This is from Wikipedia, about the creation of "Hey There Delilah":
Inspiration and composition
The song, "Hey There Delilah" was inspired by Delilah DiCrescenzo, a Columbia University graduate, and steeplechase runner training for the 2008 Olympic trials.

There was never a relationship between Tom Higgenson and DiCrescenzo, but Tom was inspired to write a song about her soon after they were introduced by a mutual friend:

"There was never anything between us. It was kind of funny — kind of sad, actually. The story of my life... I thought she was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. I told her, 'I have a song about you already.' Obviously, there was no song. But I thought it was smooth..."

It took over a year for Tom to write the song. However, the real life Delilah, who wasn't interested in Tom because she was already in a relationship, was not sure how to deal with the pressure of having a song written about her:

"It was so beautifully written", she says. "There was pressure to live up to this ideal. I didn't know how to be polite but, you know, ditch him."

DiCrescenzo also says of the song, "When I'm at the gym, it's playing; when I'm at the pool, it's playing. Part of me wants to scream at the top of my lungs that it's about me. Another part of me wants to cower and say it's not."

This also is from Wikipedia:
"Hey There Delilah" is the third single released from pop band Plain White T's's 2005 album All That We Needed. In June of 2007, over two years after the song's initial release, it became the band's first mainstream hit in the United States, eventually reaching the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 in July. From July 3, 2007 through July 28, the song was the number one most downloaded song on the U.S. iTunes Music Store. After a few days, the version of the song found on Every Second Counts became thenumber one most downloaded but was eventually replaced by Beautiful Girls by Sean Kingston.

Since the song advanced fromnumber 16 to number 6 on the chart it continued to climb one position every week (from 6-5-4-3-2-1), making it the first #1 song to have this pattern on the Hot 100 in 21 years. [1]

Although "Hey There Delilah" is from the Plain White T's third album, All That We Needed, since the single's popularity new versions of the intervening fourth album, Every Second Counts, have "Hey There Delilah" added as a bonus track with a string section augmenting the original recording.

"Hey There Delilah" is currently number 1 on the UK iTunes top 100.

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The song clicks with me since they've been using it in the ad for an upcoming series titled "Gossip Girl" I believe. While I haven't paid attention to the ad after the first time, I did notice that the song is catchy and IS reminiscent of the Sixties acoustic works. It certainly looks like a singalong. I very much enjoyed listening to the whole thing.

So, it's absolutely, definitely not a cover. It's an original. Doesn't that give you faith in some of today's composers/musicians? Most currently popular music makes me cringe, but there are some bright spots among all of the moaning, groaning, weepy emo-artists. (I finally found out what "emo" aka "Emo" is after being quite puzzled since my arrival on the Net.)