Hey Jealousy

This song has a tragic story. Gin Blossoms guitarist Doug Hopkins wrote "Hey Jealousy" about his old girlfriend, whom he was trying to reconcile with. The song dates back to 1989, when the band included it on their debut album, Dusted, released on the small Arizona label San Jacinto Records. They built up a following in the Phoenix area, but struggled until "Hey Jealousy" got the attention of A&M Records, which signed the band. In early 1992 they recorded their first album with the label, New Miserable Experience, which included new versions of some of their Dusted tracks, including "Hey Jealousy." During those sessions, Hopkins was in rough shape and very unreliable, having developed an alcohol problem. He played on the album but after the sessions the band fired him. The album was released in the summer of 1992 and the band started touring with his replacement, Scotty Johnson. The band finally broke through when "Hey Jealousy" started climbing the charts in the summer of 1993, peaking at #25 in the US in October. Hopkins had to watch from the sidelines as his song propelled the band to stardom. He got even more depressed and committed suicide on December 5, 1993 at age 32. The band continued to play the song, considering it a tribute to Hopkins.

Early on, Gin Blossoms prided themselves on their heavy drinking - the band name is a reference to red, blossom-like markings that can show up on the skin of longtime drinkers when their capillaries burst (as seen on the comedian W.C. Fields). The line "you can trust me not to think" was written by Hopkins as "you can trust me not to drink," but vocalist Robin Wilson, who was tired of singing about drinking, asked him to change it.

When "Hey Jealousy" was first released in 1992 as the lead single from New Miserable Experience, it flopped. It wasn't looking good for the band, but then A&M Records commissioned a video for the song. Three different videos were shot before the label approved one and submitted it to MTV, which made it a "Buzz Bin" item. A&M re-released the song in the summer of 1993, and with help from the video and a steady stream of adds from radio stations, it gave the band their first hit.