Coney Island (Taylor Swift song)

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"Coney Island"
Cover art of "Coney Island", showing a blurred image of Swift surrounded by trees
Single by Taylor Swift featuring the National
from the album Evermore
ReleasedJanuary 18, 2021 (2021-1-18)
Recorded2020
Studio
Genre
Length4:35
LabelRepublic
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Aaron Dessner
  • Bryce Dessner
Taylor Swift singles chronology
"No Body, No Crime"
(2021) 		"Coney Island"
(2021) 		"Gasoline"
(2021)
The National singles chronology
"Never Tear Us Apart"
(2020) 		"Coney Island"
(2021) 		"Somebody Desperate"
(2021)
Lyric video
"Coney Island" on
YouTube

"Coney Island" is a song by the American singer-songwriter

William Bowery, and the brothers Aaron and Bryce Dessner wrote the song for Swift's ninth studio album, Evermore (2020). The track was produced by the Dessner brothers, and Matt Berninger contributed guest vocals. An alternative rock and indie folk
song, "Coney Island" features lyrics that depict a separated couple reflecting on their past relationship.

Republic Records released the track to adult album alternative radio in the United States on January 18, 2021. Some music critics commended the vocal chemistry between Swift and Berninger, while others deemed his vocal performance out of place; they generally considered "Coney Island" a standout track on Evermore. It peaked at number 45 on the Billboard Global 200 and reached the national charts of Australia, Canada, Portugal, and the United States, receiving certifications in Australia, Brazil, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. Swift performed it live three times on her sixth concert tour, the Eras Tour (2023–2024).

Background and release

During the

maximalist pop sound of her previous works.[4][5][6] In September 2020, Swift, Antonoff, and Dessner assembled at Long Pond Studio in the Hudson Valley to film Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions, a documentary that features Swift performing all of the seventeen tracks of Folklore and discussing the creative process and inspirations behind the album.[7][8] After filming, the three celebrated Folklore's success and unexpectedly continued writing songs while staying at Long Pond.[9] The result was Swift's ninth studio album, Evermore, which she described as a "sister record" to Folklore.[10] It was surprise-released on December 11, 2020, with "Coney Island" appearing as its ninth track.[11][12] Republic Records released the song to US adult album alternative radio on January 18, 2021.[13]

Production and composition

Dessner and his twin brother,

William Bowery wrote its lyrics and recorded her vocals. After listening to the demo, the four collectively observed that the song was closely connected to the National, envisioning Matt Berninger (the band's lead vocalist) singing it and Bryan Devendorf (the drummer) playing its drums. Dessner informed Berninger, who was "excited" for the idea; the band assembled to work on the track.[14]

Dessner recorded "Coney Island" at Long Pond with Jonathan Low, who recorded Swift's vocals with Robin Baynton and

high-string guitar, and synthesizer; his brother Bryce played piano and synthesizer and was the orchestrator for the cello (Clarice Jensen), drums (Devendorf and Jason Treuting), violin (Yuki Numata Resnick), and percussion (Treuting). Devendorf's brother, Scott, played bass guitar and pocket piano for the track.[8]

Coney Island shore in New York City
The narrative of "Coney Island" is set in Coney Island, an entertainment area in New York City.

At 4 minutes and 35 seconds long,

merry-go-rounds.[21]

Critical reception

Some music critics praised the vocal chemistry between Swift and Berninger and considered "Coney Island" a highlight from Evermore.[c] Spin's Bobby Olivier described it as a "wonderfully dark duet" and lauded the fusion of Swift's and Berninger's vocals,[18] and Stereogum's Tom Breihan similarly considered it the darkest track on the album, alike "The Last Time" in Swift's fourth studio album, Red (2012).[28] The Daily Telegraph's Neil McCormick deemed it one of Evermore's "strangest songs" and believed that Berninger's performance elevated the song's quality; he added that Swift's "lucid and melodious" vocals counterpointed "the mumbled intensity" of his baritone.[24] Variety's Chris Willman compared "Coney Island" to "Exile" (2020), another similar duet on Folklore, and found the lyric "We were like the mall before the internet/ It was the one place to be" a "rare laugh line".[22]

