The song's lyrics are about a spoiled girl who can rely on her parents' money to do whatever she wants. The song was rumored to be about the then-scandalous newspaper heiress Patty Hearst. In fact, the title character in the song is based on a spoiled heir to a fast-food chain who was an ex-boyfriend of Daryl Hall's girlfriend, Sara Allen. "But you can't write, 'You're a rich boy' in a song, so I changed it to a girl," Hall told Rolling Stone.[5]
Hall elaborated on the song in an interview with American Songwriter:
"Rich Girl" was written about an old boyfriend of Sara [Allen]'s from college that she was still friends with at the time. His name is Victor Walker. He came to our apartment, and he was acting sort of strange. His father was quite rich. I think he was involved with some kind of a fast-food chain. I said, "This guy is out of his mind, but he doesn't have to worry about it because his father's gonna bail him out of any problems he gets in." So I sat down and wrote that chorus. [Sings] "He can rely on the old man's money/he can rely on the old man's money/he's a rich guy." I thought that didn't sound right, so I changed it to "Rich Girl". He knows the song was written about him.[6]
Several years later, Hall read an interview with serial killerDavid Berkowitz, in which he claimed that "Rich Girl" had motivated him to commit the notorious "Son of Sam" murders[7] (although the song was not released until after the Son of Sam murders had already begun, casting doubts on that suggestion).[8] Hall & Oates later reflected this disturbing fact in the lyrics of the song "Diddy Doo Wop (I Hear the Voices)" on the album Voices.[5]
Personnel
Daryl Hall – lead vocals, backing vocals, keyboards
Australian R&B singer Selwyn covered "Rich Girl" in 2002. This version discards the second verse but contains two new verses and retains the original chorus. It was included on Selwyn's 2002 debut album, Meant to Be, and released as a single on August 5, 2002. It became a hit in Australia and New Zealand, peaking at number nine in the former country and number 20 in the latter; it is his highest-charting single in both nations. In Australia, it was certified gold and was the 50th-most-successful single of 2002.
^ abMolanphy, Chris (July 31, 2021). "What a Fool Believes Edition". Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia (Podcast). Slate. Retrieved February 23, 2024.
