MULTIMEDIA-ENGLISH
Ho Hey (The Lumineers)
click image to open video page
2:42
Video page URL
https://multimedia-english.com/videos/music/ho-hey-the-lumineers-4504
Description

It's an indie folk song by American folk rock band The Lumineers. They are from Denver, Colorado. The Lumineers comprise lead vocalist and guitarist Wesley Schultz, drummer Jeremiah Fraites and pianist/cellist Neyla Pekarek. Schultz and Fraites were originally based in New York.

Transcript

(Ho!)
(Hey!)
(Ho!)
(Hey!)

(Ho!) I've been trying to do it right
(Hey!) I've been living a lonely life
(Ho!) I've been sleeping here instead
(Hey!) I've been sleeping in my bed,
(Ho!) I've been sleeping in my bed
(Hey!)

(Ho!)

(Ho!) So show me family
(Hey!) All the blood that I will bleed
(Ho!) I don't know where I belong
(Hey!) I don't know where I went wrong
(Ho!) But I can write a song
(Hey!)

I belong with you, you belong with me, you're my sweetheart
I belong with you, you belong with me, you're my sweet
(Ho!)

(Hey!)
(Ho!)
(Hey!)

(Ho!) I don't think you're right for him
(Hey!) Think of what it might have been if you
(Ho!) Took a bus to China Town
(Hey!) I'd be standing on Canal
(Ho!) And Bowery
(Hey!)
(Ho!) And she'd be standing next to me
(Hey!)

I belong with you, you belong with me, you're my sweetheart
I belong with you, you belong with me, you're my sweetheart

Love we need it now
Let's hope for some
Cause oh, we're bleeding out

I belong with you, you belong with me, you're my sweetheart
I belong with you, you belong with me, you're my sweet
(Ho!)
(Hey!)
(Ho!)
(Hey!)

Explanations

HO!= (interjection) Used to express surprise or joy, to attract attention to something sighted, or to urge onward.


HEY!= (interjection) Used to attract attention or to express surprise, appreciation, wonder, or pleasure.  Traditionally, "hey" was just an exclamation. Sometimes it expressed delight, sometimes a warning. Nowadays we find it used for emphasis as well, especially in the expression "but hey". It is a short, colloquial version of "How are you?" and thus close kin to the informal salutation hi, which it seems to be replacing in many situations.


DO IT RIGHT= Do it correctly or appropriately.


LONELY= If you are or feel lonely, you are sad because you are or/and feel alone.


INSTEAD= As a replacement, substitute, or alternative.


SHOW ME= Present me to view; exhibit.


BLOOD= /blʌd/ the red fluid that circulates through the heart, arteries, and veins in the body.


BLEED= (bleed-bled-bled) Lose blood from one's body.


BELONG= To be a member of a group or to be a part of something else.


GO WRONG= To make a mistake.


SWEETHEART= One who is loved; girlfriend (used as a familiar term of endearment)


SWEET= Term of affection; a dear or beloved person.


YOU'RE RIGHT FOR HIM= If you're right for him you two are compatible.


MIGHT= Used to indicate a possibility or probability.


CHINA TOWN= A neighborhood or section of a city that is inhabited chiefly by Chinese people.


CANAL= Canal Street is a major street in New York City; it forms the main spine of Chinatown.


BOWERY= It's a street and neighborhood in the southern portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan.


STAND= Be on one's feet.

Meaning

The song was originally created during Schultz and Fraites' time in New York as a kiss-off to disinterested concert-goers. "That song was an effort to get under people's skin at shows in Brooklyn, where everyone is pretty indifferent," Schultz told American Songwriter. "And I figured if we could punctuate it with shouts we might get someone's attention".