Rich Girl - Hall & Oates (cover-live by Bill Sharkey)

  • 3 years ago
Rich Girl (Hall & Oates, 1976). Live performance by Bill Sharkey, Home Studio, Hawaii Kai, HI. 2021-03-18. "Keeping the Oldies Alive"

"Rich Girl" was Hall & Oates' fourth consecutive top 40 hit and their first #1 song, reaching the top position Spring of 1977 (Whitburn, 2013). When asked where the lyrics for the song came from, Daryl Hall stated that the song "was written about an old boyfriend of Sara’s . . . from college that she was still friends with at the time [Sara was Allen's ex-girlfriend and song writing collaborator] . . . . He came to our apartment, and he was acting sort of strange. His father was quite rich. I think he was involved with some kind of a fast-food chain. I said, 'This guy is out of his mind, but he doesn’t have to worry about it because his father’s gonna bail him out of any problems he gets in.' So I sat down and wrote that chorus. [Sings] 'He can rely on the old man’s money/he can rely on the old man’s money/he’s a rich guy.' I thought that didn’t sound right, so I changed it to 'Rich Girl' " (K. Sharp, americansongwriter.com, 2009).