The Freshmen (song)

"The Freshmen" is a song by American alternative rock band the Verve Pipe. Released in January 1997 as the third single from their second studio album "Villains", the song became the band's breakthrough hit and is the group's highest-charting single to date, peaking at number 5 on the US "Billboard" Hot 100, number 6 in Canada, and number 28 in Australia.
Background and content.
According to the FAQ on "Verve Pipings", the guitarist and lead singer Brian Vander Ark wrote the song about the guilt he felt from his ex-girlfriend committing suicide. However, according to an external interview site, Vander Ark said that the suicide was a poetic license; the real incident which inspired the song was when his pregnant girlfriend had an abortion.
In a 2019 interview with Songfacts, Vander Ark said:
Versions.
The song first appeared, in acoustic style, on their 1992 album "I've Suffered a Head Injury". It was recorded a second time and released on the band's 1996 album, "Villains". Later that year, the band recorded the song again, this time with the producer Jack Joseph Puig, for release as a single in January 1997. Subsequent pressings of "Villains" replaced the original album version with the single version. "The Freshmen" peaked at number 5 in the United States.
In addition, a slightly modified single version was released to radio, with Vander Ark singing the final lyrics of the second verse ("thinks about her now and how he never really wept") in the same melodic sequence as he sings the homologous lyrics at the end of the first verse ("stop a baby's breath..."), as opposed to his higher-pitched, almost yelled rendering of these lyrics in the version that appeared on the album.
Track listings.
US CD single
US cassette single
European and Australian CD single