate under the [PIAS] Recordings umbrella are: Play It Again Sam, Wall of Sound and Different Recordings.Aside from the three London...
issued "Breaking Up the Girl" across the continent as a five track enhanced CD
Enhanced CD
Enhanced CD, also known as CD Extra and CD Plus, is a certification mark of the Recording Industry Association of America for various technologies that combine audio and computer data for use in both Compact Disc and CD-ROM players....
maxi collecting together both remixes, "Use Me" (an album out-take released earlier in the United Kingdom and Australia on the b-side of "Cherry Lips") and an enhanced music video section; as a two-track CD single backed with a radio edit
Radio edit
In music, a radio edit is a modification to make a song more suitable for airplay, whether it be adjusted for length, profanity, subject matter, instrumentation, or form...
of the Timo Maas remix; and an exclusive 12" vinyl format of multiple remixes. Garbage returned to tour European rock festivals in June 2002 (follow-up single "Shut Your Mouth
Shut Your Mouth (Garbage song)
"Shut Your Mouth" is a 2001 alternative rock song by Garbage, written and recorded for their third studio album Beautiful Garbage. "Shut Your Mouth" was the album opener; it was also released as its fourth and final single....
" was released to support these dates). Prior to these shows, Garbage completed a mini-tour of Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
sonsored by telecom
Telecommunications Service Provider
A telecommunications service provider or TSP is a type of communications service provider that has traditionally provided telephone and similar services...
company Telefónica
Telefónica
Telefónica, S.A. is a Spanish broadband and telecommunications provider in Europe and Latin America. Operating globally, it is the third largest provider in the world...
in Salamanca
Salamanca
Salamanca is a city in western Spain, in the community of Castile and León. Because it is known for its beautiful buildings and urban environment, the Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988. It is the most important university city in Spain and is known for its contributions to...
, Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, Bilbao
Bilbao
Bilbao ) is a Spanish municipality, capital of the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. With a population of 353,187 , it is the largest city of its autonomous community and the tenth largest in Spain...
and Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
. During this time, "Breaking Up the Girl" reached #33 on the Spanish airplay chart.
Following up Garbage's first Australian top ten hit ("Cherry Lips"), FMR scheduled the release of "Breaking Up the Girl" to begin low-key, with the remixes impacting clubs from March 1, 2002, eight weeks in advance of the single's street date. The song was serviced to Australian radio stations and the music video to television networks on March 25. FMR issued "Breaking Up the Girl" to stores on April 29. The single was issued as 2×CD single set, backed with "Candy Says", "Confidence" and Eli Janney's remix of "Cherry Lips" on the first disc, and the acoustic version, Brothers in Rhythm and Timo Maas mixes on a limited edition second disc. At the start of May, "Breaking Up the Girl" debuted on the ARIA Charts
ARIA Charts
The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...
at #19, the band's second single to reach the top twenty in Australia. The single also debuted at #2 on the ARIA Alternative chart. FMR launched a television ad campaign during May, with heavy emphasis on "Breaking Up the Girl"; Beautiful Garbage recharted and reclimbed the album charts
ARIA Charts
The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...
chart to #27. At the end of June, "Breaking Up the Girl" eventually bowed out of the Top 100 at #96 after an eight week run. In New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, Beautiful Garbage rebounded on the RIANZ album chart during April, reaching #16."Breaking Up the Girl" did not make the RIANZ singles chart.
