30-day Challenge, Day 9
Fountains of Wayne: Hey Julie
You might know Fountains of Wayne, the slyest, cleverest band ever, from their hit "Stacy’s Mom," a fantastic paean to the entire MILF phenomenon. (I heard the expression "MILF" for the first time when I was well into my 20s. It wasn't even a thing when I was a kid.)
"Stacy’s Mom," however, is just one amazing tune; their entire catalog is worth checking for its pantheon of characters ranging from a guy trying to evade the low-lifes trying to collect on a debt to the woman who can’t go in the kitchen at the summer house because “she’s been afraid of the Cusinart since 1977." If you like snark, you'll love Fountains of Wayne.
At first listen, "Hey Julie" is a two-and-a-half minute major-key jangle about a tired guy at a cubicle job with a terrible boss. The guy returns home to somebody who loves him — "I’d never make it through without you around" — reason enough for a song to make one happy. But it really, really makes me happy because the backstory is that Julie is the poor guy’s dog, and something about that is just that much cooler.