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I've found that a hit record is like a stew. All the ingredients have to come together just right. Otherwise, it's just soup.
— Phil Horace · That Thing You Do!
Behind the line May contain spoilers.
Our reading
An editorial interpretation.
Phil Horace compares a hit record to a stew, which is a homely way to talk about music. Every ingredient has to come together just right for it to work. Without that balance, the result is only soup, and that's the joke's small deflating punch.
Context reviewed