Is She Really Going Out with Him?

"Is She Really Going Out with Him?"
Single by Joe Jackson
from the album Look Sharp!
B-side	"You Got the Fever" (UK) "(Do the) Instant Mash" (US)
Released	October 1978
Recorded	August 1978
Studio	Eden (London)
Genre	New wave[1][2]
Length	3:35
Label	A&M
Songwriter(s)	Joe Jackson
Producer(s)	David Kershenbaum
Joe Jackson singles chronology
"Is She Really Going Out with Him?" (1978) "Sunday Papers" (1979)

"Is She Really Going Out with Him?" is a song written and performed by British musician Joe Jackson. It was released in October 1978 as his debut single and was later included on Jackson's debut album, Look Sharp! The track was one of the first Jackson recorded with his new backing band, a band he would perform with for his first three albums. Written as a humorous commentary on women dating unattractive men, the song contains a prominent bass line and a chorus praised by critics as memorable. Jackson has since stated that the song's reputation for being angry was untrue.

On its initial release, the single was commercially unsuccessful and failed to chart. Two follow-up singles, "Sunday Papers" and "One More Time", were also chart failures. However, when "Is She Really Going Out with Him?" was rereleased in 1979 after Jackson's reputation and new wave music grew in popularity, the single saw more attention and became a chart success. This second release reached the top 20 in the UK and top 30 in the US, becoming one of Jackson's highest charting singles worldwide.

Since then, the song has been praised as one of Jackson's greatest and most famous and has been covered by multiple artists. The song has appeared on several of Jackson's compilation albums and remains a staple of Jackson's live setlist. A live a cappella version released in 1988 was a top five single in the Netherlands. It has been described as one of the classics of the new wave genre, though Jackson does not consider it his best song.