"April Fools" is a song written and performed by American-Canadian singer-songwriter

Rufus Wainwright Rufus McGarrigle Wainwright (born July 22, 1973) is a Canadian and American singer, songwriter, and composer. He has recorded eleven studio albums and numerous tracks on compilations and film soundtracks. He has also written two classical opera ...

. It originally appeared on his eponymous debut studio album, released by

DreamWorks Records DreamWorks Records (often referred in copyright notices as SKG Music, LLC) was an American record label founded in 1996 by David Geffen, Mo Ostin, his son Michael Ostin and Lenny Waronker as a subsidiary of DreamWorks Pictures. The label opera ...

in May 1998. The song's

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

was directed by

Sophie Muller Sophie Luise Elisabeth Muller (born 31 January 1962) is an English music video director who has directed over 300 music videos. She won a Grammy Award for Annie Lennox's 1992 ''Diva'' video album, and an MTV Video Music Award for Lennox's song " ...

and features cameo appearances by

Gwen Stefani Gwen Renée Stefani Shelton ( ; born October 3, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter and fashion designer. Stefani rose to fame as a member and lead vocalist of the band No Doubt, whose hit singles include " Just a Girl", " Spiderwebs", an ...

and

Melissa Auf der Maur Melissa Gaboriau Auf der Maur (; born March 17, 1972) is a Canadian musician. Auf der Maur began performing in 1993 after forming the indie rock band Tinker (band), Tinker while she was a student at Concordia University. She was recruited ...

. "April Fools" appears on two other albums in Wainwright's discography—'' All I Want'' (2005) and '' Vibrate: The Best of Rufus Wainwright'' (2014)—as well as multiple

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

Composition

"April Fools" is a

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

song written and performed by Wainwright. Produced by

Jon Brion Jon Brion (born December 11, 1963) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and composer. He performed with the Excerpts, the Bats, 'Til Tuesday and The Grays (band), the Grays before becoming an established pro ...

, the track features Wainwright's vocals and a "powerful" piano performance over a drum track by

Jim Keltner James Lee Keltner (born April 27, 1942) is an American drummer and percussionist known primarily for his session work. He was characterized by Bob Dylan biographer Howard Sounes as "the leading session drummer in America". Howard Sounes. ''Do ...

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

's Matthew Greenwald described "April Fools" as "essentially a love song" that can be interpreted as being "about people in general, or a simple, two-person relationship".

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

's Kyle Anderson called the song "a bubbly little slice of cabaret rock that dances and swaggers". In a 2010 interview published by ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'', Wainwright said of the song and his songwriting process:

April Fools came to me when I was in the bath. I stood up naked and sang it. Songs come to me at odd times. The only thing they have in common is that, when they do come, the moment has to be theatrical."

During a 2020 interview with ''

The San Diego Union-Tribune ''The San Diego Union-Tribune'' is a metropolitan daily newspaper published in San Diego, California, that has run since 1868. Its name derives from a 1992 merger between the two major daily newspapers at the time, ''The San Diego Union'' and ...

''s David L. Coddon, Wainwright referred to "April Fools" as "one of isgreatest possible hits".

Recordings and live performances

"April Fools" originally appeared as the third track on Wainwright's eponymous debut studio album, released by

in the United States on May 19, 1998. That same year, a shorter version of the song was released as a

promotional single A promotional recording, promo, or plug copy is an audio or video recording distributed free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available. Promos are normally sent directly to broadcasters, such as mu ...

by the label. A live version of the song, from Wainwright's performance on

KCRW KCRW (89.9 FM broadcasting, FM) is an NPR member station broadcasting from the campus of Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California, where the station is licensed. KCRW airs original news and music programming in addition to programming ...

, appears on the album ''Live on KCRW'' (1998). "April Fools" has appeared on other albums in Wainwright's discography, including the DVD '' All I Want'', released by Universal International in 2005, and '' Vibrate: The Best of Rufus Wainwright'', a

greatest hits album A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...

released in 2014.

Compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

s featuring "April Fools" include ''Basicbeats 101'' (1998), ''CMJ New Music, Vol. 59'' (1998), ''Everything Is Beautiful in Its Own Way'' (1998), ''Los Angeles Independent Film Festival: 1998 Music Sampler'' (1998), and '' Live at the World Cafe: Volume 9'' (1999), which features a live recording of Wainwright's performance on

WXPN WXPN (88.5 FM) is a non-commercial, public radio station licensed to the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that broadcasts an adult album alternative (AAA) radio format, along with many other format sh ...

radio program A radio program, radio programme, or radio show is a segment of content intended for broadcast on radio. It may be a one-time production, or part of a periodically recurring series. A single program in a series is called an episode. Radio netw ...

'' World Cafe''. In August 2017, Wainwright performed the song as a duet as a large concert in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

in conjunction with "Montreal 375". Footage of the concert subsequently aired in September on the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is the Canadian Public broadcasting, public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a Crown corporation that serves as the national public broadcaster, with its E ...

during a one-hour special called ''Montreal in Symphony''.

Music video

The music video for "April Fools", directed by

, was the first promoting Wainwright's debut album. It features the singer in Los Angeles "amidst a clique of classic opera characters" such as

Madame Butterfly ''Madama Butterfly'' (; ''Madame Butterfly'') is an opera in three acts (originally two) by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It is based on the short story " Madame Butterfly" (1898) by John Lut ...

, attempting to prevent each of them from committing

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

or being murdered. However, in each instance he arrives too late.

No Doubt No Doubt is an American rock band formed in Anaheim, California in 1986. For most of its career, the band has consisted of vocalist and founding member Gwen Stefani, guitarist Tom Dumont, bassist Tony Kanal and drummer Adrian Young. Keyboar ...

, a friend of Muller's, and

Hole A hole is an opening in or through a particular medium, usually a solid Body (physics), body. Holes occur through natural and artificial processes, and may be useful for various purposes, or may represent a problem needing to be addressed in m ...

bassist

, a high school acquaintance and former roommate of Wainwright's, make cameo appearances. Part of the video was filmed in Stefani's house. Wainwright said of their involvement:

Reception

Matthew Greenwald of AllMusic described "April Fools" as "the most accessible song and recording" on the album, and "possibly one of the catchiest and most hook-filled choruses in contemporary pop memory". He wrote: "As with many of ainwright'ssongs, the wordplay here keeps the listener's attention, making this one of the most unique singles of the modern pop era." Larry Flick, an editor for ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'', selected the song as a "Critic's Choice", signifying a work that is "highly recommend dbecause of their musical merit". He called it "sophisticated without being pretentious" and contrasted it with the "tight and tediously formulaic playlists" of the time. The song is included in Bruce Pollock's book ''Rock Song Index: The 7500 Most Important Songs for the Rock and Roll Era'' (2014).

References

External links

* * {{authority control 1998 songs Music videos directed by Sophie Muller Rufus Wainwright songs Song recordings produced by Jon Brion Songs written by Rufus Wainwright