Coney Island (Taylor Swift song)
"Coney Island" (stylized in all lowercase) is a song by Taylor Swift featuring the National, taken from Swift's ninth studio album, Evermore (2020). Swift, Joe Alwyn (under the pseudonym William Bowery), and the National's Aaron and Bryce Dessner wrote the song, with the latter two producing it. Matt Berninger contributed guest vocals. Republic Records sent "Coney Island" to US adult album alternative radio as a single on January 18, 2021.
"Coney Island"
January 18, 2021
2020
4:35
- Taylor Swift
- Aaron Dessner
- Bryce Dessner
- William Bowery
- Aaron Dessner
- Bryce Dessner
"Coney Island" is an alternative rock and indie folk song set in a waltz tempo and features Swift duetting with Berninger. Lyrically, it depicts a separated couple's memories in Coney Island, New York City. The song peaked at number 45 on the Billboard Global 200 and entered on the charts in Australia, Canada, and the United States. In April 2023, Swift performed "Coney Island" as a "surprise song" for her sixth headlining concert tour, the Eras Tour.[1]
Background[edit]
Taylor Swift had collaborated with The National's Aaron Dessner on her 2020 album Folklore, an indie folk album that departs from the upbeat pop production of her previous releases.[2] She and Dessner worked again on her follow-up album Evermore, a "sister record" to Folklore. This time, they also worked with Bryce Dessner, Aaron Dessner's twin brother.[3]
The Dessner brothers sent Swift some of the instrumentals they made for their band, The National. One of those was what would become "Coney Island". Swift and her then-boyfriend, English actor Joe Alwyn, wrote its lyrics, and recorded it with her vocals. After listening to the demo, the Dessner brothers observed that the song feels very related to The National, and envisioned Matt Berninger (lead vocalist of The National) singing it, and Bryan Devendorf (drummer of The National) playing its drums. Aaron Dessner informed Berninger, who was "excited" for the idea. The band assembled, Devendorf played the drums, while his brother Scott Devendorf played the bass and pocket piano; Bryce Dessner helped produce the song.[3]
Critical reception[edit]
Spin critic Bobby Olivier described "Coney Island" as a "wonderfully dark duet" that feels like "a lonely waltz down a Brooklyn boardwalk", and praised the fusion of Swift's "wispy" head voice with Berninger's bass.[8] Chris Willman of Variety compared the song to "Exile" (2020), another similar duet on Swift's preceding album, where former lovers take turns in blaming each other, with the opposite happening in "Coney Island".[9] Neil McCormick of The Daily Telegraph wrote that the song "offers an insight into where their aesthetics meet", counterpointing Swift's "lucid, melodious voice" aside "the mumbled intensity" of Berninger's baritone.[10]
Tom Breihan of Stereogum called "Coney Island" the "dourest" moment of evermore, alike "The Last Time" in Swift's fourth studio album, Red (2012).[11] Craig Jenkins of Vulture complimented Berninger's baritone and Swift's delicate vocals: "you hear [the song] and you start to wonder if the low end notes on these albums are another bout of trying out other singer-songwriters' wares".[12] In less favourable reviews, The Guardian's Alexis Petridis welcomed the guest appearance of Berninger, but found the lyrics to be "subpar" without "much substance".[13] Pitchfork's Sam Sodomsky opined that Berninger's vocals felt out of place on the song.[14] It was deemed one of the album's weaker tracks by Slate's Carl Wilson.[15]
Commercial performance[edit]
All of the tracks on Evermore debuted inside the top-75 of the Billboard Global 200 chart simultaneously; "Coney Island" was at number 45. In the US, the song opened at number 63 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 12 on the Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart.[16] The song reached number 31 on the Canadian Hot 100.[17] It further reached number 15 on the Flemish Ultratop 100, and number 43 in Australia. Upon service to US alternative radio, "Coney Island" reached number 18 on the Billboard Adult Alternative Songs chart.