Hey, Soul Sister

"Hey, Soul Sister"
Single by Train
from the album Save Me, San Francisco
Released August 11, 2009 (2009-08-11)
Format
Recorded
Genre
Length 3:37
Label
Writer(s)
Producer(s)
Train singles chronology
"Am I Reaching You Now"
(2006)		 "Hey, Soul Sister"
(2009)		 "If It's Love"
(2010)
Music video
"Hey Soul Sister" on YouTube
Audio sample
file info · help

"Hey, Soul Sister" is a song by the American rock band Train. It was written by lead singer Patrick Monahan, Amund Bjørklund, and Espen Lind. It was released as the lead single from the band's fifth studio album, Save Me, San Francisco (2009).

The song reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and is Train's highest-charting song to date. As of September 21, 2012, it had sold over 6 million digital copies in the US.[1] It was the top-selling song on the iTunes Store in 2010,[2] and the second overall best-selling song in the US in 2010.[3] It is also the band's most commercially successful single to date, reaching number one in 16 countries. The single received a 6x platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on September 21, 2012, signifying sales of over 6 million copies.[4] The live iTunes version of "Hey, Soul Sister" garnered a Grammy Award for Train at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards. The song was not eligible for any Grammy Award in the General Field.

Background

"At first, I tried to do it by using a guitar pick, and it didn't sound right. I had to go online and Google a ukulele lesson and noticed they're not using picks at all; it's more of a flamenco style. Once I got that down, then it sounded like the real deal.[5] "

—Lead guitarist Jimmy Stafford, on having to learn to play ukulele as requested by lead singer Patrick Monahan in the recording of "Hey, Soul Sister"

After collaborating with the Norwegian production duo Espionage (Espen Lind and Amund Bjørklund) in the writing and recording of the track "Brick by Brick", Train's lead singer Pat Monahan decided to record another track with the duo.[5]

“ I said, 'I want to write an INXS-y song. So, they started playing kind of an INXS-y song, and I wrote the song 'Hey, Soul Sister' to it and the melodies and started to sing it. And I said, 'Man, this just doesn't sound great to me.' ”
— Pat Monahan, on wanting to write an INXS-y song.
“ One of the guys, Espen, who's like a huge star in Norway, picked up a ukulele, and said, 'Hey, how about this?' I said, 'Are you (kidding) me?' And it made the difference. It made my words dance. It made sense. These words were meant to dance with ukulele and not guitar. ”
— Pat Monahan

Composition

"There's super catchy riffs and melodies in it, which I think are way more important that any production trick or great-sounding vocal production. It's kind of us going backward so we can go forward."

—Pat Monahan, on the band's return to its folk rock roots[6]

"Hey, Soul Sister" is a mid-tempo pop song. Written in the key of E major,[7] the beat is set in common time and moves at 97 bpm. The song is characterized by a signature pattern played on a ukulele,[5] that follows a basic E5 – B – C#m – A progression in the verse, tag and bridge, switching to an A – B – E5 – B progression in the chorus. The song's chord structure is arranged in an A B A B A B A form. It rhymes "sister" with "Mr. Mister."

Lyrically, Stafford admitted the inspiration for the song came about while Monahan was imagining what Burning Man must be like, and started penning lyrics inspired by the imagery he saw:[8]

“ "The story lyrically, I’ve heard Pat talk about this in interviews. He’s always heard of Burning Man. Somewhere in Reno Nevada's desert, they do it every year. It’s this whole city in the desert that gets built for a festival that happens every year. They build a huge man out of wood and at the end of the festival they burn it. Pat had never been to Burning Man, but he had an image in his head of what it must be like. All these beautiful women dancing around the fire. That was the imagery he conjured up when he was writing the lyrics to, “Hey, Soul Sister.” It’s a pretty big deal. Thousands and thousands of people go to it every year. People run around naked and I guess it’s a total crazy deal. ”

Monahan has since confirmed this in multiple radio interviews.[9][10]

Music video

The video was filmed in front of Chango Coffee at the corner of Morton Ave and Echo Park Ave in Echo Park, Los Angeles, California, The video intercuts images of Train singing with a woman walking around her apartment and a man (actor Andrew Craghan) painting the words to the song on the landscape. Eventually the two meet each other in the street in front of the band.

Appearances in other media

Train performed the song on the show Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld on Fox News which aired during the early morning broadcast on April 20, 2010.[11] They have also performed the song on numerous talk shows, including The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,[12] Live with Regis and Kelly,[12] The Ellen DeGeneres Show,[13] Lopez Tonight, and The Howard Stern Show.[14] They also performed the song before the 2010 Major League Baseball Home Run Derby on ESPN. Samsung Electronics in North America used the song in advertising some of its products, including its 3D TVs and silent washers. Train performed the song at Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve 2011.

It has also been played in several TV shows as CSI: NY in the episode "Second Chances", Hellcats in its first episode and Medium, in chapter 6x03 "Pain killer". It was also been played in the Canadian TV show "Being Erica", in chapter 3x11. "Hey, Soul Sister" can also be heard on "Ko'olauloa", the sixth episode of Hawaii Five-0, where it was sung and played live by a little boy.

The song was performed on ABC's Dancing With The Stars on May 4, 2010 and on America's Got Talent on July 21, 2010. A cover of the song was also performed by "Munch's Make Believe Band," the animatronic show located at Chuck E. Cheese's restaurants. The Dixie Chicks covered this song while on their 2010 tour with The Eagles.

In Fox's TV musical-comedy series Glee the song has been covered in the ninth episode of season two, "Special Education" (aired November 30, 2010) by actor Darren Criss (as his character Blaine Anderson) singing the solo in a performance with the fictional show choir Dalton Academy Warblers (voiced by all-male a cappella group Beelzebubs).[15]

"Hey, Soul Sister" was also covered by 2010 X Factor Australia winner Altiyan Childs for his self-titled debut album. The song was also performed by Street Corner Symphony on the second season of the television show The Sing-Off during episode 2- "Songs From The Past 5 Years". The dance troupe from Strictly Come Dancing performed a quickstep to the song in 2010.

In the 2011 movie Friends with Benefits the song was featured twice; once as part of a love film joke, and the other at the end of the film itself.

In 2012, Train performed "Hey, Soul Sister" and "Drive By" in the 18th episode of season four of the American teen drama TV series 90210 at a fictional musical festival.

Movistar (the mobile phone operator owned by the Spanish Telefónica) uses the song for their ad campaigns on TV and radio. They use the original version as well as a cover version.

Tombola Bingo use the instrumental for the song in their TV adverts.

Chart performance

"Hey, Soul Sister" debuted at #98 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the week ended October 17, 2009, becoming their first charting single in five years. On the week of January 30, 2010, in its 16th week on the Hot 100 chart, "Hey, Soul Sister" leaped to #7 from #23 on an 81% digital single sales increase from the previous week, thus becoming Train's second career Top Ten hit on the chart. It reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the week of April 10, 2010, and it is their highest on the chart to date, even surpassing their 2001 hit, Drops of Jupiter, which peaked at #5. The song climbed to #1 on the Hot Digital Songs chart for the week of April 10, 2010, and stayed in the top spot for three weeks. As of the January 20, 2011 issue of Billboard, "Hey, Soul Sister" had spent 22 weeks at number one on the Adult Contemporary chart.

The single sold 687,000 copies in 2009 which made it that year's #131 song. It went on to sell 3,319,000 more units in the first half of 2010 and 42 weeks after its release still stood at number 16 on the Hot 100 chart. By the end of December 2010, it had sold 4,310,000 digital copies, becoming the second biggest selling digital song of that year.[16] By the end of January 2011, it had sold over 5 million digital copies.[17] As of January 2014, the song had sold 6,417,000 digital units in the United States, one of the biggest-selling digital singles by a rock band since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking download sales in 2003.[18]

BNA Records, a country music label owned by Sony Music, released the song to the country music format in June 2010. It debuted at #60 on the Hot Country Songs charts for the week ended July 10, 2010.[19]

In addition to revitalizing Train's career in their native country, "Hey, Soul Sister" has also become a big international hit; it was #1 on the official Dutch and Australian singles charts for 7 weeks and 4[20] weeks, respectively, and also became their first Irish number one single. The single charted at #2 in New Zealand (their highest in the country to date), and reached #3 on both the Canadian[21] and Belgian singles charts.[22]

On April 24, 2010, "Hey, Soul Sister" debuted on the UK Singles Chart at #64,[23] marking the band's first appearance on the chart since "She's On Fire" reached a peak of #49 in 2001. On May 2, 2010, the single climbed into the UK Top 40 at #36 and has since reached a peak of #18. It has been in the official charts for 79 weeks. In Canada the song became the sixth-best-selling of 2010 with 244,000 copies.[24]

Track listing

  • Digital download
  1. "Hey, Soul Sister" – 3:36
  • Digital download — remixes[25]
  1. "Hey, Soul Sister" (Karmatronic Radio Edit) – 3:40
  2. "Hey, Soul Sister" (Karmatronic Club Mix) – 6:45
  3. "Hey, Soul Sister" (Karmatronic Instrumental) – 6:45
  4. "Hey, Soul Sister" (Karmatronic Performance) - 3:23
  5. Hey, Soul Sister (Psyrex Remix) - 3:42
  • Digital download — country version[26]
  1. "Hey, Soul Sister" (Country Mix) – 3:35
  1. "Hey, Soul Sister" – 3:36
  2. "The Finish Line" (Patrick Monahan, Sacha Skarbek) – 3:46

