Hey There, Delilahs!

There is this song on the radio. You may have heard it. If you haven't, please, please, please tell how this is possible?

This DJ was making a joke about how there's gonna be all these little girls named Delilah, all born in the summer of 2007, and so, everyone should "fight the urge...do not, under any circumstances, name your kid Delilah...especially if you're expecting a boy...seriously, I know you thing this song is 'your' song, but there will be way too many Delilahs in the future, do not name your kid..."



Then he went on for awhile about adoptions and whatnot. But the joke stuck in my head, as does the song.

Everyone thinks it's their song, everyone loved it...now its getting overplayed, the more cynical are starting to turn against it...

There's "Hey Ya!" and then there's "Mambo No.5."

The fact that your mom, your dentist, and that douchebag next door who wears "Your girlfriend thinks I'm hot" shirts can all sing all three songs DOES NOT mean the song sucks or you suck. (Unless you are the douchbag who wears those shirts. Seriously, can you please get yourself on a makeover show? Or just stop shopping at Hot Topic and Anchor Blue? Be a rebel, go to the Gap, and compensate for the lack of a message on your shirt with something like, a personality, or, even better, massive biceps. Then, it will be implied that the girlfriends of the world think you are hot. Honestly, until they start making shirts that say "Your girlfriend thinks I'm hot...But she will figure out I am a douchebag in two seconds, so don't sweat it" shirts, do not purchase false confidence or anything else that implies that the message you are wearing is the most you have ever read. I will gladly shop for you, if need be.) Thats pretty much the credo at IntelligentBang. Well, not in so many words.

You know how people think "this is is probably the right way, everyone else is going this way," and then, sure enough, find themselves on the right freeway? But then again, that same thought can lead to being stuck in traffic with everyone else trying to get the hell out of Disneyland, or wherever, while one or two geniuses went against the grain and drove straight out of another exit?

Well, "Hey There Delilah" is like finding the freeway.

Not the freeway to love, or life. That's too easy. Jeez.

The song works because it feels real. Of course, its catchy and sounds sorta simple like maybe you could play it, and it rhymes in some places, and its hopeful. And its about love...of a girl. Which everyone in the world either is, or has also been in live with at some point. Unless you are gay, in which case, the sentiment still works? And also, it's a little about love of something far away, and how someday you'll have it, and you know you're gonna have to suffer a little bit, and your friends might make fun of you, but, someday, you will be happy with whatever or whoever you love, if you just do what needs to be done in the meantime, if you can endure the hard times a little longer. Mostly its about Delilah, though.

But find me a catchy, simple love song about someone far away and I will reward you with something equally rare, like Top Ramon or a Starbucks. Like, I'll show you the Starbucks, I won't give it to you. Also, this is not an actual challenge.

I'm just saying, if you reduce the song to its elements, there isn't a clear reason this is the song on everyone's lips, and not, say, an Ash song or a John Mayer song or something. The lyrics aren't overtly deep or impressive-- he rhymes "city" and "girl, tonight you look so pretty." And the lyrics drive the whole song--the melody is not face-melting-guitar-solo friendly, its soft and acoustic and basic.

Then it starts getting specific. Like, this girl isn't generic, its Delilah. His Delilah. And he's not trying to sound smart or clever, he's just talking to his girl. And she's far away, and maybe she's not too sure this long distance thing will work, and her friends keep telling her she should move on, and maybe she's confused. So, he writes this. He's written other songs for her, but he wrote them the same way you talk to your person on the phone differently when you're with your friends or in the store. He wrote for her in public. This song he wrote like how you talk to someone when you're both in bed alone, and the other person is far away, and this is as close as you can be. He wrote for his Delilah, who was probably sort flipping out, and they probably hung up and she was mad that he wasn't saying anything, and so he wrote this, for that girl. It's real. Which is brilliant.

So, Delilahs of the future, this ones for you...and you...and you.

Hey there Delilah
What's it like in New York City?
I'm a thousand miles away
But girl tonight you look so pretty
Yes you do
Times Square can't shine as bright as you
I swear it's true

Hey there Delilah
Don't you worry about the distance
I'm right there if you get lonely
Give this song another listen
Close your eyes
Listen to my voice it's my disguise
I'm by your side

Oh it's what you do to me
Oh it's what you do to me
Oh it's what you do to me
Oh it's what you do to me
What you do to me

Hey there Delilah
I know times are getting hard
But just believe me girl
Someday I'll pay the bills with this guitar
We'll have it good
We'll have the life we knew we would
My word is good

Hey there Delilah
I've got so much left to say
If every simple song I wrote to you
Would take your breath away
I'd write it all
Even more in love with me you'd fall
We'd have it all

Oh it's what you do to me
Oh it's what you do to me
Oh it's what you do to me
Oh it's what you do to me

A thousand miles seems pretty far
But they've got planes and trains and cars
I'd walk to you if I had no other way
Our friends would all make fun of us
and we'll just laugh along because we know
That none of them have felt this way
Delilah I can promise you
That by the time we get through
The world will never ever be the same
And you're to blame

Hey there Delilah
You be good and don't you miss me
Two more years and you'll be done with school
And I'll be making history like I do
You'll know it's all because of you
We can do whatever we want to
Hey there Delilah here's to you
This ones for you

Oh it's what you do to me
Oh it's what you do to me
Oh it's what you do to me
Oh it's what you do to me
What you do to me.