Hey There Delilah
| "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. After a few days, the version of the song found on Every Second Counts became the number one most downloaded, but was eventually replaced with "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.
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]
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 College.[6] She started her running in high school. The high school she attended was Queen of Peace High School in Burbank, Illinois. Higgenson, having met her through a mutual friend, 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] Many years later, Delilah DiCrescenzo finally gave Higgenson a date when the song was nominated for a Grammy Award.[8]
Critical reaction
Time magazine named "Hey There Delilah" one of The 10 Best Songs of 2007, ranking it at #7.[citation needed] 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."[9]
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.
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,"[10] 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"[11] and Dr. Demento named it one of his top ten songs of 2007.[12] Another good parody is <a href="http://www.myspace.com/tylercorbine">Hey There Libby</a>
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. Shane Harper from Dance on Sunset covered it too, and is available on his Music MySpace.
Charts
| Chart (2007) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia ARIA Singles Chart[13] | 6 |
| Ö3 Austria Top 40[14] | 1 |
| Belgium Singles Chart[14] | 1 |
| Brazil Singles Chart[15] | 21 |
| Canada Singles Chart[14] | 1 |
| Czech Singles Chart[16] | 1 |
| Euro 200[17] | 1 |
| Germany Singles Chart[14] | 1 |
| Ibero América Singles Chart[18] | 1 |
| Italy Singles Chart[19] | 1 |
| Israeli Singles Chart[14] | 1 |
| Ireland Singles Chart[14] | 1 |
| Luxembourg Singles Chart | 1 |
| Malta Singles Chart | 1 |
| Netherlands Singles Chart 1[14] | 1 |
| Netherlands Antilles Singles Chart[20] | 1 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart[14] | 1 |
| Norway Singles Chart[14] | 1 |
| Polish National Top 50[21] | 1 |
| Portugal Singles Chart[14] | 1 |
| Singapore Singles Chart[22] | 1 |
| Slovenia Singles Chart | 1 |
| Sweden Singles Chart[14] | 1 |
| Switzerland Singles Chart[14] | 1 |
| UK Singles Chart[14] | 2 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100[23] | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Pop 100[23] | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks[23] | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks[23] | 3 |
| United World Chart[14] | 1 |
References
- ^ noticiasmusicais.radioativohits.com. "Top 50 Downloads from September 18 to September 25". Retrieved September 28 2007.
- ^ Chart Beat
- ^ BBC Music. "Top 40 Singles of the Year 2007 ". Retrieved 2007-12-27
- ^ ultimate-guitar.com. "Plain White T's 'Hey There Delilah' Is Number One". Retrieved July 29 2007.
- ^ http://tv.popcrunch.com/real-life-%E2%80%9Cdelilah%E2%80%9D-dicrescenzo-on-today-show-video/"retrieved on 3 April 2008
- ^ http://www.brynmawr.edu/athletics/intercollegiate/track/coach.htm/"retrieved on 9 June2008
- ^ http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2007-06-25-plain-white-ts_N.htm" retrieved on 6 March 2008
- ^ http://www.celebpeeps.net/news/Delilah_DiCrescenzo_Finally_Gives_Tom_Higgenson_Date.html
- ^ 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
- ^ Spaff.com. "Re: Your Song About My Client Delilah"
- ^ Cinema Blend. "Parody Offers Delilah's Legal Response"
- ^ The Dr. Demento Show #07-52 - December 30, 2007
- ^ http://www.australian-charts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Plain+White+T%27s&titel=Hey+There+Delilah&cat=s
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Plain White T's - Hey There Delilah - Music Charts
- ^ Hot100Brasil
- ^ Czech Singles Chart
- ^ euro200.eu
- ^ Ibero América Singles Chart
- ^ Italian Singles Chart
- ^ Netherlands Antilles Singles Top 40
- ^ Poland Singles Chart
- ^ Singapore Singles Chart
- ^ a b c d Billboard.com - Artist Chart History - Plain White T's