Hey, Soul Sister
"Hey, Soul Sister" | ||||
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Single by Train | ||||
from the album Save Me, San Francisco | ||||
Released | August 11, 2009 | |||
Recorded | 2009 | |||
Studio |
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Genre | Pop rock | |||
Length | 3:37 | |||
Label | ||||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) | ||||
Train singles chronology | ||||
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Audio sample | ||||
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"Hey, Soul Sister" is a song by American rock band Train. It was written by lead singer Pat Monahan, Amund Bjørklund, and Espen Lind. It was released as the lead single from the band's fifth studio album, Save Me, San Francisco (2009).
The song reached number three on the
Background
At first, I tried to do it by using a guitar pick, and it didn't sound right. I had to go online and Google a ukulele lesson and noticed they're not using picks at all; it's more of a flamenco style. Once I got that down, then it sounded like the real deal.[4]
—Lead guitarist Jimmy Stafford, on having to learn to play ukulele as requested by lead singer Patrick Monahan in the recording of "Hey, Soul Sister"
After collaborating with the Norwegian production duo Espionage (Espen Lind and Amund Bjørklund) in the writing and recording of the track "Brick by Brick", Train's lead singer Pat Monahan decided to record another track with the duo.[4]
I said, 'I want to write an INXS-y song. So, they started playing kind of an INXS-y song, and I wrote the song 'Hey, Soul Sister' to it and the melodies and started to sing it. And I said, 'Man, this just doesn't sound great to me.'
— Pat Monahan, on wanting to write a song in INXS' style.
One of the guys, Espen, who's like a huge star in Norway, picked up a ukulele, and said, 'Hey, how about this?' I said, 'Are you (kidding) me?' And it made the difference. It made my words dance. It made sense. These words were meant to dance with ukulele and not guitar.
— Pat Monahan
Composition
There's super catchy riffs and melodies in it, which I think are way more important that any production trick or great-sounding vocal production. It's kind of us going backward so we can go forward.
—Pat Monahan, on the band's return to its folk rock roots[5]
"Hey, Soul Sister" is a mid-tempo
Lyrically, Stafford admitted the inspiration for the song came about while Monahan was imagining what Burning Man must be like, and started penning lyrics inspired by the imagery he saw:[7]
The story lyrically, I’ve heard Pat talk about this in interviews. He’s always heard of Burning Man. Somewhere in Reno Nevada's desert, they do it every year. It’s this whole city in the desert that gets built for a festival that happens every year. They build a huge man out of wood and at the end of the festival they burn it. Pat had never been to Burning Man, but he had an image in his head of what it must be like. All these beautiful women dancing around the fire. That was the imagery he conjured up when he was writing the lyrics to, "Hey, Soul Sister." It’s a pretty big deal. Thousands and thousands of people go to it every year. People run around naked and I guess it’s a total crazy deal.
Monahan has since confirmed this in several radio interviews.[8][9]
Critical reception
"Hey, Soul Sister" has seen mixed reviews from music critics.
Positive reviews
Scott Mervis, writing for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, praised the song as a welcome comeback from the band's hiatus, calling the track "joyous" and "bouncy".[10]
The writer for Eclectic Music Lover listed the song as #37 on his "100 Best Songs of the 2010s" list, praising its lyrics as "heartwarming" and "guaranteed to bring a smile to even the dourest face." The writer also called the music video "charming."[11]
Negative reviews
The Village Voice derided the song, quipping "'Hey Soul Sister' is an orgy where bad ideas trade STDs, and the most syphilitic brain-fart stumbled in drunk from a Smash Mouth show ... From Smash Mouth, Train picked up an earworm that burrowed into society's asshole, laid 4.7 million iTunes eggs, and gave birth to a grey cloud of banality that covers the Earth."[12] Similarly, Mother Jones stated "there is less soul in the entirety of Train than in the palest single member of Collective Soul. 'Hey, Soul Sister' is soul for people who refer to peanut butter and jelly as 'soul food.' It makes the California Raisins look like the second coming of Sly and the Family Stone. It's so white, Sarah Palin just named it her running mate for 2012."[13]
In a tamer review, Business Insider named "Hey, Soul Sister" the worst song of 2010 describing the song as a "saccharine, falsettoed ear-bleeder."[14] LA Weekly took aim at Pat Monahan's lyrical content, awarding "Hey, Soul Sister" places two through ten in its Top 10 worst lyrics of 2010 list.[15]
In a review of Purity, Slate writer Ruther Graham criticized its final pages, which contain a scene about "Hey Soul Sister", and the titular character Purity Tyler calling it a "great song." Graham strongly opposed the song and its lyrical content and called the scene the worst part of the novel.[16]
Music video
The video was filmed in front of Chango Coffee at the corner of Morton Ave and Echo Park Ave. in
Appearances in other media
Train performed the song on the show
It has also been played in several TV shows as
The song was performed on ABC's Dancing with the Stars on May 4, 2010, and on America's Got Talent on July 21, 2010. A cover of the song was also performed by "Munch's Make Believe Band," the animatronic show located at
In
"Hey, Soul Sister" was also covered by 2010
Chart performance
"Hey, Soul Sister" debuted at #98 on the
The single sold 687,000 copies in 2009 which made it that year's #131 song. It went on to sell 3,319,000 more units in the first half of 2010 and 42 weeks after its release still stood at number 16 on the Hot 100 chart. By the end of December 2010, it had sold 4,310,000 digital copies, becoming the second biggest selling digital song of that year.
