Hey There Delilah

"Hey There Delilah" is a song by American rock band Plain White T's. It was released in May 2006 as the third single from their third studio album All That We Needed.

"Hey There Delilah"
Single by Plain White T's
from the album All That We Needed and Every Second Counts
B-side"Easy Way Out"
Released9 May 2006
RecordedMay 2004
Genre
Length3:52
Label
Songwriter(s)Tom Higgenson, Javis Bolta
Producer(s)
Plain White T's singles chronology
"Take Me Away"
(2005)		 "Hey There Delilah"
(2006)		 "Hate (I Really Don't Like You)"
(2006)

The song 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 was recorded and produced by Ariel Rechtshaid in North Hollywood, Los Angeles. The band's fourth album, Every Second Counts, has "Hey There Delilah" as a bonus track with a string section written and performed by Eric Remschneider augmenting the original recording.[3]

The song was written by frontman Tom Higgenson after meeting Delilah DiCrescenzo, a nationally ranked American steeplechase and cross country runner.[4] "Hey There Delilah" is written in the key of D major, with a tempo of 104 beats per minute in common time.[5]

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 through July 28, 2007, the song was the number one most played song on the radio, and the number one downloaded song on the US iTunes Music Store.

It was the Plain White T's first, and to date, only number one single. It also reached number two in the UK.[6] The song ended 2007 as the year's 14th biggest-selling single in the UK.[7]

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.[8]

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 Delilah, played by model Melissa McNelis, who attends college 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.[9] 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."[10] AllMusic positively compared the song to "Thirteen" by Big Star.[11]

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.[12]

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.[13]

The band was featured on Playhouse Disney in 2008 with the song "I'm the Letter T" (to the tune of "Hey There Delilah"). 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." It also appeared on Sesame Street.[14]

Charts

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[58] Platinum 70,000^
Canada (Music Canada)[59] 3× Platinum 120,000^
Denmark (IFPI Denmark)[60] Gold 7,500^
Germany (BVMI)[61] Platinum 300,000
Italy (FIMI)[62] Platinum 50,000
New Zealand (RMNZ)[63] Gold 7,500*
United Kingdom (BPI)[64] 2× Platinum 1,200,000
United States (RIAA)[65] 4× Platinum 4,476,000[66]

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
sales+streaming 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)

Other Versions

In 2020 Jessica Ricca made a version called "Hey it's Delilah" from Delilah's perspective. As of January 2021 it has more than 7.6 million views on YouTube.[67]

Television series

In August 2018, it was announced by the band's frontman and songwriter, Tom Higgenson that Lively McCabe Entertainment and Primary Wave, along with writer Jeremy Desmon, would be teaming up to develop a potential series based on the band's hit song. Expanding on the story within the song, the series is described as being a romantic dramedy telling the contemporary fairy tale of a long-distance flirtation between a struggling singer-songwriter and a New York City university student. The songwriter pledges to write a song for the young woman on the night they meet, and that promise changes their lives in unexpected ways. The series will be pitched to potential networks and streaming services.[68]

See also

References
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