The band's name was taken from the name of a lawn-ornament store in Wayne, New Jersey, not far from Montclair, New Jersey. That city is the hometown of the band's bassist and cofounder Adam Schlesinger (the store has since gone out of business). According to Songfacts, there were prominent fountains there.
The concept of the band was formed by Schlesinger and Chris Collingwood. The two first met as freshmen at Williams College and began playing music together in various groups. The two eventually went their separate ways with Collingwood forming the Mercy Buckets in Boston and Schlesinger forming Ivy in New York City. The duo initially set out to work together in the early 90s under various band monikers (including ones named "Pinwheel" and "The Wallflowers"), and recorded a full album's worth of demos in 1993. Although never released, the "Pinwheel" demos are widely bootlegged by fans and display a very different (yet still earnest) version of the pair's songwriting, though several songs from this period would be re-tooled and appear on later releases.
After failing to get their project off the ground, the two met up once again during the mid-90s and formed Fountains of Wayne. A demo eventually landed the two a deal with Atlantic Records and in 1996 they released their self titled debut. The album spawned the singles Radiation Vibe and Sink To The Bottom which received airplay, but it was Schlesinger's song entitled That Thing You Do! which became a hit being used as the lead track for the Tom Hanks film of the same name. "That Thing You Do!" also brought Schlesinger an Oscar nomination and an RIAA gold certification for the hit soundtrack.
Along with guitarist Jody Porter and drummer Brian Young, the band toured the world extensively behind the album playing alongside bands such as The Smashing Pumpkins and The Lemonheads.
In 1999, the band returned with their second album, Utopia Parkway, a loosely-based concept album about life in the American suburbs in the late 1990s. Unfortunately, a much-changed radio climate left little room in playlists for Fountains of Wayne's snarky power-pop, and the album, along with its three singles Denise, Red Dragon Tattoo, and Troubled Times, sank without much notice. The following year, the band was mostly quiet, contributing a song each to a soundtrack and a compilation (Too Cool for School to the "Scary Movie" soundtrack and California Sex Lawyer to the third installment of the International Pop Overthrow series). They were dropped by Atlantic soon thereafter.
The band spent much of the early 2000s in seclusion, occasionally rejoining to record or play an occasional gig, but mostly Schlessinger was focusing on work with Ivy and Collingwood founded an alt.country band near his Western Massachusetts home called The Gay Potatoes. In addition, the band wrote and performed the theme song to the popular Comedy Central program "Crank Yankers," and contributed a cover of The Kinks "Better Days" to a tribute album. The song was also later featured prominently in a scene of the 2004 remake of "The Manchurian Candidate." During this time, the band's stature only grew in indie pop circles, raising expectations high for the release of their next album.
Welcome Interstate Managers, Fountains of Wayne's third record and first for Virgin, was released in June of 2003. Preceeded by the single and video for the Cars-ish Stacy's Mom, the song became a surprise top 20 hit on the strength of its video--a send-up of 1980s teen comedies like "Fast Times at Ridgemont High"--which starred Rachel Hunter as Stacy's Mom. The video went into heavy rotation on MTV, pushing the album to become Fountains of Wayne's most successful with sales exceeding 400,000 units.
Like most bands who have a major hit driven by a clever video, follow-up singles did not fare as well. Despite a similarly-clever video for Mexican Wine, the single failed to take off after MTV banned the video due to a scene where two underage girls lip-synch the words to the chorus, a reference to drinking tequila. Third single Hey Julie initially made only a minor dent on AAA and Hot AC format stations, but it was later featured in "Scrubs" and other TV shows and grew in stature over time, becoming something of a sleeper hit. During this time, the band also wrote a series of short, almost They Might Be Giants-styled songs for a short-lived VH1 TV series titled "Hey Joel!," which was written by critic Joel Stein. The show was canceled before it aired in the United States and the songs were never released.
The song named "Red Dragon Tattoo" was also featured in the 2004 series "Kingdom Hospital", based on a novel by Stephen King, that aired on BBC.
In 2005, the band issued the 2-disc Out-of-State Plates, a compilation rounding up the band's various import-only B-sides as well as several new songs. Maureen was released as a single yet received little attention.
The band's fourth proper album, titled Traffic and Weather, was released April 3, 2007. One abandoned track from these sessions, a novelty throwaway titled Monster House that was written for the movie of the same name but not used, was leaked in advance of the album's release via the band's MySpace page. "Traffic and Weather" met with typically strong reviews but fewer sales than its predecessor, although the single and video for Someone to Love made a minor impact.
In early 2009, the band embarked on a small tour where they began to debut some new songs from an as-yet-untitled fifth album. Progress was slow, however, and other than some scattered shows the band dropped almost entirely out of view for two years. In late 2010, the band announced that they were now without a label but that they had completed their as-yet-untitled fifth album, which they were hoping to release sometime in 2011 once they found a new label. During this time they gave away one new free song via their website. Song of the Passaic was written for an NPR segment using a poem about New Jersey's famed, industrial Passaic River.
In May 2011, the band has announced that their fifth album, Sky Full of Holes will be released on August 1st, 2011 on Lojinx in Europe, August 2nd, 2011 on YepRoc in North America and on Warner in Japan. Two singles were released in advance of the album itself: Richie and Ruben in May 2011, followed by Someone's Gonna Break Your Heart the following month. Like their previous releases, the album garnered critical praise from a variety of publications. Jill Menze of 'Billboard' called the release "excellent", describing it as "a new minimal sound with a poppy, folk-leaning flair."
After a six-month tour in support of the album, the band quietly went defunct in favor of side projects. Although they never officially broke up, the band has been completely inactive since sometime in 2012.
On April 1st, 2020, co-founder Adam Schlessinger passed away due to complications from COVID-19 at the age of 52.
Hung Up On You
Fountains of Wayne Lyrics
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I am waiting for a call
And the moon and stars tonight
Are playing shadows on the wall
With the moon the way it is, dear
Would you answer out of spite
Or are you feeling lonely tonight
Cause I remember last time
We were out under the stars
Driving crooked down the highway
Drinking beer in roadside bars
And now and then I wonder
Why this painful memory
Can never find its way to you from me
And I can't dial the phone just now
Even though I know your number
Can't bring my broken heart to be untrue
Like you did today
You'll say goodbye the same old way
Ever since you hung up on me
I'm hung up on you
Well the house I'm ringing up from
Is a half a mile from you
But with the reception I'm getting
Might as well be Timbuktu
And behind the door of your home
Is a strange and foreign land
Where you speak a language I don't understand
And I can't dial the phone just now
Even though I know your number
Can't bring my broken heart to be untrue
Like you did today
You'll say goodbye the same old way
Ever since you hung up on me
I'm hung up on you
Now I'm going down to Jimmy's bar
Like a thousand other times
With an appetite for poison
And a suitcase full of dimes
And I'll wait there by the payphone
With one hundred other guys
With those sorry hung-up teardrops in our eyes
And I can't dial the phone just now
Even though I know your number
Can't bring my broken heart to be untrue
Like you did today
You'll say goodbye the same old way
Ever since you hung up on me
I'm hung up on you
The lyrics to Fountains of Wayne's "Hung Up On You" tell a tale of heartbreak and longing for a lost love. The singer of the song is drinking Kentucky bourbon and waiting for a call from his ex-lover. He reminisces about their past moments together, driving down the highway and drinking beer in roadside bars. The moon and stars play shadows on the wall, casting a melancholic light on his memories. He wonders why his painful memories can't find their way to his ex-lover and why they're still hung up on each other.
As the song progresses, he realizes that he can't dial her number even though he knows it by heart. He can't bring himself to be untrue to his broken heart like she did to him when she hung up on him. The distance between them is also highlighted as he dials her number from a house that's half a mile away, but the reception makes it feel like it might as well be Timbuktu.
The song ends with the singer going to Jimmy's bar with an "appetite for poison and a suitcase full of dimes," waiting by the payphone with other guys who are also hung up on their lost loves. The lyrics are a poignant reminder of the agony of heartbreak and the weight of unfulfilled love, making "Hung Up On You" a timeless classic.
Line by Line Meaning
While I down Kentucky bourbon
As I drink my bourbon, I am feeling anxious and waiting for a phone call.
And the moon and stars tonight are playing shadows on the wall
The night is dark and eerie, with the moon and stars casting shadows on the wall.
With the moon the way it is, dear, would you answer out of spite
I wonder if you will answer the phone if I call or ignore me on purpose, given the current moon phase.
Or are you feeling lonely tonight
Alternatively, maybe you are feeling lonely and will answer the phone to hear a friendly voice.
Cause I remember last time, we were out under the stars
I recall our previous time together, driving under the stars and drinking beer at roadside bars.
Driving crooked down the highway, drinking beer in roadside bars
We were carefree and reckless, taking curvy roads and enjoying cold beers at small bars.
And now and then I wonder why this painful memory
Sometimes I question why this particular memory of our time together is so painful.
Can never find its way to you from me
I wish I could convey my pain and emotions to you, but it seems I am unable to.
Well the house I'm ringing up from is a half-mile from you
I am calling from a phone near your house, but it feels like I am miles away due to the lack of connection.
But with the reception I'm getting might as well be Timbuktu
I have terrible reception and cannot reach you, it may as well be like calling from the distant land of Timbuktu.
And behind the door of your home is a strange and foreign land
To me, your home seems like a foreign place, with unknown people and emotions behind the door.
Where you speak a language I don't understand
You are communicating in a way that I cannot comprehend, making it difficult to bridge the gap between us.
Now I'm going down to Jimmy's bar like a thousand other times
I am heading to Jimmy's bar, like I have so many times before, to try and ease my pain.
With an appetite for poison and a suitcase full of dimes
I am craving alcohol to dull my emotions and have small change in case I need to use a payphone.
And I'll wait there by the payphone with one hundred other guys
I will join the many other heartbroken individuals at the payphone, all waiting for a chance to reach someone they love.
With those sorry hung-up teardrops in our eyes
We all share a common pain and struggle with tears in our eyes, due to being hung up on someone that we love.
And I can't dial the phone just now, even though I know your number
Despite having your phone number memorized, I cannot bring myself to call you right now.
Can't bring my broken heart to be untrue like you did today
I cannot pretend that my heart isn't broken like you did when you broke up with me.
You'll say goodbye the same old way ever since you hung up on me
You always say goodbye in the same painful way ever since you hung up on me.
I'm hung up on you
I am still in love with you, despite our past and current circumstances.
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Adam Schlesinger, Christopher Brendan Collingwood
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind