The Freshmen (song)

"The Freshmen" is a song by American alternative rock band the Verve Pipe. Released in January 1997 as the third single from their second studio album Villains, the song became the band's breakthrough hit and is the group's highest-charting single, peaking at number five on the US Billboard Hot 100, number six in Canada, and number 28 in Australia.

"The Freshmen"
Single by the Verve Pipe
from the album Villains
B-side
  • "Ominous Man"
  • "Spoonful of Sugar" (live)
ReleasedJanuary 21, 1997 (1997-01-21)
Genre
Length4:30
Label
Songwriter(s)
  • Donny Brown
  • Doug Corella
  • Jeffrey Joseph Douglas
  • Brad Vander Ark
  • Brian Vander Ark
Producer(s)Jack Joseph Puig
The Verve Pipe singles chronology
"Cup of Tea"
(1996)		 "The Freshmen"
(1997)		 "Villains"
(1997)

Background and content

In an interview with Exclusive, lead singer and songwriter Brian Vander Ark stated that the incident which inspired the song was when his pregnant girlfriend had an abortion.[4]

In a 2018 interview with Songfacts, Vander Ark said:

It's for the most part a made-up story, which most of my songs are. These are stories that I come up with, and I do characters. Part of the story was true in the fact that I had gone out with a girl and my buddy had gone out with her after I went out with her, and then I went out with her again and then she ended up getting pregnant and having an abortion. But from there, there's poetic license that happens and makes the story more dramatic. A neophyte writer that I was, I ended up having her commit suicide, and that never happened.[5]

Vander Ark told the Boston Globe in 2022 that he hadn't originally intended to write a song about abortion, but that once he'd keyed in on the grounding phrase—"stop a baby's breath, and a shoe full of rice"—it allowed him to tap into his ambivalence over the experience: "Growing up in a very conservative Reform Christian home, I struggled with guilt. It just felt cathartic to release the lyric into the world as a way to half-admit my participation, because I struggled to process it."[6]

"The Freshman" was one of several songs about abortion that were released by male musicians in the 1990s. Referring to RCA Records' 1999 decision to cancel the U.S. release of the Swedish singer Robyn's album My Truth, which included songs about her 1998 abortion, Vander Ark said, "RCA did not put up any roadblocks, never talked to us about changing a lyric, never seemed to even care. And I've always felt like 'The Freshmen' was pretty obviously about abortion. Look, I'd bet that it had to do with me being male and her running afoul of a certain code of femininity. It's sad, too, especially on an album called My Truth, when you have this gutsy openness, to then get silenced by male gatekeepers in the industry."[6]

Versions

The song first appeared, in acoustic style, on their 1992 album I've Suffered a Head Injury. It was recorded a second time and released on the band's 1996 album, Villains. Later that year, the band recorded the song again, this time with the producer Jack Joseph Puig,[7] for release as a single in January 1997.[8] Subsequent pressings of Villains replaced the original album version with the single version.

In addition, a slightly modified single version was released to radio, with Vander Ark singing the final lyrics of the second verse ("thinks about her now and how he never really wept") in the same melodic sequence as he sings the homologous lyrics at the end of the first verse ("stop a baby's breath..."), as opposed to his higher-pitched, almost yelled rendering of these lyrics in the version that appeared on the album.

Track listings

Charts

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[25] Gold 600,000[26]

Release history
Region Date Format(s) Label(s) Ref.
United States January 21, 1997 Rock radio
[27]
March 4, 1997 Contemporary hit radio [28]

Cover versions
  • In 1998, Mustard Plug released a ska version of the song as the B side of their single You. [29]
  • In 2004, Skott Freedman released a piano version of the song on his album Judge a Book.[30]
  • In 2005, the then-Boston Red Sox pitcher Bronson Arroyo covered the song on his first covers album, Covering the Bases.
  • In 2010, Jay Brannan released a soft indie version of the song as a single, "The Freshmen".[31]
  • In 2010, Brothers released a melodic hardcore punk version of the song as a bonus track on their EP When I Was Young.[32]

See also

References
  1. Cosores, Philip (July 4, 2017). "Ranking: Every Alternative Rock No. 1 Hit from Worst to Best". Consequence of Sound. p. 10. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  2. "The 79 Best Alternative Rock Songs of 1997". Spin. p. 4. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
  3. Woodstra, Chris. "The Verve Pipe – Biography & History – Allmusic". AllMusic. Retrieved September 25, 2020.
  4. Pasfield, G.M. "Anne Carlini - Exclusive Magazine". www.annecarlini.com. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
  5. Wiser, Carl (January 25, 2018). "Brian Vander Ark of the Verve Pipe: Songwriter Interviews". Songfacts. Retrieved March 27, 2019.
  6. Joudrey, Tom. "That Time When Songs About Abortion Were Big Hits." Boston Globe, March 19, 2022.
  7. "The Verve Pipe: music". www.thevervepipe.com. Archived from the original on 2002-01-14.
  8. the Verve Pipe. "Freshmen [US #1] – The Verve Pipe". AllMusic. Retrieved June 23, 2017.
  9. The Freshmen (US CD single liner notes). The Verve Pipe. RCA Records, BMG. 1997. 74321 45391-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  10. The Freshmen (US cassette single sleeve). The Verve Pipe. RCA Records, BMG. 1997. 07863 64734-4.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  11. The Freshmen (European & Australian CD single liner notes). The Verve Pipe. RCA Records, BMG. 1997. 74321 45391-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  12. "The Verve Pipe – The Freshmen". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
  13. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 3274." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
  14. "Top RPM Adult Contemporary: Issue 3303." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
  15. "Tipparade-lijst van week 40, 1997" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved March 17, 2023.
  16. "The Verve Pipe – The Freshmen" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
  17. "The Verve Pipe Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  18. "The Verve Pipe Chart History (Adult Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
  19. "The Verve Pipe Chart History (Adult Pop Songs)". Billboard.
  20. "The Verve Pipe Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard.
  21. "The Verve Pipe Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard.
  22. "The Verve Pipe Chart History (Pop Songs)". Billboard.
  23. "RPM '97 Year End Top 100 Hit Tracks". RPM. Retrieved August 19, 2019 – via Library and Archives Canada.
  24. "Billboard Top 100 – 1997". Archived from the original on June 11, 2009. Retrieved August 28, 2010.
  25. "American single certifications – The Verve Pipe – The Freshmen". Recording Industry Association of America.
  26. "Best-Selling Records of 1997". Billboard. Vol. 110, no. 5. January 31, 1998. p. 76. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved May 31, 2015.
  27. Reece, Doug (March 29, 1997). "RCA's Verve Pipe Earns 'Freshman' Standing". Billboard. Vol. 109, no. 13. p. 86. Retrieved September 3, 2022. The album didn't regain its sales momentum until 'The Freshman' was serviced Jan. 21.
  28. "New Releases". Radio & Records. No. 1186. February 28, 1997. p. 47.
  29. "Mustard Plug - You single". Discogs. Retrieved May 2, 2023.
  30. "judge a Book by Skott Freedman on Apple Music". Itunes.apple.com. 30 March 2005. Retrieved June 23, 2017.
  31. "The Freshmen – Single by Jay Brannan on Apple Music". Apple Music. Retrieved June 23, 2017.
  32. "Brothers - The Freshmen (The Verve Pipe cover)". YouTube. Retrieved March 20, 2022.
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