The Hi-Fives is an American rock and roll band from the San Francisco Bay A… Read Full Bio ↴The Hi-Fives is an American rock and roll band from the San Francisco Bay Area.

The band was formed in 1994 after drummer Al Sobrante left the previous incarnation, The Ne'er Do Wells. Sobrante was replaced by drummer Julie, formerly of Red #9. Julie remained with the band through the recording of the first Lookout! Records album Welcome To My Mind. The title track was a minor hit on college radio and modern rock stations.

Julie left the band for personal reasons and was replaced by Evan from Benicia. The band was asked to open for Green Day during the 1994 Dookie tour, along with Pansy Division. Evan left the band after the tour and was replaced by Danny Seelig from the Phantom Surfers.

The band won a category in the 1996 Bay Area Music Awards ("Bammies") for "Outstanding Alternative Pop/Rock Group" and embarked on a tour in the United States and even a tour in Japan with the Mr. T Experience. While on U.S. tour with The Queers, Jess and Danny both quit the band onstage after a fight. They returned to record the second album And A Whole Lotta You, but both were soon replaced with Steve Faine, previously of Decal and The Stimmies; and Gary Gutfeld of Redemption 87.

The 1998 album Get Down followed but the band never quite recovered from the loss of Hilliard, who was really the heart and soul of the band. John Denery got married and moved to Hawaii, while Chris Imlay became an art director for such magazines as Gearhead and MacAddict. The band played a couple of shows in 2005, but the future of The Hi-Fives is unknown.

Let's Hear a Cheer
The Hi-Fives Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Eins, zwei, drei, vier
Let's hear a cheer for the Queers, they got us here
Now we've got time to steal their beer
We'll get our kicks watching Joe play cool licks
We'll smile and nod, and steal his picks

And we'll smile once in a while
After every show

Cause the kids are here to see the Queers, but we'll still get paid
Oh oh oh oh

We'll cruise the Autobahn in our foreign van
Inquire about the hinterland
We'll talk to huns and fraulains about all kinds of things
Like where Ringo lost his rings

And we'll smile once in a while
After every show
Cause the kids are here to see the Queers, but we'll still get paid
Oh oh oh oh, oh oh oh oh oh oh
And the kids will wonder, the kids will wonder
How we got this gig
But we'll just smile and leave their club
Carrying Hugh's rig

We'll eat knockwursts while sailing down the Rhine
Sip a craft of Paris wine
Brandy in a snifter and chocolate from a tort
Meat pie, meat pie, and more knockwursts

And we'll smile once in a while
After every show
Cause the kids are here to see the Queers, but we'll still get paid
Oh oh oh oh, oh oh oh oh oh oh
And the kids will wonder, the kids will wonder
How we got this gig
But we'll just smile and leave their club
Carrying Hugh's rig

We'll say goodbye, au revoir, and auf wiedersehen
Then we'll jump from a jetliner
We'll go to Heathrow, that's an airport
Then we'll lose our passports

And we'll smile once in a while
After every show

Cause the kids are here to see the Queers, but we'll still get paid
But we'll still get paid

Overall Meaning

The Hi-Fives' song "Let's Hear a Cheer" is a playful and upbeat song about a band who is opening for The Queers. The opening line of "Eins, zwei, drei, vier" immediately evokes a sense of fun and energy. The band cheers for The Queers for getting them this gig, but then jokes about stealing their beer. They also mention watching Joe (presumably Joe Queer, frontman of The Queers) play cool licks and stealing his picks.

The chorus mentions how the kids are there to see The Queers, but The Hi-Fives will still get paid. This shows a tongue-in-cheek awareness of their status as the opening act. The song also has fun with the idea of touring in Europe, mentioning cruising the Autobahn, talking to huns and fraulains, and eating knockwursts while sailing down the Rhine. The line "Where Ringo lost his rings" is a nonsensical reference to the Beatles drummer losing his rings during a tour in 1963.

The second verse continues with the band joking about their European tour, with references to Paris wine and losing their passports. The song ends with a playful reference to jumping from a jetliner and going to Heathrow airport. Overall, "Let's Hear a Cheer" is a lighthearted song that celebrates the fun of being a touring band.

Line by Line Meaning

Eins, zwei, drei, vier
Counting off, let's begin the song

Let's hear a cheer for the Queers, they got us here
Let's give a shoutout to the Queers, who helped us get this gig

Now we've got time to steal their beer
Now that we're here, we can take it easy and help ourselves to their beer

We'll get our kicks watching Joe play cool licks
We'll enjoy watching Joe play his awesome guitar riffs

We'll smile and nod, and steal his picks
We'll act friendly towards Joe while secretly taking his guitar picks

And we'll smile once in a while
We'll occasionally show our pleasure and satisfaction

After every show
At the end of each performance

Cause the kids are here to see the Queers, but we'll still get paid
Although the fans are there to see the Queers, we'll still receive our payment

We'll cruise the Autobahn in our foreign van
We'll travel on the Autobahn in our van from another country

Inquire about the hinterland
We'll ask about the surrounding area

We'll talk to huns and fraulains about all kinds of things
We'll converse with Germans (huns) and German women (fraulains) about a variety of topics

Like where Ringo lost his rings
We'll discuss amusing and trivial topics, such as the whereabouts of Ringo Starr's rings

And the kids will wonder, the kids will wonder, how we got this gig
The fans will be curious about how we were able to secure this performance

But we'll just smile and leave their club, carrying Hugh's rig
We'll simply smile and exit the venue, taking Hugh's equipment with us

We'll eat knockwursts while sailing down the Rhine
We'll enjoy German sausages called knockwursts while cruising along the Rhine river

Sip a craft of Paris wine
We'll drink a glass of wine from Paris

Brandy in a snifter and chocolate from a tort
We'll indulge in brandy served in a particular type of glass and chocolate from a type of cake called a torte

Meat pie, meat pie, and more knockwursts
We'll eat meat pies and even more knockwursts

We'll say goodbye, au revoir, and auf wiedersehen
We'll bid farewell in three different languages: French, and German

Then we'll jump from a jetliner
We'll jump from a passenger jet airplane

We'll go to Heathrow, that's an airport
We'll head to Heathrow Airport, which is located in London

Then we'll lose our passports
We'll accidentally misplace our passports

But we'll still get paid
Despite the mishap, we'll still receive our payment

Contributed by Aria A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

To comment on or correct specific content, highlight it

TRACKS