Hey There Delilah inspired from Delilah Dicrescenzo
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January 23rd, 2008
“Hey There Delilah” is the third single released from rock band Plain White T’s 2005 album All That We Needed. The song is about an unrequited, long-distance infatuation. 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 “Beautiful Girls” by Sean Kingston.
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.
The song ended 2007 as the year’s 14th biggest-selling single in the UK.
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.
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.
Inspiration and composition
The song, “Hey There Delilah” was inspired by Delilah DiCrescenzo, a Columbia University graduate and steeplechase runner training for the 2008 Olympic trials [5], and who is now an assistant track and cross-country coach at Bryn Mawr College . There was never a relationship between Tom Higgenson and DiCrescenzo, but Tom was inspired to write a song about her soon after they were introduced by a mutual friend:
“ There was never anything between us. It was kind of funny — kind of sad, actually. The story of my life… I thought she was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. I told her, ‘I have a song about you already.’ Obviously, there was no song. But I thought it was smooth… ”
It took over a year for Tom to write the song. However, the real life Delilah, who wasn’t interested in Tom because she was already in a relationship, was not sure how to deal with the pressure of having a song written about her:
“ It was so beautifully written. There was pressure to live up to this ideal. I didn’t know how to be polite but, you know, ditch him. ”
DiCrescenzo also says of the song,
“ When I’m at the gym, it’s playing; when I’m at the pool, it’s playing. Part of me wants to scream at the top of my lungs that it’s about me. Another part of me wants to cower and say it’s not.’ ”
The song refers to New York City. However, the album cover is a scene from Chicago, the band’s home city.
DiCrescenzo appeared on NBC’s Today Show on January 23rd, 2008.
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