BNA Records, a country music label owned by Sony Music, released the song to the country music format in June 2010. It debuted at #60 on the Hot Country Songs charts for the week ended July 10, 2010.[26]
In addition to revitalizing Train's career in their native country, "Hey, Soul Sister" has also become a big international hit; it was #1 on the official Dutch and Australian singles charts for 7 weeks and 4
On April 24, 2010, "Hey, Soul Sister" debuted on the
Track listing
CD single[32]
- "Hey, Soul Sister" – 3:36
- "The Finish Line" (Patrick Monahan, Sacha Skarbek) – 3:46
Digital download – remixes[33]
- "Hey, Soul Sister" (Karmatronic Radio Edit) – 3:40
- "Hey, Soul Sister" (Karmatronic Club Mix) – 6:45
- "Hey, Soul Sister" (Karmatronic Instrumental) – 6:45
- "Hey, Soul Sister" (Karmatronic Performance) - 3:23
- Hey, Soul Sister (Psyrex Remix) - 3:42
Credits and personnel
- Recording[34]
- Recorded at Kensaltown Recording Studios, London, England, Quad Studios, New York City and at Sound City Studios, Los Angeles, California, United States
- Mixed at Indian River Studios, Merritt Island, Florida, United States
- Mastered at Sterling Sound, New York City, New York, United States
- Personnel[34]
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Charts
Weekly charts
|
Monthly charts
Year-end charts
Decade-end charts
All-time charts
|
Certifications
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA)[101] | 11× Platinum | 770,000‡ |
Belgium (BEA)[102] | Gold | 15,000* |
Canada (Music Canada)[103] | Diamond | 800,000‡ |
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[104] | 2× Platinum | 180,000‡ |
Germany (BVMI)[105] | Gold | 150,000^ |
Italy (FIMI)[106] | 2× Platinum | 100,000‡ |
Mexico (AMPROFON)[107] | Platinum | 60,000* |
New Zealand (RMNZ)[108] | Platinum | 15,000* |
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[109] | Platinum | 60,000‡ |
Sweden (GLF)[110] | Gold | 10,000‡ |
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[111] | Gold | 15,000^ |
United Kingdom (BPI)[112] | 3× Platinum | 1,800,000‡ |
United States (RIAA)[113] | 11× Platinum | 11,000,000‡ |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
Release history
Country | Date | Format | Label |
---|---|---|---|
United States | August 11, 2009[114][non-primary source needed] | Digital download |
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January 26, 2010[citation needed] | Airplay | ||
July 12, 2010[citation needed] | Digital download — country version |
See also
- List of best-selling singles in Australia
- List of Billboard Adult Contemporary number ones of 2010
- List of Billboard Adult Contemporary number ones of 2011
References
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- ^ "Train frontman tells story behind 'Hey, Soul Sister'" Archived December 25, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, posted August 23, 2010
- ^ "Train stages an unlikely comeback with the bouncy hit 'Hey, Soul Sister'". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. March 25, 2010.
- ^ "100 Best Songs of the 2010s – #37: "Hey, Soul Sister" by Train". Eclectic Music Lover. November 23, 2010.
- ^ "The 20 Worst Songs of 2010, #1: Train, "Hey, Soul Sister"". The Village Voice. December 22, 2010.
- ^ Murphy, Tim. "Is This The Worst Song Of the Year?". Mother Jones.
- ^ Lynch, John. "The worst hit song of every year since 2000, from Macklemore to Train (twice)". Business Insider.
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- ^ "The Song Franzen Called a "Great Song" at the End of Purity Is the Worst Thing About Purity". Slate. October 21, 2015.
- ^ "'Hey, Soul Sister' - Video". Fox News. April 20, 2010. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
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{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link - ^ "Hey, Soul Sister: Train: MP3 Downloads" – via Amazon.com.
- ^ Sony Music. 2009. 88697077362.)
{{cite AV media notes}}
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