NEW YORK • The lyric goes: "Hey there, Delilah, what's it like in New York City?"

More than a decade ago, that question - the opening line of Grammy-nominated love song Hey There Delilah, by Plain White T's - captivated millions of people.

The song had them all asking: Who is Delilah? Is she real?

As it turns out, Delilah is in fact a real person named Ms Delilah DiCrescenzo. The band's frontman, Tom Higgenson, wrote the song after meeting her in 2002.

Described by Time as "an intimate love song that's damn near universal", the acoustic guitar ballad, released in 2006, tells the story of a struggling singer-songwriter (Higgenson) pining for a university student (DiCrescenzo) who lives in New York.

While many long thought the entire love story played out in 3 minutes 52 seconds, that is not the case anymore.

Now, fans may finally be able to stop wondering what it is like in New York City for Delilah. They could potentially see it themselves - in a scripted TV series.

Recently, trade publication Hollywood Reporter revealed that the band had been working with production companies, Lively McCabe Entertainment and Primary Wave, to create a "romantic dramedy" based on the hit song.

"Hey There Delilah is a perfect example of an iconic story song that has introduced characters and a premise to a massive multi-generational audience and is begging to be expanded into a full-length story for contemporary television audiences," said Mr Michael Barra, Lively McCabe Entertainment's co-president.

Billed as a "contemporary fairy tale", the potential series, which will be pitched to networks and studios this month, aims to expand on the original story in the song.

Said Higgenson: "It's been more than a decade since Hey There Delilah was released and people always ask me about it. A whole lot of people really connected with that song and I'm very proud of that."

"I'm so excited to have an opportunity to give a new generation the chance to form their own connection with the song, and fall in love with its story through this new project," he added.

Hey There Delilah is not the first song to be adapted for TV.

In June, country star Dolly Parton announced that she would be partnering with Warner Bros Television to produce a TV film series for Netflix, which is set to debut next year.

Each instalment will be based on one of her classic songs, the statement said.

Additionally, many movies have drawn inspiration from popular songs. In 2007, Beatles songs became the framework for Across The Universe, a movie musical that went on to be nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe.

A year later, Jessica Chastain starred in Jolene, based on Parton's song of the same name.

Higgenson's announcement instantly resurrected Hey There Delilah from its status as a relic of the mid-2000s and the news became a trending moment on Twitter.

It all started about 16 years ago when Higgenson met Ms DiCrescenzo, then a student at Columbia University, through a mutual friend in Chicago.

Naturally, he tried to impress her.

"Something about her really drove me crazy," he told People in 2007. "So I said, 'I have a song for you', trying to be smooth.

"That was a big lie."

Unfortunately, Ms DiCrescenzo was already dating someone, but the pair kept in touch over AOL Instant Messenger.

Then, a few months later, when she and her boyfriend went to a Plain White T's concert, the musician told her eight life-changing words: "I'm going to write a song about you."

She recalled in a 2013 ESPN Magazine article: "Never in my wildest dreams did I think it would happen."

Ms DiCrescenzo, who is now a full-time competitive distance runner, said she was at home in Chicago one Christmas when Higgenson came by and dropped off a CD.

Track 13 caught her eye. The song was called Hey There Delilah.

By the summer of 2007, it was nearly impossible to go anywhere without hearing Higgenson singing about Delilah and how Times Square could not shine as bright as her. The song rocketed to the top of the charts, spending 35 weeks on Billboard's Hot 100 with multiple weeks in the No. 1 spot.

Ms DiCrescenzo even turned up at the Grammys with the band where their song was up for Song of the Year.

"There've been thousands of aching guy reaching out to distant girl songs recorded over the years, and it's a credit to the Plain White T's that this one manages to feel fresh," Time's Josh Tyrangiel wrote in 2007.

"Singer Tom Higgenson has an imperfect voice, but his nasal delivery makes the nearly comic sincerity of his lyrics seem... genuine."

Then, like many overplayed songs, Hey There Delilah went from catchy to "annoying" and faded from mass popularity. But, every so often, it would briefly pop back into relevance, getting radio airplay and stirring up feelings of nostalgia.

With the news of the proposed TV series, however, the song has returned to the spotlight. Although Hey There Delilah may not be dominating radio waves as in 2007, Higgenson told Entertainment Weekly that the song continues to resonate with "people young and old" who are curious about the story behind it.

"I'm excited to reimagine the story I've told a million times and make something fun and fresh that people can fall in love with all over again," he said.

WASHINGTON POST