Lyrics meaning "Hey Ya!" by Outkast - song meanings and facts (2023)

This is despite the fact that listeners would have a hard time really understanding what the homeboys are saying in their verses. In fact, garbled lyrics are a common factor on Outkast tracks, dating back to the days ofSra. Jackson(2000),Rosenparks(1999) and includedstrikingBella (1996).

And the same thing happens with "¡Hey Ya!", so much so that some listenersthey were scaredto know what Andre really sings in full length. This song is absolutely moving, as is its award-winning music video.

And the above doesn't mean that reading the lyrics of "Hey Ya" on paper makes it, relatively speaking, easier to understand. And in a way they are two narratives in one. The second half of the track is a pure boogie song, particularly rousing all the ladies in the house. So if a listener jumps to the conclusion that this is a dance song, they are at least partially right.

The text deals with a difficult romantic relationship

The first part of the song actually focuses on an uneasy romance in which the singer finds herself. The singer presents the situation as he is not happy in this relationship and neither is his partner.

Yes, there may actually be some love between the two, but it's not those feelings that perpetuate their partnership. Rather, the sentiment expressed is more akin to the two staying together, simply in the name of not having to deal with being single.

So it's like they're scared of being alone, which is why they stay in this less-than-ideal relationship. But what André attributes to the issue is a reality like the lack of genuine engagement on the part of modern man. she is a woman. Put simply, people like your parents may have stayed together because they should, depending on their society, culture, or whatever you dictate. But let's say instead that today's people are not so attached to such an ideology unless they are really happy.

Refrain von "Hey Ya!"

In addition, the singer makes it clear in the chorus that it was never his intention to fall in love with this lady.

Therefore, the noted lack of commitment can also be attributed to a greater societal acceptance of promiscuity and casual sex, acts that were not as acceptable in the past as they are today.

But of course, if you only sleep with someone, you risk falling in love with that person. And that would logically be the reason why the act is invokedmake loveFirst. And it looks like that happened to Andre 3000, who felt connected to someone who initially and ideally is more like a booty call.

a moment of torment

And as for the mentioned part of the narration, the song ends on a cliffhanger. The singer isn't allowed to judge himself or his partner, nor does he reveal whether they're actually dating or not.

But last but not least, the implication would be that they remained a couple despite feeling less than fulfilled in this novel. And for this reason, at the end of the second verse, he also decides to start a dance as an antidepressant measure and encourages the audience to do the same.

So the implication would be that he's not the only one involved in such a situation and a good boo is required as a remedy.

Complete

Therefore, judging "Hey Ya" only by its superficial presentation can be misleading when it comes to its full message. Both Andre 3000 and Big Boi are teachers.

But at the end of the day, as the title suggests, the main feeling of this song is dancing. stuck in a relationship

The Making and Release of Hey Ya!

Outkast is a hip hop duo consisting of rappers Andre 3000 and Big Boi. But even if "Hey, ya!" officially listed as an Outkast song, the latter does not participate vocally. In fact, Big Boi doesn't appear to have been involved in the creation of this song, which is a shame considering it's one of the band's biggest hits.

This track was exclusively written by Andre 3000. As mentioned above, Outkast is on rapping and "Hey Ya!" It's definitely not a rap or even hip hop song.

So when he asked her L.A. Reid, who was CEO of Arista Records at the time, Reid, a respected veteran of the game, admitted that he "didn't get that song." release it as their first singleSpeakerboxx / love below, the fifth standard LP by Outkast. It was later released as such on September 9, 2003.

And to note that none of the album's other singles fare as well as this one.

This track is a product of the aforementioned Arista Records, as well as LaFace Records, which is the ATL-based label that L.A. Reid co-founded with Babyface.

Andre 3000 also acted as producer on this track and officially fulfilled this purpose together with DJ Cutmaster Smiff. In fact, Dre was musically inspired by some of the pop bands of the past. Some of these bands include The Smiths and Ramones, and a more recent musical phenomenon, The Hives.