Commercial track listings
- UK CD1 Mushroom MUSH101CDS
- "Breaking Up the Girl" – 3:33
- "Candy Says" – 4:03
- "Breaking Up the Girl" (Brothers in Rhythm Therapy mix) – 10:44
- "Breaking Up the Girl" (video)
- UK CD2 Mushroom MUSH101CDSX
- "Breaking Up the Girl" – 3:33
- "Happiness Pt. 2" – 5:57
- "Breaking Up the Girl" (Timo Maas remix) – 6:42
- UK CD3 Mushroom MUSH101CDSXXX
- "Breaking Up the Girl" (Acoustic version) – 3:20
- "Confidence" – 3:09
- "Cherry Lips (Go Baby Go!)" (DJEJ's Go-Go Jam) – 6:13
- Europe CD single PIAS Recordings MUSH101CDSE
- "Breaking Up the Girl" – 3:33
- "Breaking Up the Girl" (Timo Maas radio edit) – 3:33
- Europe CD maxi PIAS Recordings MUSH101CDM
- "Breaking Up the Girl" – 3:33
- "Use Me" – 4:34
- "Breaking Up the Girl" (Timo Maas remix) – 6:42
- "Breaking Up the Girl" (Brothers in Rhythm radio edit) – 3:52
- "Breaking Up the Girl" (video)
- Europe 12" single PIAS Recordings MUSH101T
- "Breaking Up the Girl" (Timo Maas remix) – 6:42
- "Breaking Up the Girl" (Brothers in Rhythm Therapy dub) – 8:03
- "Breaking Up the Girl" (Brothers in Rhythm Therapy mix) – 10:44
- "Breaking Up the Girl" (Timo Maas dub) – 6:42
- Australia CD1 FMR MUSH101CDS
- "Breaking Up the Girl" – 3:33
- "Candy Says" – 4:03
- "Confidence" – 3:09
- "Cherry Lips (Go Baby Go!)" (DJEJ's Go-Go Jam) – 6:13
- "Breaking Up the Girl" (video)
- Australia CD2 FMR MUSH101CDSX
- "Breaking Up the Girl" (acoustic version) – 3:20
- "Breaking Up the Girl" (Timo Maas remix) – 6:42
- "Breaking Up the Girl" (Brothers In Rhythm Therapy dub) – 8:03
- "Breaking Up the Girl" (Brothers In Rhythm Therapy mix) – 10:44
- "Breaking Up the Girl" (Timo Maas dub) – 6:42
Music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
for "Breaking Up the Girl" was directed by Francis Lawrence
Francis Lawrence
Francis Lawrence is an American music video and film director.-Life and career:Lawrence was born in Vienna, Austria. His father is a physicist who taught at California State University, Northridge and his mother is V.P. Technology at a PR agency. He moved to Los Angeles at the age of three...
and shot over December 5/6, 2001 in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
.
Two version of the video were made. The first version released contained footage
Footage
In filmmaking and video production, footage is the raw, unedited material as it had been originally filmed by movie camera or recorded by a video camera which usually must be edited to create a motion picture, video clip, television show or similar completed work...
lifted from the Daria
Daria
Daria is an American animated television series produced by Paramount Television, and created by Glenn Eichler and Susie Lewis Lynn for MTV. The series focuses on Daria Morgendorffer, a smart, acerbic, and somewhat misanthropic teenage girl who observes the world around her...
series mixed with montage footage of Garbage performing and shots of the band filming the video. The video was premiered on January 21, 2002 on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
during the intermission to the first showing of the Daria
Daria
Daria is an American animated television series produced by Paramount Television, and created by Glenn Eichler and Susie Lewis Lynn for MTV. The series focuses on Daria Morgendorffer, a smart, acerbic, and somewhat misanthropic teenage girl who observes the world around her...
movie Is It College Yet?
Is It College Yet?
Is It College Yet? is the second of two movie-length installments featured in MTV's animated series Daria. The first music video for "Breaking Up the Girl" by Garbage premiered as part of the film, featuring a Daria montage, and the song was promoted as the "theme song" for College; the song used...
. MTV Europe
MTV Europe
MTV Europe is a pan-European 24-hour entertainment cable and digital television network launched on August 1, 1987. Initially, the channel served all regions within Europe being one of the very few channels that targeted the entire European continent...
playlisted the video at the end of March.
