Plain White T's were a fundamental product of the 2000s. In 2007, you couldn't turn on the radio, go into a coffee shop, or walk through the mall without hearing their hit "Hey There Delilah." The line that we all belted out the most, "Oh, it's what you do to me," was actually meant to be a "throwaway" line, Higgenson told Nylon. While millions fell in love with the tune and the singer, Tom Higgenson's raspy ode to this mystery girl, Delilah, the real-life inspiration behind the song felt differently.
Delilah DiCrescenzo spoke to ESPN about how the song affected her at the time. DiCrescenzo and Higgenson met through mutual friends while she was studying at Columbia. Higgenson told DiCrescenzo, who was dating someone else, that he planned to write a song about her. With her schooling, athletic career, and boyfriend already, it wasn't a welcome surprise when she listened to the CD Higgenson dropped off for her. After hearing the song, DiCrescenzo remembers thinking, "Oh no! Did I lead Tom on?" and feeling guilty about the effort Higgenson went to.
Once "Hey There Delilah" became a Grammy-nominated hit, she felt scrutinized by the public but ultimately used this newfound fame to leverage her professional running career. "I'm proud of my accomplishments since the song blew up, and I'm now in a place where I can fully enjoy the song," she revealed in 2013. This is probably not the reception Higgenson hoped he'd get, but the tune has no doubt been the backdrop of many couples' love stories.
