Music Review: Fountains Of Wayne "Hey Julie"
Fountains Of Wayne
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Hey Julie
Album: Welcome Interstate Managers
Year: 2004
Chris Collingwood is grateful for his girlfriend in the affectionate "Hey Julie."
Seemly guitars opens the single, setting an idyllic tone. In the first verse, he says he hates his boss. The boss keeps him on a short leash and micromanages him. On top of that, sometimes Collingwood would find orange stains on his suit. He looks forward to going home to his girlfriend. She's a friendly face and helps to relieve the stress of the day.
In the chorus, he tells Julie that his job is causing him to second-guess himself and running him down. He can't take it anymore. But with her in his life, he can forget about it for a while and have fun.
In the second verse, he says he has to make redundant phone calls. He also to read paperwork that summarizes the messages in the phone calls. He watches the clock as he waits to go home.
In the second chorus, another "no, I'd never make it through without you around" is added.
In the bridge, he wishes they could have the same job. When he's at work, it feels like sh'e another continent away. He wonders about the point of accounting. He sees it as useless.
A short dainty guitar solo follows.
In the third verse, he says his boss is wears an obvious toupee which bends slightly to the left one hour and slightly to the right, the next. His boss prevents him from getting his work done and instead has him going from person to person to finish a task. He says his boss won't break his spirit.
The second chorus is sung again. Except there are two"“no, I’d never make it through without you around's."
When Collingwood majored in accounting in college, he thought it was fun to punch numbers and balance them. But once he entered the white-collar world, he was confronted with poor management, busy work, and competitiveness he didn’t know existed. He's thinking of maybe returning to school or finding another job. However, none of those possibilities are realistic right now. Currently, his checks are paying for household and marriage expenses. However, his girlfriend offers him respite from the doldrums of his professional life. She listens to him complain, gives advice, and gets him to laugh about it. If he didn't have her around, he would've pulled an Office Space by now.
Collingwood's vocals are mushy and soft-hearted. Julie is his inspiration. She keeps him going. In his eyes, she’s a saint for putting up with his concerns about work.
The sing-songy arrangement's notes are coated in sugar and glaze. Sprinkles, jellybeans, and vanilla cream are stuck in the vocals. One listen is enough to give a person a stomachache.
"Hey Julie" is too smiley and perfect to be likeable.
Album: Welcome Interstate Managers
Year: 2004
Chris Collingwood is grateful for his girlfriend in the affectionate "Hey Julie."
Seemly guitars opens the single, setting an idyllic tone. In the first verse, he says he hates his boss. The boss keeps him on a short leash and micromanages him. On top of that, sometimes Collingwood would find orange stains on his suit. He looks forward to going home to his girlfriend. She's a friendly face and helps to relieve the stress of the day.
"Working all day for a mean little man/With a clip-on tie and a rub-on tan/He's got me running 'round the office like a dog around a track/But when I get home/You're always there to rub my back."
In the chorus, he tells Julie that his job is causing him to second-guess himself and running him down. He can't take it anymore. But with her in his life, he can forget about it for a while and have fun.
"Hey Julie/Look what they're doing to me/Trying to trip me up/Trying to wear me down/Julie, I swear, it's so hard to bear it/And I'd never make it through without you around."
In the second verse, he says he has to make redundant phone calls. He also to read paperwork that summarizes the messages in the phone calls. He watches the clock as he waits to go home.
"Hours on the phone making pointless calls/I got a desk full of papers that means nothing at all/Sometimes I catch myself staring into space/Counting down the hours 'til I get to see your face."
In the second chorus, another "no, I'd never make it through without you around" is added.
In the bridge, he wishes they could have the same job. When he's at work, it feels like sh'e another continent away. He wonders about the point of accounting. He sees it as useless.
"How did it come to be/That you and I must be/Far away from each other every day?/Why must I spend my time/Filling up my mind/With facts and figures that never add up anyway?/They never add up anyway."
A short dainty guitar solo follows.
In the third verse, he says his boss is wears an obvious toupee which bends slightly to the left one hour and slightly to the right, the next. His boss prevents him from getting his work done and instead has him going from person to person to finish a task. He says his boss won't break his spirit.
“Working all day for a mean little guy/With a bad toupee and a soup-stained tie/He's got me running 'round the office/Like a gerbil on a wheel/He can tell me what to do/But he can't tell me what to feel."
The second chorus is sung again. Except there are two"“no, I’d never make it through without you around's."
When Collingwood majored in accounting in college, he thought it was fun to punch numbers and balance them. But once he entered the white-collar world, he was confronted with poor management, busy work, and competitiveness he didn’t know existed. He's thinking of maybe returning to school or finding another job. However, none of those possibilities are realistic right now. Currently, his checks are paying for household and marriage expenses. However, his girlfriend offers him respite from the doldrums of his professional life. She listens to him complain, gives advice, and gets him to laugh about it. If he didn't have her around, he would've pulled an Office Space by now.
Collingwood's vocals are mushy and soft-hearted. Julie is his inspiration. She keeps him going. In his eyes, she’s a saint for putting up with his concerns about work.
The sing-songy arrangement's notes are coated in sugar and glaze. Sprinkles, jellybeans, and vanilla cream are stuck in the vocals. One listen is enough to give a person a stomachache.
"Hey Julie" is too smiley and perfect to be likeable.