Plain White T's: Hey There Delilah Meaning
Song Released: 2007
Hey There Delilah Lyrics
What's it like in New York City?
I'm a thousand miles away
But girl tonight you look so pretty
Yes you do
Time Square can't shine as bright as you
I swear it's true
Hey there Delilah
Don't you worry about the...
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1TOP RATED
iris Jun 25th 2007, 20:35 report
This song goes deeper than what people think. I mean just listening to this song you see the obvious and don't read in between the lines. This really is a beautiful simple and straight to the point very laid back song...
I feel that obviously this is a long distance relationship but that they once were together and it wasn't always long distance. That they are trying to make this work for their love for each other BUT I feel that they are both losing their hope and faith and he is trying to convince her that it will work by the line " if every simple song I wrote you would take your breath away I'd write it all.. Even more in love with me you'd fall" meaning subliminally that he would do what ever it takes to keep their love strong.. To make her fall deeper in love so he wouldn't have to fear losing her and their dream together.
The line " I can promise you that by the time we are through the world will never be the same and your to blame" saying that by staying with him we can prove our friends wrong and the world will change their looks and beliefs on love and she would be to blame because she made the choice of staying with him proving everyone's doubts wrong...
By him saying be good and don't you miss me he is saying that don't miss him because she will always have his heart.....
I love this effin song! -
anonymous Jun 11th 2012, 19:35 report
tom higgenson (lead singer) was inspired to write 'hey there delilah' after meeting delilah dicrescenzo (american runner).
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anonymous Apr 5th 2012, 09:55 report
I think that the first commentary by Iris, is the best one. Because it describes exactly what I think the meaning of this song is.
This is my favorite song, because it's acoustic and it's just so calm.
I have so many memories with this song, and I always begin to cry when I hear it.
I know that this isn't a analysis of the lyrics, but I thought that you should hear my opinion. -
Lauraw884 May 30th 2011, 11:15 report
This song is most obviously about a long distant relationship... of two people who are deeply in love and have been trying to do anything to keep that love strong... e.g. complementing his love.
The whole begging of the song is him reassuring her that it will all be okay and that it will work out with time... they will be together with time.
With all this reassurance he hopes that she will be okay and will believe it is all worth it in the end... even with their friends believing that it will never work... saying that she shouldn't take it to heart because their love means so much more than that.
He also says "I'll be making history like I do" ... saying she is his influence... or she is the one that makes him strong.
The chorus is basic... simply saying that all these things... all the love he feels is for her... a simple expression of his love for her.
Overall... this is an adorable song :)
Long distant relationships are hard (I know) and will be worth it in the end :) Just don't give up. -
anonymous Jan 28th 2011, 00:48 report
Anonomous wrote, "Well I'm not sure this is entirely right but if you look at Delilah in the video, to me she looks like a prostitute. Because she's putting on a lot of make-up and walking around in alleys and on streets and stuff. So maybe he fell in love with this girl who moved to NYC and she really didn't love him (but he didn't know that) and she told him that she was going to school but maybe she dropped out and became a prostitute."
This is spot on! -
This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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BillabongGirl Mar 2nd 2009, 14:19 report
I think it is a beautiful song about a situation that people run into each and every day all over the world. A good looking love sick guy sends his girlfriend to New York to begin their new life while he finishes up making something of himself to support the two of them, in the mean time, his young beautiful girlfriend runs into hard times and has to resort to prostitution to survive in the pricey city but never tells him of her hard time so as not to worry him. But their love for each other is stronger than the strongest steel that no other can break and though she has to sell herself on the New York city streets, still she keeps a look out for his return, waiting to have the life they said they would and he continues to love her unconditionally. Or at least that the way I had perceived it from the video. Though he may not have meant for Delilah to be a prostitute, the director of the video did a good job of making her look like one. But its a wonderful video and one of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard and often makes me cry just to hear it. Delilah will be found and swept off her feet by her far off Romeo. What an awesome song no matter how you look at it.
