Poster of a Girl is the second North American single from the album Live It Out

Live It Out

Live It Out is the second album released by the Canadian indie rock band Metric. This album was chosen as one of Amazon.com's Top 100 Editor's Picks of 2005, the 38th best album of 2006 by NME, and it was shortlisted for the 2006 Polaris Music Prize...

from Canadian indie rock

Indie rock

Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...

 band Metric

Metric (band)

Metric is a Canadian indie rock and New Wave band founded in 1998 in Toronto. The band has also at various times been based in Montreal, London, New York City and Los Angeles...

 following Monster Hospital

Monster Hospital

"Monster Hospital" is a song by Canadian rock band Metric from their third album, Live It Out. It is the album's first single, followed by "Poster of a Girl"....

. In Europe it was the first single to be released from the album.

The name is a play on The Portrait of a Lady

The Portrait of a Lady

The Portrait of a Lady is a novel by Henry James, first published as a serial in The Atlantic Monthly and Macmillan's Magazine in 1880–81 and then as a book in 1881...

 (the phrase "portrait of a lady" is juxtaposed with "poster of a girl" in the lyrics). The song can be interpreted to be about one-night stand

One-night stand

Originally, a one-night stand was a single theatre performance, usually by a guest performer on tour, as opposed to an ongoing engagement. Today, however, the term is more commonly defined as a single sexual encounter, in which neither participant has any intention or expectation of a relationship...

s and postmodern identity

Identity (social science)

Identity is a term used to describe a person's conception and expression of their individuality or group affiliations . The term is used more specifically in psychology and sociology, and is given a great deal of attention in social psychology...

. The full song includes the lyrics sung in both English and French ("Affiche d'une fille").

The song was featured on Much Music's

MuchMusic

MuchMusic is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel owned by Bell Media. MuchMusic is dedicated to music-related programs, pop and youth culture.-History:...

 compilation album

Compilation album

A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...

 Big Shiny Tunes 11

Big Shiny Tunes

Big Shiny Tunes is a series of rock albums featuring Various Artists compiled and released by the Canadian music television station MuchMusic, beginning in 1996. The best-selling album of the series was Big Shiny Tunes 2, which was certified Diamond in Canada by the CRIA on March 25, 1998...

This video earned the band the award for "Best Independent Video" at the 2006 MuchMusic

MuchMusic

MuchMusic is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel owned by Bell Media. MuchMusic is dedicated to music-related programs, pop and youth culture.-History:...

 Video Awards.

Music video

The video begins with Emily Haines singing on a few Metric posters scattered about a dark alleyway. The camera follows a young woman into a club, where we see Metric performing on stage until the end of the first chorus. During the second verse, a different version of Emily is in a tiny room with a peephole, posing provocatively while singing the second verse. When the second chorus begins, Emily removes the blindfold she is wearing and the screen shifts to yet another version of Emily Haines walking through the streets, wearing a trenchcoat and looking shocked at her posters on the walls and ground. She enters the club and fights her way to her band counterpart on stage, who is still singing. When the song ends, trenchcoat Emily reaches the front row and sees her counterpart, collapses and the Emily on stage reaches for her.

The music video was featured on MuchMusic

MuchMusic

MuchMusic is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel owned by Bell Media. MuchMusic is dedicated to music-related programs, pop and youth culture.-History:...

's 50 Sexiest Videos of 2006.