Released October 6, 1986 Genre Rock Label Chrysalis Records | Format 7" and 12" single Length 4:01 | |
B-side "Some of My Lies Are True" (Remix) | ||
"Hip to Be Square" is a song by Huey Lewis and the News, written by Bill Gibson, Sean Hopper, and Huey Lewis, and released in 1986 as the second single from the multi-platinum album, Fore!.
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The song features Pro Football Hall of Famers and then-San Francisco 49ers Joe Montana and Ronnie Lott singing backup vocals. The single reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100. In concert, Huey Lewis now normally sings the song as "(Too) Hip to Be Square", as performed on their live album, Live at 25.
American Psycho
The song is referred to in the novel American Psycho when the main character, Patrick Bateman, provides a lengthy critique of Huey Lewis and the News' career.
The song was then featured in the film adaptation during a scene in which Bateman (played by Christian Bale) gives an abridged version of his critique from the novel to Paul Allen (Jared Leto) just before killing him with an axe in one of the most iconic scenes of the movie:
"In '87, Huey released this ... Fore!, their most accomplished album. I think their undisputed masterpiece is 'Hip to Be Square,' a song so catchy, most people probably don't listen to the lyrics. But they should, because it's not just about the pleasures of conformity, and the importance of trends, it's also a personal statement about the band itself."
The song was originally featured on the accompanying soundtrack, but shortly after it was released, the album was pulled from the shelves and the song was removed before being reissued, but a small number had already been sold. Reports erroneously claimed that Huey Lewis had objected to the context in which his song was used in the film and demanded it be removed from the album. In reality, the film's production team had paid for the rights to use the song in the film, but overlooked receiving the rights to include it on the soundtrack. When the soundtrack was released with the song on it, Huey Lewis had it withdrawn, as the soundtrack rights had not been secured. In 2013, Huey Lewis himself guest starred in a parody of the scene with Weird Al Yankovic for comedy website Funny Or Die.
Sesame Street
The popular children's show Sesame Street created an educational version of the song called "Hip to Be a Square" and used it during a cartoon portion of the program.
Track listing
- "Hip to Be Square"
- "Some of My Lies Are True" (Remix)
- "Hip to Be Square" (Dance remix) – 6:05
- "Hip to Be Square" (Dub mix) – 5:11