Credits and personnel

Recording[28]
Personnel[28]
  • Francis Murray – assistant engineer
  • Claes Bjørklund – keyboards
  • Jerry Becker – hammond organ
  • Scott Underwood – drums
  • Jimmy Stafford – guitar
  • Mark Endert – mixer
  • Doug Johnson – assistant mixer
  • Ted Jensen – mastering

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2009–12) Peak
position
Australian Singles Chart[29] 1
Austrian Singles Chart[30] 4
Belgian Singles Chart (Wallonia)[31] 5
Belgian Singles Chart (Flanders)[31] 3
Canadian Hot 100[21] 3
Czech Republic (Rádio Top 100)[32] 5
Danish Singles Chart[33] 8
Dutch Top 40[34] 1
European Hot 100[35] 3
French Digital Singles Chart[36] 10
Finnish Singles Chart[37] 15
German Singles Chart[38] 7
Hungarian Airplay Chart[39] 1
Irish Singles Chart[40] 1
Italian Singles Chart[41] 2
New Zealand Singles Chart[42] 2
Norwegian Singles Chart[43] 11
Slovakia (Rádio Top 100)[44] 4
South Korea International Singles (Gaon)[45] 114
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[46] 12
Spanish Airplay Chart[47] 6
Swedish Singles Chart[48] 3
Swiss Singles Chart[49] 4
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[50] 18
UK Official Streaming Chart Top 100[51] 94
US Billboard Hot 100[52] 3
US Adult Alternative Songs (Billboard)[53] 2
US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[54] 1
US Adult Top 40 (Billboard)[55] 1
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[56] 52
US Hot Rock Songs (Billboard)[57] 33
US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)[58] 3

Year-end charts

Chart (2010) Position
Australian Singles Chart[59] 4
Canadian Hot 100[60] 6
Denmark (Tracklisten)[61] 27
European Hot 100 Singles[62] 30
Germany (Media Control AG)[63] 53
German Airplay Chart[64] 5
Hungarian Airplay Chart[65] 3
Italian Singles Chart[66] 13
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[67] 1
UK Singles Chart[68] 84
US Billboard Hot 100[69] 3
US Billboard Mainstream Top 40[70] 12
US Billboard Adult Pop Songs[71] 1
US Billboard Adult Contemporary[72] 2
Chart (2011) Position
Hungarian Airplay Chart[73] 89
US Billboard Adult Contemporary[74] 14

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/Sales
Australia (ARIA)[75] 6× Platinum 420,000^
Belgium (BEA)[76] Gold 15,000*
Canada (Music Canada)[77] 3× Platinum 240,000^
Denmark (IFPI Denmark)[78] Gold 15,000^
Germany (BVMI)[79] Gold 150,000^
Italy (FIMI)[80] Platinum 30,000*
Mexico (AMPROFON)[81] Platinum 60,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[82] Platinum 15,000*
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[83] Gold 20,000^
Sweden (GLF)[84] Gold 20,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[85] Gold 15,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[86] Platinum 600,000double-dagger
United States (RIAA)[87] 6× Platinum 6,000,000^

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
double-daggersales+streaming figures based on certification alone

Release history

Country Date Format Label
United States August 11, 2009[88] Digital download
January 26, 2010 Airplay
July 12, 2010 Digital download — country version

References

  1. ↑ "Hey Soul Sister just went 6x Platinum in the U.S.!! We can't thank you guys enough for all that's happened to us since we released that song". Twitter. Train on Twitter.
  2. ↑ ""Hey, Soul Sister" Is Top iTunes Song of 2010". CBS News. December 9, 2010.
  3. ↑ What Santa Brought by Paul Grein in Chart Watch
  4. ↑ "RIAA – Searchable Database: Hey, Soul Sister". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved November 6, 2011.
  5. 1 2 3 "Train adds ukulele to make 'Hey, Soul Sister' a chart topper" by Dave Richards, posted November 7, 2009
  6. ↑ "Train Song Debut: "Hey Soul Sister"". Billboard.
  7. ↑ Hey, Soul Sister sheet music
  8. ↑ "Q&A with Train." by Annie Reuter, posted October 28, 2009
  9. ↑ "Train Visits The Buzz Studios!" by Sheryl Stewart, posted December 22, 2009
  10. ↑ "Train frontman tells story behind 'Hey, Soul Sister'", posted August 23, 2010
  11. ↑ "'Hey, Soul Sister' - Video - FoxNews.com". Video.foxnews.com. 2010-04-20. Retrieved 2010-08-09.
  12. 1 2 http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/train-rolls-into-1-on-itunes-with-hit-song-hey-soul-sister-89517032.html, Train Rolls Into #1 on iTunes with Hit Song 'Hey, Soul Sister'
  13. ↑ Watch Train perform 'Hey, Soul Sister' on Ellen's Music Page
  14. ↑ http://www.howardstern.com/rundown.hs?d=1257915600#14934, Howard Stern Show 11/11/09 Rundown
  15. ↑ "TV". Entertainment Weekly's EW.com.
  16. ↑ "Eminem's 'Recovery' Is 2010's Best-Selling Album; Katy Perry's 'California Gurls' Top Digital Song". Billboard.
  17. ↑ Archived January 13, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.
  18. ↑ Paul Grein (January 2, 2014). "Can You Believe "Don't Stop Believin'" Loses Spot as Best-Selling Rock Song?". Chart Watch. Yahoo.
  19. ↑ Trust, Gary (30 June 2010). "Chart Beat Wednesday: Train, Dirty Heads, Nicki Minaj". Billboard. Retrieved July 1, 2010.
  20. ↑ "Train – Hey, Soul Sister". australian-charts.com. Retrieved August 9, 2010.
  21. 1 2 Billboard Canadian Hot 100 1–10
  22. ↑ "Belgium Singles Top 50 – Music Chart". Acharts.us. acharts.us. April 11, 2010. Retrieved April 5, 2010.
  23. ↑ "UK Singles Top 75 – Music Chart". Acharts.us. acharts.us. April 24, 2010. Retrieved April 19, 2010.
  24. ↑ "Morning Coffee with David Farrell, April 5". Fyimusic.ca. 2011-04-05. Retrieved 2012-01-11.
  25. ↑ "Amazon.com: Hey, Soul Sister: Train: MP3 Downloads". amazon.com.
  26. ↑ "Amazon.com: Hey, Soul Sister (Country Mix): Train: MP3 Downloads". amazon.com.
  27. ↑ Hey, Soul Sister (liner notes). Train. Columbia Records, Sony Music. 2010. 88697 69209 2.
  28. 1 2 Save Me, San Francisco (CD booklet). Train. Columbia Records, Sony Music. 2009. 88697077362.
  29. ↑ "Train – Hey, Soul Sister". australian-charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved November 6, 2011.
  30. ↑ "Austria Singles Top 75 – Music Chart". Acharts.us. acharts.us. April 11, 2010. Retrieved April 5, 2010.
  31. 1 2 "Train – Hey, Soul Sister". ultratop.be. Hung Medien. Retrieved August 9, 2010.
  32. ↑ "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 201019 into search.
  33. ↑ "Train – Hey, Soul Sister". danishcharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved August 9, 2010.
  34. ↑ "Top 40". Top40.nl. Retrieved March 29, 2010.
  35. ↑ "Hey, Soul Sister – Train". Billboard. Retrieved March 30, 2010.
  36. ↑ "Download Single Top 50 – 15/05/2010". Lescharts.com (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved May 15, 2010.
  37. ↑ "Suomen virallinen lista: Train - Hey, Soul Sister". IFPI (in Finnish). IFPI.
  38. ↑ "Germany Music Charts – Top Singles". Allcharts.org. Retrieved August 9, 2010.
  39. ↑ "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ – Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége". Mahasz.hu. Retrieved August 9, 2010.
  40. ↑ "Irish Recorded Music Association – Top 50 Singles". IRMA. Irish Recorded Music Association. April 1, 2010. Retrieved April 5, 2010.
  41. ↑ "Train – Hey, Soul Sister". italiancharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved August 9, 2010.
  42. ↑ "Chart #1712 – Monday 15 March 2010 (top 40 singles)". RIANZ: The Official NZ Music Chart. Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. March 15, 2010. Retrieved March 21, 2010.
  43. ↑ "Train – Hey, Soul Sister". norwegiancharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved August 9, 2010.
  44. ↑ "SNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 201019 into search.
  45. ↑ "South Korea Gaon International Chart (Week: February 12, 2012 to February 18, 2012)". Gaon Chart. January 5, 2013. Retrieved January 5, 2013.
  46. ↑ "Spanishcharts.com – {{{artist}}} – {{{song}}}" Canciones Top 50.
  47. ↑ "Promusicae (Week: January 1, 2010)" (PDF). Retrieved July 13, 2010.
