"Ho Hey" is a song by American folk rock band The Lumineers. It was released on June 4, 2012, as the lead single from their debut self-titledstudio album. The music video was released on March 11, 2012. "Ho Hey" reached number one for 18 non-consecutive weeks on the BillboardRock Songs chart, as well as two weeks in the top spot on the BillboardAlternative Songs chart and eight weeks in the top spot on the Adult Pop Songs chart, and reached number 3 on the BillboardHot 100 chart, becoming their first single to do so, as well as their first top 5 single. It also reached number 2 on the BillboardMainstream Top 40 chart, behind "Locked Out of Heaven" by Bruno Mars. It is also their first single to be certified in the US.
Background information
The song was originally created during Schultz and Fraites' time in New York 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."
Composition
"Ho Hey" is written in the key of C major. A McIntosh MC240 amplifier was used in the recording.
Chart performance
The song became a commercial success and was a breakthrough hit for the Lumineers. It debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 90 on the week of June 10, 2012. From there, it became a sleeper hit, slowly ascending the chart until it broke into the top ten in the week of November 10, 2012 at number eight and continued to climb until it reached its peak of number 3 in its 28th week on the chart. It also remained in the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 for 14 weeks, and topped Billboards Rock Songs chart for 14 weeks. It has also sold over four million copies in the United States as of April 2013. The song also became a crossover hit, topping the Adult Pop Songs, Rock Songs, Alternative Songs, and Triple A charts and reaching number two on the Pop Songs chart, topped only by Bruno Mars' "Locked Out of Heaven". It also charted on the Adult Contemporary and Country Airplay charts. This multi-format success allowed it to reach number two on the Hot 100 Airplay chart and stay on the Hot 100 for 62 weeks, one of the longest chart runs ever. The song also had international success, reaching the top ten in the UK, Canada, Ireland, France, Israel, Italy, Slovakia, New Zealand, Australia, and Switzerland.
Critical reception
"Ho Hey" has received positive reviews from critics. Anne Erickson of Audio Ink Radio gave the song a rating of 4 out of 5, favorably comparing Wesley Schultz's lead vocals on the song to Raine Maida. Erickson went on to say that "it's darn refreshing to sit back and take in some genuine, straightforward music that comes from the heart". Rolling Stone named the song the 26th-best song of 2012.
Music video
The music video for "Ho Hey" was released on March 11, 2012. The video was directed by Ben Fee. The video shows the band walking down a hall in the former Linda Vista Hospital while singing and dancing to the song.
In pop culture
Prior to its release, "Ho Hey" was first featured on the December 5, 2011, episode of Hart of Dixie. Later on, the song was used in a television commercial for Bing on June 1, 2012.
In the UK, the song has been used in an advertisement for E.ON, in the final episode of sitcom Cuckoo as well as advertisements for the film Silver Linings Playbook.
The song appears as a playable track in the video game Guitar Hero Live.
"Ho Hey" appears in the premiere episode of the eighth season of Bones, "The Future in the Past", which aired September 17, 2012.
The song appears in the fifth episode of the tenth season of The X-Files, "Babylon", which aired February 15, 2016.
Referenced in the lyrics, Canal and Bowery are cross streets in lower Manhattan, New York City, NY where bus services arrive and depart from different parts of the U.S.
In the sixteenth episode of the first season of Nashville, the characters Maddie and Daphne Conrad covered "Ho Hey". This version, credited to the actors' real names Lennon and Maisy Stella, debuted at number 58 on Country Airplay dated for the week of April 27, 2013, and peaked at 47. Blog Taste of Country reviewed their cover positively, saying that "The Stellas redefine the song’s message, turning it into an adorable statement between two sisters." Taylor Swift covered “Ho Hey” on her 2013-2014 tour, The Red Tour. The song was part of the set list for the entirety of the tour and was mashed up with Swift's own song, “Stay, Stay, Stay.” “Ho Hey” was the only song part of the nightly set list as a cover.
Parodies
On Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, an "all-clucking" cover version of the song was performed by an ad hoc group called "the Chickeneers", featuring Jimmy Fallon, Blake Shelton, and Nick Offerman in chicken suits.
