Music Review: The Lumineers "Ho Hey"

The Lumineers

Ho Hey

Album: The Lumineers

Year: 2012

          Wesley Schultz questions who he is in the personal “Ho Hey.”

           An introspective guitar and two chants of “Ho! Hey!” start the single, setting a purposeful tone.

           Treat others as you would like to be treated. His parents instilled it him when he was young. He earned a music scholarship in high school and double majored in music and business. While working full-time, he’s been working on his music. Work dominates his life. However, he would like someone to vent to, take to visit local art fairs and discover their interests. Within the last year, he met a woman at his work that had girlfriend potential.  He finally saw a life beyond his sparse, rundown apartment. For the first time, he could see himself having a wife and children. Vacation time would be spent taking care of a sick family member or planning to go to an amusement park. The other day, he was talking with her and she showed him a picture of her boyfriend on her phone. He couldn’t say anything. While she talked how they met, his stomach churned and he had to excuse himself to go the bathroom. He lets himself sink to the bathroom floor, the desolation surrounding him. He asks to leave work early, lyrics playing in his head on the drive home. (“(Ho!) I've been trying to do it right/(Hey!) I've been living a lonely life/(Ho!) I've been sleeping here instead/(Hey!) I've been sleeping in my bed/(Ho!) I've been sleeping in my bed/(Hey!)/(Ho!)/(Ho!) So show me family/(Hey!) All the blood that I would bleed/(Ho!) I don't know where I belong/(Hey!) I don't know where I went wrong/(Ho!) But I can write a song/(Hey!”)

          In the chorus, he states they should be together. He loves her with his whole heart. (“1, 2, 3/
I belong with you, you belong with me, you're my sweetheart/I belong with you, you belong with me, you're my sweetheart(Ho!)/(Hey!)/(Ho!)/(Hey!”)

            He believes she’s playing it safe by dating a doctor. She won’t have to worry if his recording studio will bring in enough clients be profitable. She and her current boyfriend could live in the suburbs, away from the city and view the art from the distance. He thinks of their last conversation. He mentioned she could buy a bus ticket to Manhattan. They could walk around Chinatown all day, holding hands and be an official couple. (“(Ho!) I don't think you're right for him/(Hey!) Look at what it might have been if you/(Ho!) Took a bus to Chinatown/(Hey!) I'd be standing on Canal/(Ho!) And Bowery/(Hey!)/(Ho!) And she'd be standing next to me/(Hey!”)

         The chorus is sung again.

        In the bridge, they have to some intimacy in their lives, someone to know them better than they know themselves. He’s seen her at work, talking about her boyfriend and where they go. Her eyes do not sparkle. He knows she will realize she is only cheating herself. (“Love, we need it now/Let's hope for some/So, we're bleeding out.”)

          The chorus is sung agaiin.

       Two chants of “Hey! Ho!” end the single.

       Schultz’s dejected, restless vocals puts every emotion in the single, numbing the sting of his wound with each lyric. His music will help him through and be his outlet.

    The heartbroken “Ho Hey” searches for a spark of hope, which keeps him going.