Hootie & the Blowfish formed in 1986. The quartet met when they were freshmen at the University of South Carolina in Columbia. Bryan heard Rucker singing in the showers of the dorm they shared and was impressed by his vocal ability. They began playing cover tunes as The Wolf Brothers; eventually they collaborated with Felber, a former high school bandmate of Bryan's, and Jim "Soni" Sonefeld as Hootie & the Blowfish.
Brantley Smith was the original drummer for the band. He left the group to pursue music ministry, but he has made scattered guest appearances with the band (he played cello on their MTV Unplugged performance in 1996, and played drums at Gruene Hall in Gruene, Texas, on June 27, 2008).
The group independently released two cassette demo EPs in 1991 and 1992. In 1993, they pressed 50,000 copies of a self-released EP, Kootchypop. Their mainstream debut album was Cracked Rear View (1994). It was an instant success, ultimately going platinum 16 times in the U.S. and becoming the best-selling album of 1995. The album was propelled by four hits, "Hold My Hand" (U.S. #10), "Let Her Cry" (U.S. #9), "Only Wanna Be with You" (U.S. #6), and "Time" (U.S. #14). Miami Dolphins' Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino appeared in the band's video for the song "Only Wanna Be with You", along with several other athletes.
The band won the "Best New Artist" award at the 1996 Grammy Awards. Hootie & the Blowfish appeared on MTV Unplugged on the eve of the release of their second album, 1996's Fairweather Johnson. Though sales began promisingly, and it contained the hit single "Old Man and Me" (U.S. #13), the album sold four million copies in the U.S.
In 1995, Hootie & the Blowfish contributed the song "Hey Hey What Can I Do" to the Encomium tribute album to Led Zeppelin. Their cover of Canadian group 54-40's "I Go Blind", originally released on the soundtrack to the TV series Friends in 1995, did not appear on Cracked Rear View or Fairweather Johnson, but nevertheless became a hit at radio in 1996 after three singles from Fairweather Johnson had been released. Both "Hey Hey What Can I Do" and "I Go Blind" were later released on the collection Scattered, Smothered and Covered.
Hootie and the Blowfish started their own record label, Breaking Records, in 1996 as a subsidiary of Atlantic. They had planned to focus on signing local Carolina acts. Edwin McCain and Cravin' Melon were both associated with the label at one point, but did not release any material on it. Meat Puppets, Jump, Little Children, Treadmill Trackstar and Treehouse released one album each on Breaking Records. The label folded in 2000.
In 1998, they performed on Frank Wildhorn's concept album of the musical The Civil War.
In 200, the band released a B-sides and rarities compilation in 2000 entitled Scattered, Smothered and Covered.
The band covered the 1968 Orpheus hit "Can't Find the Time" in 2001 for the soundtrack of the Jim Carrey movie, Me, Myself and Irene. Orpheus leader Bruce Arnold performed the song with the band during several concerts on the West Coast of the United States in 2001.
In 2009, Hootie and the Blowfish performed live in a ballet which chronicled their rise and success in the 1990s.
In 2008, Rucker announced in an AOL Sessions interview that Hootie and the Blowfish would be going on hiatus so Rucker could pursue his solo career as a country music performer. Although the band will no longer be recording or touring, Rucker confirmed that they will still perform their scheduled charity concerts, stating, "We have four charity gigs every year and we will still do them, but we will not do a record or tour." Rucker also said that the split will last "for five or six years, or until I record three or four country albums". He later amended his statement, saying, "To be honest with you, we're not even split up right now, and we're not really thinking about splitting up."
