"This Life" is a song by American rock band

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 as the third single from their fourth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

'' Father of the Bride''. It was released on April 4, 2019, by

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

as a

double A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or ...

with " Unbearably White". The highly referential song contrasts bright music against a lyrical exploration of uncertainty and suffering, and was written by lead singer

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 ...

with

iLoveMakonnen Makonnen Kamali Sheran (born April 12, 1989), better known by his stage name iLoveMakonnen (often stylized as ILOVEMAKONNEN), is an American rapper and singer. He is best known for his 2014 single " Tuesday", which initially gained recognition ...

and

Mark Ronson Mark Daniel Ronson (born 4 September 1975) is a British-American DJ, record producer, and songwriter. He has won nine Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year for Amy Winehouse's album '' Back to Black'' (2006), as well as two for Record ...

. The track was released to widespread critical acclaim, being described as amongst the band's best work, and peaked at 11 on the ''

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 ...

Hot Rock Songs Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (formerly known as Rock Songs and Hot Rock Songs) is a record chart published by ''Billboard'' magazine. From its debut on June 20, 2009, through October 13, 2012, the chart ranked the airplay of songs across alternati ...

chart.

Composition

"This Life" bears strong similarities to

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan "Van" Morrison (born 31 August 1945) is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician whose recording career started in the 1960s. Morrison's albums have performed well in the UK and Ireland, with more than 40 reaching the UK ...

's "

Brown Eyed Girl "Brown Eyed Girl" is a song by Northern Irish singer and songwriter Van Morrison. Written by Morrison and recorded in March 1967, it was released as a single in June of the same year on the Bang label, peaking at No. 10 on the ''Billboard'' Ho ...

" (1967), and has also been compared to

Paul Simon Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter known for his solo work and his collaborations with Art Garfunkel. He and Garfunkel, whom he met in elementary school in 1953, came to prominence in the 1960s as Sim ...

's ''

Graceland Graceland is a mansion on a estate in Memphis, Tennessee, United States, once owned by American singer Elvis Presley. Presley is buried there, as are his parents Vernon and Gladys, paternal grandmother Minnie Mae, grandson Benjamin, and daugh ...

'' (1986), with the opening lyrics referencing "

It Never Rains in Southern California "It Never Rains in Southern California" is a 1972 song jointly written and composed by Albert Hammond and Mike Hazlewood and sung by Hammond, a British-born singer-songwriter. Lyrical content The lyrics of "It Never Rains In Southern California ...

" (1972) by

Albert Hammond Albert Louis Hammond Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 18 May 1944) is a Gibraltarians, Gibraltarian singer, songwriter and record producer. A prolific songwriter, he also collaborated with other songwriters such as Mike Hazlewood, John B ...

. The upbeat

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

and

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...

song incorporates bright guitars, handclaps and brushed percussion with a

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

shuffle. The bright music is contrasted against Koenig's lyrics, which explore spiritual uncertainty and inevitable suffering. Koenig co-wrote the song with American rapper

, who originally wrote the line "you've been cheating on, cheating on me / I've been cheating on, cheating on you" for his song "Tonight" (2014), and English-American record producer

, who contributed to the song's bass line.

Critical reception

The song received universal acclaim from music critics, and has been described as being among Vampire Weekend's best work to date. Matthew Strauss of ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

'' awarded the song "Best New Track", praising its storytelling and bright musical palette. ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

s Will Gottsegen praised the song as the highlight of the singles released leading up to ''Father of the Bride'', describing it as "a high water mark for Koenig in the post-

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era—a deft interlacing of references, equal parts melancholic and playful". Reviewing ''Father of the Bride'' for ''

Noisey ''Vice'' (stylized in all caps) is a Canadian-American magazine focused on lifestyle, arts, culture, and news/politics. It was founded in 1994 in Montreal as an alternative punk magazine, and its founders later launched the youth media company ...

'', Alex Swhear described the track as "one of the year’s most purely enjoyable pop songs". For ''

Loud and Quiet ''Loud and Quiet'' is a British bi-monthly music magazine that focuses on new music from underground indie, alternative, electronic and hip hop artists. History and profile The magazine was founded in January 2005 by Stuart Stubbs as a home-print ...

'', Sam Walton commended the song as "the best thing Vampire Weekend have ever recorded, and one of those songs that leaves you baffled as to how, after 60-odd years of recorded pop, it was only written now", praising its songwriting and construction as accessible yet unique, and addictive.

Music video

A music video for the song was released on May 20, 2019, directed by previous collaborator

Emmett Malloy The Malloys is the working name of music video and film directors and brothers Emmett Malloy and Brendan Malloy. They have been with Superprime Films since 2010. Videography *"Dance with Me (Blink-182 song), DANCE WITH ME" by blink-182 (2023 ...

. The video depicts Koenig,

Danielle Haim Danielle Sari Haim (born February 16, 1989) is an American musician. She is the lead guitarist and vocalist of the pop rock band Haim, which also consists of her two sisters, Este Haim and Alana Haim. Danielle also serves as the group's drummer i ...

and

Ariel Rechtshaid Ariel Rechtshaid ( ;) is an American record producer, audio engineer, mixing engineer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter. His accolades include three Grammy Awards for music production. Rechtshaid was the lead singer and guitarist of the ska ...

riding through the

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

desert with a driver introduced as Wade (portrayed by

Kyle Field Kyle Field is an American football stadium in College Station, Texas located on the campus of Texas A&M University. It has been the home to the Texas A&M Aggies football team in rudimentary form since 1904, and as a permanent concrete stadium s ...

), eventually arriving at a

Passover Seder The Passover Seder is a ritual feast at the beginning of the Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday of Passover. It is conducted throughout the world on the eve of the 15th day of Nisan in the Hebrew calendar (i.e., at the start of the 15th; a Hebrew d ...

hosted by

, with other guests including

Sophie Sophie is a feminine given name, another version of Sophia, from the Greek word for "wisdom". People with the name Born in the Middle Ages * Sophie, Countess of Bar (c. 1004 or 1018–1093), sovereign Countess of Bar and lady of Mousson * Soph ...

, Despot, Simi and Haze and Jovan Hill.

Personnel

Credits adapted from ''Father of the Brides liner notes. *

– engineering * Chris Kasych – engineering * John DeBold – engineering * P-Thugg (Patrick Gemayel) – engineering * Hiroya Takayama – engineering * Takemasa Kosaka – engineering *

Manny Marroquin Manny Marroquin (born September 21, 1971) is a Guatemalan-American record mixing engineer. He has been credited on albums for high-profile pop, R&B, hip hop and rock acts. He has worked with artists including Rihanna, Kanye West, Katy Perry ...

– mixing * Chris Galland – mix engineering * Robin Florent – mix engineering assistance * Scott Desmarais – mix engineering assistance *

Emily Lazar Emily B. Lazar is an American mastering engineer. She is the founder, president, and chief mastering engineer of The Lodge, an audio mastering facility that has operated in New York City's Greenwich Village since 1997. She won a Grammy Award for ...

– mastering * Chris Allgood – mastering assistance

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Vampire Weekend 2019 songs 2019 singles American pop rock songs American pop songs Columbia Records singles Song recordings produced by Ariel Rechtshaid Songs written by Ezra Koenig Songs written by Mark Ronson Vampire Weekend songs Songs written by iLoveMakonnen