"Hang Me Up to Dry" is a song by American

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band

Cold War Kids Cold War Kids is an American alternative rock band from Long Beach, California. Band members are Nathan Willett (vocals, piano, guitar), Matt Maust (bass guitar), David Quon (guitar, backing vocals), Matthew Schwartz (keyboards, backing vocals, ...

. Written and co-produced by all four band members and Matt Wignall, it originally came from their third EP ''

Up in Rags ''Up in Rags'' is the third EP by the American indie rock band Cold War Kids. It was recorded in January 2006. The title of this EP is taken from the lyrics of "Hair Down" - "Man, we were still just babies / Dressing up in rags with our wallets f ...

'' (2006) and is the second track off their debut album ''

Robbers & Cowards ''Robbers & Cowards'' is the debut studio album by American indie rock band Cold War Kids. It was released on October 10, 2006 by Downtown Records. The album received a generally positive reception from critics who praised the band's blues rock pr ...

'' (2006). Lyrically, the song tells a story of a 'one-sided relationship' and uses the action of hanging wet clothes on a clothesline as a metaphor for the relationship. It was released as a single on January 29, 2007 by

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

and

V2 Records V2 Records (or V2 Music; V2 being an abbreviation for Virgin 2) is a record label that was purchased by Universal Music Group in 2007 and sold to IASin 2013. In the Benelux, V2 operates separately from PIAS, as the label bought itself out from ...

, charting at number 57 in the UK and number 26 on the ''Billboard'' Alternative Songs chart. The song was re-released (using the same catalogue number and track listing) on July 9, 2007 but failed to break back into the charts. An accompanying music video for the song was directed by

The Malloys The Malloys is the working name of music video and film directors and brothers Emmett Malloy and Brendan Malloy. They have been with Superprime Films since 2010. Videography *"Holiday" by Vampire Weekend (2010) *" Love Dealer" by Esmée Dente ...

and plays out like a trailer for an avant-garde film.

Composition

According to the digital sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by

Sony/ATV Music Publishing Sony Music Publishing (formerly Sony/ATV Music Publishing) is the largest music publisher in the world, with over five million songs owned or administered as of end March 2021. US-based, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is itself owned ...

, the song is set in 4/4 time with a tempo of 92

beats per minute Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery ( ...

. It is composed in the key of

E minor E minor is a minor scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has one sharp. Its relative major is G major and its parallel major is E major. The E natural minor scale is: : Changes needed ...

with lead singer Nathan Willett's vocal range spanning from the low-note of E₃ to the high-note of B₄.

Music video

Directed by

, the video is styled after an

avant-garde film Experimental film or avant-garde cinema is a mode of filmmaking that rigorously re-evaluates cinematic conventions and explores non-narrative forms or alternatives to traditional narratives or methods of working. Many experimental films, parti ...

trailer. Shot in black-and-white, the video features fictitious reviewer quotes and film festival nominations. The video was uploaded on their record label's YouTube page on January 23, 2007.

Live performances

Cold War Kids made their U.S. television debut performing "Hang Me Up To Dry" on the ''

Late Show with David Letterman The ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the The Late Show (franchise), ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by ...

'' on December 21, 2006. They performed the song again on ''

Late Night with Conan O'Brien ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien. NBC aired 2,725 episodes from September 13, 1993, to February 20, 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and music ...

'' on April 10, 2007. They made their U.K. television debut performing "Hang Me Up to Dry" and "Tell Me in the Morning" on '' Later... with Jools Holland'' on May 18, 2007.

Accolades

The song ranked at number 46 on ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

''s list of the 100 Best Songs of 2006 and was voted number 8 in the

Triple J Hottest 100, 2007 The 2007 Triple J Hottest 100 was announced on Australia Day, 26 January 2008. It was the fifteenth countdown of the most popular songs of the year, as chosen by the listeners of Australian radio station Triple J. Voting began on 1 January 20 ...

, alongside "Hospital Beds" which was voted number 37.

Use in popular culture

* The song was covered by

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

singer

Kate Nash Kate Marie Nash (born 6 July 1987) is an English singer-songwriter and actress. Nash launched her music career in 2005. Her 2007 single " Foundations" became a hit and brought her to public attention in the UK. Her debut album, '' Made of Bricks ...

. * The song was used in the

pilot episode A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television network or other distri ...

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

series ''

Gossip Girl ''Gossip Girl'' is an American teen drama television series based on the novel series of the same name written by Cecily von Ziegesar. The series, developed for television by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, ran on The CW network for six sea ...

''. * The song was used in the season 4 episode "Charlie Don't Surf" of the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

series ''

Numb3rs ''Numbers'' (stylized as ''NUMB3RS'') is an American crime drama television series that was broadcast on CBS from January 23, 2005, to March 12, 2010, for six seasons and 118 episodes. The series was created by Nicolas Falacci and Cheryl Heuton ...

''. *

USA Network USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madison ...

used the track to promoting the second half of ''

Burn Notice ''Burn Notice'' is an American espionage television series created by Matt Nix, which originally aired on the USA Network for a total of seven seasons from June 28, 2007, to September 12, 2013. The show stars Jeffrey Donovan, Gabrielle Anwar, ...

s third season. * The song is a playable track in the 2009

music video game A music video game, also commonly known as a music game, is a video game where the gameplay is meaningfully and often almost entirely oriented around the player's interactions with a musical score or individual songs. Music video games may take a ...

Band Hero ''Band Hero'' is a spinoff video game as part of the ''Guitar Hero series'' of music rhythm games, released by Activision on November 3, 2009, for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii and Nintendo DS consoles. The game is struct ...

''. * The song was used in the season 2 episode "Multiple Choices" of The CW series '' 90210''. * The song was covered by English rock duo

Royal Blood A royal descent is a genealogy, genealogical Kinship and descent, line of descent from a past or present monarch. Both geneticists and genealogists have attempted to estimate the percentage of living people with royal descent. From a genetic ...

Formats and track listing

*; UK CD ** 1. "Hang Me Up to Dry" – 3:40 ** 2. "Every Valley Is Not A Lake" – 3:23 ** 3. " Well Well Well" – 4:09 ** 4. "Heavy Boots" – 4:14 *; UK 7" Vinyl ** A. "Hang Me Up to Dry" – 3:40 ** B. "Every Valley Is Not A Lake" – 3:23

Charts and Certifications

Weekly charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hang Me Up To Dry 2006 songs 2007 singles Cold War Kids songs Downtown Records singles V2 Records singles Music videos directed by The Malloys