Some critics commented on the songwriting and Berninger's vocal performance. The Guardian's Alexis Petridis thought "Coney Island" had lackluster songwriting that lacks in depth and believed it would have been a forgettable track without Berninger's performance.[17] On the contrary, Pitchfork's Sam Sodomsky and Beats Per Minute's Ray Finlayson opined that his vocals felt out of place on the song.[20][29] The latter felt "Coney Island" sounded like a conversation between a father and his daughter rather than two romantic partners due to the vocal differences between Swift and Berninger.[20] The track appeared in rankings of Swift's discography by Rolling Stone's Rob Sheffield (26 out of 274)[26] and Vulture's Nate Jones (181 out of 245).[30]

Commercial performance

"Coney Island" debuted at number 45 on the

Billboard Adult Alternative Songs chart,[33] number 32 on the Rolling Stone Top 100 chart,[34] and number 63 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.[35] The track peaked at number 31 in Canada,[36] number 42 in Australia,[37] and number 150 in Portugal.[38] It reached number 8 on the Ultratip Bubbling Under 100 chart in Flanders[39] and number 75 on the Audio Streaming chart in the United Kingdom.[40] The track received gold certifications in Australia,[41] Brazil,[42] and New Zealand,[43] and a silver certification in the United Kingdom.[44]

Live performances

Swift performed "Coney Island" on piano as a "surprise song" three times on the Eras Tour (2023–2024).[45] She played it for the first time at the first Atlanta show on April 28, 2023.[46] She performed it with Sabrina Carpenter as part of a mashup with Swift's single "White Horse" (2008) at the first Sydney show of the tour on February 23, 2024; Billboard's Hannah Dailey picked the performance as one of the best 25 moments from the tour.[47][48] Swift played the track in a mashup with her song "My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys" (2024) at the sixth show in London on August 17, 2024.[49]

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the liner notes of Evermore.[8]

  • Taylor Swift – lead vocals, songwriter
  • The National – featured artist
  • William Bowery
    – songwriter
  • Jonathan Low – mixer, recording engineer, Swift's vocal recording engineer
  • Robin Baynton – Swift's vocal recording engineer
  • Sean O'Brien – Berninger's vocal recording engineer
  • Greg Calbi – mastering engineer
  • Steve Fallone – mastering engineer
  • Jason Treuting – drums, percussion
  • Yuki Numata Resnick – violin
  • Clarice Jensen – cello

Charts

Chart performance for "Coney Island"Chart performance of "Coney Island"
Chart (2020) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[37] 42
Belgium (Ultratip Bubbling Under Flanders)[39] 8
Global 200 (Billboard)[31] 45
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[36] 31
Portugal (AFP)[38] 150
UK Audio Streaming (OCC)[40]
 75
US Billboard Hot 100[35] 63
US
Adult Alternative Songs (Billboard)[33]
 18
US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (Billboard)[32] 12
US
Rolling Stone Top 100[34]
 32

Certifications

Certifications for "Coney Island"
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[41] Gold 35,000‡
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[42] Gold 20,000‡
New Zealand (RMNZ)[43] Gold 15,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[44] Silver 200,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Footnotes

  1. ^ Attributed to The A.V. Club's Annie Zaleski,[16] The Guardian's Alexis Petridis,[17] and Spin's Bobby Olivier.[18]
  2. ^ Attributed to Olivier,[18] The Washington Post's Sonia Rao,[19] and Beats Per Minute's Ray Finlayson.[20]
  3. ^ Attributed to Olivier,[18] The Daily Telegraph's Neil McCormick,[24] Vulture's Craig Jenkins,[25] Rolling Stone's Rob Sheffield,[26] and The Line of Best Fit's Ross Horton.[27]

