It’s 2017. You’re wearing a thrifted windbreaker. Maybe you’ve got a Polaroid camera swinging from your neck. Suddenly, a bright, jangly guitar riff cuts through the air, sounding like sunlight hitting a windshield. That was the moment most of us met Way It Goes by Hippo Campus. It wasn’t just another indie track; it felt like a manifesto for a generation that was simultaneously obsessed with aesthetics and deeply anxious about the future.
Hippo Campus—the St. Paul, Minnesota quartet consisting of Jake Luppen, Nathan Stocker, Whistler Allen, and Zach Sutton—didn’t just drop a catchy song. They captured a specific kind of Midwestern malaise. It’s that feeling of being young, bored, and incredibly self-aware. Honestly, the track has aged better than most of the synth-pop that dominated the mid-2010s because it refuses to be purely happy. It’s cynical. It’s biting. It’s basically a roast of the very culture that embraced it.
The Irony Behind the Sparkle
On the surface, Hippo Campus Way It Goes sounds like the ultimate road trip song. The production on their debut album, landmark, is crisp and polished, thanks to producer BJ Burton (who famously worked with Bon Iver and Low). But if you actually listen to the lyrics, Luppen is singing about "whiskey-standardized" teenagers and "shanty-town perspectives." He's mocking the performative nature of youth culture.
It’s kind of brilliant.
You’ve got this upbeat melody that makes you want to dance, but the words are telling you that everything is a bit of a sham. The "way it goes" refrain isn't an optimistic shrug. It's an admission of defeat. It's saying that despite our best efforts to be unique or meaningful, we all fall into the same predictable patterns. We buy the same clothes, we go to the same parties, and we use the same social media filters. The band was calling us out while we were busy adding the track to our "Summer Vibes" playlists.
Breaking Down the Landmark Era
When landmark dropped in early 2017, the indie scene was in a weird spot. We were moving away from the heavy stomp-and-holler folk of the early 2010s and into something more intricate and "mathy." Hippo Campus leaned into that. The guitar work between Luppen and Stocker (Stancil) is incredibly tight. They aren't just strumming chords; they’re weaving these interlocking patterns that feel like a clock ticking.
- The "Clean" Guitar Tone: They used Vox AC30s and a lot of compression to get that signature "chime." It sounds expensive but feels raw.
- The Percussion: Whistler Allen’s drumming on this track is underrated. He keeps it driving without ever overcomplicating the pocket.
- The Vocals: Jake Luppen’s delivery is almost conversational. He slurs some words, hits high notes with a slight crack, and keeps it human.
The song was a pivot point. Before this, the band had the Bashful Creatures and South EPs, which were great but felt a bit more like "college rock." Way It Goes showed they had teeth. They were willing to be critical of their own fans, and surprisingly, the fans loved them more for it.
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Why the Lyrics Still Sting
"Sun-bleached and standard, it’s all the same."
That line alone sums up the entire ethos of the song. Hippo Campus was looking at the "Tumblr-core" aesthetic and the rise of Instagram influencers and seeing right through it. They talk about "westernized" kids and "champagne-colored" dreams. It’s a critique of consumerism and the way we package our lives to look better than they actually are.
Most indie bands at the time were writing about heartbreak or vague metaphors about the ocean. Hippo Campus was writing about the mundane reality of being twenty-something in a digital world. They weren't afraid to sound a little pretentious because, let’s be real, everyone in their early twenties is a little pretentious.
The song explores the idea of "placeholder" lives. We're all just waiting for something bigger to happen, so we fill the time with things that don't really matter. It’s heavy stuff for a song that’s played at every outdoor festival in America. But that’s the magic of the band. They hide the medicine in the candy.
The Visual Language of the Music Video
You can’t talk about Hippo Campus Way It Goes without mentioning the music video. Directed by Dave Hogerty, it’s a chaotic, lo-fi masterpiece. It features the band in the snow, wearing colorful gear, looking like they’re having the time of their lives—and also like they’re completely lost.
It perfectly mirrors the song’s duality. The bright colors represent the "aesthetic" we all strive for, while the cold, harsh Minnesota winter represents the reality of where they’re from. They aren't in Los Angeles or New York. They’re in the Midwest, making art in the freezing cold. That groundedness is why people stuck with them. They felt like real people, not industry plants.
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Technical Nuance: How the Song is Built
Musically, the track is a lesson in "less is more."
The opening riff is essentially a bright, syncopated melody in the key of E major. It uses a lot of fourths and fifths, which gives it that "open" and airy feeling. But notice how the bass stays relatively static? Zach Sutton provides the anchor. If the guitars are the kites flying around, the bass is the person holding the string. Without that solid foundation, the song would feel too flighty.
Then there’s the bridge.
The energy shifts. It gets a bit more urgent. The lyrics "I've been thinking about the way it goes" repeat, and you can hear the frustration building. It’s not a traditional "solo" section. Instead, the instruments sort of swell together. It’s a collective crescendo rather than a moment for one person to show off. That’s a hallmark of Hippo Campus—they function as a unit. No one is trying to be the "star" of the track.
The Legacy of Way It Goes in 2026
Looking back from today's perspective, this song was a precursor to the "post-internet" indie sound. It paved the way for bands like Dayglow or Coin to find a mainstream audience by mixing existential dread with high-energy pop.
But Hippo Campus did it with a bit more grit.
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They weren't afraid to be awkward. If you watch live performances of this song from 2017 to now, you’ll see how it’s evolved. It’s gotten louder. More aggressive. The band has moved through different phases—the experimental Bambi era, the pop-heavy LP3, and their more recent stuff—but Way It Goes remains the "north star" of their discography. It’s the song that defines their DNA.
Misconceptions About the Band
A lot of people think Hippo Campus is just a "surf rock" band. That’s probably the biggest mistake you can make. They’re from Minnesota. There are no waves. The "surf" sound is actually a reimagining of African guitar pop (think Vampire Weekend, but with more angst) and the math-rock influences of bands like Minus the Bear.
Calling them surf rock ignores the complexity of their arrangements. There’s a lot of jazz influence in Nathan Stocker’s playing, and the vocal harmonies are more reminiscent of The Beach Boys or even Fleet Foxes than some garage band in California.
Way It Goes isn't a song about the beach. It’s a song about the suburban sprawl and the feeling of being trapped in a loop.
Actionable Takeaways for Music Fans
If you’re just getting into Hippo Campus or you want to revisit their catalog, don’t just stop at the hits. There is a depth to their writing that requires a bit of digging.
- Listen for the Counter-Melody: On your next listen of Way It Goes, ignore the vocals. Focus entirely on the second guitar (usually panned to one side). The way the two guitars never play the same thing at the same time is a masterclass in arrangement.
- Watch the Red Rocks Performance: If you want to see why this band is legendary, look up their live sets at Red Rocks. The way they handle the transition into the final chorus of this song is pure adrenaline.
- Analyze the Lyrics as Poetry: Take the lyrics to landmark and read them without the music. You’ll find a lot of references to social stagnation and the fear of becoming "standard." It makes the listening experience much more rewarding.
- Explore the "St. Paul" Sound: Check out other bands from that scene, like Bad Bad Hats or The Districts (who aren't from MN but shared the scene). It helps put Hippo Campus’s rise into context.
The "way it goes" isn't just a catchy hook. It’s a reminder to look at the world a little more critically. Even if the music sounds like a party, the lyrics are asking you if you’re actually having a good time or if you’re just following the script. That’s why we’re still talking about it nearly a decade later. It’s a song that caught a moment in time and refused to let go.