The second released version, which became the main edit of the video, which was broadcast worldwide from February 2002. The video began with a CGI
Computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
shot of a shattered rose
Rose
A rose is a woody perennial of the genus Rosa, within the family Rosaceae. There are over 100 species. They form a group of erect shrubs, and climbing or trailing plants, with stems that are often armed with sharp prickles. Flowers are large and showy, in colours ranging from white through yellows...
, which disintegrated as the band appear. While Manson features heavily during the verses, the band perform together during the choruses. For the latter part of the video, all of the montage shots of Garbage disintegrate like the rose at the beginning, and the video ends with the rose reforming. The pace of the video is kept up using aggressive editing and cutting between shots filmed with zoom
Zoom lens
A zoom lens is a mechanical assembly of lens elements for which the focal length can be varied, as opposed to a fixed focal length lens...
and fisheye lens
Fisheye lens
In photography, a fisheye lens is a wide-angle lens that takes in a broad, panoramic and hemispherical image. Originally developed for use in meteorology to study cloud formation and called "whole-sky lenses", fisheye lenses quickly became popular in general photography for their unique, distorted...
es.
The international edit of the "Breaking Up the Girl" music video was first made commercially available in QuickTime
QuickTime
QuickTime is an extensible proprietary multimedia framework developed by Apple Inc., capable of handling various formats of digital video, picture, sound, panoramic images, and interactivity. The classic version of QuickTime is available for Windows XP and later, as well as Mac OS X Leopard and...
format on the CD-ROM
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data....
enhanced section
Enhanced CD
Enhanced CD, also known as CD Extra and CD Plus, is a certification mark of the Recording Industry Association of America for various technologies that combine audio and computer data for use in both Compact Disc and CD-ROM players....
of the "Breaking Up the Girl" singles. The video, like the song, did not appear on 2007's Absolute Garbage.
Alternate versions and remixes
| Track title | Length | Remixer/producer |
|---|---|---|
| "Breaking Up the Girl (Acoustic version)" | 3:20 | Garbage Garbage (band) Garbage are an alternative rock band formed in Madison, Wisconsin in 1994. The group consists of Scottish singer Shirley Manson and American musicians Duke Erikson , Steve Marker and Butch Vig . All four members are involved in songwriting and production... |
| "Breaking Up the Girl (Brothers In Rhythm Therapy mix)" | 10:44 | Steve Anderson and David Seaman David Seaman David Andrew Seaman MBE is a former English football goalkeeper who played for several clubs, most notably Arsenal. He retired from the game on 13 January 2004, following a recurring shoulder injury... |
| "Breaking Up the Girl (Brothers In Rhythm Therapy mix (radio edit))" | 3:52 | |
| "Breaking Up the Girl (Brothers In Rhythm Therapy dub)" | 8:03 | |
| "Breaking Up the Girl (Ripped Out Fireplace mix)" | 5:14 | Black Dog Black Dog Productions The Black Dog was founded by Ken Downie along with Ed Handley and Andy Turner. Widely regarded as legends, the group are pioneers who, along with acts like Autechre, Aphex Twin, µ-ziq and LFO, came to define the techno movement known as intelligent dance music in the early 1990s.-Early career:In... |
| "Breaking Up the Girl (Spitsville remix)" | 6:12 | |
| "Breaking Up the Girl (Wounded by the Warbeast mix)" | 4:51 | |
| "Breaking Up the Girl (Rodeo Rave remix)" | 4:39 | Jimmy Cauty Jimmy Cauty James Francis Cauty is a British artist and musician born in Liverpool, England, in 1956... |
| "Breaking Up the Girl (Timo Maas remix)" | 6:42 | Timo Maas Timo Maas Timo Maas is an electronic music DJ/producer and remixer.-Career:Maas bought his first set of turntables at the age of 17, and played his very first DJ set in 1982 at a party in his friend's home... |
| "Breaking Up the Girl (Timo Maas radio edit)" | 3:33 | |
| "Breaking Up the Girl (Timo Maas dub)" | 6:42 |
The CD format of Beautiful Garbage contained an enhanced element
Enhanced CD
Enhanced CD, also known as CD Extra and CD Plus, is a certification mark of the Recording Industry Association of America for various technologies that combine audio and computer data for use in both Compact Disc and CD-ROM players....