References

  1. ^ Blistein, Jon (November 24, 2020). "Taylor Swift to Release New Folklore Film, The Long Pond Studio Sessions". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on November 24, 2020. Retrieved December 21, 2024.
  2. ^ Lipshutz, Jason (July 24, 2021). "Taylor Swift Releases 'The Lakes (Original Version)' on Folklore One-Year Anniversary: Listen Now". Billboard. Archived from the original on July 6, 2024. Retrieved December 21, 2024.
  3. ^ DeSantis, Rachel (December 5, 2023). "Taylor Swift's Cowriter Aaron Dessner Recalls Her 'Cooking Everyone Breakfast and Dinner' at Her Home (Exclusive)". People. Archived from the original on December 19, 2024. Retrieved December 21, 2024.
  4. ^ McGrath 2023, p. 79.
  5. ^ Grein, Paul (August 4, 2020). "Will the Grammys Classify Taylor Swift's Folklore as Pop or Alternative?". Billboard. Archived from the original on November 25, 2020. Retrieved December 21, 2024.
  6. ^ Bruner, Raisa; Chow, Andrew R. (November 27, 2020). "The 10 Best Albums of 2020". Time. Archived from the original on November 28, 2020. Retrieved December 21, 2024.
  7. ^ Winn, Layne; Larramendia, Eliana (November 24, 2020). "Taylor Swift Announces Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions Intimate Concert Film for Disney+". ABC News. Archived from the original on January 24, 2021. Retrieved December 21, 2024.
  8. ^ a b c Swift, Taylor (2020). Evermore (CD deluxe edition liner notes). Republic Records. B003340502.
  9. ^ Havens, Lyndsey (December 18, 2020). "Aaron Dessner on the 'Weird Avalanche' That Resulted in Taylor Swift's Evermore". Billboard. Archived from the original on December 22, 2020. Retrieved June 13, 2021.
  10. ^ Shaffer, Claire (December 11, 2020). "Taylor Swift Deepens Her Goth-Folk Vision on the Excellent Evermore". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on December 11, 2020. Retrieved June 14, 2021.
  11. ^ Rosa, Christopher (December 10, 2020). "Taylor Swift Is Releasing Her 9th Album, Evermore, Just Five Months After Folklore". Glamour. Archived from the original on March 31, 2024. Retrieved March 31, 2024.
  12. ^ Lewis, Isobel; O'Connor, Roisin (December 11, 2020). "Taylor Swift Releases New Album Evermore – Everything We Know So Far". The Independent. Archived from the original on January 4, 2024. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
  13. ^ "Future Releases on Triple A (AAA) Radio Stations". All Access Music Group. Archived from the original on January 10, 2021. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
  14. ^ Shaffer, Claire (December 18, 2020). "Aaron Dessner on How His Collaborative Chemistry With Taylor Swift Led to Evermore". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on December 22, 2020. Retrieved December 19, 2020.
  15. ^ Swift, Taylor (January 7, 2021). "Evermore (Deluxe Edition)". Apple Music (US). Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved January 2, 2025.
  16. ^ a b Annie, Zaleski (December 14, 2020). "Taylor Swift's Powerful Evermore Returns to Folklore's Rich Universe". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on December 14, 2020. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
  17. ^ a b Petridis, Alexis (December 11, 2020). "Taylor Swift: Evermore – Rich Alt-Rock and Richer Character Studies". The Guardian. Archived from the original on December 11, 2020. Retrieved June 14, 2021.
  18. ^ a b c d Olivier, Bobby (December 11, 2020). "Taylor Swift's Evermore Is an Undeniable Folk-Pop Masterpiece". Spin. Archived from the original on December 22, 2020. Retrieved January 28, 2020.
  19. ^ a b Rao, Sonia (December 11, 2020). "How Taylor Swift and Indie Rock Band the National Became Unlikely Collaborators". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on January 22, 2021. Retrieved January 18, 2021.
  20. ^ a b c Finlayson, Ray (December 15, 2020). "Taylor Swift — Evermore". Beats Per Minute. Archived from the original on December 5, 2023. Retrieved January 5, 2025.
  21. ^ a b Wilson, Carl (December 11, 2020). "Taylor Swift's Evermore: A Track-by-Track Review". Slate. Archived from the original on May 5, 2021. Retrieved December 30, 2023.
