"The Girl I Knew Somewhere" is a song by the American pop rock band the Monkees, written by Michael Nesmith, and first released as the B-side to the "A Little Bit Me, a Little Bit You" single on Colgems Records on 8 March 1967 (see 1967 in music). It was distributed in support of the group's third album Headquarters, and later appeared on the reissued version of the LP. The song was recorded as the Monkees finally achieved the independence that enabled them to freely produce their own material, with the actual band members being featured on both vocals and instrumental arrangements.

The Monkees had enjoyed enormous commercial success with their first two albums, The Monkees and More of the Monkees, both reaching number one on the Billboard 200. However, under the direction of their music supervisor Don Kirshner, the group was almost completely barred from studio work, aside from recording as vocalists and penning some original material. Longing to achieve creative freedom, the Monkees, led by Michael Nesmith, who felt especially insulted by Kirshner's condescension, entered months of bitter negotiations that eventually concluded with Kirshner's firing. With his departure, the band was finally given the ability to play the instrumentals themselves, making the Headquarters sessions the first of which to feature the actual members on the arrangements. Nesmith compared the Monkees' process to build upon their differing styles: "[It was like] a really good tennis player, and a really good football player, and a really good basketball player, and a really good golfer got together and played baseball. ... We could give it a try. Maybe make a little garage-band music".

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