Can't Hardly Wait

"Can't Hardly Wait" is a song by American rock band the Replacements from their fifth studio album Pleased to Meet Me. Written shortly after the sessions for Let It Be, the song was attempted for the 1985 Tim album but ultimately went unreleased until Pleased to Meet Me. The song features Alex Chilton on guitar as well as an arrangement with horns and strings, additions that were controversial within the band. "Can't Hardly Wait" was released as the third single from the album. It has since received critical acclaim and has been named by many music writers as one of the band's greatest songs. A music video for the song utilizing footage from 1987 was released in 2020. Background Replacements frontman Paul Westerberg had written "Can't Hardly Wait" in 1985 in the aftermath of the Let It Be sessions. The band attempted to record the song for the 1985 Tim album, but were dissatisfied with the recording; Westerberg commented, "We had played it so many times that we were tired of it." An early version was attempted in Nicollet Studios, where Michelle Kinney, a trained cellist working as the studio's receptionist, was recruited to play cello. She recalled, "There wasn't any music written down. I do remember watching Paul through the studio window and him talking in my headphones and kind of singing parts for me. He would kind of conduct me, and I'd try to do what he asked. He was being really hilarious and animated and calling me 'Maestro.'" By the time the band began the sessions for 1987's Pleased to Meet Me, the attitude in the band was that the song was "dead, long gone, over with, we were never gonna record it again." However, the band were convinced to try the song again, prompting Westerberg to rewrite the lyrics in a Holiday Inn. Westerberg recalled, "I was hungover. So we started with the quiet guitar, and everything fell in from there."