Good Girls Don't

"Good Girls Don't" is a 1979 hit single written by Doug Fieger and released by the rock band The Knack, off their album Get the Knack. It was the follow-up to the group's number-one hit single, "My Sharona". "Good Girls Don't" was a No. 1 single in Canada. It reached No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and No. 66 on the British charts. It also reached No. 20 in New Zealand. The song has since been covered by a number of artists, including The Chipmunks, Ben Folds, The Chubbies, and The McRackins. Writing and recording Fieger originally wrote "Good Girls Don't" in 1972, and claimed that he wrote the song with Johnny Cash's voice in mind. He had included it on three or four demos in various attempts to get a recording contract, including with The Knack. It was also one of the first songs The Knack recorded. They had made a demo which included "Good Girls Don't" and "That's What the Little Girls Do" in 1978, despite which the band was turned down multiple times in their efforts to get their first record contract. By the time The Knack was recording Get the Knack, he was tired of the song and reluctant to record it, but was convinced by producer Mike Chapman to attempt one take. That one take was used on the album. Lyrics and music "Good Girls Don't" begins with Fieger playing the harmonica, in a part which authors Michael Uslan and Bruce Solomon liken to The Beatles' song "I Should Have Known Better." The lyrics, such as the refrain "She'll be telling you 'good girls don't but I do,'" were considered misogynistic by some critics. However, Joyce Canaan of the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies wrote that this line succinctly captures the transformation of teenage girls' representations of their sexual practices; while they want to be seen as "good girls", even good girls may engage in practices not corresponding to established moral standards. Fieger has stated that "All we were doing in songs like the naughty 'Good Girls Don't' was reflecting the way 14-year-old boys feel. And there's a little 14-year-old boy in all of us.