"Absolutely (Story of a Girl)" is a song by American rock band Nine Days for the group's fourth studio album, The Madding Crowd (2000). The song was released as the lead single from The Madding Crowd in March 2000 through 550 Music and Epic Records. The song is an upbeat power pop song written by vocalist and guitarist John Hampson for his wife, who was his girlfriend at the time it was composed. Brian Desveaux, the group's other guitarist, also receives songwriting credit. The song was recorded in Atlanta, Georgia, at Tree Sound Studios with producer Nick DiDia.
The song reached number six on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, and it also peaked within the top 10 in Canada and New Zealand. The song's music video was directed by Liz Friedlander and received airplay on MTV and VH1. The band's follow-up single, "If I Am", became a minor Hot 100 hit, peaking at number 68. "Absolutely (Story of a Girl)" was later featured, both in audio and in dialogue, in the movie Everything Everywhere All at Once. Multiple alternate versions of the song were written by Hampson for the movie.
Background
Nine Days was formed in Long Island, New York, in 1994 by vocalist/guitarists John Hampson and Brian Desveaux. For much of the decade, the band built a following by self-releasing their first three albums—Something to Listen To (1995), Monday Songs (1996), and Three (1998)—while performing frequently. The band struggled to get signed by a major label; talent scouts were reluctant as they did not hear a "hit" in their sound. "It can get very discouraging when you're giving everything you've got and you're not quite getting there. But we always felt we were inching our way along so we just kept at it," said Hampson in a 2000 interview. They put together an album to shop around to labels composed of their best songs, to little interest. Frustrated, they continued to write songs until Hampson penned "Absolutely". They recorded a three-song demo and were signed to 550 Music (then known as Sony 550 Music) in February 1999.
"Absolutely" ended up being the band's only hit single, marking their status as a one-hit wonder. "If it all ends next week, at least I'll be able to get my truck fixed up or get a new one. But if nothing, at least we accomplished this," Hampson said at the time of the song's success.
Writing and composition
The song was written in August 1998 by the band's vocalist/guitarist, John Hampson, in an attempt to write in an edgier style. Though he "exaggerated things and used tons of figurative language to express something," Hampson confirmed in a 2003 interview with music magazine Impose that it was written for his wife, Teresa Savino, who was his girlfriend at the time it was composed. Its genesis stemmed from an argument the two had prior to a concert the band was playing on Long Island. After their fight, he "saw her talking to someone across the room, and she started laughing. I realized that as much as she aggravates me, I absolutely love her when she smiles." It was also inspired by Hampson's uncertainty about getting married: "I just wasn't ready. I was basically stalling her and making her cry. I was good at that."
Hampson picked up a guitar and worked out the song's chorus and chords in 15 minutes. He later completed the bulk of the song in one night, which was unusual for him. "I don't know where it came from, but everything was about a true feeling." The song first appeared as a demo on Bootleg '98, a promotional CD by radio station WLIR, who were early supporters of the band. After the band's record deal, it was re-recorded for its appearance on The Madding Crowd by producer Nick DiDia at Tree Sound Studios in Atlanta, Georgia.
The song's music video was shot by director Liz Friedlander in Los Angeles, California. It was the band's first music video, and received airplay on MTV and VH1.
Critical reception
William Ruhlmann of AllMusic deemed "Absolutely (Story of a Girl)" "catchy" and reminiscent of Barenaked Ladies. People praised the song's "chunky hooks and irresistible, sing-along, stop-and-start chorus". Bridget Fitzgerald of HuffPost found the song "effortlessly catchy" and "adorable". Sputnikmusic's Lincoln Green called "Absolutely (Story of a Girl)" "pretty sappy and uninteresting, but at the same time, it’s catchy and there’s a little charm behind all of the cheese. It’s a harmless power pop anthem that at worst is clichéd and fun to jam out to at best." Green also said that the song encapsulated the music of the early 2000s.