Hello Time Bomb is a song by Canadian alternative rock group Matthew Good Band. It was released in September 1999 as the lead single from their third studio album, Beautiful Midnight. It was nominated for Best Single at the 2000 Juno Awards and is one of the band's signature songs. Between 1995 and 2016, it was the fourth most played song by a Canadian artist on rock radio stations in Canada. It also is the band’s highest charting single in the U.S., peaking at 34 on the U.S. Billboard Alternative Airplay.[1]
| "Hello Time Bomb" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Matthew Good Band | ||||
| from the album Beautiful Midnight | ||||
| Released | September 1999 | |||
| Recorded | February – April 1999 | |||
| Genre | Alternative rock | |||
| Length | 3:58 | |||
| Label | Universal Music Canada (Canada) Atlantic Records (US) | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Matthew Good, Dave Genn | |||
| Producer(s) | Warne Livesey | |||
| Matthew Good Band singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Song information
editGood mentions that he wrote the song quickly on an old acoustic guitar at a friend's place.
Sometimes the unexpected happens. Years ago I had a day off during the making of Beautiful Midnight. Two friends had dropped by my place to get me, as we were going out. While sitting there, we somehow got into a discussion about writing quick songs about nothing. So I picked up this crappy old classical guitar that belonged to my ex-girlfriend and proceeded to play do-do-do-do-do…click-click-click-click-click-click-click-click-click-click-click-click-click-click…do-do-do-do-do. And then the words came - 'I found me a reason, so check me tomorrow, we’ll see if I’m leaking, push and push and push till it hurts…'
In about 45 minutes I had what would basically be Hello Time Bomb, which later that night I quickly recorded onto a cassette and we tracked the very next day.
Sometimes the unexpected happens.
Of course, never in my wildest dreams did I think that that song would go on to become one of my biggest singles. I mean let’s face it, I wrote it on a dust covered classical guitar that had been sitting unused behind a large plant for years. But, in the end, that’s how it happened.[2]
— Matthew Good
Charts
editWeekly charts
edit| Chart (1999) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canada Rock (RPM)[3] | 3 |
| Chart (2001) | Peak position |
| Canada (Nielsen SoundScan)[4] | 26 |
| US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[5] | 34 |
| US Active Rock (Billboard)[6] | 38 |
Year-end charts
edit| Chart (2001) | Position |
|---|---|
| Canada (Nielsen SoundScan)[7] | 142 |
Trivia
edit"Hello Time Bomb" is featured on MuchMusic's compilation album, Big Shiny Tunes 4. Todd Kerns from The Age of Electric sings backup. In 2009's "Top 200 songs of the 1990s" by 102.1 "The Edge", it was voted #35. The song is on the soundtrack of the 2002 film, Men with Brooms.
References
edit- ^ "Top 150 Canadian Airplay Songs – Rock". musiccanada.wordpress.com. July 2017. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
- ^ "Writing of Hello Time Bomb". Matthew Good. Archived from the original on 2009-01-08. Retrieved 2008-10-24.
- ^ "Rock/Alternative – Volume 69, No. 23, September 27, 1999". RPM. Retrieved 8 August 2010.
- ^ Canadian Digital Song Sales Billboard.com
- ^ "Matthew Good Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
- ^ "Matthew Good". billboard.com. Retrieved December 16, 2021.
- ^ "Canada's Top 200 Singles of 2001". Jam!. Archived from the original on July 26, 2002. Retrieved March 28, 2022.