“Hey There Delilah,” released two years after “Ever So Sweet,” was by far the more commercially successful. But what if it wasn’t?
If you listen to the show, chances are that you’ve heard both “Hey There Delilah” by the Plain White T’s as well as “Ever So Sweet” by The Early November. If you know both of these songs, chances are you’re aware of the very different trajectories of each.
“Hey There Delilah,” released two years after “Ever So Sweet,” was by far the more commercially successful.
But what if it wasn’t? What if the release dates were switched?
I can’t shake the memory of Myspace releasing a feature that allowed users to embed a song into their profiles seemingly the minute “Hey There Delilah” (a version without strings) was spreading like wildfire. And I can’t help but wonder if “Ever So Sweet” would have had a very different fate if its release lined up more favorably with the beginning of a societal shift toward the daily use of social media.
So, let’s play a quick game. Below are a bunch of dates. Next to those dates will be statements that are, on their own, true.
May 2003 — The Early November tours with Brand New
October 2003 — The Early November releases its first full-length CD “The Room’s Too Cold,” which peaks at No. 107 on the U.S. Billboard 200
July 2005 — Myspace emerges as one of the hottest sites on the web, garnering more page views than Google
May 2006 — Plain White T’s released their third album featuring “Hey There Delilah”
July 2007 — “Hey There Delilah” reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and is the No. 1 downloaded song on the U.S. iTunes Music Store (it goes on to sell more than 4 million digital copies in the U.S. alone)
April 2008 — Facebook overtakes Myspace, the latter of which will see a continuing loss of membership
Does this prove anything? No.
Is it one person’s anecdotal take on the “Delilah” phenomenon? Yes.
Do I think that if there are infinite alternative universes, “Ever So Sweet” would have been as successful as “Delilah” in about 20 percent of those universes had release dates been switched? I do, yes.
If someone let me have a TED Talk, would I spend all 15 minutes arguing that The Early November deserves more credit, despite the holes in this argument and “Ever So Sweet” being rougher around the edges and having objectively less of a universal appeal than “Delilah”? I would, yes. It’s arguably the only topic I could even fill 15 minutes discussing.
-stream or download our ‘Ever So Sweet’ vs. ‘Delilah’ episode below-
Subscribe at
Apple Podcasts | Google Play | Overcast | Stitcher | Spotify | Pocketcasts | Podbean