  22. ^ a b Willman, Chris (December 11, 2020). "Taylor Swift Has Her Second Great Album of 2020 With Evermore: Album Review". Variety. Archived from the original on December 11, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  23. ^ Donovan, Thom (March 2, 2024). "The Melancholy Meaning Behind 'Coney Island' by Taylor Swift and the National". American Songwriter. Archived from the original on March 5, 2024. Retrieved January 5, 2025.
  24. ^ a b McCormick, Neil (December 11, 2020). "Taylor Swift, Evermore Review: A Dramatic Excursion down the Musical Roads". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on December 11, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  25. ^ Jenkins, Craig (December 14, 2020). "Taylor Swift Is Done Self-Mythologizing". Vulture. Archived from the original on January 23, 2021. Retrieved January 18, 2021.
  26. ^ a b Sheffield, Rob (October 26, 2024). "All 274 of Taylor Swift's Songs, Ranked". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on February 15, 2021. Retrieved December 21, 2024.
  27. ^ Horton, Ross (December 11, 2020). "Taylor Swift Returns for a 2020 Victory Lap on Evermore". The Line of Best Fit. Archived from the original on December 11, 2020. Retrieved December 5, 2023.
  28. ^ Breihan, Tom (December 12, 2020). "Premature Evaluation: Taylor Swift Evermore". Stereogum. Archived from the original on December 11, 2020. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
  29. Pitchfork. Archived
    from the original on December 15, 2020. Retrieved December 15, 2020.
  30. ^ Jones, Nate (May 20, 2024). "All 245 Taylor Swift Songs, Ranked". Vulture. Archived from the original on September 20, 2024. Retrieved December 21, 2024.
  31. ^ a b "Taylor Swift Chart History (Global 200)". Billboard. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
  32. ^ a b "Taylor Swift Chart History (Hot Rock & Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
  33. ^ a b "Taylor Swift Chart History (Adult Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  34. ^ a b "Top 100 Songs". Rolling Stone. December 17, 2020. Archived from the original on January 11, 2021. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  35. ^ a b "Taylor Swift Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
  36. ^ a b "Taylor Swift Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
  37. ^ a b "Taylor Swift feat. The National – Coney Island". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
  38. ^ a b "Portuguese Charts – Singles Top 20 – 51/2020". Associação Fonográfica Portuguesa. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021.
  39. ^
    Ultratip
    . Retrieved August 8, 2021.
  40. ^ a b "Official Audio Streaming Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
  41. ^ a b "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2024 Singles" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
  42. ^ a b "Brazilian single certifications – Taylor Swift – Coney Island" (in Portuguese). Pro-Música Brasil. Retrieved July 22, 2024.
  43. ^ a b "New Zealand single certifications – Taylor Swift – Coney Island". Radioscope. Retrieved December 19, 2024. Type Coney Island in the "Search:" field.
  44. ^ a b "British single certifications – Taylor Swift – Coney Island". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved January 31, 2025.
  45. ^ Gomez, Dessi (December 8, 2024). "All the Surprise Songs Taylor Swift Played on Her Eras Tour". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on September 20, 2024. Retrieved January 2, 2025.
  46. ^ Iasimone, Ashley (April 29, 2023). "Taylor Swift Performs 'Coney Island' Live for the First Time — Without the National". Billboard. Archived from the original on May 12, 2023. Retrieved January 5, 2025.
  47. ^ Dailey, Hannah (February 23, 2024). "Taylor Swift Announces 'The Albatross' Edition of Tortured Poets Duets with Sabrina Carpenter at Eras Concert". Billboard. Archived from the original on August 22, 2024. Retrieved January 5, 2025.
  48. ^ Dailey, Hannah (December 13, 2024). "Taylor Swift's Eras Tour Remembered: 25 Best Moments from the Pop Star's Historic Trek". Billboard. Retrieved January 6, 2025.
  49. ^ Avila, Daniela; Watts, Marina (August 19, 2024). "Taylor Swift Sings Fan-Favorite Reputation Track for First Time During Eras Tour: 'You Deserve Something of This Caliber'". People. Archived from the original on September 21, 2024. Retrieved December 21, 2024.

Source

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