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Hey There Delilah

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

"Hey There Delilah" is a song by American pop punk group Plain White T's. It was released in May 2006 as the third single from their third studio album All That We Needed. It received radio play over the following year and eventually reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in July 2007.

Background and writing

The song is from the Plain White T's' third album, All That We Needed, the song was recorded and produced by Ariel Rechtshaid at Doug Messenger's harddrive analog and digital, in North Hollywood, CA. The intervening fourth album, Every Second Counts, has "Hey There Delilah" added as a bonus track with a string section written and performed by Eric Remschneider augmenting the original recording.[1]

The song was written by frontman Tom Higgenson after meeting Delilah DiCrescenzo, a nationally ranked American steeplechase and cross country runner.[2]

Release

Plain White T's released the song in May 2006 as the third single from their third studio album All That We Needed. In June 2007, over one year after the song's release, it became the band's first hit in the United States, eventually reaching No. 1 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.

It was the Plain White T's first number one single. It also reached number two in the UK.[3] The song ended 2007 as the year's 14th biggest-selling single in the UK.[4]

Since its release, "Hey There Delilah" has been covered by many artists worldwide in one form or another. It has sold over 4,000,000 digital copies in the US alone.[5]

Music video

The video was directed by Jay Martin.

It features the band's lead singer, Tom Higgenson, singing the song while the band members are in another room behind him. The other band members are not playing in the song. The only other instruments are the strings provided by Eric Remschneider, who does not appear in the video.

In a split screen it shows the singer's girlfriend, Delilah, who attends college 1000 miles away in New York City. She walks around the city, presumably, from a class to her job.

Critical reaction

Time magazine named "Hey There Delilah" one of The 10 Best Songs of 2007, ranking it at No. 7.[6] 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."[7] Allmusic positively compared the song to "Thirteen" by Big Star.[8]

The song was a double 2008 Grammy Award nominee, for Song of the Year (won by Amy Winehouse) and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal (won by Maroon 5). The real Delilah attended the Grammy Award show that year as the guest of Tom Higgenson, the song's writer.[9]

On VH1's Top 40 Videos of 2007, "Hey There Delilah" was No. 8, ahead of "If Everyone Cared" by Nickelback and behind "Say It Right" by Nelly Furtado. VH1 also had the song at No. 78 on its list of the 100 Greatest Songs of the '00s.[10]

The band was featured on Sesame Street in 2008 with the song "I'm the Letter T" (to the tune of "Hey There Delilah"). Lead singer Tom Higgenson provided the vocals for the computer animated Letter T who sings the spoof. When asked if he was excited, Higgenson responded:

"Yeah, hello! It's a dream. But it's just my voice. There's going to be some Muppet singing it on the screen."

Charts

Chart (2006-2008) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[11] 3
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[12] 2
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[13] 2
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[14] 29
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[15] 1
Czech Republic (Rádio – Top 100)[16] 1
Denmark (Tracklisten)[17] 21
Europe (Eurochart Hot 100 Singles) 1
songid field is MANDATORY FOR GERMAN CHARTS 1
Italy (FIMI)[18] 14
Ireland (IRMA)[15] 2
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[19] 8
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[20] 9
Norway (VG-lista)[21] 15
Slovakia (Rádio Top 100)[22] 4
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[23] 6
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[24] 9
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[15] 2
US Billboard Hot 100[25] 1
US Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks[25] 3
US Billboard Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks[25] 1
US Billboard Pop 100[25] 1

Year-end charts

Chart (2007) Rank
German Singles Chart[26] 23
US Billboard Hot 100[27] 7
Chart (2008) Rank
German Singles Chart[28] 96

Decade-end charts

Chart (2000–2009) Rank
US Billboard Hot 100[29] 97

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[30] Platinum 70,000^
Canada (Music Canada)[31] 3× Platinum 120,000^
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[32] Gold 7,500^
Germany (BVMI)[33] Gold 150,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[34] Gold 7,500*
United Kingdom (BPI)[35] Gold 400,000^
United States (RIAA)[37] 4× Platinum 4,476,000[36]

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Country Release date
United States 9 May 2006 (2006-05-09)
Worldwide 30 August 2007 (2007-08-30)

