Hip To Be Square

Lewis wrote this song with his drummer Bill Gibson and his keyboard player Sean Hopper. The song pokes fun at the group's clean-cut image, as instead of getting tattoos, growing their hair and behaving badly, the band matured as they got more successful, which was only natural considering they were in their mid-30s at the time and more concerned with taking care of themselves than with enjoying the trappings of fame. The image issue became a problem, however, as the band was seen as conservative icons, especially after stirring performances of "The Star Spangled Banner" at the 1987 Major League Baseball All-Star Game and at the beginning of a concert video they released. Being labeled a Yuppie didn't suit Lewis, whose mother was an artist and father was a jazz drummer. Lewis hitchhiked through Europe when he finished high school, and smoked a lot of pot along the way. As part of the San Francisco music scene, they partook in plenty of borderline-illegal activities, but they were never big on the party scene. Said Lewis, "Everyone thinks I'm the boy next door because I look like the boy next door. But look at my parents, and look where I come from. I'm a beatnik kid."

Members of the San Francisco 49ers football team, including Dwight Clark, Joe Montana and Ronnie Lott, sang the part near the end after Lewis says, "Tell 'em boys." For athletes, they did a pretty good job singing the "Here, there and everywhere, hip, hip, so hip to be square" vocals. Huey Lewis & the News are from San Francisco and were friends with the football players. Their paths would cross at different civic functions and charity events. On the Sports album cover, see if you can spot Dwight Clark making his famous catch.

This song plays a role in the book and movie American Psycho, where shortly before killing Paul Allen, Patrick Bateman does a little monologue about Huey Lewis & the News, and says, "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." Initial pressings of the movie's soundtrack included the song, which apparently was never negotiated. When Lewis found out, he refused to grant permission and about 100,000 copies of the album were recalled and destroyed. According to the bands manager at the time, Bob Brown, Lewis hadn't even seen the film, and his objection was over the brazen inclusion of his song on the album without his permission. "I think what they're trying to do is drum up publicity for themselves," Brown said.