"Meet Virginia" is a song by American

roots rock Roots rock is a genre of rock music that looks back to rock's origins in contemporary folk music, folk, blues, and country music. First emerging in the late 1960s, it is seen as a response to the perceived excesses of the then dominant psychedel ...

band

Train A train (from Old French , from Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles th ...

, released as the lead single from their 1998 self-titled first album. Serviced to

adult album alternative Adult album alternative (also triple-A, AAA, or adult alternative) is a radio format. See pages 9 and 10Mills, Joshua. "A New Radio Music Format: Rock for Prosperous Adults" New York Times, Feb 28 1994, p. 2. ProQuest. Web. Accessed September 4, ...

radio in March 1998 as Train's debut single, the song took over a year to gain popularity on mainstream radio, eventually reaching number 20 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in January 2000, becoming Train's first top-20 hit and their first single to appear on the Hot 100. It also reached the top 20 in Canada, peaking at number 15 on the ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or r⋅min−1) is a unit of rotational speed (or rotational frequency) for rotating machines. One revolution per minute is equivalent to hertz. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 def ...

'' 100 Hit Tracks chart.

Background

When asked whether the girl in the song was real or imaginary, Train posted on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

that "she's real parts of real woman icthat make up a woman that I've always wanted to meet". Singer Patrick Monahan added that one of the women who inspired the song was bassist

Charlie Colin Charlie Colin (November 22, 1966 – May 17, 2024) was an American musician. He was the bassist for the rock band Train, of which he was a founding member. He also played guitar and provided background vocals for many other bands after his dep ...

's girlfriend, who came over from a wedding shower still wearing a long dress and high heels, and proceeded to play

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

for Train's softball team in a game against members of the

Counting Crows Counting Crows is an American rock band from the San Francisco Bay Area, California. Formed in 1991, the band consists of rhythm guitarist David Bryson, drummer Jim Bogios, vocalist Adam Duritz, keyboardist Charlie Gillingham, David Immergl� ...

. This inspired the line, "Wears high heels when she exercises".

Reception

Roxanne Blanford of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

says "Meet Virginia" is one of a few songs from the album ''

'' that has "inspired hooks and reflective lyrics". Christa L. Titus, of ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' magazine in her review of their second album, called the song an "ode to a wrong-side-of-the-tracks girl full of quirky contradictions."

Music video

The "Meet Virginia" music video takes place inside a diner and stars actress

Rebecca Gayheart Rebecca Gayheart (born August 12, 1971) is an American actress and model. Gayheart began her career as a teen model in the 1980s, then advertising spokeswoman and subsequently appeared in a student short film by Brett Ratner, with whom she had a ...

. The video was shot at the Merritt Bakery and Restaurant in

Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

. Located on the south-western shore of

Lake Merritt Lake Merritt is a lake located in a large tidal lagoon basin in the center of Oakland, California, just east of Downtown. It is named after Samuel Merritt, Oakland's mayor in 1867–1869, who had the lagoon dammed turning the varying tidal lag ...

at 203 East 18th Street, the restaurant closed after a fire in 2016.

Track listing

Australian maxi-CD single # "Meet Virginia" (pop version) – 3:44 # "Meet Virginia" (album version) – 4:00 # "If You Leave" (live) – 3:26 # "

I Am I Am or I'm may refer to: Language and literature * "I Am that I Am", a common English translation of the response God used in the Hebrew Bible when Moses asked for His name ** I am (biblical term), a Christian term used in the Bible * "I Am" ( ...

" (live) – 4:35 # "Train" (live) – 5:50

Credits and personnel

Credits are adapted from the US promo CD liner notes. Studio * Mastered at A&M Mastering Studios (Hollywood, California, US) Train * Train – writing, production * Patrick Monahan – vocals, percussion * Rob Hotchkiss – guitars, harmonica, vocals * Jimmy Stafford – guitars, mandolin, vocals *

– bass * Scott Underwood – drums, percussion Other musicians *

Charlie Gillingham Charles Thomas Gillingham (born January 26, 1960) is an American keyboardist and multi-instrumentalist, best known for his performance on the Hammond B-3 organ, accordion, piano, and keyboards for the band Counting Crows. He has also played the ...

– organ,

Mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which causes a length of magnetic tape to contact a Capstan (tape recorder), capstan, which pulls i ...

, piano Additional personnel * Curtis Mathewson – production * Mike McHugh – engineering * Charles Quagliana – engineering * Matt Wallace – remixing * Alan Yoshida – mastering

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References

{{Authority control 1998 songs 1998 debut singles Columbia Records singles Songs written by Pat Monahan Train (band) songs