Stacy’s Mom by Fountains of Wayne

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“I'm seventeen. Looking at linoleum makes me wanna have sex.”
Xander from Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Season 2: "Innocence"

Welcome to the mind of a teenage boy. It is a scary place to be.

While Xander’s comment is a little sarcastic, it has a grain of truth in it. Hormones often drive teenage boys beyond reason and logic. It’s not even about sexuality rather it’s about the idea and fantasy of sex, which is exactly what “Stacy’s Mom” is really about.

Even though there is little in my mind that is more disgusting and insidious than statutory rape regardless of the gender of the people involved, the idea of a boy having a crush on someone’s mom is funny. It’s such preposterous idea that we can’t help but laugh at it. At the same time we giggle at the ridiculousness of the idea of a boy being “in love” with someone’s mom, some people can relate to this idea. Not so much of the idea of having a crush on someone’s mom but having a unrealistic crush whether it be on a teen idol, model or actress.

Most of Fountains of Wayne’s music reflects the drudgery and depression of blue color America. Songs like “Hackensack” are melon collie reflections the failure of the middle class subruban dream.



While Fountains of Wayne’s other songs contemplates the reality of life, “Stacy’s Mom” reflects on a fantasy. The protagonist explains to his girlfriend that he’s more into Stacy’s mom then he is into Stacy. This premise has the potential for a Graduate style catastrophe but instead the ideas stay in the realm of fantasies.

Our narrator describes Stacy’s mom as “got it going on.” Who really uses that phrase anymore? It’s like this boy heard this line in a movie and is trying to awkwardly describe to his friends the prowess of Stacy’s mom. This boy’s hormones have clearly distorted his sense of reality as he interprets her criticizing his lawn mowing technique as a sign that she likes him.

Even though we know how realize how stupid this kid is acting, we celebrate along with his fantasy because deep down we all know what it’s like to excited about a dream. Sometimes living in a fantasy, even an idiotic one is makes us feel better about life.

“Stacy’s Mom” will always have a special place in my heart, not because I have memories of being infatuated with someone’s mom. I can say emphatically that that has never happened.

During graduate school at Northwestern University, my main job assignment as a graduate student was to direct the Northwestern University Basketball Band (NUBB). I conducted the band at every single men’s and women’s basketball games (the band was split up into two groups).

Conducting this group was an incredible learning experience as a musician and a one of the funniest jobs I’ve ever had. I had a blast getting to know people in the job Conducting is always fun and when it’s popular music arranged for pep band, it’s a unique joy that is indescribable.

One of my favorite songs to conduct was “Stacy’s Mom.” The verses build beautifully into the chorus and because of its popularity it was a song the cheerleaders made a dance to it and the crowd had a great time singing along with.

The last game I conducted was a packed men's game. We invited marching band alumni to perform along with the band. This was one of the most stressful games I conducting because the large crowds made it hard to heard officials calls (which is how I knew when to start the band) and it was a musical and administrative challenge to manage the alumni.

The last song we played before the end of the game was "Stacy's Mom." The combination of relief that I had made it through game and the sheer musical joy of the song made a truly unforgettable musical experiences.

I gotta say, for that two an a half minutes it really felt like I had it going on.