Huey Lewis Hip to be Square
August 26th, 2008
“Hip to be Square” is a song written jointly by Bill Gibson, Sean Hopper and Huey Lewis and performed by Huey Lewis and the News. It was one of their more popular singles, hitting number three on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1986, and has since remained relatively popular on the radio.
“Hip to be Square” is perhaps best known these days for its part in the movie American Psycho, during a scene in which Patrick Bateman dances to the song while killing a colleague with an axe. He spends a lengthy period of time discussing Huey Lewis and the News with his unwilling captive before attacking, noting “Hip to be Square” as (in his opinion) their greatest masterpiece.
The song was also included on the original soundtrack at first, though first printings of the album had to be taken from the shelves as the filmmakers hadn’t bought the rights to use the film on the soundtrack, only to use it in the movie. Some postulated at the time that Lewis objected to its use within the movie itself, however this wasn’t the case.