HOW DO YOU TALK TO GIRLS
 (Music & Lyrics by Rick Springfield)
Well I'm sick of hanging out on the street
Every Saturday night with the boys
Listening to the radio's big beat
We crank it just to hear the noise

Yeah we talk about the girls, girls, girls
And we talk, talk, talk all night
Sure we're all Romeos and Casanovas
But we can't seem to get it right

Seems I'm making it harder and harder
While everybody else is doing well
I get confused by their bodies
I get tangled in their curls

How do you talk to girls
How do you talk to girls
What's a poor boy to do
Tell me how do you talk to girls
how do you talk to girls

I see this girl over there right away
I'm trying to think of something to say
Well I think I'll have one more drink
I'll be ready to make my play
But this guy moves in and he talks to her
And she nods her head
Well I'm used to missing out on the girl
But I want to know what he said

Seems I'm making it harder and harder
While everybody else is doing well
I get confused by their bodies
I get tangled in their curls

How do you talk to girls
How do you talk to girls
What's a poor boy to do
I'm tangled up in their curls

How do you talk to girls
How do you talk to girls
Out of wisdom and out of pearls
Tell me how do you talk to girls

Am I stupid or misunderstood
I'd say something clever if I only could
We're only ten feet apart
But it feels like the world

How do you talk to girls
How do you talk to girls
Out of wisdom and out of pearls
Tell me how do you talk to girls

How do you talk to girls
What's a poor boy to do
I'm tangled up in their curls
How do you talk to girls

How do you talk to girls
Out of wisdom and out of pearls
Tell me how do you talk to girls
How do you talk to girls


(total playing time 3:17)

SONG FACTS:

This song appears on the following releases:
Success Hasn't Spoiled Me Yet and Calling All Girls - The Romantic Collection and Legendary.

 According to US

Can I tell you how fricken much I love love love this song? It has a terrific beat, and they lyrics are catching, funny, honest and just plain entertaining! I would say this song is pretty close to having an actual conversation with him, he speaks freely about trying to figure out an aspect of 'life'. 

I especially like how he decides to repeat select words. 
"Yeah, we talk about the girls, girls, girls and we talk, talk talk all night" I just love what he did with these two lines!

Probably the best lines in this song are:
"I get confused by their bodies, I get tangled in their curls" Man, Rick, try being a girl going through puberty haha! 

I would really love to hear him do this song LIVE! I wonder if his sons ever listened to it and could relate to it when they were at a certain stage in their life? I like how he touches on the 'male bonding' he does with his buddies..hanging with the boys, listening to a cranked radio, and thinking you are 'all that', yet still 'striking out'. We know Rick is a shy one off stage, and I think this song gives us a glimpse of that.

He sings about needing one more glass of courage before he can approach a girl he has his eye on, but some guy beats him to it. Then, you see the quirky/funny side of Rick slip through when he sings "Well I'm used to missing out on the girl, but I want to know what he said." Haha, that cracks me up good! And, to a lesser degree these lines are entertaining too: "Am I stupid or misunderstood? I'd say something clever if I only could"

So Rick, figured out how to talk to girls yet? I'd tell you but I still have not figured out how to talk to guys! - Kat M.

I think I liked this song more in the 80's than I do now. I used to think it was a `cool' song, but now when I hear it I just think of it as `cute.' (if that makes any sense.) This is quite a `pop-ish' song and I feel that it confirms the non-toughness of the collection. But I also feel that his feelings were valid when he wrote this song. It also fits nicely with the other tracks on the album.

This is yet another song which shows how really insecure Rick feels about himself---"seems I'm making it harder and harder while everybody else is doing well." And then he really admits to his `fear' of the opposite sex with---"I get confused by their bodies I get tangled in their curls. How do you talk to girls?" So in other words, he was acting like a lot of his fans do when we have a moment to talk to HIM! LOL He claims he couldn't come up with a good `play' or something clever to say to them. Well, we know how you felt there Rick! I'd like to think he's over a lot of that stuff at this point in time. But maybe insecurities never really go away. I know mine haven't…not completely.

Rick paints a picture of himself and a gang of guys hanging out in town, goofing off, having a few drinks and hoping to `hook up' with someone. The only thing I find weird when I hear this now is that Rick was way past the age of hanging out in town with the boys when this song came out. (or I would think he would have been) Maybe it was a song he pulled out from the depths of past writings and maybe it was actually written in his younger years? I don't know. That's the oddest thing about this song for me. It didn't seem to fit who he was at that time. Of course, his audience at the time of this release was primarily teenagers. So we were definitely connecting with it then. So I figure it's possible he wrote it with that in mind. I know he has said that when he writes he tries to write universally so that most people will `get it.' I'm guessing that teenagers today would understand where he was coming from with this song. Not a favorite of mine, but I don't skip the song either when it comes on. I just feel he's written songs that are much better than this little tune. - Kelley Pearson 

Every time this song comes on, I get such a vivid picture in my head of Rick, standing at a bar, wanting to make a move, but just can't. You just don't expect that someone that looks that good would have problems, but you hear people talk about it all the time. The really good looking people seem so unapproachable that they tend not to get asked, and him having his history with shyness, he probably wasn't the smoothest operator around. I really like this song, it totally conjures up a picture in my head, and I feel his frustration and pain. My favorite part of the song is the verse starting with "Am I stupid or misunderstood....." Haven't we all felt that way? It seems like everybody else is successful and we think we're doing all the right things and it's just not working. - rlh


Very interesting song! I love the music and the little 'storyline' is very cute. It always gets me how Rick can be so shy and way back when he just could not and did not know how....to talk to girls. How could someone so gorgeous have such a problem? It's kinda simplistic and funny how he uses words to rhyme with 'girl' like 'pearl' and 'curls'..... Anyway, this has to be yet another true story song for Rick that I thoroughly enjoy. - 
Amy L.

This to me is another take it -or- leave it song. Yeah, I sing along. Rick is definitely the lyric master on this one because it just kinda rolls off your tongue - has that wonderful hook, and positively REEKS with "teen idol". It has a good beat and is easy to dance to - so I give it a 90, Mr Clark.

Anyone ever hear Scott Baio's version of this one? Funny. Ab-sol-lutely freaking hilarious that Chachi tried to rip off the ultimate teen idol of the '80's! Of course, he doesn't do the song justice. - Michelle P.

He shows he is a great lyricist once again. He takes an old saying like "pearls of wisdom" and comes up with "out of wisdom and out of pearls". This song is so bare as in Rick really letting people know how he really feels as opposed to his persona. He seemed to the average person during the height of his popularity in the 80's like a guy who could have any girl he wanted. I love the honesty of this song. I felt sorry for him because he just didn't know what to say to girls. What he actually lacked was confidence in himself. This is the real Rick, a little shy ,unsure of himself. "Am I stupid or misunderstood?" - He thinks he just can't be one of those guys that know just what to say. I think being misunderstood still plagues him at times. I think some people mistake his demeanor for being conceited. - Elizabeth S.