"Prom Queen"
Single by Beach Bunny
from the EP Prom Queen
ReleasedAugust 10, 2018 (2018-08-10)
StudioLubeck Studios (Mount Prospect, Illinois)
Genre
Length2:17
LabelSelf-released
Songwriter(s)Lili Trifilio
Beach Bunny singles chronology
"Sports"
(2018)		 "Prom Queen"
(2018)		 "Painkiller"
(2018)

"Prom Queen" is a song recorded by American rock band Beach Bunny. The song was released on August 10, 2018.

Background

Trifilio wrote the track for a friend that was struggling with body issues.[1] The song has been called "a protest of Euro-centric beauty standards."[2] Trifilio was nervous to release the song, with it lacking a romantic theme that was commonplace for many of her songs:[3] "I was scared it would be listened to in the wrong way, like I was encouraging eating disorders. In general, I think there’s a void (in pop music) in discussing social issues, and I hope to write more songs like that."[1] The song is the namesake of the band's fourth extended play, first issued in August 2018.

"Prom Queen" is one of many songs that went viral on the Chinese video-sharing service TikTok, with hundreds of thousands of user-generated videos featuring the song as its soundtrack. Abby Jones at Pitchfork described many of these clips as featuring "a girl posing in front of a phone camera to illustrate Trifilio's opening lines: 'Shut up, count your calories/I never looked good in mom jeans.'"[2] The song first went viral in April 2019, months after its release.

Reception

Greg Kot from the Chicago Tribune said the track "distills tween anxiety and self-doubt with a rare directness. It’s a survivor’s manual dressed up in dark wit and a sharp, guitar-driven melody."[1] Jones from Pitchfork called it indicative of the band's formula: "sentimental and wistful, with a plainspokenness that prompts immediate sympathy."[2] Paper's Eli Enis said the song "radiates a sense of emotional victory, as if Trifilio has expelled the unpleasant subject matter and is now singing from a place of resilience."[3]

Personnel

Credits adapted from the group's Bandcamp.[4]

Beach Bunny
  • Lili Trifilio - vocals, guitar, songwriting
  • Jonathan Alvarado - drums
  • Matt Henkels - lead guitar
  • Aidan Cada – bass guitar
Production
  • Ray Riot – recording engineer
  • Nick Reuille – assistant recording engineer
  • Aaron Cada – mixing, mastering

Charts

Chart performance for "Prom Queen"
Chart (2019) Peak
position
US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (Billboard)[5] 26

Certifications

Certifications and sales for "Prom Queen"
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[6] Silver 200,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Kot, Greg (February 5, 2020). "Meet Chicago's newest rising band Beach Bunny". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 Jones, Abby (February 13, 2020). "Beach Bunny: Honeymoon". Pitchfork. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
  3. 1 2 Enis, Eli (February 24, 2020). "Don't Call Beach Bunny a TikTok Band". Paper. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
  4. ↑ "Prom Queen – Beach Bunny". Bandcamp. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
  5. ↑ "Beach Bunny Chart History (Hot Rock & Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  6. ↑ "British single certifications – Beach Bunny – Prom Queen". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
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