"Southern Girls" is a song written by Rick Nielsen and Tom Petersson that was first released by Cheap Trick on their 1977 album In Color, produced by Tom Werman. It was also released as a single. It has been covered by a number of artists, including Bangs, Everclear and Gilby Clarke.

"Southern Girls" was in Cheap Trick's repertoire by September 1975, when it was included on a demo the band made at Ardent Studios in Memphis, which also included "Come On, Come On," "Taxman" and the still unreleased "Fan Club." Authors Mike Hayes and Ken Sharp detect influences on the song from The Beach Boys and The Yardbirds.Allmusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine concurs with the Beach Boys influence, calling it a "'California Girls' homage".UPI's Bruce Meyer also notes that it cops "some Beach Boys licks and harmonies." Nielsen compared the drum beat of the song to a "glam style Gary Glitter rhythm.Bun E. Carlos' drumming on the song has been praised by critics, and it is one of Carlos' favorite Cheap Trick songs. For example, author John M. Borack claims that Carlos' drumming "propels this poppy, peppy treat straight into the stratosphere. Nielsen also claims that one of the beauties of the song is that it only uses a few chords.

The lyrics were inspired by women the band met in Canada, north of their Illinois roots; it is actually about girls from Southern Canada. However, using the phrase "Southern Canadian Girls" in the hook didn't sound good to Nielsen, so he just left it as "Southern Girls."

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