Girls Chase Boys

My thoughts on the song were at one point very similar to those of litamaivia, however seeing the music video has changed my opinions. The music video for the song includes Ingrid Michaelson's attempt to level the playing field of sexuality by turning the tables on Robert Palmer, who at one point had a very similar music video portraying women in a very sexual way. The overall aesthetic of Ingrid's music video in many ways matches what I believe to be the meaning of the song. I believe that the chorus is supposed to be a mockery of popular opinion on sexuality and sexual orientation. "All the broken hearts in the world still beat" refers to the fact that in essence all humans are the same; everyone experiences a broken heart and that's something that we can overlook very easily. In a sense, the first line disregards and invalidates the possibility that people can be sensitive (which of course is not true). "Let's not make it harder than it has to be" is a way of saying let's not go out of our way to try to recognize the thoughts and feelings of each individual person, but rather let's all group everyone together; don't make things harder than they have to be, because.... At the end of the day, "girls chase boys chase girls," meaning that everyone should essentially subscribe to the same sense of sexuality or orientation. It's a bit like saying "boys will be boys" or some other sweeping generalization that overlooks a large community of people who don't feel the same way. It's a very sarcastic and satirical chorus that exposes the insensitive thoughts of people who fail to recognize multiple perspectives.

I think the meaning of this song is pretty basic. It's just about the fact that girls chase after boys that break their hearts but boys also chase after girls that break their hearts. She's saying that it happens to everybody so it doesn't need to be a big deal for either person.

A note from Ingrid on the video: Girls Chase Boys started out as a break up song but took on a deeper meaning as I continued writing. More than just being about my experience, its focus shifted to include the idea that, no matter who or how we love, we are all the same.

The video takes that idea one step further, and attempts to turn stereotypical gender roles on their head. Girls don't exclusively chase boys. We all know this! We all chase each other and in the end we are all chasing after the same thing: love.

"I got two hands, one beating heart And I'll be alright, I'm gonna be alright"

I kind of fell in love with this song as soon as I heard it. It's very easy to relate to if you are dealing with a messy romantic situation. There's that traditional boy/girl, boy has the power, girl is weak flawed dynamic that you know it's never true. Girls chase boys, girls can chase girls, boys can chase boys, and boys can chase girls, it's all the same.