View source for Birthday Party (song)

{{short description|2019 single by AJR}}
{{About|the AJR song|other songs|Birthday Party (disambiguation)#Music{{!}}Birthday Party § Music}}
{{Infobox song
| name          = Birthday Party
| cover         = Birthday_Party_AJR_Single.jpg
| type          = single
| artist        = [[AJR]]
| album         = [[Neotheater]]
| released      = {{start date|2019|03|12|mf=yes}}
| recorded      = 2018
| studio        =
| genre         = [[Pop music|Pop]]
| length        = 3:43
| label         = [[S-Curve Records|S-Curve]]
| writer        = * Jack Met
* Adam Met
* Ryan Met
* [[Peter Ivers]]
* [[David Lynch]]
| producer      = Ryan Met
| prev_title    = [[100 Bad Days]]
| prev_year     = 2019
| next_title    = [[Dear Winter]]
| next_year     = 2019
| misc          = {{External music video|header=Audio|{{YouTube|0QqOdz8zjuk|"Birthday Party"}}}}
}}
"'''Birthday Party'''" is a song by American [[Pop music|pop]] band [[AJR]]. It was released as a promotional single via [[S-Curve Records]] on March 12, 2019, for the band's third studio album ''[[Neotheater]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/AJRBrothers/status/1105324530732580869|title=NEW SONG 'BIRTHDAY PARTY' AND NEOTHEATER ALBUM PREORDER IS AVAILABLE NOW|website=[[Twitter]]|date=March 12, 2019|accessdate=August 14, 2023}}</ref>
==Background==
Following the release of lead single "[[100 Bad Days]]", AJR announced the album's name and cover art on March 10, 2019.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Legaspi|first=Althea|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/ajr-100-bad-days-jimmy-kimmel-live-watch-806911/|title=AJR Bring Exuberant '100 Bad Days' Performance to 'Kimmel'|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|date=March 12, 2019|accessdate=October 13, 2023}}</ref> The album's tracklist was revealed in conjunction with the single release of "Birthday Party" on March 12, 2019.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.redroll.com/2019/03/19/ajr-announce-neotheater-tour-dates-album-tracklist/|title=AJR Announces 'Neotheater' Tour Dates, Album Tracklist|website=Red Roll|last=LaScola|first=Ben|date=March 19, 2019|accessdate=August 14, 2023}}</ref>
A sample of the song "[[In Heaven]]", written by [[Peter Ivers]] and [[David Lynch]] and performed by Laurel Near in the 1977 film ''[[Eraserhead]]'', is featured in the bridge of the song.<ref>{{cite web |last=Vagabond|first=Rick|url=https://www.rickvagabond.com/blog/ajrs-neotheather-review|title=AJR's "Neotheather" [Review]|website=Rick Vagabond|date=April 27, 2020|accessdate=August 17, 2023}}</ref> On the show ''BUILD Series'', Jack Met tells that "Ryan and I are at [[Columbia University|Columbia]] and we're studying film, and in one of our classes we saw this movie called ''Eraserhead'' [...] and then we saw this one part where this guy goes in a radiator, and then this woman starts singing to him, and as soon as she starts singing this song we looked at each other, we stopped laughing, and we were like 'Oh my god, we have to use this on the album'".<ref>{{cite AV media |last=Met|first=Jack|date=March 26, 2019 |title=AJR Chat About Their Latest LP, "Neotheater" |medium=[[YouTube]] video |language=English |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKS8QvrYs6A |access-date=August 16, 2019 |time=13:27 |publisher=BUILD Series}}</ref>
In an interview on ''Zach Sang Show'', Ryan Met explains the idea for "Birthday Party" came from "a neighbor who just had a baby, we were giving the baby bath, we were talking, and it was at the time the [[Brett Kavanaugh]] stuff was happening. The baby's mom, Sarah, was like 'Oh you don't know about any of this, the world is great to you'".<ref>{{cite AV media |last=Met|first=Ryan|date=April 29, 2019 |title=AJR Breaks Down Their New Album Neotheater |medium=[[YouTube]] video |language=English |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcT_PUmYJXE |access-date=August 14, 2023 |time=35:43 |publisher=Zach Sang Show}}</ref>
==Composition==
"Birthday Party" is composed in [[Time signature|{{music|time|4|4}} common time]] and in the [[Key (music)|key]] of [[C-sharp major]], with a tempo of 84 [[beats per minute]] (bpm).
==Personnel==
Credits adapted from [[Tidal (service)|Tidal]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Credits / Birthday Party / AJR |url=https://listen.tidal.com/album/104858545/credits |date=March 12, 2019 |publisher=[[Tidal (service)|Tidal]] |accessdate=October 15, 2023}}</ref>
{{div col}}
* Adam Met – backing vocals, instruments, composer
* Jack Met – main vocals, instruments, composer
* Ryan Met – backing vocals, instruments, composer, [[Record producer|producer]]
* [[Chris Gehringer]] – [[Mastering (audio)|mastering engineer]]
* Joe Zook – [[Audio mixing (recorded music)|audio mixing]]
* Drew Allsbrook – [[audio mixing (recorded music)|audio mixing]]
* [[David Lynch]] – composer
* [[Peter Ivers]] – composer
* Ezra Donellan – vocals
* Ruth Kornblatt-Stier – cello
* Chris Berry – drums
* Emelia Suljic – violin
*
{{div col end}}
==Charts==
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+ Weekly chart performance for "Birthday Party"
! scope="col"| Chart (2019)
! scope="col"| Peak<br />position
|-
{{single chart|Billboardrocksongs|29|artist=AJR|rowheader=true|access-date=August 14, 2023}}
|-
! scope="row"| Czech Republic ([[Rádio – Top 100 (Czech Republic)|Rádio – Top 100]])<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ifpicr.cz/hitparada/2/ajr/birthday-party/162086|title=ČNS IFPI|website=[[International Federation of the Phonographic Industry|IFPI]]|language=Czech|access-date=August 14, 2023}}</ref>
| 17
|}
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{AJR songs}}
{{authority control}}
[[Category:AJR songs]]
[[Category:2019 songs]]
[[Category:2019 singles]]