Brooklyn trio Vivian Girls were one of the more exciting and accessible gro… Read Full Bio ↴Brooklyn trio Vivian Girls were one of the more exciting and accessible groups to emerge from a scene of late-2000s lo-fi indie bands. Deriving their name from the ill-fated characters featured in the work of writer/illustrator Henry Darger, the Vivian Girls paired girl group melancholy with punk nihilism in reverb-heavy songs that recalled the raw, grainy beauty of lesser-known '90s independents like Black Tambourine, Talulah Gosh, and Tiger Trap. In their initial seven-year run, the band toured the world and released new music constantly, the economic hooks and fuzzy urgency of their 2008 self-titled debut album becoming influential in their own right.

Vivian Girls formed in 2007, made up of guitarist/vocalist Cassie Ramone (Grzymkowski), bassist/vocalist Kickball Katy (Goodman), and drummer/vocalist Frankie Rose. The group recorded a hasty demo and played in New York often. Their gritty-yet-melodic sound caught on quickly, and within months of forming, Vivian Girls were opening big gigs for national acts like Sonic Youth and headlining club shows in Brooklyn. Throughout 2008 they released a handful of 7" singles on a passel of small labels, including "Wild Eyes" (Plays with Dolls Records), "Orphanage" (Woodsist Records), and "I Can't Stay" (In the Red Records). Rose left the band in July of 2008, but not before recording the material that would make up the group's first album. That self-titled debut full-length was released on Mauled by Tigers in September of the same year and the entire vinyl pressing of 500 copies sold out in ten days. In the Red quickly re-released the album to wider distribution and the trio (now joined by new drummer Ali Koehler), spent the year touring and gaining fans the world over.

The group's quickly recorded follow-up album, Everything Goes Wrong, was released in late summer of 2009. After switching out drummers in the summer of 2010 (Koehler joined Best Coast and was replaced by Coasting's drummer Fiona Campbell) and taking a break for other projects (Ramone formed Babies with Woods' bass player Kevin Morby, Goodman formed La Sera with Brady Hall), the Vivian Girls hit the studio in late 2010 to record their third album. Share the Joy was released in April 2011 on their new label Polyvinyl.
The band spilt in 2014, and the members focused on their individual projects. They remained friends, though, and in 2018, Ramone, Goodman, and Koehler met up in secret to begin recording a new album with producer Rob Barbato. The result was 2019's Memory, which was released by Polyvinyl in September.

There are other bands with the same name:

2. Indie Rock band from Melbourne, Australia, active in the early 2000's.

3. Band from St. Louis, MO, active since the mid 90's.

Can't Get Over You
Vivian Girls Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Now I shouldn't give you one more chance
But my heart just stopped when you asked me to dance
And I know that you hurt me so
But I love you so much I just can't let you go

All my friends say they think I'm crazy
But when I'm with you my mind is hazy

I can't I can't
Can't get over you

Say you love me and you won't tell a lie
But then bright the next day you tell me goodbye
And I know that you hurt my pride
But keep loving me baby just stay by my side

Yeah I know that I'm being dumb
But when I'm with you my heart is thumping

I can't I can't
Can't get over you

So you wanna make time for cheating
Cause I can't stop my heart from beating
Just come on back to me baby
You're so messed up it's making me crazy

I can't I can't
Can't get over you

Overall Meaning

The song "Can't Get Over You" by Vivian Girls is a captivating story of someone who is struggling to move on from a past relationship. The singer is caught in the endless cycle of loving someone who continuously hurts them. The lyrics express the internal conflict of the singer's emotions, as they wrestle with the idea of giving their ex-partner just one more chance. They know better than to allow their partner back into their life, but when they are together, their heart stops, and their mind is hazy, making it impossible to resist the temptation.

The singer acknowledges that their friends think they are crazy for considering rekindling the relationship, but they can't help it. When they are with their ex-partner, they feel alive and exhilarated, despite the pain they have endured. They admit to being dumb, but they just can't help how they feel.

In the final verse, the singer pleads with their ex-partner to come back to them, even though they know they will likely hurt them again. They admit that their heart won't stop beating for them, and they can't move on. Overall, the song is a raw and emotional confession of someone who is struggling to let go of someone who isn't good for them.

Line by Line Meaning

Now I shouldn't give you one more chance
Despite knowing the pain you've caused me, I'm considering giving you another chance.

But my heart just stopped when you asked me to dance
Though I'm trying to move on, your small gesture of affection is enough to make me reconsider.

And I know that you hurt me so
I acknowledge the pain you've inflicted on me.

But I love you so much I just can't let you go
Despite the hurt, my love for you is too strong to let you go.

All my friends say they think I'm crazy
My friends cannot comprehend why I'm letting you back in my life.

But when I'm with you my mind is hazy
Being with you clouds my judgement, making me ignore my friends' warnings.

Say you love me and you won't tell a lie
You've promised to be truthful about your feelings for me.

But then bright the next day you tell me goodbye
You give me false hope by professing your love, only to break my heart again.

And I know that you hurt my pride
Your actions have damaged my sense of self-worth.

But keep loving me baby just stay by my side
Despite the pain, I want you to stay in my life and continue to love me.

Yeah I know that I'm being dumb
I acknowledge that my actions are not rational or logical.

But when I'm with you my heart is thumping
My emotions for you are overpowering my better judgement.

So you wanna make time for cheating
You're considering cheating on me even though you know it will hurt me.

Cause I can't stop my heart from beating
Despite knowing you may cheat, I cannot help my feelings for you.

Just come on back to me baby
I desire you to return to me, no matter how much you've hurt me.

You're so messed up it's making me crazy
Your behavior is negatively affecting my mental state and emotional well-being.

I can't I can't
I'm unable to move on from you and the pain you've caused me.

Can't get over you
My love for you is too strong to let go, even though I know it's not healthy for me.

Lyrics © ROUGH TRADE PUBLISHING, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Alexandria Rae Koehler, Kathryn Sarah Goodman, Monica Cassia Grzymkowski

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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