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Hey There Delilah

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"Hey There Delilah"
Song
B-side"Easy Way Out"

"Hey There Delilah" is the third single released from the band Plain White Ts 2005 album All That We Needed. In June 2007, over two years after the song's release, it became the band's first 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. Since its release, "Hey There Delilah" has been covered by many artists worldwide in one form or another.

After the song jumped from number sixteen to six on the charts, it continued to climb one position every week, making it the first chart-topping hit to have this pattern on the Hot 100 in 21 years. It was the first number one single for the Plain White T's and the first number one for the Hollywood label.[1] It also reached number two in the UK.[2] 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 Ts' 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]

Critical reaction

Time magazine named "Hey There Delilah" one of The 10 Best Songs of 2007, ranking it at #7.[5] Music critic 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."[6]

The song was a 2008 Grammy Award nominee for Song of the Year and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, but didn't win either award (Amy Winehouse and Maroon 5 won the awards).

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.

Parodies

The song's sincere lyrics and simple structure have made it the target of numerous parodies.

The first parody to appear was Kevin Tor's version of Hey There Delilah, the Stalker version.

One of the more popular examples is Robert Lund and M. Spaff Sumsion's "Re: Your Song About My Client Delilah," which takes the form of a cease-and-desist letter to Tom Higgenson from Delilah's attorney [7]. Cinema Blend called it one of the best song parodies since "Weird Al" Yankovic's "White and Nerdy" [8]. Dr. Demento named it one of his top ten songs of 2007 [9].

A YouTube sensation is also James at War's famous "Hey, Harry Potter", where James portrays a fan whose obsession with Harry Potter has ruined his life.

Another popular parody surfaced in October 2008; former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin appeared on YouTube. "Hey Sarah Palin," by MC Howie and Julie K, uses the melody of this song [10]. In an animated segment for Sesame Street, the song is parodied by three white letter T's, a reference to the band's name, sing about the letter T. Tom Higgenson (lead singer of the actual Plain White T's) provided the voice for the short [11].

A parody trio called "Adam and Andrew" created a parody song called 'Hey There MacGyver'.

A parody about Jack Thompson on Youtube called "Hey Mr. Thompson" by SarcasticGamer.

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. Concert pianist Marrina Waks also covered this song in a broad array of styles on piano.Chuck Inglish from Hip-Hop group The Cool Kids created a remix which includes lots of percussion and instruments but does not actually have him composing lyrics of his own on the song.

American Idol contestant Ju'not Joyner covered this song on the March 3rd episode of American Idol. Jamar Rogers covered the song in Hollywood week. In both cases, this song was the contestant's last performance before being eliminated.

Inspiration for song

The song was written after Higgenson met Delilah DiCrescenzo, a nationally ranked American steeplechase and cross country runner. Despite the fact that she informed him that she already had a boyfriend, Higgenson felt strong enough about DiCrescenzo to write a song about her.[12] DiCrescenzo competed in the 2008 Olympic Trials for the Steeplechase, but failed to make the team.[13]

Charts

Chart (2007) Peak
position
Australia Singles Chart[14] 6
Ö3 Austria Top 40[15] 1
Belgian Singles Chart[15] 1
Canadian Hot 100[15] 1
Eurochart Hot 100 Singles 1
German Singles Chart[15] 1
Ibero América Singles Chart[16] 1
Italian Singles Chart[17] 14
Israeli Singles Chart[15] 1
Irish Singles Chart[15] 2
Netherlands Singles Chart 1[15] 1
Netherlands Antilles Singles Chart[18] 1
New Zealand Singles Chart[15] 9
Norwegian Singles Chart[15] 1
Portuguese Singles Chart[15] 1
Swedish Singles Chart[15] 1
Swiss Singles Chart[15] 1
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[19] 1
U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks[19] 1
U.S. Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks[19] 3
U.S. Billboard Pop 100[19] 1
UK Singles Chart[15] 2
Preceded by
"Umbrella" by Rihanna featuring Jay-Z
 Billboard Hot 100 number-one single
July 28 2007 - August 4 2007 		Succeeded by
Preceded by 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 Canadian Hot 100 number-one single (second run)
August 25 2007 - September 1 2007 		Succeeded by
Preceded by German Singles Chart number-one single
November 2 2007 - September 1 2007 		Succeeded by
"Du Hast Den Schönsten Arsch Der Welt" by Alex C. featiuring Y-Ass
Preceded by Eurochart Hot 100 number-one single
November 3 2007 		Succeeded by

References

  1. ^ Bronson, Fred. "Chart Beat". Billboard. Retrieved 2008-11-22.
  2. ^ "Sean Kingston Keeps Top Spot In UK Charts". World Entertainment News Network. Retrieved 2008-11-22. {{cite web}}: |first= missing |last= (help)
  3. ^ "BBC - Radio 1 - Chart Show - The UK Top 40 Singles". BBC Music. Retrieved 2008-11-22.
  4. ^ "Plain White T's 'Hey There Delilah' Is Number One". Ultimate Guitar. Retrieved 2008-11-22.
  5. ^ http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/top10/article/0,30583,1686204_1686244_1690647,00.html
  6. ^ Tyrangiel, Josh (December 24, 2007)"The Best Top 10 Lists of the Year: The 10 Best Songs". Time. 170 (26):68 Retrieved on 2008-01-29
  7. ^ Sumsion, M. Spaff. "Re: Your Song About My Client Delilah". Spaff.com. Retrieved 2008-11-22.
  8. ^ Telsch, Rafe (2007-08-19). "Parody Offers Delilah's Legal Response". Cinema Blend. Retrieved 2008-11-22.
  9. ^ "The Dr. Demento Show #07-52 - December 30, 2007". Dr. Demonto.com. Retrieved 2008-11-22.
  10. ^ "The Political Carnival: Hey Sarah Palin". The Political Carnival. Retrieved 2008-11-22.
  11. ^ "Sesame Street - Season 39 Press Kit". Retrieved 2008-11-22.
  12. ^ Celizic, Mike (January 23, 2008). "Muse shares story behind 'Hey There Delilah'". Retrieved 2009-02-07.
  13. ^ "Women 3000 Meter Steeplechase". US Track and Field. Retrieved 2009-02-07.
  14. ^ http://www.australian-charts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Plain+White+T%27s&titel=Hey+There+Delilah&cat=s
  15. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Plain White T's - Hey There Delilah - Music Charts
  16. ^ Ibero América Singles Chart
  17. ^ Italian Singles Chart
  18. ^ Netherlands Antilles Singles Top 40
  19. ^ a b c d Billboard.com - Artist Chart History - Plain White T's
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