The Girl Is Mine

"The Girl Is Mine" is a song recorded by the American singer-songwriter Michael Jackson and the English singer-songwriter and musician Paul McCartney for Jackson's sixth solo album, Thriller. The track was written and co-produced by Jackson and produced by Quincy Jones. The song was recorded at Westlake Studios, Los Angeles, from April 14 to 16, 1982 and was released on October 18 of that same year as the album's first single. The year before, Jackson and McCartney had recorded "Say Say Say" and "The Man" for the latter's fifth solo album, Pipes of Peace (1983).

"The Girl Is Mine" achieved success in the music charts. Aside from topping the R&B singles chart, the single peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and number eight in the UK. The song also reached number one in Spain. By 1985, it had sold 1.3 million copies, and was eventually certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America, for shipments of 1,000,000 units. Despite the song's success, it received generally mixed reviews from critics who considered it to be the weakest song on Thriller.

"The Girl Is Mine" has been the subject of two plagiarism lawsuits, the first in 1984 and again in 1993. Both instances required Jackson to testify in court, and each lawsuit was decided in favor of the singer and his record label.

In 2008, for the 25th anniversary edition of Thriller, Black Eyed Peas singer will.i.am remixed "The Girl Is Mine". The remix received generally unfavorable reviews from music critics.

The writing of "The Girl Is Mine" was completed by Jackson as he watched cartoons with Paul McCartney. Producer Quincy Jones had initially told Jackson to write a song about two men fighting over a girl. Inspired, Jackson awoke during the night and sang the song into a tape recorder. He later said, "I sang exactly what I heard in my head, starting with the melody and the keyboard and the strings and everything. So, I just orally put it all on tape." Jones also asked Jackson to add a rap verse. The song was then recorded by Jackson and McCartney at Westlake Studios, Los Angeles, from April 14 to 16, 1982. A year earlier, the duo had recorded "Say Say Say" and "The Man," which were released after "The Girl Is Mine" on McCartney's fifth solo album, Pipes of Peace (1983).

Jackson said that the recording of "The Girl Is Mine" was one of his most enjoyable moments in the studio. He explained, "One of my favorite songs to record, of all my recordings as a solo artist, is probably "The Girl Is Mine", because working with Paul McCartney was pretty exciting and we just literally had fun. It was like lots of kibitzing and playing, and throwing stuff at each other, and making jokes. We actually recorded the (instrumental) track and the vocals pretty much live at the same time, and we do have footage of it, but it's never been shown." He concluded, "Maybe one day we'll give you a sneak preview of it." The footage of the pair was later shown at The Paul McCartney World Tour.

Several members of the band Toto participated in the recording of this song, including David Paich (piano), Jeff Porcaro (drums), Steve Lukather (guitars) and Steve Porcaro (synthesizer programming).

The musical structuring of "The Girl Is Mine" uses the AABA form, in which the song's title serves as the main source of needed repetition. When used to the maximum, this structuring, also known as the thirty-two-bar form, has the title repeat itself in the same place, in at least two of the three A verses. Author Sheila Davis' book, The Craft of Lyric Writing, notes that "the repeated title line simultaneously outlines the framework of the design and drives home the main point of the lyric". Jackson's "She's Out of My Life" also uses this musical structuring, as does "Body and Soul", "Oh, Lady Be Good!" and "Try a Little Tenderness". The musical chords in "The Girl Is Mine" are seen in several songs written by Jackson. "Blues Away", from The Jacksons, and other songs ("Why Can't I Be" and "Thank You for Life") used the chords before "The Girl Is Mine".