[For those excited about a Friday Night Jukebox post actually appearing on a Friday, note that this one is a week late...sorry!]
My introduction to this week's tune was its featuring in a commercial (thanks to my half-assed research I discovered it was for the search engine Bing). I took a chance and bought the CD based on the song...and hated it. A few weeks later I came home from work one night and my wife was playing an album on the stereo that was quite good. When I asked what it was, she replied "The Lumineers album you hated." I spent the next several months enjoying it on my rides to and from work....
The Lumineers got their start in 2005 in New Jersey when Wesley Schulz and Jeremiah Fraites began writing songs together. After a gig in which the emcee accidentally introduced them by the name of the band they were replacing, they became the Lumineers (the word has no meaning). They relocated to Denver in 2009, and in 2011 released their debut album, which became a hit, and the rest as they say, is history. Much to my surprise, the band has done quite well through these last ten years, becoming one of the top touring bands and having a string of hit records, the last of which was released just last week. For their career, The Lumineers have released four studio albums with the first three charting at #2, #1, and #2. They've also released 19 singles, though only the first three reached the charts. They have had three world tours, opened for U2 in 2017, and have been nominated for two Grammy Awards, as well.
Fun Fact: In a fact that only people born on June 4th will appreciate, they Lumineers released this week's single on my something-somethingth birthday: June 4, 2012.
"Ho Hey" was the first single released from the very aptly titled debut LP, The Lumineers. The single was the highest charting of their career, reaching #3 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100. As noted above, the album peaked at #2 on the Billboard 200.
For a song that was originally written to annoy members of their concert audience who were bored (that's what the "Ho" and "Hey" shouts were originally for), "Ho Hey" became a pretty darn good little single. Ostensibly a tale about a boy telling a girl she's dating the wrong guy because said boy is the one who loves her most, it's chock full of catchy choruses, the "Ho/Hey" shouts punctuate the song with a funky rhythm, and the band members make the most of two acoustic guitars, a mandolin, and a cello. If nothing else, it's proof that America's folk tradition is alive and well, and capable of adapting to any era and music fans of any age...and can make an old fart folkie like me bounce around the house singing it for days.
Lyric Sheet: "I belong with you, you belong with me, you're my sweetheart..."
Enjoy:
Republican = Racist
Peace,
emaycee
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