The Haim song that credits Lou Reed as a co-writer
The Haim sisters don’t need anybody else’s help in writing their music. Across their three studio albums, the California rockers have had a few notable featured writers join them in crafting songs, including Kid Harpoon, Tayla Parx, and James Ford. But by and large, the only consistent names in the band’s songwriting credits all end with the last name Haim, illustrating the band’s self-sufficiency.
One major standout, however, comes from their third studio album, Women in Music Pt. III. ‘Summer Girl’ is technically listed as a bonus track on the official version of the album, but as a single with its own iconic Paul Thomas Anderson music video, ‘Summer Girl’ is among the band’s best-known tracks. With its jaunty bassline and tottling saxophone feature, ‘Summer Girl’ sounds instantly familiar, even if you’re hearing it for the first time.
That’s because elements of the track, including its sliding bassline and “doo doo” backing vocals, are referencing Lou Reed’s iconic 1972 single ‘Walk on the Wild Side’. It’s the kind of connection that becomes obvious once it gets pointed out, but ‘Summer Girl’ is very much its own distinctive song. Lead singer Danielle Haim revealed on her social media that the song’s origins actually came from a much darker place: the cancer diagnosis of her then-romantic and musical partner, Ariel Rechtshaid.
“We were touring on and off at this time, and every time we were on the phone with each other, or when I would come home in between shows, I wanted to be this light that shined on him when he was feeling very dark,” Haim explained. “I wanted to be his hope when he was feeling hopeless.”
The song was originally written in the immediate aftermath of the tour behind the band’s second album, Something to Tell You. While the demo was created quickly, it lacked some of the more overt Reed-inspired elements that would later be included when the song saw a proper recording for Women in Music Pt. III. At this point, the influences from ‘Walk on the Wild Side’ were relatively mild, but when Haim and producer Rostam Batmanglij pointed out the similarities, they decided to lean into it.
With a slightly altered bass line and a more identifiable vocal melody, ‘Summer Girl’ became something of an homage to ‘Walk of the Wild Side’. As such, Reed was credited as a songwriter on the track more than a half-decade after his death in 2013.
Check out ‘Summer Girl’ down below.
