Hey There Delilah

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

“Hey There Delilah”
Single by Plain White T's from the album All That We Needed and re-released on Every Second Counts
B-side	"Easy Way Out"
Released	May 9, 2006 (U.S.) September 3, 2007 (UK)
Format	CD single, digital download
Recorded	May 2004
Genre	Acoustic
Length	3:52
Label	Hollywood Records / Fearless Records
Writer(s)	Gary Lightbody
Producer	Ariel Rechtshaid
Certification	2X Platinum (2,177,054 Downloads)[1]
Plain White T's singles chronology
"Hate (I Really Don't Like You)" (2006) "Hey There Delilah (Re-release) (2007) "Our Time Now" (2007)

"Hey There Delilah" is the third single released from the rock band Plain White T's 2006 album All That We Needed. The song is about a long-distance relationship. In June 2007, over two years after the song's initial release, it became the band's first mainstream hit in the United States, eventually reaching the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 in July. From July 3, 2007 through July 28, the song was the number one most played song on the radio, and the number one downloaded song on the U.S. iTunes Music Store. After a few days, the version of the song found on Every Second Counts became the number one most downloaded, but was eventually replaced by "See You Again" by Miley Cyrus.

After the song jumped from number 16 to number 6 on the chart it continued to climb one position every week (6-5-4-3-2-1), making it the first chart-topping hit to have this pattern on the Hot 100 in 21 years.^[2] It also reached number two in the UK and number three in Australia.

The song ended 2007 as the year's 14th biggest-selling single in the UK.^[3]

Although "Hey There Delilah" is from the Plain White T's third album, All That We Needed, since the single's popularity new versions of the intervening fourth album, Every Second Counts, have "Hey There Delilah" added as a bonus track with a string section augmenting the original recording.^[4]

Contents 1 History 2 Critical reaction 3 Parody 4 Covers 5 Charts 6 References 7 External links

[edit] History

The song, written by Higgenson, is based on 24-year-old steeplechase runner Delilah DiCrescenzo^[5], who is now an assistant track coach at Bryn Mawr^[6].^{[citation needed]} She started her running in high school. The high school she attended was Queen of Peace High School in Burbank, Illinois. Higgenson asked her out, but she turned him down. "I thought she was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen," Higgenson says. "I told her, 'I have a song about you already.' Obviously, there was no song. But I thought it was smooth." A year later he wrote 'Hey There Delilah'. On the other hand, rumor has it that Delilah is a name chosen because it suited the song metrically.^[7] The song's writer has also referred to it as the "most pure and open love song [he's] ever written."

[edit] Critical reaction

Time magazine named "Hey There Delilah" one of The 10 Best Songs of 2007, ranking it at #7. Writer Josh Tyrangiel called it “an intimate love song that’s damn near universal”. Tyrangiel praised the Plain White T’s for managing to make another “aching guy reaching out to distant girl song feel fresh”, singling out singer Tom Higgenson’s otherwise imperfect voice and “nasal delivery [for making] the nearly-comic sincerity of the lyrics seem completely genuine."^[8]

The song is a 2008 Grammy Award nominee for Song of the Year and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.

On VH1's Top 40 Videos Of 2007, "Hey There Delilah" was #8, ahead of "If Everyone Cared" by Nickelback and behind "Say It Right" by Nelly Furtado.

[edit] Parody

The song's sincere lyrics and simple structure, combined with the revelation that its central relationship was fabricated, have made it the target of numerous parodies. One representative example is Robert Lund's "Re: Your Song About My Client Delilah,"^[9] which takes the form of a cease-and-desist letter to Tom Higgenson from Delilah's attorney. Cinema Blend called it one of the best song parodies since "Weird Al" Yankovic's "White and Nerdy"^[10] and Dr. Demento named it one of his top ten songs of 2007.^[11]

[edit] Covers

British girl group, Sugababes, covered the song during a Radio 1 Live Lounge show. The song was recorded and listed as a b-side on their single "Denial". Rapper Tyga also did a remix of the song. Also Canadian punk band Fear and Loathing, covered the song giving it a more, punk side. The lyrics were also rewritten, more so making fun of the song during certain parts.

[edit] Charts

Chart (2007)	Peak position
Australia ARIA Singles Chart[12]	3
Ö3 Austria Top 40[13]	2
Belgium Singles Chart[13]	3
Brazil Singles Chart[14]	21
Canada Singles Chart[13]	5
Czech Singles Chart[15]	1
Euro 200[16]	4
Germany Singles Chart[13]	3
Ibero América Singles Chart[17]	52
Italy Singles Chart[18]	7
Israeli Singles Chart[13]	4
Ireland Singles Chart[13]	2
Luxembourg Singles Chart	6
Malta Singles Chart	6
Netherlands Singles Chart 1[13]	10
Netherlands Antilles Singles Chart[19]	17
New Zealand Singles Chart[13]	9
Norway Singles Chart[13]	20
Polish National Top 50[20]	8
Portugal Singles Chart[13]	31
Singapore Singles Chart[21]	3
Slovenia Singles Chart	10
Sweden Singles Chart[13]	6
Switzerland Singles Chart[13]	9
UK Singles Chart[13]	2
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[22]	1
U.S. Billboard Pop 100[22]	1
U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks[22]	3
U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks[22]	3
United World Chart[13]	5

Preceded by "Umbrella" by Rihanna featuring Jay-Z	Billboard Hot 100 number-one single July 28, 2007 - August 4, 2007	Succeeded by "Beautiful Girls" by Sean Kingston
Preceded by "Big Girls Don't Cry" by Fergie	Billboard Pop 100 number-one single July 28, 2007 - August 4, 2007
	Canadian Hot 100 number-one single (First run) August 4, 2007
Preceded by "Beautiful Girls" by Sean Kingston	Canadian Hot 100 number-one single (Second run) August 25, 2007 - September 1, 2007	Succeeded by "The Way I Are" by Timbaland Feat. Keri Hilson and D.O.E.
Preceded by "Junge" by Die Ärzte	German Singles Chart number-one single November 2, 2007 - September 1, 2007	Succeeded by "Du Hast Den Schönsten Arsch Der Welt" by Alex C. Feat. Y-Ass

[edit] References

v • d • e Plain White T's Tom Higgenson • Dave Tirio • Mike Retondo • De' Mar Hamilton • Tim Lopez Steve Mast • Ken Fletcher Studio albums Come on Over • Stop • All That We Needed • Every Second Counts EPs Hey There Delilah Singles "All That We Needed" • "Take Me Away" • "Hey There Delilah" • "Hate (I Really Don't Like You)" • "Hey There Delilah" (re-release) • "Our Time Now" Labels Hollywood

[edit] External links

• A cover by Sucrepop