I'm Goin' Home
Hootie & The Blowfish Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Won't you stay here for one more day
I've been your boy for so long now
There's so much I've, I still have to say
Sky rips open and I held my heart in my hand
Like a soldier on his very last day
Cried myself to sleep that night and I listened
Sha la la la, sha la la la, I'm going home
Sha la la la, la la la la, I'm going home
Oh, something inside of me makes me scream, oh
How could God take you from a little boy
He'll be alright, he's by my side
He's not a little boy, he's my pride and joy
Sha la la la
Sha la la la, sha la la la, I'm going home
Sha la la la, la la la la, I'm going home
Summer on the radio and the phone rings
And it was Jeanette
She said, boy we had to let her go
I begged no, no not yet
You left six of us to fend for ourselves
Guess it's just part of someone's master plan
We see you laughing 'cause you're my best friend
You're the light of the lamb
And I smiled when the angels sing
Sha la la la, sha la la la, take me home
Sha la la la, la la la la, I'm going home
Sha la la la, la la la la, I'm going home
Sha la la la, la la la la, I'm going home
The song "I'm Goin' Home" by Hootie & The Blowfish is a heartfelt ballad about loss and longing. The opening verses are a plea to the singer's mother to stay for one more day - the singer is not yet ready to let her go. The chorus, with its repetition of "Sha la la," evokes a sense of melancholy and impending departure, while the image of the sky ripping open and the singer holding his heart in his hand suggests that he is experiencing intense emotional pain. He cries himself to sleep, and in his dreams he hears the angels singing, perhaps indicating that his mother has passed away and he is now grieving her loss.
The second verse shifts to a more explicitly religious perspective, as the singer wonders why God would take his mother away from him. He takes comfort in the idea that his mother is "by his side," though he also asserts that he is not a child anymore but rather his mother's "pride and joy." The third verse introduces another character, Jeanette, who has apparently informed the singer of their mother's passing. The singer begs for a little more time before he has to say goodbye, and reflects on the difficult journey that lies ahead for him and his siblings now that they are on their own.
Overall, the song is a poignant reflection on the experience of loss and the difficulty of saying goodbye to a loved one. The repetition of the chorus and the simple melody give the song a haunting, almost lullaby-like quality that underscores the singer's feelings of helplessness and sadness.
Line by Line Meaning
Mama please don't go
The singer is pleading with his mother to not leave and stay with him for one more day
Won't you stay here for one more day
He wants his mother to stay by his side for a little longer
I've been your boy for so long now
He seems to have been with his mother for a long time and has deeply cherished their relationship
There's so much I've, I still have to say
The singer feels he has unspoken things he wants to tell his mother
Sky rips open and I held my heart in my hand
Something big happened and it affected him greatly
Like a soldier on his very last day
He is going through something as though he had only a day left to live
Cried myself to sleep that night and I listened
The singer was crying so heavily while trying to fall asleep and as he listened to what was happening around him
As I heard the angels sing, sha la la
The song suggests that maybe he was hearing something imaginary, like angels singing
Sha la la la, sha la la la, I'm going home
The singer feels like he's headed home, even if it's not a physical direction
Oh, something inside of me makes me scream, oh
The singer has an inexplicable feeling that is making him scream
How could God take you from a little boy
The singer seems to be upset with God for taking something dear away from him
He'll be alright, he's by my side
Although upset, the singer acknowledges that he will be okay since he still has the memory of his loved one with him
He's not a little boy, he's my pride and joy
The person who has passed away was someone cherished deeply by the singer
Summer on the radio and the phone rings
The setting is summer, and the mention of the phone ringing sets a tense scene
And it was Jeanette
The person on the other end of the phone call is named Jeanette
She said, boy we had to let her go
Jeanette called to inform the singer that someone had passed away
I begged no, no not yet
The singer is begging Jeanette to let the person stay longer
You left six of us to fend for ourselves
The person who has passed has left six people to deal with their grief on their own
Guess it's just part of someone's master plan
Even in the face of death, the singer finds themselves looking for a reason why it happened, which they assume is part of some higher power's plan
We see you laughing 'cause you're my best friend
Someone who has passed away was the singer's best friend, and they imagine they're watching from heaven, laughing at them
You're the light of the lamb
The person who has passed is remembered as a good, pure soul
And I smiled when the angels sing
Once again, the imagery of angels singing brings a sense of comfort and closure to the singer
Sha la la la, sha la la la, take me home
The singer is now asking to be taken home
Sha la la la, la la la la, I'm going home
The song ends with the repeated chorus of the singer feeling a sense of being at home
Sha la la la, la la la la, I'm going home
The song ends with the repeated chorus of the singer feeling a sense of being at home
Sha la la la, la la la la, I'm going home
The song ends with the repeated chorus of the singer feeling a sense of being at home
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: DARIUS RUCKER, DEAN FELBER, JIM SONEFELD, MARK BRYAN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind