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.
It Must Be Summer
Fountains of Wayne Lyrics
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'Cause the days are long
And I dial your number
But you're gone, gone, gone
I'd set out searching
But the car won't start
And it must be summer
'Cause I'm falling apart
I try your sister
On the Jersey Shore
She said you might be stopping by
But she's not sure
So I call your mother
On Long Island Sound
She said it must be summer
'Cause you're never around
And the sun is beating me senseless
I feel defenseless like a dying lamb
I don't wan't to lie by the oceanside
Don't want to play in the sand
Can't you understand?
Can't you understand?
It must be summer
'Cause the streets are bare
And I try your number
But you're just not there
And the sun keeps shining
'Til it's dead and gone
And it must be summer
'Cause I can't go on
And the sun is beating me senseless
I feel defenseless like a dying lamb
I don't wan't to lie by the oceanside
Don't want to play in the sand
Can't you understand?
Can't you understand?
The song "It Must Be Summer" by Fountains of Wayne is a melancholic tune describing the loneliness that can accompany the summer season. The opening lines suggest that the days are long and hot, pointing towards the fact that the singer's lover is no longer present in his life. However, he still tries to call her number but gets no response. He considers going out to search for her, but his car won't start, which could be a metaphor for his inability to move on from the relationship he lost. The chorus talks about how much he is struggling in the summer heat without his lover, and how even reaching out to her sister and mother brings no solution or comfort. The song ends in a poignant note, with the singer musing on how the sun keeps shining until it's dead and gone, effectively echoing his sadness and inability to move on.
The song portrays the loneliness that can come along with summertime when people around you are enjoying the warm weather and happiness that comes with it, but you cannot find solace in it. Instead, it only serves as a reminder of what you have lost. This theme of contradictory emotions is a common one in Fountains of Wayne songs, and it is exemplified in "It Must Be Summer." Summertime usually evokes happy memories and warm feelings, but sometimes it can bring heartache and loneliness, which the band has done a great job of conveying through their lyrics.
Line by Line Meaning
It must be summer
The singer indicates that it is summertime
'Cause the days are long
The singer is aware that the days are longer in summer compared to other seasons
And I dial your number
The singer attempts to call someone
But you're gone, gone, gone
The person being called is unreachable or absent
I'd set out searching
The singer tries to find the person
But the car won't start
The singer is unable to use their car to find the person being called
And it must be summer
The singer associates their situation with summertime
'Cause I'm falling apart
The singer feels like they are deteriorating or disintegrating
I try your sister
The singer reaches out to another person who may know the whereabouts of the person who they are trying to call
On the Jersey Shore
The person who the singer is calling lives in or near the Jersey Shore
She said you might be stopping by
The person who the singer is trying to reach may come to visit the sister
But she's not sure
The sister doesn't know whether the person who the singer is calling is coming to see them
So I call your mother
The singer tries to call another person who may know where the person who they are trying to call is
On Long Island Sound
The location where the person who the singer is trying to reach is uncertain
She said it must be summer
The mother associates the lack of contact with the person the singer is trying to reach with summertime
'Cause you're never around
The person who the singer is trying to call is usually absent or unavailable during the summertime
And the sun is beating me senseless
The sun is so hot that it is causing the singer to feel uncomfortable or helpless
I feel defenseless like a dying lamb
The singer feels exposed or unprotected like a lamb that is close to death
I don't wan't to lie by the oceanside
The singer does not want to go to the beach during summertime
Don't want to play in the sand
The singer does not want to participate in activities that involve sand or the beach
Can't you understand?
The singer is asking if the person being called can understand their situation
Can't you understand?
The singer repeats their question of whether the person being called can understand their situation
It must be summer
The singer confirms that the season is the cause of their problems
'Cause the streets are bare
The singer notices that there are not many people outside because of the season
And I try your number
The singer attempts to call the person again
But you're just not there
The person who the singer is trying to call is still absent or unreachable
And the sun keeps shining
The sun continues to be hot and bright during the day
'Til it's dead and gone
The sun will continue to shine for the remainder of summer
And it must be summer
The singer associates their inability to keep going with summertime
'Cause I can't go on
The singer is unable to continue pursuing the person they are trying to reach
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: CHRIS COLLINGWOOD, ADAM SCHLESINGER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind