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Hanginaround

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"Hanginaround"
Single by Counting Crows
from the album This Desert Life
B-side"A Long December"
ReleasedOctober 18, 1999 (1999-10-18)
Length4:16
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)David Lowery, Dennis Herring
Counting Crows singles chronology
"Daylight Fading"
(1997) 		"Hanginaround"
(1999) 		"Mrs. Potter's Lullaby"
(2000)

"Hanginaround" is a song by American rock band Counting Crows. It is the first track on their third album, This Desert Life (1999).[1] Released on October 18, 1999, the song reached number 28 on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming their biggest hit on the chart from this album. It also reached number one on the Billboard Triple-A chart, their second number-one single on this listing.

Outside the United States, "Hanginaround" became the band's fifth top-10 single in Canada, reaching number three on the RPM 100 Hit Tracks chart, and peaked within the top 50 in Ireland, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. In April 2022, American Songwriter ranked the song at number nine on their list of "The Top 10 Counting Crows Songs".[2]

Background

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As with on much of the This Desert Life album, Hanginaround saw the band experimenting with different recording techniques - in this case, utilizing looping. The song consists of eight different piano loops arranged in various configurations in setup inspired by Brian Wilson's Smile project.[3] According to Counting Crows fansite anna-begins.com, Duritz says:

So I was sort of ... semi-celebratory about that but also [thinking] 'Where am I going?' It's about a wild time when I was growing' up. Living a bit of a wild life, celebrating that. It's also about being scared that you don't have a future, but I don't think that's a waste. In the end, the guy just decides to continue having fun and to worry about it later.[4]

In an interview with Songfacts, Adam Duritz summed up his thought process behind the lyrics by stating "The idea of a song created with loops made me think of being on a loop myself. I wrote that song about when I was younger and the latter years in Berkeley and how I loved it there, but I was kind of going nowhere."[3]

Music video

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The music video for the song shows the band performing the song in a living room of a house surrounded by a large crowd (which includes actress Meredith Salenger), as well as Adam Duritz waiting at a bus stop on a clear, colorful day. Throughout the video, the scene changes constantly, from people walking by (including one woman naked with her exposed areas blurred) to a construction crew removing the bench and replacing it with a bus canopy they built, to the other band members performing with Adam. At the end, a woman walks up to the canopy and sits next to Adam. After he glances at her necklace, a bus pulls up. Many others board it first, and as the woman is about to do so, she asks Adam to ride with her. He agrees, and gets on. The video ends with the crowd in the living room applauding the performance, and the bus (with posters of the band's "This Desert Life" album cover on the back of it) driving away from the stop.

Track listings

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Charts

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Release history

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Region Date Format(s) Label(s) Ref.
United States September 28, 1999
DGC [32]
October 4, 1999 Hot adult contemporary radio [33]
United Kingdom October 18, 1999 CD Geffen [34]
United States October 19, 1999 Contemporary hit radio DGC [35]
United Kingdom (re-release) March 15, 2004 CD Geffen [36]

References

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  1. ^ "Counting Crows – This Desert Life". AllMusic. Retrieved December 15, 2020.
  2. ^ Uitti, Jacob (April 29, 2022). "The Top 10 Counting Crows Songs". American Songwriter. Retrieved April 30, 2022.
  3. ^ a b Wiser, Carl (November 12, 2013). "Adam Duritz of Counting Crows-Songwriter Interviews". Songfacts. Retrieved July 8, 2014.
  4. ^ "Lisa's Counting Crows Shrine". Anna-begins.com. Retrieved February 20, 2012.
  5. ^ Hanginaround (US 7-inch single vinyl disc). Counting Crows. DGC Records. 1999. 069497216-7.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  6. ^ Hanginaround (UK CD single liner notes). Counting Crows. Geffen Records. 1999. 497 184-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  7. ^ Hanginaround (European CD single liner notes). Counting Crows. Geffen Records. 1999. 497 188-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  8. ^ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 9695." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
  9. ^ "Top RPM Adult Contemporary: Issue 9751." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
  10. ^ "Top RPM Rock/Alternative Tracks: Issue 9948." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
  11. ^ "Counting Crows – Hanginaround" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
  12. ^ "Counting Crows – Hanginaround". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
  13. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
  14. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
  15. ^ "Counting Crows Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved September 15, 2019.
  16. ^ "Counting Crows Chart History (Adult Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved September 15, 2019.
  17. ^ "Counting Crows Chart History (Adult Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved September 15, 2019.
  18. ^ "Counting Crows Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved September 15, 2019.
  19. ^ "Counting Crows Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved September 15, 2019.
  20. ^ "Counting Crows Chart History (Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved September 15, 2019.
  21. ^ "Irish-charts.com – Discography Counting Crows". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
  22. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
  23. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
  24. ^ "RPM 1999 Top 100 Hit Tracks". RPM. Retrieved December 16, 2018 – via Library and Archives Canada.
  25. ^ "RPM 1999 Top 50 Rock Tracks". RPM. Retrieved December 16, 2018 – via Library and Archives Canada.
  26. ^ "Most Played Adult Top 40 Songs of 1999". Airplay Monitor. Vol. 7, no. 52. December 24, 1999. p. 47.
  27. ^ "The Best of '99: Most Played Triple-A Songs". Airplay Monitor. Vol. 7, no. 52. December 24, 1999. p. 38.
  28. ^ "The Year in Music 2000: Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks". Billboard. Vol. 112, no. 53. December 30, 2000. p. YE-99.
  29. ^ "Most Played Mainstream Top 40 Songs of 2000". Airplay Monitor. Vol. 8, no. 51. December 22, 2000. p. 54.
  30. ^ "Most Played Modern Rock Songs of 2000". Airplay Monitor. Vol. 8, no. 51. December 22, 2000. p. 38.
  31. ^ "The Best of 2000: Most Played Triple-A Songs". Airplay Monitor. Vol. 8, no. 51. December 22, 2000. p. 44.
  32. ^ "Going for Adds". Radio & Records. No. 1318. September 24, 1999. pp. 123, 128.
  33. ^ "Hot AC: Going for Adds". Radio & Records. No. 1319. October 1, 1999. p. 95.
  34. ^ "In-Store Next Week (from 18/10/99)". Music Week. October 16, 1999. p. 26.
  35. ^ "CHR/Pop: Going for Adds". Radio & Records. No. 1321. October 15, 1999. p. 132.
  36. ^ "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. March 13, 2004. p. 27.
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