Monday, August 06, 2007

Hey Julie

Heard said song at a Fountains of Wayne show on Friday and found myself getting all misty. I don't know what it is, but something about it kills me every time.

Apparently, I'm not the only one. Over at YouTube, some pseudonymous poster notes:

"It's so funny!!! my favorite bands are Ozzy, Lamb of God, Kataklysm, Amon Amarth, and Black Label Society and yet I LOVE THIS SONG!!!!!!!"

Bottom line: Adam Schlesinger is a frickin genius.
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7 comments:

watertiger said...

They are the Kings of the Earworm.

And I adore them for it.

8/06/2007 11:54 AM
steve simels said...

For me, anyway, there's something else about that song.

With most of the FOW stuff, there's a certain built-in ironic distance. "Hey Julie" for whatever reason doesn't work that way -- maybe it's the catch in Schlesinger's voice, or who knows but the damn thing just strikes as totally real and sincere. The narrator who's singing it really is beaten down on a daily basis at the office and couldn't make it without the woman's love.

Now that I think of it, that makes it a yuppie descendent of lots of Sixties working class songs with the same theme -- Five O'Clock World, for example.

In any case, it just makes me cry is what I'm saying.

8/06/2007 12:19 PM
TMink said...

Yep, good songs are a neural hack. They bypass the thoughts and go right to the feeling center of the brain.

And this has a good beat, powerful (if repetitive) melody, and is, as you say, sincere and loving.

Of course it is touching.

I Was There off Ricki Lee Jones Exposition on Sermon Blvd (or whatever, rushed and can't look it up) does the same to me.

Every time.

Trey

8/06/2007 3:03 PM
Anonymous said...

I agree with your take, Steve. FOW are so great at being wiseasses that on those rare occasions when they step away from it (see I-95 from Traffic And Weather), you're left with the raw emotion.

But it's also cool because they keep that attention to detail (the boss with a bad toupee and a soup-stained tie). And when you couple that with the narrator's little defiance (he can tell me what to do but he can't tell me what to feel), you've got something's that very simple and sweet, but also very powerful.

8/06/2007 3:44 PM
steve simels said...

dave:

What you just said was exactly what I was thinking but couldn't express as eloquently.

Good one...

8/06/2007 4:00 PM
Kid Charlemagne said...

That's funny. I just revisted this LP and this song has a Paul Simon "Me and Julio" vibe to me.

8/06/2007 8:52 PM
Anonymous said...

Thanks, Steve.

KC, all I ever hear in this song is Uncle John's Band.

8/06/2007 10:34 PM

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