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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Ruwantha Oct 12th 2008, 07:43 report
Hey there Delilah,
Whats it like in New York City,
well I'm a Thousand miles away but girl
Tonight you look so pretty
yes you do...
Time Square can't shine as bright as you
You know its true...
The singer here is describing his beautiful lover... asking her whats it like to be away thousands of miles away from him... "thousand miles away but girl tonight you look so pretty..." It in some way says that the singer is away from the girl and he is not feeling good about it, but the girl is ok with it... She is pretty... She is doing fine away from him. She captures the attraction better than the Time Square of New York! He is perhaps jealous of that sub conciously.
Hey there Delilah
Don't you worry about the distance
I'm right there if you get lonely
Give this song another listen
Close your eyes
Listen to my voice it's my disguise
I'm by your side...
He wonders if she too might be feeling down at times. Would she go through patches of loneliness in life... He wants to say he will always be there for her. Since she's choosen to keep him away he sings for her thinking, in her dark hours she could listen to him and feel his soul in her. He is telling that he will be there for her if she lets him at any time... That he wants to wait for her... and his love for her never dies.
Oh it's what you do to me
Oh it's what you do to me
Oh it's what you do to me
Oh it's what you do to me
What you do to me...
Simple but strong... The singer explains the hurt in his heart... How the loss feels like cutting him deep inside. How he has lost him self to her... and asks see what you do to me.... It is killing me inside.
Hey there Delilah
I know times are getting hard
But just believe me girl
Someday I'll pay the bills with this guitar
We'll have it good
We'll have the life we knew we would
My word is good
The singer is not yet a popular artist... but I guess this verse goes deeper... what it actually means is to give a cue as to why she left. Any realtionship to work people needs some financial stability... He lacked it. Perhaps she went off because of that... Perhaps he could not provide what she wanted...But he wants to live his dream. He dreams on that he achieves his target and gets a chance to have her back... He makes a promise in such case he would give her her dreams... but on the other hand he knows that is only an if...
Hey there Delilah
I've got so much left to say
If every simple song I wrote to you
Would take your breath away
I'd write it all
Even more in love with me you'd fall
We'd have it all
When a relationship ends, the one who gets dumped usually has so much to say. So much that he feels may change her mind. But she has probably cut him off... He never had a chance to tell her how much she meant to him. How much he loved her. His dreams of having her besides... See her raise his kids... watch her sleep by his side... feel her breath close to him... He is simply unable to tell her all that. If there is anything that would make her listen to all that he would give out anything in life to do so.. He is blindly in love and totally feeling lonely.
A thousand miles seems pretty far
But they've got planes and trains and cars
I'd walk to you if I had no other way
Our friends would all make fun of us
but we'll just laugh along because we know
That none of them have felt this way
Delilah I can promise you
That by the time we get through
The world will never ever be the same
And you're to blame
If she accepts he would go half way around the world to reach her. There are planes, cars, trains to link him to her, if that aint enough he wants to walk to her on his feet no matter how many miles... but she does not accept! Everyone around thinks he is not good enough for her... She is a beauty queen, but he is the average town boy with a suitcase of dreams... Had she accepted him all their friends would say she is crazy... But it does not matter and why should it? No one on earth would have felt how he feels for her.... No one would know how they felt for each other at that stolen moments... No one would understand what happened between them!
There is a faint hope that she would come back to him... There is a faint hope she may see him again and may be feel for him... but its gonna take time. He knows that even if their feelings for each other may not change... Their common dreams would stay the same, they won't be able to live it as the rest of the world is not going to wait. She may be married to someone else... He may be married to someone else by then... They may have kids with their partners... So the times they once dreamt are never coming back unless she realises now and makes the move...
Hey there Delilah
You be good and don't you miss me
Two more years and you'll be done with school
And I'll be making history like I do
You'll know it's all because of you
We can do whatever we want to
Hey there Delilah here's to you
This one's for you
This is a strong ending to the song... Couple of years from now, she will move on and live the glory. She would be graduating out of school, having a glamorous occupation... may be married to a smart guy... He too may achieve his financial goals. May be he becomes a pop singer and a brilliant guitarist... but for him he will never get over her... The memories of her will ever linger in him, hurting him with every breath he takes and every time his heart beats...because for him there is no one like her... but for her he will only be a dark smokey figure in her history... The looser who lost her, and the looser who lost him self to her...
Finally for all that he missed out to tell her, he says he tributes his soul for the girl... This one's for you... one may argue that is the song, but I feel its rather his soul he speaks about...
Well thanks for reading through... You may disagree! but I believe this is what this song means to me. I love it always... Does not matter even if the writer never thought about this when he wrote this.. I still like to feel the way I have described about it...
Thanks again! -
anonymous Jun 28th 2008, 19:23 report
Okay,despite popular opinion, this song and Hate (I really don't like you) are related. First, of all the singer wrote Hey There Delilah for Delilah, an actual girl, actually living in NYC. Second, he wrote it for her because he really liked her and she didn't notice him. In truth, not talking about the song, Delilah turned him down, so he wrote Hate (I really don't like you).
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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anonymous Oct 19th 2007, 17:20 report
Actually, he met her once and promised her he'd write a song about her. He wrote the whole thing in one night. Its all b.s. He's not in love with her but that's ok. maybe she needed someone to write a song for her. maybe this song helped her through college. Its always nice to think that someone is thinking about you, but there is no real meaning behind this. He pulled it straight out of his arse one night. 'if every SIMPLE song I wrote to you would take your breath away i'd write it all, even more in love with me you'd fall...' I admit it def. evokes some good feelings listening to it, but its too bad the love he feels in this song for this delilah girl isn't real. and that its not all b/c of her. Heres to you, this ones for you.
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anonymous Oct 5th 2007, 07:05 report
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hey_There_Delilah
It's very interesting what Delilah said about the song.. -
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anonymous Jul 24th 2007, 19:39 report
Ok this song is about how the lead singer met this girl Delilah and liked her and then he wrote this song about her....even though they'd only met once....and it turns out the girl...Delilah... Has a boyfriend and he wasn't that thrilled about this song. So that's what this song is really about cause I heard them explain it on TRL.
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anonymous Jul 4th 2007, 19:57 report
Well I'm not sure this is entirely right but if you look at Delilah in the video, to me she looks like a prostitute. Because she's putting on a lot of make-up and walking around in alleys and on streets and stuff. So maybe he fell in love with this girl who moved to NYC and she really didn't love him (but he didn't know that) and she told him that she was going to school but maybe she dropped out and became a prostitute.
-- don't yell at me if you think this is totally wrong, this is just my own opinion -
anonymous Jun 29th 2007, 16:35 report
Umm whoever wrote it about being an internet song has some serious interpretation issues. Obviously they haven't been to MoMA. Try interpreting something there because no matter how you interpret its right. Once you've gotten good try coming back and correcting your post. I completely agree with the person before me. Yes, they want to keep their love strong, but its not like they met over the internet. No one writes a love song about someone they met over the internet except Bob Ricci, and that was in the comedy genre. I write music so sorry I had to dog you out like that but you really need to think about stuff before you go and say something like that.
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anonymous Jun 25th 2007, 09:19 report
My mom watched an interview with the lead singer of Plain White T's himself and he said that he wrote this song because he met a girl in NYC and he promised her he would write a song about her. From the song you can tell that they were obviously in love, but she's in school and he's doing his own thing with his music and they can't be together now but they will soon.
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anonymous Jun 22nd 2007, 21:56 report
Ok so I think these are all right but I'm just wondering about the meeting on the internet thing cause.........that might actually make sense........how his friends make fun of him but he says that its ok cause they've never felt that way before..............so I don't know that may be right.
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