Warm Fuzzy Feeling

Album: All The Pain Money Can Buy (1998)
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Songfacts®:

  • This song is about Ben Kweller, who was 15 when his band Radish signed to Mercury Records. Their first album was released in 1997 to great hype, but faltered. He eventually built up a following as a solo artist, but never fulfilled his press-appointed destiny as music's next big thing. Tony Scalzo of Fastball felt empathy for Kweller and channeled that into "Warm Fuzzy Feeling."

    "He found himself with all these rock stars in LA, people like Tom Petty and the Chili Peppers," Scalzo told Songfacts. "He was hyped big-time, way too big for what he was really about, but I actually thought he was really talented, so that's what that song is about."

    "It's me like, 'Don't believe the anti-hype,'" Scalzo added. "Just because he's hyped doesn't mean that he sucks. I knew he had potential, but it wasn't going to be the big, huge potential that it was looking like in Rolling Stone."
  • Fastball got to know Kweller when Radish opened for them a few times in 1996 and 1997. He eventually moved to Austin, Texas, where Fastball is also based. According to Scalzo, Kweller loves the song.
  • The opening line, "I got a warm fuzzy feeling when I saw you on TV," is a nod to the 1997 Radish video for "Little Pink Stars," their most popular song. In that one, Kweller wears a Fastball T-shirt.
  • Fastball kept it tight, with many songs under 3 minutes. This one clocks in at 1:55.
  • There is no real chorus in this song, but there are plenty of changes to keep it interesting. "I grew up playing Bach and Mozart on the piano and listening to that music seriously," Scalzo said. "So when I come up with a musical part, there's already an implied next step."

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