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In the song “Extraordinary Girl” by Green Day, you can notice that the vocalist sings about an “extraordinary girl”, sometimes referring to her as he, and sometimes as she.

For example, at 2:51, you can hear:

Some days he feels like dying, some days it's not worth trying … she gets so sick of crying.

As far as I know, only she can be used to refer to a female. Is using he to refer to a female valid?

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Check the answer – user31952 Dec 9 '12 at 3:12
Once again, interpreting song lyrics is Off Topic – FumbleFingers Dec 9 '12 at 4:48
@FumbleFingers - I didn't ask for, just, in case, my question's source was in that song. – user1798362 Dec 9 '12 at 5:54

closed as off topic by Robusto, tchrist, FumbleFingers, Mahnax, MετάEd Dec 9 '12 at 7:27

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2 Answers

up vote 2 down vote accepted

The song is about two people, a male and a female of indeterminate age, not just the extraordinary girl. She's great but he's a wimp.

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Ok, thank you. So, as I understand, "he" cannot be referred to girl? – user1798362 Dec 9 '12 at 2:56
"Cannot" is too strong, but in ordinary circumstances (like this song) "he" refers to a male and "she" refers to a female. – GEdgar Dec 9 '12 at 3:00
Ah......Well, that's not necessarily true: there are many cases of transgender and transsexual people being referred to by both pronouns because there's a moral, ethical, religious, or legal dispute about which gender the person really is, especially when they haven't had a sex-change operation. However, it's generally true. – user21497 Dec 9 '12 at 3:03
Ok, I got it. thank you both. – user1798362 Dec 9 '12 at 3:29
up vote 1 down vote

The song is about a girl and a boy. That's why there's a he and a she.

On a different note, many song writers skip some grammar rules to maintain the rhythm of their songs. This is allowed in any language and is called Poetic License That's why you see some grammatically wrong phrases in song lyrics which rhyme with the song.

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