"Hey Ya!" Achievements

"Hey you!" charted in over 20 countries and topped the following top singles charts:

• UK R&B Charts
• Billboard Hot 100

In addition, he repeated this performance on several other Billboard charts in the United States (theTop 40miRhythmicalGraphic). It also went multi-platinum in the UK and Australia. In the latter case, it was certified eight times platinum. In addition, it has been certified platinum in the United States and a few other countries.

At the end "Hey Ya!" is actually Outkast's biggest hit. the double trackSra. Jackson, which came out in 2000, performed comparable, in some respects even better, in terms of chart display and trading performance. But "Hey, yes!" succeeded in winning further industry awards. That includes a 2004 Grammy forBest Urban/Alternative Performance.

And that same year, he also took home six trophies for MTV. It also won a BET Award (video of the year) y un Soul Train Music Award (best video of the year).

"Hey Ya" appears on the Rolling Stone list of "The 100 greatest songs of the century“. As of 2021, it appears fourth on this list.

Regarding "Hey Ya"'s chart success, below are the countries where it has reached Top 10 status:

• Australia (#1)
• Austria (#4)
• Belgium (#10)
• Canada (#1)
• Croatia (#2)
• Czech Republic (#1)
• Denmark (#2)
• Finland (#10)
• France (#7)
• Deutschland (#6)
• Island (#2)
• Italy (#3)
• New Zealand (#2)
• Norway (#1)
• Scotland (#6)
• Sweden (#1)
• Switzerland (#9)
• United Kingdom (#3)
• United States (#1)

Video music official

As mentioned above, the music video for this song is unforgettable as Andre not only performs as the vocalist but also all the accompanying instrumentalists. Its surroundings are inspired by antiquity. It was primarily inspired by an event called The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show that took place on February 9, 1964.

And the director of the video is someone who's been very active in the hip-hop/R&B community in that sense, named Bryan Barber. And the clip also includes a cameo from Andre's then-bandmate Big Boi.

Actor Ryan Phillippe can also be seen in the video. At the time, he was married to actress Reese Witherspoon, who recently became super rich.

That Andre played all of the instrumentalists in the music video wasn't exactly an exaggeration, as he actually played all of the instruments on this track except for the bass. The bass player is Aaron Mills, who was and was best known as part of the old-school funk crew Cameoa kind of regular employeethere Outkast.

Ö "Speakerboxx/O Love DownAlbum

As strange as it may seemSpeakerboxx/O Love Downhas the difference of beingbest selling rap albumin American history, with Outkast surpassing even suchEminemand the late Tupac Shakur (1971-1996) by the way.

However, Boi and Andre broke up soon after, in 2007. However, they managed to release one last studio album starting in 2006 under the name Outkast.Idlewild, in advance.

It should be noted that the reason the said project has two names namely "Speakerboxx" and "The Love Below" is because it is actually the combination of two different albums, the first by Big Boi and the second from Andre 3000..So "Hey, ya!" it would actually belong on the "The Love Below" side of the album.

More facts about "Hey Ya!"

Although "Hey, ya!" it was not released until late 2003, Andre had been working on it since 1999. In fact, the song nearly made the playlist for Outkast's fourth studio album,fatigue, in 2000. And at the time, the song's working title was actually "Thank God for Mom and Dad," meaning a line that falls near the end of the first verse.

The rapper conveys a similar message in the lyrics to singer Beyoncé and actress Lucy Liu.

"Hey you!" It also helped spread iTunes, a service that started in 2001. iTunes was launched around the time Napster started to disappear.

Napster was similar to iTunes in that it allowed users to download music. However, it was point by point. Basically, this meant that the record companies and artists involved in the music production were not getting paid for sharing their music, leading to legal and ethical issues with the software. However, the problem has been solved with services like iTunes, where you pay a small fee for a single track instead of, say, $15 for an entire album, which you probably don't want. And the interesting thing is that "Hey Ya!" It was one of the first songs to really break through on iTunes.

When he asks the audience to dance, Andre uses the metaphor "shake like a Polaroid".

Users like to shake the photo after printing to make it look right (although Polaroid doesn't recommend this action). Polaroids were more or less obsolete even before this song was released. on offer.