Xanny (song)

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"Xanny"

Song by Billie Eilish

from the album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?

Released March 29, 2019

Genre Pop

Length 4:03

 Darkroom
Label
 Interscope

Songwriter(s)  Billie Eilish

 Finneas O'Connell

Producer(s) Finneas O'Connell

Music video

"Xanny" on YouTube

"Xanny" (stylized in all lowercase) is a song by American singer Billie Eilish from her
debut studio album, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? (2019). The singer
and her brother Finneas O'Connell co-wrote it, whilst the latter solely handled its
production. Musically, it was described as a mid-tempo and jazz-influenced pop ballad.
Eilish recalled being inspired by several artists during the track's creation, most notably
by Frank Sinatra. Productionwise, her distorted falsetto vocals are prominently layered
over a similarly deformed bass in the drop of "Xanny", replicating the feeling of
secondhand smoke. Lyrically, Eilish addresses substance abuse among teenagers; she
was specifically inspired by the negative effects it had on her friends and ultimately on
her.
Upon its release, "Xanny" received positive reviews from music critics, with one of them
likening it to the works of Sophie and Lana Del Rey. The track was accompanied by a
self-directed music video released on December 5, 2019. Minimalistically produced, it
depicts the singer in an all-white outfit sitting on a bench against a white background
whilst her face is burned by disembodied hands holding cigarette butts. Reviewers
praised the visual's simplicity and its correlation to the song. With the release of its
parent album, "Xanny" reached number 35 on the US Billboard Hot 100. Alongside top
ten peaks in several countries, it was certified platinum in the United States by
the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Eilish included the track on the
setlists of her 2019 When We All Fall Asleep Tour and 2020 Where Do We Go? World
Tour.

Contents

 1Background
 2Lyrics and composition
 3Reception
 4Promotion
 5Credits and personnel
 6Charts
 7Certifications
 8References

Background[edit]

Eilish stated that she had a "very jazzy Frank Sinatra (pictured in 1957) view" on the song.[1]

"Xanny" is the third track on Eilish's debut studio album, When We All Fall Asleep,
Where Do We Go?, released for digital download and streaming on March 29, 2019 by
Darkroom and Interscope Records.[2] The song was written by the singer and her
brother Finneas O'Connell; the latter solely produced it.[3] The duo has cited Frank
Sinatra and Feist's "So Sorry" (2007) as primary influences during the creation process.
[1][4][5]
They were also inspired by tracks such as LCD Soundsystem's "New York I Love
You, But You’re Bringing Me Down" (2007), Post Malone's "Stay" (2018), Johnny
Mathis's "Misty" (1959), Daniel Caesar's "Japanese Denim" (2016) and Melody Gardot's
"Who Will Comfort Me" (2009).[6][7] Mastering and mixing were handled by John
Greenham and Rob Kinelski, respectively.[3] Inspiration for "Xanny" came to Eilish after
seeing friends heavily inebriating themselves at a party, consequently becoming
"completely not who they were". The event had, in turn, a frustrating and affecting
impact on the singer. Eilish said drugs was a close subject to her, since some of her
friends had died due to drug overdose; the song's last verse, described as a
"melancholy blow", had been recorded two days after one's death.[1][8]
The title is a reference to the drug Alprazolam, sold under the brand name Xanax.[8] It is
the most prescribed benzodiazepine—medication for anxiety and panic disorders—in
the United States. Side effects of the drug include fatigue, dizziness, memory
impairment, hypersensitivity, irritability, and depression. Xanax is also highly addictive
and heavily misused; it is to some extent responsible for around one-third of attempts at
suicide by overdose.[9][10][11] Hannah Rose Ewens of The Guardian felt that Xanax had
been glamourised by young "disaffected" SoundCloud rappers.[8]

Lyrics and composition[edit]

Eilish elaborated that the message of "Xanny" was "less 'don't do drugs' [and] more 'be
safe'".[8] She endorses what Vox's Charlie Harding described as a "teen sobriety trend"
in the lines: "I'm in their secondhand smoke / Still just drinking canned Coke / I don't
need a Xanny to feel better".[12] Fellow "self-aware" lyrics include: "Please don't try to kiss
me on the sidewalk / On your cigarette break / I can't afford to love someone / Who isn't
dying by mistake in Silver Lake".[13]

"Xanny"
0:25
A 24-second of the song's first chorus, featuring Eilish's distorted voice layered over similarly deformed bass.

Problems playing this file? See media help.

