In fact, the title character in the song is based on a spoiled heir to a fast-food chain who was an ex-boyfriend of Daryl Hall's girlfriend, Sara Allen.

"But you can't write, 'You're a rich boy' in a song, so I changed it to a girl," Hall told Rolling Stone.

[5] Hall elaborated on the song in an interview with American Songwriter: "Rich Girl" was written about an old boyfriend of Sara [Allen]'s from college that she was still friends with at the time.

I said, "This guy is out of his mind, but he doesn't have to worry about it because his father's gonna bail him out of any problems he gets in."

[6]Several years later, Hall read an interview with serial killer David Berkowitz, in which he claimed that "Rich Girl" had motivated him to commit the notorious "Son of Sam" murders[7] (although the song was not released until after the Son of Sam murders had already begun, casting doubts on that suggestion).

[5] Cash Box wrote that it is "an upbeat, foot-tapping number with a lyric line that really catches on.