Written by Anthony Gonzalez with his brother Yann, it was released in April 2008 as the second single from M83's fifth studio album, Saturdays = Youth.
[4] The song tells the story of a goth girl Gonzalez once knew who "worships Satan" but "dreams of a sister like Molly Ringwald.
"[8] Dave Hughes of Slant Magazine said the song is "certainly the most typically, successfully pop moment this difficult, often transcendent act has ever produced.
"[6] Pitchfork's Amy Phillips wrote that "Anthony Gonzalez makes the teen years seem idyllic, a time in life when all emotion is pure and beautiful," and that the song is "melodramatic, overblown, and even a little bit silly.
"[9] Jer Fairall of PopMatters suggested that on "Graveyard Girl", M83 found "pure pop perfection by dipping into the pool of mid-'80s synth-pop.