Musically, "Xanny" runs at a moderately slow tempo of 54–56 beats per minute (BPM),
and is played in the key of A major. Eilish's vocals, which are "near-whisper[ed]"
throughout, span a range between the notes of F#3 and E5.[14][15] Critical
commentary described the song as a jazz-influenced mid-tempo pop ballad.[4][16] While
the "lulling" verses of "Xanny" utilize a jazz-inspired loop and a drumkit as
instrumentation, Eilish's layered falsetto vocals are distorted for the track's
"violent" drop in its refrain, and played over similarly deformed, "bone-rattling" bass.[1][5]
[17]
Staccato drum beats are also used throughout the song.[15] Brendan Wetmore
of Paper noted that the singer's vocals are manipulated in a way to "peak into an
untapped vibrational territory".[1]
Elaborating on the song's "weird" and unconventional sound, O'Connell told MTV that it
was a point of contention with their label, although "it's kind of ironic, because [Eilish's]
voice sounds so beautiful and the chords are really pretty". On the same occasion, he
revealed that the "purposely distorted and clipped" sound of aforementioned
SoundCloud artists influenced that of "Xanny". Eilish and O'Connell wanted the song's
refrain to sound like "a girl blowing cigarette smoke into [someone's] face" and to
replicate "what it feels like to be in secondhand smoke".[7] Furthermore, their overall
desire was to make people listening to the track "feel miserable".[1][5]
Reception[edit]
Upon release, "Xanny" was generally praised by music critics. Insider's Libby Torres
said that, although the track "lacks the slick hooks or sardonic lyrics of other songs on
the album", Eilish's "breathy vocals and dismissive attitude towards recreational pill use
make it one of the project's hidden gems".[15] Pitchfork's Stacey Anderson commended
the lyrical content, which, according to her, "wonderfully underscore[s] how all teen
angst is both fiercely sincere and an effect of being only partially informed".[13] Brendan
Wetmore, writing for Paper magazine, stated that the "extremely jarring and tone-
oscillating track" was influenced by the "modern pop" genre, which, as claimed by him,
was created by the likes of Sophie and Lana Del Rey.[1] Thomas Smith of NME stated
that the musical experimentation on When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? was
best represented by "Xanny".[17] While likening the track's bridge to the works of the
Beatles, Variety's Chris William saw the song as "tragicomic": "[I]t's anti-drug, in an
amusing, WTF-is-wrong-with-my-contemporaries kind of way".[18]
In a negative review, Jason Lipshutz of Billboard called "Xanny" "ambitio[us]", yet not
"as soaring as it needs to be", and The Independent's Roisin O'Connor deemed it "more
soporific than seductive".[16][19] Upon the release of When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do
We Go?, Eilish broke the record for the most simultaneous US Billboard Hot 100 entries
for a female artist. "Xanny" was the highest-charting non-single off the record in the
territory, reaching number 35.[20][21] "Xanny" further peaked at number six in all three Baltic
states.[22][23][24] It has notably been awarded a platinum certification by the Recording
Industry Association of America (RIAA).[25]

Promotion[edit]

A screenshot from the video, featuring disembodied hands forcing cigarette butts into the face of Eilish, leaving
burns.

Eilish has performed "Xanny" a number of times, including for MTV in April 2019;[26] the
performance was done since Eilish had been named the channel's breakthrough artist
of that month.[5] The song was also included on the setlist of Eilish's When We All Fall
Asleep Tour (2019).[27] "Xanny" was performed at Pukkelpop in August 2019,[28] and
eventually added to the singer's Where Do We Go? World Tour (2020).[29] In November
2019, Eilish announced the release of a self-directed music video to accompany the
song;[30][31] it was eventually premiered on December 5.[32] In the minimalistic visual,[31] a
brown-haired Eilish sits cross-legged on a white bench against a white background,
wearing an all-white outift.[33] The camera zooms in and out on Eilish's face while she
dances robotically, performing neck, head and glazed eye movements.[34] She remains
seated for the majority of the video while disembodied hands force cigarette butts into
her face, leaving burns.[33][35]
The music video was positively received by music critics upon its release.
While NME's Elizabth Aubrey called it "haunting",[36] Koltan Greenwood of Alternative
Press stated it was "straight forward" yet had "a few jarring visuals and some disturbing
movements".[31] Jordyn Tilchen of MTV commended the fact that the music video
underscored the song's lyrics, and pointed out that the message behind the closing
scene where "the singer simply gets up and walks away as smoke continues to fill the
room" is "hav[ing] the power to excuse ourselves from harmful, anxiety-inducing
situations".[33] The Harvard Crimson's Tadhg Larabee wrote that "paradoxically, in being
[seemingly] boring, this music video may represent an attempt by Eilish to twist pop
culture’s norms around drug use—another attempt to do fame differently".[34] Justin Curto
of Vulture deemed the singer's look in the music video "iconic", although opining that it
made her "look like a 40-something mom".[37] The music video was nominated for Best
Direction at the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards.[38]

Credits and personnel[edit]

Credits adapted from Tidal.[3]

 Billie Eilish – vocals, songwriter

 Finneas O'Connell – producer, songwriter
 Rob Kinelski – mixer
 Casey Cuayo – assistant mixer
 John Greenham – mastering engineer

Charts[edit]
Chart performance for "Xanny"

Peak
Chart (2019)
position

Australia (ARIA)[39] 10

Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[40] 26

Czech Republic (Singles Digitál Top 100)[41] 18

Estonia (Eesti Tipp-40)[22] 6

 Chart performance for "Xanny"

Peak
Chart (2019)
position

France (SNEP)[42] 189

Germany (Official German Charts)[43] 78

Greece (IFPI)[44] 15

Hungary (Stream Top 40)[45] 13

Iceland (Plötutíðindi)[46] 24

Ireland (IRMA)[47] 99

Italy (FIMI)[48] 91

Latvia (LAIPA)[23] 6

Lithuania (AGATA)[24] 6

Netherlands (Single Top 100)[49] 48

New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[50] 22

Norway (VG-lista)[51] 35
 Chart performance for "Xanny"

Peak
Chart (2019)
position

Portugal (AFP)[52] 34

Slovakia (Singles Digitál Top 100)[53] 11

Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[54] 32

UK Audio Streaming (OCC)[55] 21

US Billboard Hot 100[21] 35

Certifications[edit]
Certifications for "Xanny"

Certificatio
Region Certified units/sales
n

Australia (ARIA)[56] Platinum 70,000

Canada (Music Canada)[57] Gold 40,000

Poland (ZPAV)[58] Gold 10,000

Portugal (AFP)[59] Gold 5,000

United Kingdom (BPI)[60] Silver 200,000

 Certifications for "Xanny"

Certificatio
Region Certified units/sales
n

United States (RIAA)[25] Platinum 1,000,000

Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

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