Hanginaround

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Hanginaround"
HanginaroundCC.jpg
Single by Counting Crows
from the album This Desert Life
B-side"A Long December"
ReleasedOctober 18, 1999
Recorded1998
GenreAlternative Rock
Length4:16
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)David Lowery, Dennis Herring
Counting Crows singles chronology
"Daylight Fading"
(1997) 		"Hanginaround"
(1999) 		"Mrs. Potter's Lullaby"
(2000)

"Hanginaround" is a single by American rock band Counting Crows. It is the first track on their third album, This Desert Life (1999).[1] The song managed to hit number 28 on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming their biggest hit on the chart from this album. It also reached number one on the Billboard Adult Alternative Songs chart, their second number-one single on this listing. Outside the United States, "Hanginaround" became the band's fifth top-ten single in Canada, reaching number three on the RPM Top Singles chart, and peaked within the top 50 in Ireland, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.

The chorus of the song was used as the main theme for the 2006 NBC sitcom Four Kings.

Background[]

As with on much of the This Desert Life album, Hanginaround saw the band experimenting with different recording techniques - in this case, utilizing looping. The song consists of eight different piano loops arranged in various configurations in setup inspired by Brian Wilson's Smile project.[2] According to Counting Crows fansite anna-begins.com, Duritz says:

So I was sort of ... semi-celebratory about that but also [thinking] 'Where am I going?' It's about a wild time when I was growing' up. Living a bit of a wild life, celebrating that. It's also about being scared that you don't have a future, but I don't think that's a waste. In the end, the guy just decides to continue having fun and to worry about it later.[3]

In an interview with Songfacts, Adam Duritz summed up his thought process behind the lyrics by stating "The idea of a song created with loops made me think of being on a loop myself. I wrote that song about when I was younger and the latter years in Berkeley and how I loved it there, but I was kind of going nowhere."[2]

Music video[]

The music video for the song shows the band performing the song in a living room of a house surrounded by a large crowd, as well as Adam Duritz waiting at a bus stop on a clear, colorful day. Throughout the video, the scene changes constantly, from people walking by (including one woman naked with her exposed areas blurred) to a construction crew removing the bench and replacing it with a bus canopy they built, to the other band members performing with Adam. At the end, a woman walks up to the canopy and sits next to Adam. After he glances at her necklace, a bus pulls up. Many others board it first, and as the woman is about to do so, she asks Adam to ride with her. He agrees, and gets on. The video ends with the crowd in the living room applauding the performance, and the bus (with posters of the band's "This Desert Life" album cover on the back of it) driving away from the stop.

Track listings[]

Charts[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Counting Crows – This Desert Life". AllMusic. Retrieved December 15, 2020.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b Wiser, Carl. "Adam Duritz of Counting Crows-Songwriter Interviews". Songfacts. Retrieved July 8, 2014.
  3. ^ "Lisa's Counting Crows Shrine". Anna-begins.com. Retrieved February 20, 2012.
  4. ^ Hanginaround (US 7-inch single vinyl disc). Counting Crows. DGC Records. 1999. 069497216-7.CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  5. ^ Hanginaround (UK CD single liner notes). Counting Crows. Geffen Records. 1999. 497 184-2.CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  6. ^ Hanginaround (European CD single liner notes). Counting Crows. Geffen Records. 1999. 497 188-2.CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  7. ^ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 9695." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
  8. ^ "Top RPM Adult Contemporary: Issue 9751." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
  9. ^ "Top RPM Rock/Alternative Tracks: Issue 9948." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
  10. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Counting Crows – Hanginaround" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
  11. ^ "Charts.nz – Counting Crows – Hanginaround". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
  12. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
  13. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
  14. ^ "Counting Crows Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved September 15, 2019.
  15. ^ "Counting Crows Chart History (Adult Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved September 15, 2019.
  16. ^ "Counting Crows Chart History (Adult Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved September 15, 2019.
  17. ^ "Counting Crows Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved September 15, 2019.
  18. ^ "Counting Crows Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved September 15, 2019.
  19. ^ "Counting Crows Chart History (Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved September 15, 2019.
  20. ^ "Irish-charts.com – Discography Counting Crows". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
  21. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
  22. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
  23. ^ "RPM 1999 Top 100 Hit Tracks". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
  24. ^ "RPM 1999 Top 50 Rock Tracks". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
Retrieved from ""