"Oxford Comma" is the third

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

Vampire Weekend Vampire Weekend are an American Rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 2006 and currently signed to Columbia Records. The band was formed by lead vocalist and guitarist Ezra Koenig, multi-instrumentalist Rostam Batmanglij, drummer Chr ...

released May 26, 2008 from their debut album ''

''.

Song title and meaning

On January 28, 2008, Michael Hogan of '' Vanity Fair'' interviewed

Ezra Koenig Ezra Michael Koenig ( ; born April 8, 1984) is an American musician, record producer, and radio personality. He is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter of indie rock band Vampire Weekend. Additionally, Koenig is the creator of the ...

regarding the title of the song and its relevance to the song's meaning. Koenig said he first encountered the Oxford comma, a comma used before the conjunction at the end of a list, on

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

and learned of a

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

Facebook group Facebook Platform, Facebook is a Social network, social-network service website launched on February 4, 2004, by Mark Zuckerberg. The following is a list of software and technology features that can be found on the Facebook website and mobile ...

called Students for the Preservation of the Oxford Comma. Several months later, while sitting at a piano in his parents' house, he began to write the song and later said, "the first thing that came out was 'Who gives a fuck about an Oxford comma? He stated that the song "is more about not giving a fuck than about Oxford commas." The song's lyrics contain multiple references to rapper

Lil Jon Jonathan H. Smith (born January 17, 1971), better known by his stage name Lil Jon, is an American rapper, DJ, and record producer. Regarded as a progenitor of the club-oriented hip-hop subgenre crunk, his production and voice presence were inst ...

(claiming that "he always tells the truth"). Lil Jon sent Vampire Weekend a case of

crunk juice ''Crunk Juice'' is the fifth and final studio album by American Southern hip hop group Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz. It was released on November 16, 2004, under BME Recordings and TVT Records. The production was primarily handled by Lil Jon hims ...

as thanks for the name check, and a friendship formed between Vampire Weekend and Lil Jon that would pan out into Lil Jon's cameo in the music video for " Giving Up the Gun". Also mentioned is the city of

Dharamsala Dharamshala (, ; also spelled Dharamsala) is a town in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. It serves as the winter capital of the state and the administrative headquarters of the Kangra district since 1855. The town also hosts the Tibetan ...

, the city in exile home of the

14th Dalai Lama The 14th Dalai Lama (born 6 July 1935; full spiritual name: Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, shortened as Tenzin Gyatso; ) is the incumbent Dalai Lama, the highest spiritual leader and head of Tibetan Buddhism. He served a ...

("the highest lama"), the current Dalai Lama.

Music video

The video, directed by comedian

Richard Ayoade Richard Ayoade ( ; born 23 May 1977) is a British comedian, actor, writer, director and presenter. He played the role of socially awkward IT technician Maurice Moss in Channel 4 sitcom ''The IT Crowd'' (2006–2013), for which he won the 2014 Br ...

, premiered June 20, 2008 on

FNMTV ''FNMTV'' (officially ''Feedback New MTV''; informally ''Friday Night MTV'') is a music video program on MTV focused on premiering new music videos and airing viewers' instantaneous feedback from its website."" F N was branded to stand for "Frid ...

. The concept behind the video was for it to be filmed in one

long take In filmmaking, a long take (also called a continuous take, continuous shot, or oner) is Shot (filmmaking), shot with a duration much longer than the conventional editing pace either of the film itself or of films in general. Significant camera mov ...

—similar to the band's video for previous single "

A-Punk "A-Punk" is a song by indie rock band Vampire Weekend, released on February 28, 2008, as the second single from their 2008 self-titled debut album. The band made their network television debut by performing "A-Punk" on the ''Late Show with David L ...

"—with unified visual and musical aspects. The video drew heavily on impressions of the works of American filmmaker

Wes Anderson Wesley Wales Anderson (born May 1, 1969) is an American filmmaker. Wes Anderson filmography, His films are known for themes of grief, loss of innocence, and dysfunctional families. Due to his films' eccentricity, distinctive visual and narrative ...

. According to Koenig, "It's nice that now we're at a point where we have more resources and we can talk to the director."

Critical reception

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music magazine founded in 1996 by Ryan Schreiber in Minneapolis. It originally covered Alternative rock, alternative and independent music, and expanded to cover genres includin ...

writer Mark Richardson praised "Oxford Comma" as "damn catchy", while Andrew Grillo of Click Music described it as having a "woozy organ and a half arsed guitar solo that masterfully straddles the line between inept and charmingly unstudied." He elaborated that the afro-beat influence was less evident and finished his review by saying that the song was an "extremely enjoyable ditty that goes some way to justifying the attention they've received over the past year." In 2010, musician

Robert Forster Robert Wallace Foster Jr. (July 13, 1941 – October 11, 2019), known professionally as Robert Forster, was an American actor. He made his screen debut as Private L.G. Williams in John Huston's '' Reflections in a Golden Eye'' (1967), followed ...

described "Oxford Comma" as the "best song of the last five years".

Track listing

# "Oxford Comma" # "Walcott" (Insane Mix)

Personnel

Vampire Weekend *

Rostam Batmanglij Rostam Batmanglij (, ; born November 28, 1983), known mononymously as Rostam, is an American musician, producer and songwriter. He was a founding member of the band Vampire Weekend, whose first three albums he produced. He has been described by ...

* Christopher Tomson *

Chris Baio Christopher Joseph Baio (born October 29, 1984) is an American musician, best known for being the bassist for the New York City-based indie rock band Vampire Weekend. He also releases as a record producer under the mononym Baio, and his debut so ...

Additional musicians * Jeff Curtin – hand drums, shaker

Chart performance

Released in May 2008, "Oxford Comma" began to climb the UK Singles Chart. To date, the single's peak is at #38, which is Vampire Weekend's highest-charting single.

Certifications

In other media

"Oxford Comma" was featured in the first episode of the fifth season of ''

How I Met Your Mother ''How I Met Your Mother'' (often abbreviated as ''HIMYM'') is an American sitcom created by Craig Thomas (screenwriter), Craig Thomas and Carter Bays for CBS. The series, which aired from September 19, 2005, to March 31, 2014, follows main char ...

'', "

Definitions A definition is a statement of the meaning of a term (a word, phrase, or other set of symbols). Definitions can be classified into two large categories: intensional definitions (which try to give the sense of a term), and extensional definit ...

," the first episode of the UK show ''

Pramface ''Pramface'' is a British sitcom starring Scarlett Alice Johnson and Sean Michael Verey. Written by Chris Reddy, the first series, comprising six half-hour episodes, piloted on 23 February 2012. The second series, which was commissioned by the BB ...

'', and '' The Chair''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oxford Comma (Song) Vampire Weekend songs 2008 singles 2007 songs XL Recordings singles Songs written by Chris Baio Songs written by Ezra Koenig Songs written by Chris Tomson Songs written by Rostam Batmanglij Music videos directed by Richard Ayoade