where users could remix four tracks from the album, of which "Breaking Up the Girl" was one of. Created in conjunction with Sonic Foundry
Sonic Foundry
Sonic Foundry is the former developer of various media software suites, which were purchased by Sony in late 2003 for $18 million in cash and the assumption of certain liabilities and obligations...
, using a customized version of their drag-and-drop
Drag-and-drop
In computer graphical user interfaces, drag-and-drop is the action of selecting a virtual object by "grabbing" it and dragging it to a different location or onto another virtual object...
ACID Pro
ACID Pro
Sony ACID Pro is a professional digital audio workstation software program. It was originally called "ACID pH1" and published by Sonic Foundry, but is now developed and sold by Sony Creative Software....
music sequencer
Music sequencer
The music sequencer is a device or computer software to record, edit, play back the music, by handling note and performance information in several forms, typically :...
software, the remixes utilized samples and loops cut direct from the album masters
Master recording
A multitrack recording master tape, disk or computer files on which productions are developed for later mixing, is known as the multi-track master, while the tape, disk or computer files holding a mix is called a mixed master.It is standard practice to make a copy of a master recording, known as...
. The enhanced section could be accessed when the user was online; a simplified version of the software featuring only "Androgyny
Androgyny (song)
"Androgyny" is a 2001 hybrid rock/pop/R&B song released by alternative rock group Garbage as the lead single from their third studio album, Beautiful Garbage...
" loops was accessible when the user was offline.
In 2007, the Timo Maas remix of "Breaking Up the Girl" was remastered
Audio mastering
Mastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
, edited
Radio edit
In music, a radio edit is a modification to make a song more suitable for airplay, whether it be adjusted for length, profanity, subject matter, instrumentation, or form...
and included on the Absolute Garbage
Absolute Garbage
Absolute Garbage is the 2007 greatest hits album released by alternative rock group Garbage. The album was compiled and released by Geffen imprint Almo Sounds through Universal Music Enterprises backcatalogue division in North America and Warner Music's record label A&E Records throughout the rest...
greatest hits
Greatest hits
A greatest hits album is a music compilation album of successful, previously released songs by a particular artist or band...
album bonus disc Garbage Mixes. Four rejected mixes by Jimmy Caulty and Black Dog Productions surfaced in May 2011.
Critical reception
"Breaking Up the Girl" received a mixed response from contemporary music journalists. Paul Elliot of QQ (magazine)
Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...
, who had the chance to listen to the track as soon as it was mixed, described the song as being "redolent of vintage Blondie
Blondie (band)
Blondie is an American rock band, founded by singer Deborah Harry and guitarist Chris Stein. The band was a pioneer in the early American New Wave and punk scenes of the mid-1970s...
". Jerry Ewing of Classic Rock
Classic Rock (magazine)
Classic Rock is a British magazine dedicated to the radio format of classic rock, published by Future Publishing, who are also responsible for its "sister" publication Metal Hammer. Although firmly focusing on key bands from the 1960s through early 1990s, it also includes articles and reviews of...
wrote that the song was "wonderful, guitar-based rock, with a magic sprinkling of melody" "This serene delight showcases Garbage's softer side," wrote Sunday Mail
Sunday Mail (Scotland)
The Sunday Mail is a Scottish tabloid newspaper published every Sunday. It is the sister paper of the Daily Record and is owned by Trinity Mirror and as such has a left-wing outlook which in turn tends to guide Scottish political debate in that direction.The Sunday Mail is read by over one million...
s Billy Sloan, "Its soft sound contrasts against the spurned vocals; a testament to the chameleon
Chameleon
Chameleons are a distinctive and highly specialized clade of lizards. They are distinguished by their parrot-like zygodactylous feet, their separately mobile and stereoscopic eyes, their very long, highly modified, and rapidly extrudable tongues, their swaying gait, the possession by many of a...
