Juliana Hatfield turned 40 last Friday, which — under the heading of belated birthday wishes — gives me the perfect excuse to ask why her delightful single "Universal Heartbeat" wasn’t one of the biggest pop hits of 1995. A combination of clever lyrics, explosive guitars, and a chorus that sticks like Glad Cling Wrap have kept "Universal Heartbeat" in regular rotation on my stereo for almost a dozen years. And while I suspect the first 10 seconds of the corresponding video, with Hatfield’s strung-out aerobics instructor spitting and popping pills, might’ve scared the suits at VH1 back in the day, if you stick with it till the end, you’ll see the clip is a low-budget charmer. Avril’s jank "Girlfriend" has nothing on this! So am I the only one who thinks Hatfield should’ve conquered mainstream radio with this one? Please vote yay or nay in the comments section below.
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Comments (1-30) of 34 Add your comment
I’m gonna dissent — but only because “Everybody Loves Me But You” (which came out a few years before “Universal Heartbeat”) is, if anything, even catchier.
Yeah I totally agree with you on this one.. Loved this song and the whole record..
Only reason I can think that it didn’t take off was that there were so many other female “alterna-Rock” ladies at the time that had already hit it big, and Juliana’s record kinda came out after Belly, the Cranberries, and Natalie Merchants had kind of hit the mainstream.. to the mainstream crowd she was just tailing at the end, Even though she had been around just as long and been just as prominent in the early 90’s.
For anyone who hasn’t heard the rest of the record, and likes an unbelievably beautiful voice singing over LOUD, Fuzzy guitars.. buy the CD.. Only Everything.
Totally agree. This album is on constant rotation in my CD.
Yay. I’d forgotten about this one.
I often ask myself the same question. Love the song, love the album, love her.
I think this song was too popular to fit the “Why Wasn’t This a Huge Hit?” category. Unlike other songs that have been featured previously, this one was all over radio and received a good deal of video airplay.
Honestly? I thought this song was very 80s in a forgetable way. I was 15 in 1995, and this wasn’t where I was musically. Did not care for her voice much either. Sorry. (For comparison, I like Veruca Salt and Cranberries, and I don’t like Natalie Merchant’s solo stuff. I guess I like the rock stuff rather than the pop.)
I never knew this wasn’t a hit. It was in constant rotation in the Detroit alternative radio universe.
this song was pretty popular. I heard it on the radio a lot growing up. Additionally, the song is, in my opinion, kind of forgettable. Not to say that it’s bad. Plus, the better video is for what a life where she is standing on a chair.
Oh, that whinny 1995 vocal stylings… dewd, this was as bland as the 90’s got.
Wow, what a pleasant surprise to read something about Juliana Hatfield. Huge fan! Her albums were in a constant rotation on my 6-disc changer back in the day, and I would put her songs on my friends’ mix tapes to try to get them to love her as much as me. (Good lord, I’m really dating myself, aren’t I?) Anyway, I absolutely agree with your take on “Universal Heartbeat.” In fact, I likely will have that song in my head for the next week or so.
I tried to like it, but it’s just not terribly catchy.
this used to be my favorite song!!!!!!!
It is okay. Im not hearing anything special in it, but then I don’t hear anything special in girlfriend, both songs are mediocre
Ahhhh…Juliana Hatfield. Takes me back to the days of being a teen with an unrequited love interest, in which “Hey Babe” was on heavy rotation. I even had the Blake Babies CDs.
I wonder what Juliana and Evan Dando are doing these days.
I love me some “Reality ‘Melrose-Place-is-a-really-good-show’ Bites”, the soundtrack of which contains Juliana’s “Spin the Bottle”, which I still dig. But this one ain’t doin’ it for me, I’m afraid.
Nay!
Sorry, Mikey. No likey.
thanks for giving this great song its due, mike! i used to listen to this song everyday while getting ready to go to work. good stuff!
hatfield played bass for the lemonheads, didn’t she?
i have been a fan of hers since 1992 and i’m so glad that she is getting recognition somewhere. i highly recommend her greatest hits compilation, which is truly fantastic. i love this tune, but everybody loves me and my sister will always be my faves.
I love her stuff. I’ve got to get this song on my iPod ASAP.
Great song. Everything that Juliana has done has been underrated. Easily my favorite artist. If you haven’t heard her since then, she is still going strong. She has been releasing an album (sometimes two) just about every year. She just released a new EP a couple months ago and has started up her own indie label.
I can’t access your link, Michael; I haven’t heard Julianna’s song. I remember the name from the 90’s. And by the way, your VH1 reference reminds me of VH1 in the 90’s when VH1 would play, get this, MUSIC! instead of these awful reality shows featuring washed up TV stars.
Okay, I calmed down now…..
Oh my goodness, I love this song…it’s on my ipod, and I pretty much sing to the lyrics once a week on my commute. Her latest projects have been good too…sigh I miss the 90s.
To answer an earlier question: JH played bass on the Lemonheads “It’s A Shame About Ray” and also did tons of vocals on Dando & Co’s “Come On Feel The Lemonheads” (a totally slept on 90s masterpiece as well – “Down About It” was awesome). I think I remember reading that ED and JH were roomies at one point too!
I had a huge crush on Juliana back in the day…and although this video offered a pretty nice view, I liked the music from “Become What You Are” much better. I saw her in concert once and she said she had “discovered mahogany”, refering to the Gibson guitars she had started using over the Fenders she played earlier on on BWYA. That may sound too music-geeky but if you listen to the albums you can hear the changed from jangle-pop to grunge-lite. I liked the latter better than the former.
And yes her voice is whiny but I’d rather hear her than Avril’s post-Alanis shrieking any damn day of the week.
Yay! Thanks for reintroducing this song to me, unfortunately it isn’t on iTunes, and my only copy is the cassette I bought way back in the day…
So I guess it’s a testament to the kind of insular world you’re in as a teenager in high school, because this song and the video were, in fact, a hit to my friends and I. I had it on a VHS of music videos my friends and I passed around and added to (along with Morphine and Soul Coughing), and the same goes for a radio recording off of a mix tape as well. I guess I didn’t realize this wasn’t a hit. SC and Morphine songs, sure, but “Universal Heartbeat?”
I recall hearing this quite a bit on the radio. I mean, not to the degree of, say , “Baby One More Time” but this isn’t some obscure gem. To me Juliana is one of those singers that I’m told by Spin and EW and Rolling Stone that I *should* like but I just don’t.
To Maeve: I dunno about JH, but I just saw Evan Dando at a show in Albany, NY!It was awesome, most of it was a stripped-down set of just him and his guitar, but he was with a band under the name “Lemonheads,” tho I’m sure none were original band members.The best part was getting to meet him at a local bar afterwards! I was shy, but my brother insisted we go over and tell him good show, and he was actually so nice! My inner 15-yr-old was dying! He looks a lot older and his voice is a bit rougher but it was still a really great show.