Hobo Humpin' Slobo Babe

The Simple Art of Stupidity

I’m a sucker for one-hit wonders.

Imagine making it all the way to the top, only to disappear as quickly as you materialized. Becoming a household name around the world, then fading like a supernova into the annals of obscurity. How does it feel to be thrust into the spotlight? To awake one morning a short while later and learn that nobody gives a crap anymore?

It's these and other questions that I began to ponder as I sat down to compose this week’s Jukebox. But the one-hit wonder I planned on sharing disagreed from the outset.

“No, no, we’re no-hit wonders. They played the video for ‘Hobo’ everywhere, but nobody bought the record!”

- Henrik Schyffert

The record Mr. Schyffert is referring to is ‘We Care’ – the debut album of Swedish band, Whale.

My guess is many of you haven’t heard it. Though you’re probably familiar with the ‘Hobo’ in question.

Released in 1993, Hobo Humpin’ Slobo Babe became an instant smash. From its frantic, stag party, gang-chant chorus to its crunchy guitars and funky basslines, the song is a playful punch in your face. And let’s not forget the sexy and beguiling vocals delivered courtesy of Cia Berg. It’s a song so cool, so obtuse and bizarre, that it stands apart from its ‘alternative’ peers to this very day.   

It also begs the question: how on earth did this song come to be?

Turns out Gordon Cyrus (bass) met Henrik Schyffert (guitar) while working on a commercial in Stockholm. Cyrus was producing Swedish hip-hop acts at the time. Schyffert, meanwhile, had begun to make a name for himself on the Swedish comedy scene. He’d even been a VJ on MTV Europe during the 1980’s. Cyrus and Schyffert decided to get together and collaborate on a music track. Schyffert recruited his girlfriend at the time (the aforementioned Cia Berg) to supply the slinky vocals.

“We formed the band more as an experiment than anything else. We went into the studio, made this single – we hadn’t got any other songs and we’d never even thought about playing live – and suddenly people were telling us it was good and they wanted to release it.”

- Henrik Schyffert

Sounds impossibly simple. But it gets even simpler, as Schyffert explains: “We made a video for about £300, and suddenly it’s being shown every hour on MTV.”

You remember the video, don’t you?

It’s as simple as the song’s ascent up the charts. Forget pyrotechnics. Forget big budgets. Forget hair and makeup, for that matter. It’s just two dudes bro-ing down, and a cheeky nymphet inspecting and licking anonymous pounds of silver-skirted flesh. Basically another Tuesday at Charlie Sheen’s house.

The director responsible for the memorable imagery is Mark Pellington, who at that time had already done videos for U2 (‘One’) and Alice in Chains (‘Rooster’), as well as what would come to be one of the 90s’ most iconic videos: ‘Jeremy’ by Pearl Jam.

Hobo Humpin’ Slobo Babe left its mark too, winning the first ever MTV Europe Music Award for Best Video in 1994.

OK, Sonny, that’s all well and good. But what the frig is a ‘Slobo Babe’?

I was curious as well. And I was initially surprised when I found the answer. I realize now that I shouldn’t have been.

“I heard that ‘slobo’ was a nickname for Chelsea girls. ‘Hobo Humpin’ Sloane Babe’ would have been right. So there’s a cute Swedish misunderstanding for you.”

- Henrik Schyffert

In other words, ‘Slobo’ is a goof. A mistake as simple as the band’s formation, as the band’s success, as the wild and mesmerizing song itself.

“I mean, I don’t like chord changes. I find them very boring. I’d rather hold on and see what happens.”

- Henrik Schyffert

What happens is that thirty years pass, and a song that didn’t require much thinking, that encountered fewer obstacles on its way to the top than your run-of-the-mill nepo baby, continues to shine and keep its distance from the rest of the ‘alternative’ pack. The song still sounds as crazy as it ever did, and as fresh as the snow on the peak of the Kebnekaise.

What about the lyrics, though? Don’t they totally suck?

You hobo humpin' slobo babe
Get it off, get off, get off of me!
You hobo humpin' slobo babe
Get it off, get off, get off of me!

Baby, we don't love ya
Baby, we don't love ya, baby, yeah!
Baby, we don't love ya
Baby, we don't love ya, baby, yeah!
Baby, we don't love ya
Baby, we don't love ya, baby, yeah!

OK, fine. So Rodgers and Hammerstein aren’t exactly wetting their knickers in fear.

But I bet they would have enjoyed a raucous little ditty about a chick who loves to boink the destitute. I can see them now, rushing to their desks, feeding paper into their typewriters, and banging out their latest masterpiece: The Sound of Affordable Housing.  

Here’s the thing.

When it comes to writing lyrics, the band understands their limits.

“We’re the crappiest lyric writers in the world. We don’t pretend to understand anything about it. But people have been getting too clever in this business. So we’ll just be stupid.”

- Henrik Schyffert

And therein lies the key to Hobo’s charm: its ecstatic embrace of the ridiculous.

It’s a refreshing change, isn’t it? From the experts and the gurus and the talking heads? Every one of them full of answers. None of which are worth a damn.

Hobo Humpin’ Slobo Babe may not ‘mean’ all that much, but it serves as a valuable reminder: Don’t take life so seriously. It’s far too short, for starters; even if it feels sometimes like whatever you’re suffering through will never end.

So do yourself a favor and lean into the silly today. Shut the world out for a few precious minutes, and rock out to this ridiculous track.

Yes, it’s simple.

Sure, it’s stupid.

That’s what makes it brilliant.