See also

References

  1. ^ "Plain White T's 'Hey There Delilah' Is Number One". Ultimate Guitar. Retrieved November 11, 2008.
  2. ^ Celizic, Mike (January 23, 2008). "Muse shares story behind 'Hey There Delilah'". Retrieved February 7, 2009.
  3. ^ "Sean Kingston Keeps Top Spot In UK Charts". World Entertainment News Network. Retrieved November 22, 2008.
  4. ^ "BBC - Radio 1 - Chart Show - The UK Top 40 Singles". BBC Music. Retrieved November 22, 2008.
  5. ^ "Week Ending March 6, 2011: Songs: Rated PG". Yahoo! Chart Watch. March 9, 2011. Retrieved March 10, 2011.
  6. ^ "Top 10 Everything Of 2007". Time. December 9, 2007. Retrieved May 4, 2010.
  7. ^ Tyrangiel, Josh (December 24, 2007). "The Best Top 10 Lists of the Year: The 10 Best Songs". Time. Retrieved January 27, 2008.
  8. ^ All That We Needed - Plain White T's | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards | AllMusic
  9. ^ "Delilah DiCrescenzo Finally Gives Tom Higgenson a Date". Celebpeeps.net. Retrieved August 15, 2011.
  10. ^ Anderson, Kyle (September 29, 2011). "U2, Rihanna, Amy Winehouse, Foo Fighters fill out VH1's '100 Greatest Songs of the '00s'". Entertainment Weekly. Time Inc. Retrieved June 24, 2012.
  11. ^ "Plain White T's – Hey There Delilah". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  12. ^ "Plain White T's – Hey There Delilah" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  13. ^ "Plain White T's – Hey There Delilah" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  14. ^ "Plain White T's – Hey There Delilah" (in French). Ultratop 50.
  15. ^ a b c "Plain White T's - Hey There Delilah - Music Charts". Acharts.us. Retrieved August 15, 2011.
  16. ^ "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select 1. týden 2008 in the date selector.
  17. ^ "Plain White T's – Hey There Delilah". Tracklisten.
  18. ^ "Plain White T's – Hey There Delilah". Top Digital Download.
  19. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Plain White T's" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
  20. ^ "Plain White T's – Hey There Delilah". Top 40 Singles.
  21. ^ "Plain White T's – Hey There Delilah". VG-lista.
  22. ^ "ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 200743 into search.
  23. ^ "Plain White T's – Hey There Delilah". Singles Top 100.
  24. ^ "Plain White T's – Hey There Delilah". Swiss Singles Chart.
  25. ^ a b c d Billboard.com - Artist Chart History - Plain White T's
  26. ^ [1] Archived 2013-07-03 at the Wayback Machine
  27. ^ "Billboard Hot 100 Year-End 2007". Retrieved 2012-04-15.
  28. ^ [2] Archived 2013-07-03 at the Wayback Machine
  29. ^ "The Billboard Hot 100 Singles & Tracks - Decade Year End Charts". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved April 18, 2011.
  30. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2007 Singles" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved May 8, 2008.
  31. ^ "Canadian single certifications – Plain White T's – Hey There Delilah". Music Canada. Retrieved March 7, 2010.
  32. ^ "Guld og platin i August" (in Danish). IFPI Denmark. Archived from the original on August 7, 2009. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; January 17, 2015 suggested (help)
  33. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Plain White T's; 'Hey There Delilah')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved January 7, 2008.
  34. ^ "Latest Gold / Platinum Singles – RadioScope New Zealand". Radioscope.net.nz. Archived from the original on July 24, 2011. Retrieved August 28, 2011.
  35. ^ "British single certifications – Plain White T's – Hey There Delilah". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved August 7, 2013. Select singles in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type Hey There Delilah in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  36. ^ Grein, Paul (March 27, 2013). "Week Ending March 24, 2013. Songs: 5 Million "Thrift Shoppers"". Chart Watch. Yahoo Music. Retrieved March 31, 2013.
  37. ^ "American single certifications – Plain White T's – Hey There Delilah". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved June 30, 2014.
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