“She’s My Girl,” from Happy Together

 by the Turtles, 1967.

Songwriters:  Alan Gordon; Garry Bonner.

She’s My Girl

She’s my girl; these words said perhaps proudly,

Because she is pretty and accomplished.

Or crooned softly, gently to family;

He loves her; she is all he ever wished.

She’s my girl could mean that he is obsessed,

She’s on his mind, all he can think about.

Does she serve a purpose since he's depressed?

Is she the woman he can’t live without?

She’s my girl- tiny word ‘my’ notable.

Could mean he owns her; she’s a possession.

She’s docile, easily controllable.

If she steps out of line, learns her lesson.

We view and listen to help us decide

Where he took her on that mystery ride.--Lisa Cole-Allen

I was in love with the Turtles’ number one hit song,

“Happy Together,” good old rock and roll, light and

romantic.  It represented the teenage ideal of falling

in love and living happily ever after.  At the time, the

radio also played “She’s My Girl” from the same album;

yet this was a psychedelic song, written by the same

composers as “Happy Together,” Gordon and Bonner,

musicians and songwriters who wrote hit songs for the

Turtles as well as other artists of that era.  I listened to

“She’s My Girl” many times, hearing the words that I was

 a bit too naive then to grasp.  But the music and vocals

of the Turtles bothered me, left me feeling disturbed.  There

was an ominous build-up of tension in the music, a sinister,

almost crazed sound to the lead vocals by Howard Kaylan,

backed by the melodious rising vocals of Mark Volman.  Below

are the lyrics as written by Gordon/Bonner and a live version

of “She’s My Girl” performed by the Turtles for the media.

“She’s My Girl”

Morning, Morning Glory.
If you'd like to know where was I last night.

Well I saw a girl with a bullet in her eye
And she's so out of sight

She's my girl
And that's where I was last night
off in a dream

She's my girl
I took her away last night
Went for a ride.

Off in the sky
that's where I was last night.

I just come back to tell ya
there's a little bit of heaven underneath the apple tree
Every time I see you with that smile upon your face
a little bit there for me

She's my girl
and that's where I was last night
Went for a ride

She's my girl
Took her away last night
We went for a ride.

My girl
We went for a whirl last night
up in the sky

My girl
Took me away last night
off in the sky

My girl
Went for a whirl last night.
getting so high
Off in the sky that's where I was last night.

My girl
Took her away last night
that's where I was last night
Took her away last night
off in the sky..
My Girl
We went for a whirl last night.

So, we now analyze these interesting words line by line.

In my research, I was unable to find an actual analysis;

only statements by Turtles fans that “She’s My Girl” is

the band’s best song.  I welcome your comments and

impressions. Readers who remember hearing this song,

perhaps owned the album, please leave your insights from

that time and now.

Morning, Morning Glory.
If you'd like to know where was I last night.
Well I saw a girl with a bullet in her eye
And she's so out of sight

In the first two lines, the narrator speaks to his steady

girlfriend, explaining his whereabouts of the night before.

The next astounding line: “Well I saw a girl with a bullet in

 her eye,” I’ve seen with the word “bullet” changed to “boy”

in some song lyric sites. The following line: “And she’s so

out of sight” chills me with its quadruple entendre.  “Out of

sight” was a phrase often said in 1967 when something was

incredibly good.  But a girl with a bullet in her eye would be

blind, “out of sight.” Or the girl could be “so out of sight,” meaning

she’ll never be seen again, “so out of sight,” meaning well hidden.

She's my girl
And that's where I was last night
off in a dream
She's my girl
I took her away last night
Went for a ride. Off in the sky
that's where I was last night.

The chorus’s lyrics on the surface could be interpreted that the

 narrator has met a dreamy girl, and he took her for a car ride.

But the music and vocals tell the eerie story, as Kaylan’s voice

sounds boasting and crazed with the repetitive “She’s my girl,”

and “last night, off in a dream…I took her away…went for a ride.”

The narrator, as if in a dream, took possession of a girl, both

 sexually, “went for a ride,” and literally, “I took her away.” The

last lines of the chorus: “Off in the sky that’s where I was last night,”

support that the night before, the narrator had lost his mind; he was

“off in the sky.”

I just come back to tell ya
there's a little bit of heaven underneath the apple tree
Every time I see you with that smile upon your face
a little bit there for me.

In the second verse, the narrator tells “Morning Glory,”

in a roundabout way, more of last night’s activities: “There’s a

little bit of heaven underneath the apple tree.”  Is this an allusion

 to the forbidden fruit of the apple tree in the Garden of Eden?

What does the “little bit of heaven” mean to the speaker? Did he

have sex with the girl there?  Is underneath the apple tree where

the bullet comes to her eye?  Is he telling his girlfriend where she

is buried?  The last two lines tell us that his girlfriend smilingly

accepts the narrator’s story, and Kaylan gives a strange little smile

as he sings “a little bit there for me,” indicating that the speaker is

smug with the awareness that his girlfriend will give him “a little bit.”

She's my girl
and that's where I was last night
Went for a ride
She's my girl
Took her away last night
We went for a ride.
My girl
We went for a whirl last night
up in the sky
My girl
Took me away last night
off in the sky
My girl
Went for a whirl last night.
getting so high
Off in the sky that's where I was last night.
My girl

Took her away last night
that's where I was last night
Took her away last night
off in the sky.
My Girl
We went for a whirl last night.

The song ends with a repetition of the chorus with variations

 in the lyrics that muddy the waters. The backing vocals of

Volman and the others are harmonious, almost hymn-like,

while Kaylan maintains the eerie tone throughout.  The words

“my girl” are repeated seven times in the end chorus.  “Took

 her away” is sung three times; one time the words are “took

me away last night.” Does the narrator see himself as her victim?

The lyrics “went for a ride last night” change to “went for a whirl

last night.”  The word “whirl“ lends itself to meaning a loss of

control; especially notable is: “My girl went for a whirl last night”

followed by: “Getting so high/ Off in the sky that’s where I was

last night.”  Does getting so high refer to drugs?  Is this song

about drugs and a so-called bad trip?  Is it a sick sexual fantasy

of a girl with a bullet in the eye?

“She’s My Girl” is certainly a confounding song.  I found it to be

 unsettling, disturbing back then.  Looking at it today, I was

surprised at the lack of information available on this song or its

meaning.  I have only my own take on it, and I’m appalled at the

way sickness and violence has seeped into the consciousness of

the impressionable young people listening to good old rock and roll.

“She’s My Girl” is not the first song of possession, violence, death,

and depravity, nor will it be the last.  What I’ve learned is that if there

are lyrics with music, listen to them, for if words are not important,

all music would be instrumentals.