EW!

Album: Single Release Only (2014)
Charted: 26
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This single finds Jimmy Fallon, the host of NBC's The Tonight Show, teaming up with Black Eyed Peas frontman will.i.am. The song is based on the show's "Ew!" series, in which Fallon and a guest dress up as as a couple of teenage girls who are constantly disgusted by all the things around them.

    The pairing with will.i.am marked the first musical collaboration in the series – the previous "Ew!" sketches were spoken-word only.
  • Fallon told the On Air With Ryan Seacrest radio show how the song came about: "So, we had will.i.am on the show about two months ago," he explained. "Backstage we're talking and he goes, 'I really like that sketch that you do, "Ew!," where you dress up as a 15-year-old girl and everything is like, "Ew!"' I said, 'You know, we're doing it with Taylor Swift this week, but next time you come back, I'll write you in and we'll do one."

    "In three days, before the writers [and I] could even write any lyrics, he sent me a full-on produced song," Fallon continued. "So then he flies to New York, I go to a recording studio, we tweak it a little, and I write some raps for myself. So this is me rapping, as well, which is sad."
  • Proceeds from sales of the single go toward the SeriousFun Children's Network and will.i.am's i.am.angel Foundation.
  • The song reached the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100. Fallon wasn't the first Tonight Show host to reach the Top 40. Back in 1955 the show's first host, Steve Allen, peaked at #35 with his version of the old jazz standard "Autumn Leaves."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Harry Shearer

Harry ShearerSongwriter Interviews

Harry is Derek Smalls in Spinal Tap, Mark Shubb in The Folksmen, and Mr. Burns on The Simpsons.

Glen Burtnik

Glen BurtnikSongwriter Interviews

On Glen's résumé: hit songwriter, Facebook dominator, and member of Styx.

Creedence Clearwater Revival

Creedence Clearwater RevivalFact or Fiction

Is "Have You Ever Seen the Rain" about Vietnam? Was John Fogerty really born on a Bayou? It's the CCR edition of Fact or Fiction.

We Will Rock You (To Sleep): Pop Stars Who Recorded Kids' Albums

We Will Rock You (To Sleep): Pop Stars Who Recorded Kids' AlbumsSong Writing

With the rise of Kindie rock, more musicians are embracing their inner child with tunes for tots - here, we look at pop stars who recorded kids' albums.

Phil Hurtt ("I'll Be Around")

Phil Hurtt ("I'll Be Around")Songwriter Interviews

Phil was a songwriter, producer and voice behind many Philadelphia soul classics. When disco hit, he got an interesting project: The Village People.

Graham Bonnet (Alcatrazz, Rainbow)

Graham Bonnet (Alcatrazz, Rainbow)Songwriter Interviews

Yngwie Malmsteen and Steve Vai were two of Graham's co-writers for some '80s rock classics.