  48. ↑ "Train – Hey, Soul Sister". swedishcharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved August 9, 2010.
  49. ↑ "Train – Hey, Soul Sister". swisscharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved August 9, 2010.
  50. ↑ "Train: Artist Chart History" Official Charts Company.
  51. ↑ http://www.officialcharts.com/official-streaming-chart/
  52. ↑ "Train – Chart history" Billboard Hot 100 for Train. Retrieved September 25, 2010.
  53. ↑ "Train – Chart history" Billboard Adult Alternative Songs for Train. Retrieved June 4, 2014.
  54. ↑ "Train – Chart history" Billboard Adult Contemporary for Train. Retrieved September 25, 2010.
  55. ↑ "Train – Chart history" Billboard Adult Pop Songs for Train. Retrieved September 25, 2010.
  56. ↑ "Train – Chart history" Billboard Hot Country Songs for Train. Retrieved September 25, 2010.
  57. ↑ "Train – Chart history" Billboard Hot Rock Songs for Train. Retrieved June 4, 2014.
  58. ↑ "Train – Chart history" Billboard Pop Songs for Train. Retrieved September 25, 2010.
  59. ↑ "ARIA Charts – End Of Year Charts – Top 100 Singles 2010". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved January 9, 2010.
  60. ↑ "Charts Year End: Canadian Hot 100". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media. Retrieved May 2, 2010.
  61. ↑ "Track 2010 Top-50". Tracklisten (in Danish). Nielsen Music Control. 2010. Archived from the original on January 22, 2010.
  62. ↑ "European Hot 100". Billboard.com. 2010-12-31. Retrieved 2012-01-11.
  63. ↑ http://www.viva.tv/charts/viva-single-jahrescharts-2010-2010-212/?start=50
  64. ↑ German Airplay Chart, Retrieved June 3, 2011.
  65. ↑ "MAHASZ Rádiós TOP 100 2010" (in Hungarian). Mahasz. Retrieved March 10, 2011.
  66. ↑ "FIMI - Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana - Ricerche e dati di mercato". Fimi.it. Retrieved 2012-01-11.
  67. ↑ "HITLISTWEB - Official charts". 212.182.166.241. Retrieved 2012-01-11.
  68. ↑ "End of Year Charts: 2010" (PDF). UKChartsPlus (PDF). Retrieved 26 November 2015.
  69. ↑ "Year-end Hot 100 (2010)". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 2010. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
  70. ↑ "Year-end Pop Songs (2010)". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 2010. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
  71. ↑ "Year-end Adult Pop Songs (2010)". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 2010. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
  72. ↑ "Year-end Adult Contemporary Songs (2010)". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 2010. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
  73. ↑ "MAHASZ Rádiós TOP 100 2011" (in Hungarian). Mahasz. Retrieved February 22, 2011.
  74. ↑ "Year-end Adult Contemporary Songs (2011)". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 2010. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
  75. ↑ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2014 Singles". Australian Recording Industry Association.
  76. ↑ "Ultratop − Goud en Platina – 2010". Ultratop & Hung Medien / hitparade.ch.
  77. ↑ "Canadian single certifications – Train – Hey Soul Sister". Music Canada.
  78. ↑ "Guld og platin i August" (in Danish). IFPI Denmark. Archived from the original on January 17, 2015. Retrieved January 10, 2015.
  79. ↑ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Train; 'Hey, Soul Sister')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
  80. ↑ "Italian single certifications – Train – Hey, Soul Sister" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Select Online in the field Sezione. Enter Train in the field Filtra. Select 2010 in the field Anno. The certification will load automatically
  81. ↑ "Certificaciones – Train" (in Spanish). Asociación Mexicana de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas.
  82. ↑ "New Zealand single certifications – Train – Hey, Soul Sister". Recorded Music NZ.
  83. ↑ "Top 50 Canciones - Semana 29: del 15.07.2013 al 21.07.2013" (PDF) (in Spanish). PROMUSICAE. Retrieved December 24, 2013.
  84. ↑ "Train - Hey, Soul Sister" (in Swedish). Grammofon Leverantörernas Förening.
  85. ↑ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (Train; 'Hey, Soul Sister')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien.
  86. ↑ "British single certifications – Train – Hey Soul Sister". British Phonographic Industry. Enter Hey Soul Sister in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select single in the field By Format. Select Platinum in the field By Award. Click Search
  87. ↑ "American single certifications – Train – Hey, Soul Sister". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH
  88. ↑ "'Hey Soul Sister' Now Premiering on Billboard.com". Facebook. 10 August 2009. Retrieved 16 May 2012.
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