‘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!. The song features San Francisco 49ers players Joe Montana, Ronnie Lott, Dwight Clark, and Riki Ellison singing backup vocals. The single reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100. In later concerts, Lewis performed the song as ‘(Too) Hip to Be Square’, as performed on their live album, Live at 25.
In a 2008 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Lewis stated he originally wrote the song's lyrics in the third person, "He used to be a renegade...". He referenced the book Bobos in Paradise in describing the song's inspiration, explaining that "Hip to Be Square" was about the "phenomenon where people from the '60s started to drop back in, cut their hair, work out, that kind of crap, but they kept their bohemian tastes. ... bourgeois bohemians." Lewis later modified the lyrics to be in the first person as he believed it would enhance the joke, but stated this had unintentionally led to the interpretation of the song as an "anthem for square people".
Billboard said that "this bouncy stomp should find a wide constituency identifying with the lyrics." Cash Box said that "utilizing the 'Power of Love' formula," it "jumps off to a quick start and drives home the populist message of its title.
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 his coworker Paul Allen (Jared Leto) just before killing him in his house with an axe in a turning point of the film. The popular children's show Sesame Street created an educational parody of the song called ‘Hip to Be a Square’ and used it during a cartoon portion of the program. Lewis said of the parody, "they contacted our publisher about doing it, and we were happy to let 'em. I think it's sweet."
Label – Chrysalis
Songwriters – Bill Gibson, Sean Hopper, Huey Lewis
Producers – Huey Lewis and the News
SONG LYRICS
[Verse 1]I used to be a renegade, I used to fool around
But I couldn't take the punishment and had to settle down
Now I'm playing it real straight, and yes, I cut my hair
You might think I'm crazy, but I don't even care
Because I can tell what's going on
[Abridged Chorus]
It's hip to be square
It's hip to be square
[Verse 2]
I like my bands in business suits, I watch them on TV
I'm working out most every day and watching what I eat
They tell me that it's good for me, but I don't even care
I know that it's crazy
I know that it's nowhere
But there is no denying that
[Chorus]
It's hip to be square
It's hip to be square
It's hip to be square
So hip to be square
[Saxophone Solo]
[Verse 3]
It's not too hard to figure out, you see it every day
And those that were the farthest out have gone the other way
You see them on the freeway, it don't look like a lot of fun
But don't you try to fight it, an idea whose time has come
Don't tell me that I'm crazy
Don't tell me I'm nowhere
Take it from me
[Chorus]
It's hip to be square
It's hip to be square
It's hip to be square
So hip to be square
Tell 'em, boys
[Outro]
Here, there, and everywhere
Hip, hip, so hip to be square
Here, there, and everywhere
Hip, hip
Here, there, and everywhere
Hip, hip, so hip to be square
Here, there, and everywhere
Hip, hip
Here, there, and everywhere
Hip, hip, so hip to be square
Here, there, and everywhere
Hip, hip
Here, there, and everywhere
Hip, hip, so hip to be square
Here, there, and everywhere
Hip, hip