"This Is Why" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Paramore | ||||
from the album This Is Why | ||||
Released | September 28, 2022 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 3:27 | |||
Label | Atlantic | |||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) | Carlos de la Garza | |||
Paramore singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Music video | ||||
"This Is Why" on YouTube |
"This Is Why" is a song by American rock band Paramore, released as the lead single from their sixth studio This Is Why, on September 28, 2022.[1] It was written by Hayley Williams, Taylor York, and Zac Farro and produced by Carlos de la Garza. The song was accompanied by its music video, released the same day.[2]
Background
"This Is Why" was released on September 28, 2022.[1][2] It was the last song written for the album, at which point Williams was "tired of writing lyrics", although guitarist Taylor York convinced Williams and drummer Zac Farro to work on one "last idea". Williams stated that it "summarizes the plethora of ridiculous emotions, the rollercoaster of being alive in 2022, having survived even just the last three or four years" and thought that following the COVID-19 pandemic and "the impending doom of a dying planet", "that humans would have found it deep within themselves to be kinder or more empathetic or something".[2]
Composition
"This Is Why" has been described as a funk,[3][4] indie pop,[5] post-punk,[4] pop punk,[6] dance-punk,[7] alternative rock,[3] soul,[3] and dance song.[3] It is the band's first title track.
Critical reception
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
NME | [8] |
Quinn Moreland of Pitchfork wrote that the track "builds on the funky pop that colored 2017's After Laughter, but shifts away from its predecessor's bright gloss for something muddier and vaguely threatening" and called the chorus "spiky" with instrumentation from marimbas making for a "suspense[ful]" bridge, after which "the song creeps forward, ultimately never pulling itself out of its paranoid spiral".[9] Ali Shutler of NME described it as a "snarling, defiant middle finger to the haters" and a "giddy statement of purpose" with "newfound urgency to the party-starting music that takes influence from their angsty days as scrappy pop-punkers" accompanied by a "disco stomp".[8] Steffanee Wang of Nylon called it a "disillusioned anthem" as well as "explosive" and remarked that it "sonically fits in the neat in-between space between [the band's] older pop-punk stuff and the electronic contemporary sound of 2017's After Laughter".[10]
Accolades
The song has been nominated for Best Alternative Music Performance at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards.[11]
Organization | Year | Category | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
MTV Video Music Awards | 2023 | Best Alternative | Nominated | [12] |
Publication | Accolade | Rank | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
Consequence | Top 50 Songs of 2022 | 1 | [13] |
NME | The 50 Best Songs of 2022 | 2 | [14] |
Nylon | Favourite Songs of 2022 | – | [15] |
BBC Radio 1 | Hottest Record of the Year 2022 | 1 | [16] |
Music video
The music video was released the same day as the song, and was directed by Brendan Yates of the American punk band Turnstile and filmed in Malibu, California.[2] It depicts the band performing and "frolick[ing ...] in the Malibu wilderness, amid the grasses, against the blue sky, and [...] in the spare interiors of a house".[10]
Personnel
- Hayley Williams – vocals, backing vocals, percussion, piano, composition
- Taylor York – backing vocals, glockenspiel, guitar, keyboards, programming, vibraphone, composition
- Zac Farro – backing vocals, drums, glockenspiel, keyboards, percussion, programming, vibraphone, composition
- Carlos de la Garza – production, backing vocals
- Brian Robert Jones – bass guitar
- Henry Solomon – bass clarinet, clarinet, flute
- Phil Danyew – glockenspiel, keyboards, programming
- Em Mancini – mastering
- Manny Marroquin – mixing
- Harriet Tam – engineering
- Kyle McAulay – engineering assistance
- Patrick Kehrier – engineering assistance
- Scott Moore – engineering assistance
- Joey Mullen – drum technician
- Erik Bailey – guitar technician
- Joanne Almeida – guitar technician
Charts
Weekly charts
|
Year-end charts
|
Release history
Region | Date | Format(s) | Label | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
Various | September 28, 2022 | Atlantic | [1] | |
United States | October 4, 2022 | Alternative radio | [26] | |
November 7, 2022 | Adult alternative radio | [27] |
References
- 1 2 3 Trapp, Philip (September 28, 2022). "Paramore Share New Song 'This Is Why,' Announce Their Sixth Album". Loudwire. Retrieved September 29, 2022.
- 1 2 3 4 Ruiz, Matthew Ismael (September 28, 2022). "Paramore Announce New Album This Is Why, Share Video: Watch". Pitchfork. Retrieved September 28, 2022.
- 1 2 3 4 Barcelata, Diana (October 3, 2022). "Paramore is Officially Back With "This Is Why"". Music Daily. Retrieved November 10, 2022.
- 1 2 Gotrich, Lars (October 4, 2022). "Paramore, 'This Is Why' An empathetic but exasperated sigh accompanies the motorik post-punk funk". NPR. Retrieved October 4, 2022.
- ↑ Summan, Yasmin (September 30, 2022). "Paramore, Slipknot and Polyphia are our tracks of the week". Alternative Press. Retrieved September 30, 2022.
- ↑ "The 50 Best Songs of 2022". NME. December 5, 2022. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
- ↑ Gleadow, Ewan (October 4, 2022). "Paramore-This Is Why Review". Cult Following. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
- 1 2 Shutler, Ali (September 28, 2022). "Paramore's 'This Is Why' is a snarling, defiant middle finger to the haters". NME. Retrieved September 29, 2022.
- ↑ Moreland, Quinn (September 28, 2022). "Paramore: "This Is Why" Track Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved September 29, 2022.
builds on the funky pop…
- 1 2 Wang, Steffanee (September 28, 2022). "Paramore's "This Is Why" Lyrics Meaning, Explained". Nylon. Retrieved September 29, 2022.
- ↑ "2024 Grammy Nominations: See The Full Nominees List". The Recording Academy. 10 November 2023. Archived from the original on 10 November 2023. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
- ↑ Grein, Paul (August 8, 2023). "Taylor Swift Is Top Nominee for 2023 MTV Video Music Awards (Complete List)". Billboard. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
- ↑ Fu, Eddie (December 5, 2022). "Top 50 Songs of 2022". Consequence. Retrieved December 8, 2022.
- ↑ Campbell, Erica (December 5, 2022). "The 50 best songs of 2022". NME. Retrieved December 8, 2022.
- ↑ H., Lindsay (December 6, 2022). "Nylon's Favourite Songs Of 2022". Nylon. Retrieved December 8, 2022.
- ↑ "How Paramore wrote 2022's song of the year". canvas-story.bbcrewind.co.uk. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
- ↑ "Paramore Chart History (Canada Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved October 30, 2022.
- ↑ "Radio No9 Charts [Week 40/2022]". Radio-No9. Retrieved September 28, 2022.
- ↑ "IRMA – Irish Charts". Irish Recorded Music Association. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
- ↑ "NZ Hot Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. October 10, 2022. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
- ↑ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
- ↑ "Paramore Chart History (Bubbling Under Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved October 11, 2022.
- ↑ "Paramore Chart History (Hot Rock & Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved October 11, 2022.
- ↑ "Paramore Chart History (Rock Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved November 22, 2022.
- ↑ "YEAR-END CHARTS: Rock & Alternative Airplay Songs (2023)". Billboard. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
- ↑ "Future Releases on Alternative Radio Stations". AllAccess. Archived from the original on September 25, 2022. Retrieved September 29, 2022.
- ↑ "Future Releases on Triple A Radio Stations". AllAccess. Archived from the original on October 28, 2022. Retrieved November 1, 2022.