Early life
Hunt was born in Dayton, Ohio and raised by his single mother. His father, Van Hunt, Sr., was a factory worker and part-time painter, who was a friend of Ohio Players drummer Jimmy "Diamond" Williams. Hunt took up the drums at age 7, and saxophone at the age of 8, later adding bass and keyboards. Guitar was the last instrument he learned to play; he played guitar in a rock band called Royalty. Hunt moved to Texas for a short time before relocating to Atlanta, Georgia in 1996 to attend Morehouse College, where he studied English, but soon dropped out. In Atlanta, he started producing a few hip-hop demos for Atlanta rappers in order to pay bills. Hunt met up-and-coming record producers and artists like Dallas Austin, Jermaine Dupri and TLC through his work on demos.
Career
Early career
Hunt wrote and co-produced the song "Hopeless" for singer Dionne Farris, formerly of Arrested Development, and joined her band on guitar and keyboards. "Hopeless" appeared on the soundtrack for the film Love Jones (1997). Hunt co-wrote several songs with Rahsaan Patterson on his album Love in Stereo (1999), and co-wrote with Cree Summer, including the song "Mean Sleep", for her album Street FaΓ«rie (1999), produced by Lenny Kravitz. He also collaborated with Joi on the single "Missing You" (2002). Through Dionne Farris, Hunt met A&R person Randy Jackson (who later went on to be a judge on Fox's American Idol). Jackson would become Hunt's manager in 2002.
Capitol Records
Hunt recorded much of the material from his debut album in 2000. Producer Dallas Austin took Hunt's recording to Capitol Records, leading him to sign with the label in 2001. Hunt's first album, Van Hunt, was released in February 2004. The album included the singles "Down Here in Hell (With You)", "Dust", and "Seconds of Pleasure", and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Urban/Alternative Performance. Hunt's second album, On the Jungle Floor, was released in 2006. The album featured the single, "Character," a revisited "Mean Sleep", as a duet with Nikka Costa, and a cover of "No Sense of Crime" by The Stooges. The album was co-produced by Bill Bottrell. Hunt has toured and appeared with Mary J. Blige, Alicia Keys, Boney James, The Roots, Seal, Angie Stone, Coldplay, The Brand New Heavies, the Dave Matthews Band, and Kanye West.
In 2006, Hunt appeared with Nikka Costa on the Sam Moore album, Overnight Sensational, on the song "If I Had No Loot". Hunt was also featured on "Half the Fun", a track on the Count Bass D album, Act Your Waist Size, released on Fat Beats Records.
in 2007, Hunt won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals, along with John Legend and Joss Stone, for their cover of the Sly & the Family Stone song, "Family Affair", which appeared on the 2006 tribute album Different Strokes By Different Folks. Hunt described winning the award as "one of the bigger pleasures I've had" to The Athens Blur Magazine in 2009.
Blue Note
Hunt released the 4 track digital EP, The Popular Machine, on August 7, 2007. Hunt announced a full length album, Popular, to be released on Blue Note Records on January 15, 2008. Hunt moved from Atlanta to Los Angeles in 2007 while the album was nearing completion. Blue Note had taken over Huntβs recording contract after corporate restructuring at Blue Note and Capitol's parent company, EMI. In December 2007, Blue Note announced that they would not be releasing the album, and that Hunt and the label mutually agreed to part ways. Hunt wrote on his MySpace blog in January 2008, that he couldn't promise that Popular would ever be officially released. Blue Note owns the master recordings and opted not to sell it back to him at an affordable price. Hunt commented that he "didn't think that they had enough money" to promote the album properly. LA Weekly called the album an "appealingly trippy fusion of funk grooves, punk guitar and soul vocals", and "a left-field stunner". Hunt told the Atlanta alternative weekly newspaper Creative Loafing that he was "devastated" when the label decided not to release the album.
Independent
As of June 2008, Hunt was recording a fourth album, which he plans to release himself and market using the Internet. Hunt has blogged about his new approach on his MySpace page. Hunt toured the U.S. in July and August 2008. He released Use In Case Of Emergency, a compilation of demos, remixes and B-sides recorded between 1997 and 2005, through his Web site in May 2009. Hunt has also been working on autobiographical book of short stories titled Tales of Friction. In July 2009, Hunt told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he plans to release one more album and tour once more, but doesn't know what his plans are after that. Hunt performed at the National Black Arts Festival's tribute to Curtis Mayfield at Atlanta Symphony Hall on July 16, 2010.
Influences
David Bowie
Serge Gainsbourg
The Isley Brothers
Curtis Mayfield
Thelonious Monk
The Ohio Players
Iggy Pop
Prince
Richard Pryor
Sly Stone
Neil Young
Discography
Albums
Van Hunt (2004), Capitol
On the Jungle Floor (2006), Capitol
Popular (2008) - unreleased studio album
Compilations
Use In Case of Emergency (2009), self-released - collection of outtakes
EPs
Acoustic E.P. (2004), Capitol - digital EP
Napster Sessions (2004), Capitol - digital EP
Connect Set (2006), Capitol - digital EP
The Popular Machine (2007), Blue Note - digital EP
Singles
"Down Here in Hell (With You)" (2004), Capitol
"Dust" (2004), Capitol
"Seconds of Pleasure" (2004), Capitol
"Character" (2006), Capitol
"Being A Girl" (2006), Capitol
Awards and nominations
2005 Grammy Award nomination for Best Urban/Alternative Performance for "Dust."
2006 Grammy Award win for Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals for "Family Affair"
Hello Goodbye
Van Hunt Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Love shouldn't be so complicated
You won't say yes you won't say no
Yellow lights you've contemplated
Tell me when will you decide
Baby if it's you and I
Just can't keep me on the side forever
You think that our love is stong
I just can't keep hanging on
What you going to do when tomorrow gone forever
You keep running in and out of my mind
Hello goodbye
You don't laugh and you don't cry
Love can't live without emotion
You don't reveal and you don't hide
Wearing your disguise out in the open
Tell me when will you decide
Baby if it's you and I
Just can't keep me on the side forever
You think that our love is stong
I just can't keep hanging on
What you going to do when tomorrow's gone forever
You keep running in and out of my mind
Hello goodbye(2x)
You keep running in and out of my mind
Hello goodbye
You're so hot and you're so cold
Love is here and then love leaves
And you switch so fast I don't know
If my head can handle the speed
Tell me when
Tell me when will you decide
Baby if it's you and I
Just can't keep me on the side forever
You think that our love is stong
I just can't keep hanging on
What you going to do when tomorrow's gone forever
Tell me when will you decide
Baby if it's you and I
Just can't keep me on the side forever
You keep running in and out of my mind
Hello goodbye(2x)
You keep running in and out of my life
Hello goodbye
You come and you go
Hello hello goodbye
(9x)
Van Hunt's song "Hello Goodbye" speaks to the complicated nature of love and relationships. In the lyrics, the singer expresses frustration at their partner's indecisiveness, particularly around the question of whether they should stay together or break up. The partner in question is described as vacillating between "yes" and "no," unable to commit or to let go. This indecision leads to a painful limbo for the singer, who is tired of being kept "on the side."
The chorus of the song features the repetition of the titular phrase "hello goodbye," which serves as a kind of mantra for the push-pull dynamic between the two lovers. They are in a perpetual state of coming and going, unable to fully commit or fully leave each other behind. The song's lyrics also touch on the idea that love requires both emotion and vulnerability, and that without these elements it cannot survive.
In many ways, "Hello Goodbye" is a quintessential breakup song, grappling with the complexity of emotions that arise when a relationship is ending. The lyrics suggest that there may be a sense of relief or liberation that comes with finally making a decision and moving on, but also acknowledge the difficulty of saying goodbye to someone you still care about. Overall, the song conveys a sense of emotional ambiguity and longing, speaking to the universal experience of love and loss.
Line by Line Meaning
You won't stay and you won't go
Your indecisiveness is causing me pain because I can't tell if you want us to be together or not.
Love shouldn't be so complicated
I believe that love should be simple and easy, not complicated like it is with you.
You won't say yes you won't say no
You're not giving me any clear answers about what you want, which is making me feel confused and unsure.
Yellow lights you've contemplated
You're taking your time to make a decision, unsure of whether you're ready to commit or not.
Tell me when will you decide
I need to know when you're going to make a decision about us, because I can't keep waiting around forever.
Baby if it's you and I
If we're meant to be together, we need to figure it out soon so we can start building our future together.
Just can't keep me on the side forever
I can't wait around for you forever, I need to know where we stand so we can move forward or move on.
You think that our love is stong
Despite our challenges, you believe our love is strong enough to survive anything.
I just can't keep hanging on
I'm struggling to keep holding on to this relationship when you're not giving me any clear answers about what you want.
What you going to do when tomorrow's gone forever
If we don't make a decision soon, we might miss our chance to be together and regret it forever.
You keep running in and out of my mind
I can't stop thinking about you, even though you keep giving me mixed signals.
Hello goodbye
Your mixed signals are like a constant cycle of hello and goodbye, leaving me unsure of what you truly want.
Love can't live without emotion
For our love to work, we need to feel something for each other, whether it's joy or sadness or anything in between.
You don't reveal and you don't hide
You're not letting me in completely, but you're not totally closing yourself off either.
Wearing your disguise out in the open
You're pretending everything is okay with us, but I can see that you're struggling to make a decision.
You're so hot and you're so cold
Your feelings for me seem to change constantly, leaving me unsure of where we stand.
Love is here and then love leaves
Our love is constantly shifting, making it hard for us to build a stable, lasting relationship.
And you switch so fast I don't know
Your indecisiveness is causing you to constantly switch between wanting to be with me and wanting to leave me.
If my head can handle the speed
Your back and forth is happening so quickly that I'm struggling to keep up and understand where we stand.
You come and you go
You keep coming in and out of my life, making it difficult for me to create stability for us.
Hello hello goodbye
Our relationship is like a constant cycle of hello and goodbye, never quite reaching a stable middle ground.
Lyrics Β© O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
EtheriaNC
Love Van Hunts music, he's brilliant live too, made my day when say him perform as part of Mary J.Blige's opening act a few years back....he should have been be headlining!! Class act
Jimmy Fields
This bro never sole his soul to the devil that few have ever heard of him he is his on man I love his music
tionna taylor
This man can do no wrong....hellooo! GOODBYE!
Wendy Barker
Good song, captures the sentiment of ppl who wonβt commit
Noah Carver
When I was younger, I didn't realize the jazzy lines in Van Hunt's music. A musician since childhood.
Eric Chapman
He got that Curtis Mayfield Type of vibe
Tyron Turner
For me its Sly and the Family Stone.
DishWhiteKnight
Now THAT'S how you "walk" with a bass!
Capital F-U-N-K!
Wynetta White
Curtis May-field, and Prince
his voice sound like both of them
PurpleSky
Wynetta White π―