RubySoho
Winston
Hey! Jealousy
May 20th 2009 10:49
Hey Jealousy is probably one of my favourite songs from the 90s. I say 'probably' because I can go for years without hearing or thinking about it. The for some reason it'll pop back into my head and the Devil herself (hi Morgan!), couldn't shake it back out again.
For some reason I've been thinking about Hey Jealousy a lot lately. The breakout hit by American modern rock band the Gin Blossoms, it was actually initially released in 1992 but went largely unnoticed. That is to say, it flopped. Undeterred, the band released it one year later and for a good many months spanning from 1993 to 1994, you couldn't leave a radio station on the FM dial for more than ten minutes without this song making an appearance. Unfortunately the embedding on the YouTube video of the clip has been disabled. But here is the link so you can just pop on over and have a look and listen.Just be sure to come back when you are done. I haven't finished yet:
LINK:YouTubeHeyJealousy
hey jealousy
Tell me do you think it'd be all right
If I could just crash here tonight?
You can see I'm in no shape for driving
And anyway I've got no place to go
And you know it might not be that bad
You were the best I'd ever had
If I hadn't blown the whole thing years ago
I might not be alone
Tomorrow we can drive around this town
And let the cops chase us around
The past is gone but something might be found
To take its place...hey jealousy
And you can trust me not to think
And not to sleep around
And if you don't expect too much from me
You might not be let down
Cause all I really want is to be with you
Feeling like I matter too
If I hadn't blown the whole thing years ago
I might be here with you
Tomorrow we can drive around this town
And let the cops chase us around
The past is gone but something might be found
To take its place...hey jealousy
She took my heart
There's only one thing I couldn't start
Hey Jealousy was written by Gin Blossoms guitarist Doug Hopkins and is both a lament to a past love and a plea for a second chance. Hopkins was the quintessential 'tortured artist', suffering from severe alcoholism and chronic depression. By the time the band were recording their debut album New Miserable Experience, Hopkins was proving to be such a liability ( he was opposed to signing with a major label), that the rest of the band were faced with prospect of losing their record deal with A& M Records. So they lost him instead. Hopkins, the principal songwriter was fired from the band before the album was finished.
The thing that strikes me most when I listen to this song is how someone so young could have so many regrets...if i hadn't blown the whole thing years ago...the past is gone. Still in the earliest of his twenties and already Hopkins is fearful that his best is behind him.
The second, and in my opinion, the most pertinent statement made in this song, is the fact that Hopkins seems all too aware of his shortcomings and the fact that hurting the one he loves most is an inevitable outcome...if you don't expect too much from me, you might not be let down...
The subsequent success of the song, album and the band in general was too much for Hopkins to take. He committed suicide in December 1993. He was 22. The past was gone but sadly for Hopkins, he could not find anything to take its place.
Fifteen years later and still it saddens to me to think of a man so young and yet so without hope. Perhaps more so because four years after the release of this song I was to meet a young man so similar to the flawed but earnest anti-hero Hopkins represented in this song. And with the same sad, inevitable outcome. He didn't feel like he mattered either.
For some reason I've been thinking about Hey Jealousy a lot lately. The breakout hit by American modern rock band the Gin Blossoms, it was actually initially released in 1992 but went largely unnoticed. That is to say, it flopped. Undeterred, the band released it one year later and for a good many months spanning from 1993 to 1994, you couldn't leave a radio station on the FM dial for more than ten minutes without this song making an appearance. Unfortunately the embedding on the YouTube video of the clip has been disabled. But here is the link so you can just pop on over and have a look and listen.Just be sure to come back when you are done. I haven't finished yet:
LINK:YouTubeHeyJealousy
hey jealousy
Tell me do you think it'd be all right
If I could just crash here tonight?
You can see I'm in no shape for driving
And anyway I've got no place to go
And you know it might not be that bad
You were the best I'd ever had
If I hadn't blown the whole thing years ago
I might not be alone
Tomorrow we can drive around this town
And let the cops chase us around
The past is gone but something might be found
To take its place...hey jealousy
And you can trust me not to think
And not to sleep around
And if you don't expect too much from me
You might not be let down
Cause all I really want is to be with you
Feeling like I matter too
If I hadn't blown the whole thing years ago
I might be here with you
Tomorrow we can drive around this town
And let the cops chase us around
The past is gone but something might be found
To take its place...hey jealousy
She took my heart
There's only one thing I couldn't start
Hey Jealousy was written by Gin Blossoms guitarist Doug Hopkins and is both a lament to a past love and a plea for a second chance. Hopkins was the quintessential 'tortured artist', suffering from severe alcoholism and chronic depression. By the time the band were recording their debut album New Miserable Experience, Hopkins was proving to be such a liability ( he was opposed to signing with a major label), that the rest of the band were faced with prospect of losing their record deal with A& M Records. So they lost him instead. Hopkins, the principal songwriter was fired from the band before the album was finished.
The thing that strikes me most when I listen to this song is how someone so young could have so many regrets...if i hadn't blown the whole thing years ago...the past is gone. Still in the earliest of his twenties and already Hopkins is fearful that his best is behind him.
The second, and in my opinion, the most pertinent statement made in this song, is the fact that Hopkins seems all too aware of his shortcomings and the fact that hurting the one he loves most is an inevitable outcome...if you don't expect too much from me, you might not be let down...
The subsequent success of the song, album and the band in general was too much for Hopkins to take. He committed suicide in December 1993. He was 22. The past was gone but sadly for Hopkins, he could not find anything to take its place.
Fifteen years later and still it saddens to me to think of a man so young and yet so without hope. Perhaps more so because four years after the release of this song I was to meet a young man so similar to the flawed but earnest anti-hero Hopkins represented in this song. And with the same sad, inevitable outcome. He didn't feel like he mattered either.
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Comment by Wilson Pon
Health 2 Know
Adventure Toes
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boxing sound
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Comment by Janet Collins
Acceptable Etiquette
The Social Critic
Janet Collins Blog
It just goes to say that no matter how popular we are or our talent is, life and all its emotions and turnoils takes over anyway.
Comment by Mau-Medellin
Mau-Medellin
It's not success that people "don't like", but rather the those that are successful; Hey Jealousy?
I wish I knew Hopkins ended his life, could there have been help for him - I guess we'll never know, though I am positive the Silver Surfers will tell us 'why'... they seem to profess to 'know' everything else these days.
Mau-Medellin (GenY)
Comment by Morgan Bell
Science News
Deep Pencil
Business News
Movie Train
i had no idea that guy committed suicide, how sad
hey how come this isnt on Music Zone?
Comment by Morgan Bell
Science News
Deep Pencil
Business News
Movie Train
Comment by RubySoho
Music Zone
Thought Zone
Hi Janet...agreed. Hopkins had always wanted a Gold record. he got one for this song, hung it up on his wall for 2 weeks, then destroyed it. It's a mistake to think that just because someone has "made it", then all their problems magically melt away. In some cases, they are compounded.
Hi Mau, I like this:
Exactly.
Hi Morgan,
You know I didn't know he killed himself either until a few years later? It wasn't as publicised as some other famous deaths of the 90s. Then again, maybe because they seemed to be dropping like flies back then, it was just another day in 90s world.
I didn't put it on Music Zone because it' been so long since I posted there I was worried no-one would even see it. Maybe I need to post there but provide a link here? Mind you I post here so infrequently now that I have lost half my readers and a few subscribers so it's not as if this is going to reach a wide audience. *sigh*,
Comment by Mau-Medellin
Mau-Medellin
Is that Ryan Eaton????? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Comment by Morgan Bell
Science News
Deep Pencil
Business News
Movie Train
Ruby, i do the same thing with Deep Pencil sometimes, i could post some of my articles elsewhere but its just so damn easy on The Pencil