Alex Chilton

The song is a homage to Alex Chilton of the Box Tops and Big Star, who shared a booking agent with the band, had produced early demos for Tim and was often at Ardent Studios while Pleased to Meet Me was made. It began as a demo called George from Outer Space, about the roadie George Lewis, before Westerberg rewrote the lyrics as a homage to Chilton. The hook, I'm in love with that song, came from their first meeting, when Westerberg tried to make conversation and told Chilton he loved one song of his, then could not remember that it was Big Star's Watch the Sunrise. The line about checking his stash by the trash at St. Mark's Place came from a lunch with Westerberg, Jesperson and Chilton.

The band tried to keep the song from Chilton, fearing a bad impression. He heard the finished version on tour, called it a pretty good song, and joked that he felt like a great legendary outlaw, like John Wesley Hardin. In the Guardian, Michael Hann picked out the bridge, where Westerberg sings that he never travels far without a little Big Star.

Release and reception

It came out as a promo single with Election Day on the B-side. Its 1987 video was made from footage of the banned video for The Ledge. A rough mix is on the deluxe edition of the album, and the song is a playable track in Rock Band 2. Rolling Stone's Kory Grow named it, with Can't Hardly Wait, one of the album's two all-time classics, and AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine called it "brilliant, shining power pop." Ultimate Classic Rock ranked it the band's fifth best song, PopMatters and Diffuser.fm seventh, the Guardian eighth and Laura Jane Grace of Against Me! ninth on Louder.