Song · Marshall Crenshaw
“Cynical Girl” by Marshall Crenshaw
From the album Marshall Crenshaw (1982)
“Cynical Girl” by Marshall Crenshaw appears on 12 radio countdowns from 4 stations between 1989 and 2024. It was first released in 1982 on the album Marshall Crenshaw. Its best result is #225 on the WYEP 913 Essential Songs. In the combined RockLists rankings it is #2,188 alternative song of all time.
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"Cynical Girl" turned up in 1982 on Marshall Crenshaw's self-titled debut album, a jangling, bright-eyed pop tune with a sly grin behind it. The girl in the title isn't anybody in particular; Crenshaw used her as stock rock 'n' roll shorthand for a jab at the mass culture he couldn't stand. The idea struck him while he was stuck staring at an overhead TV, waiting to pay a traffic ticket.
The music came first, as it always did for him, tossed off in a single sitting, while the words took longer to land, and he later pointed to their humor and oddness. In America it was the third single, in Britain the first, and it missed the charts entirely, yet it has lasted to become one of the songs people know him by.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | 316 | WOXY 97X | WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1989) | 500 |
| 1991 | 404 | WOXY 97X | WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1991) | 500 |
| 1999 | 978 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) | 2000 |
| 2000 | 1029 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) | 2001 |
| 2001 | 1030 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) | 2002 |
| 2001 | 1336 | WFPK | WFPK 2001 Greatest Songs of All Time | 2000 |
| 2002 | 1030 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) | 2003 |
| 2003 | 1015 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) | 2004 |
| 2004 | 1015 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) | 2005 |
| 2005 | 1015 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) | 1994 |
| 2009 | 225 | WYEP | WYEP 913 Essential Songs | 913 |
| 2024 | 438 | WYEP | WYEP Best Songs of the Past 50 Years | 1049 |
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