Songfacts®:

• Hey!
  Did you know this song was written by Lumineers frontman Wesley Schultz and drummer Jeremiah Fraites when they were living in New York City as a kiss-off to disinterested concert-goers?
  
  "That song was an effort to get under people's skin at shows in Brooklyn, where everyone is pretty indifferent," Schultz told American Songwriter. "And I figured if we could punctuate it with shouts we might get someone's attention."
  
  Ho!
• In between those Ho! Hey! chants a story unfolds in the song, inspired by Wesley Schultz' move from New Jersey to New York City, where he learned that many of the musicians on the scene were trust fund kids who didn't have to work and weren't all that dedicated. He had to hold down a real job to pay the rent as he pushed forward with his dream. He had gone through a breakup, but the song is really about the city.
  
  "I felt like I was in this tornado of chaos all around me, but all I really knew how to do was write songs," he told Songwriter magazine. That explains the lines:
  
  I don't know where I went wrong
  But I can write a song
  
  "I think I was trying to convince myself to keep doing that, even in the face of the s--t I was experiencing," he added. "That's essentially what it was about."
• The shouts in the song were meant to be just for live performances, but as the band worked up the song it was clear they needed to leave them on the recording because they add such a distinct element.
• The song had a long gestation period. It was written in 2009 when Wesley Schultz and Jeremiah Fraites were living in New York City. Later that year, taking action on the frustrations they reveal in the song, they moved to Denver and added a third member: pianist/cellist Neyla Pekarek, who they found through Craigslist. They developed the song at live shows and finally recorded it in Seattle in the summer of 2011 along with the rest of their self-titled debut album.
  
  In March 2012 they made a triumphant appearance on a small stage at the South By Southwest festival. They released the album on the indie label Dualtone Records in April 2012 and put out "Ho Hey" as a single that June. The song got some exposure when it was used to soundtrack the Bing "Discovering Hawaii" commercial, and it made a slow climb to #3 in December, introducing listeners to the Lumineers along the way.
• Before it was released, a tender toe-tapping version of "Ho Hey" was used in the December 5, 2011 episode of Hart Of Dixie, which ran on the CW network and was in its first season. This version was released digitally on February 15, 2012 so fans of the show could buy it, but it was the official, full-throated release two months later that became the hit.
• When this song emerged in 2012, The Lumineers were lumped in with groups like Mumford and Sons, the Avett Brothers and the Civil Wars that were creating a new breed of folk music. Their subgenre was "campfire music," songs you would sing while toasting marshmallows in the woods. You'll find "Home" by Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros on that playlist.
• Schultz explained The Lumineers' songwriting process to American Songwriter magazine. "I write the lyrics, and I co-write the songs with Jer," he explained. "It's never the same thing with each song. Generally speaking it involves a piano, a guitar, and maybe singing, and we usually start out with the chord structure, a set of chords, a melody especially, and then the lyrics usually follow. Or it's one phrase that you really find great and then you build the song around that."
• "Ho Hey" was a hit in the UK, where it climbed to #8. It got a boost there from a TV advertising campaign for E.On energy.
• The song features in the trailer for the Jennifer Lawrence-starring movie Silver Linings Playbook.
  
  When The Lumineers made their Saturday Night Live debut on January 19, 2013 (performing this song along with "Stubborn Love"), Jennifer Lawrence was the host, giving the band the opportunity to meet her for the first time.
  
  That appearance was very special for Lumineer Jeremiah Fraites, whose brother Josh died of an overdose in 2002. They used to stay up late watching the show together in the 1990s. As he stood on the very same the stage, he was sending his late brother a message. "I don't want to get too sentimental," he said, "but in a significant way, by playing that show I was letting him know that I'm doing OK."
• The "ho-heys" that precede each line in the verse are certainly unique, but there's another much more subtle musical element that helps this song stand out from the folky sing-along crowd. Low in the mix, before each chorus, listen for a count-in (two... three!), which gives the song an air of improvisation and a campfire vibe.
• The song hung around the Hot 100 for 62 weeks, tying with Lifehouse's 2005 single "You And Me" for the longest stay on the chart for a song by a rock band.
• Lennon & Maisy reached #32 on the Country chart with their cover of the song in 2013. The sisters, Lennon and Maisy Stella, were 13 and 9, respectively when they recorded their version.
• The repetitive melodies and familiar section structure are kept interesting by the song's sonic progressions that perfectly match the emotional developments in the song's story. In the second verse, the lyrics move away from the dejection of the previous verse's lyrics and take on a tone of hope and resolve. Fittingly, the melody is invigorated by a surprising octave jump and a more gravely, assured vocal performance. Also, a kick drum is introduced and synchronized with the "ho" and "hey," which acts as a sort of exclamation point, encouraging the sing-along nature of the track.
• "Ho Hey" shows up in lots of commercials and promos, which makes sense because it can grab your attention. It's also been used in episodes of Almost Never, Bates Motel, Nashville, Bones, The X-Files and The Vampire Diaries, and in the 2014 movie About A Boy.
• The music video was filmed in Los Angeles at the former Linda Vista Hospital. The hospital closed in 1991 but was left largely untouched, making it a magnet for movie shoots and other productions. Portions of The Longest Yard (2005), Pearl Harbor (2001) and L.A. Confidential (1997) were shot there.
• Until this song came along, the most famous "hey!" song was "Rock And Roll Part 2" by Gary Glitter, from 1972. That glam-rock classic has the refrain:
  
  Na na na na na na na... Hey!
• The Lumineers spent a lot of time on the road promoting this song and weren't able to issue their second album, Cleopatra, until 2016. By this time the folk-rock trend had abated but still the album went to #1 and delivered a hit with "Ophelia."
• Thanks to the "I belong with you, you belong with me," earworm chorus, lots of listeners misinterpreted "Ho Hey" as a tune of romantic devotion and it became a popular first-dance song at weddings. A closer look at the lyrics shows that the devotion is one-sided - Schultz is in love with a girl who's already taken!