-like style that is the glory of Garbage" A reviewer for Smash Hits! wrote, "[It's] not as instantly memorable as ["Cherry Lips"]... this radio-friendly rock-tinged pop will have your toes tapping away to the beat in no time". Chuck Taylor of Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
compared the song to Republica
Republica
Republica are an English alternative rock band formed in 1994. The height of their popularity spanned from 1996 to 1999. The Republica sound was described by the band as "techno-pop punk rock"...
's "Ready to Go
Ready to Go
"Ready to Go" is a song by Republica, released as a single on 15 April 1996. The original recording was not included on the band's debut album, Republica - two other versions of the song, the U.S. mix and the original mix, were included...
" writing "this track conjures up images... of Manson frolicking in a daisy patch. It's all back to Earth with the lyric, which pretty much calls the subject to a loser for hurting a girl. You've been warned, now just enjoy the pace." Jason Arnopp of Kerrang!
Kerrang!
Kerrang! is a UK-based magazine devoted to rock music published by Bauer Media Group. It was first published on June 6, 1981 as a one-off supplement in the Sounds newspaper...
described "Breaking Up the Girl" as "[It] glides along sultry, sad and dreamy, driven by a practically recognisable acoustic guitar
Acoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
."
Release history
| Release Date | Territory | Record Label | Format(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 8, 2001 | United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
Interscope | Modern rock Modern rock Modern rock is a rock format commonly found on commercial radio; the format consists primarily of the alternative rock genre... , Active rock Active rock Active rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations across the United States and Canada. Active rock plays contemporary rock artists with a mix of songs common in the classic rock radio format.-Format background:... & AAA Adult album alternative Adult album alternative is a radio format. A spinoff from the album-oriented rock format, its roots trace to the 1960s and 1970s from the earlier freeform and progressive formats.... |
| Feb 2002 | Mainstream Top 40 & Adult Top 40 | ||
| Mar 25, 2002 | Australia Australia Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area... |
FMR Mushroom Records Mushroom Records is an Australian recoJrd company formed by Michael Gudinski and Ray Evans in Melbourne in 1972. After its sale in 1998, it merged into Festival Mushroom Records. From 2005 to 2009, it is one of the record labels operated by Warner Bros... |
Airplay Airplay * Airplay is the amount of time a song is played on the radio.It may also refer to:* AirPlay, an audio & video streaming technology from Apple Inc.* Airplay , Foster & Graydon music project from 1980* Citroën C1, Citroën C1 Airplay... |
| Apr 8, 2002 | Europe Europe Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting... |
PIAS Recordings PIAS Recordings [PIAS] Recordings is the recorded music division of the [PIAS] Entertainment Group, a European independent artist and label services company.The record labels that operate under the [PIAS] Recordings umbrella are: Play It Again Sam, Wall of Sound and Different Recordings.Aside from the three London... |
12" vinyl, CD maxi, CD single CD single A CD single is a music single in the form of a standard size Compact Disc, not to be confused with the 3-inch CD single, which uses a smaller form factor. The format was introduced in the mid-1980s, but did not gain its place in the market until the early 1990s... |
| United Kingdom | Mushroom Records UK | 3×CD single set | |
| Apr 29, 2002 | Australia | FMR | 2×CD single set |
| June 2002 | Mexico Mexico The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of... |
Universal Universal Music Group Universal Music Group is an American music group, the largest of the "big four" record companies by its commanding market share and its multitude of global operations... |
CD maxi |
Comprehensive charts
| Chart (2002) | PeakPosition |
|---|---|
| Australia Singles ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... (ARIA Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956... ) |
19 |
| UK Singles UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... (The Official Charts Company) |
27 |