| "Sweet Ophelia" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byZella Day | ||||
| from the EPZella Dayand the albumKicker | ||||
| B-side | "1965" | |||
| Released | April 7, 2014 (2014-04-07) | |||
| Recorded | October 2013 | |||
| Studio | Wax Ltd Studios (Los Angeles) | |||
| Genre | Pop | |||
| Length | 3:10 | |||
| Label |
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| Songwriter(s) |
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| Producer(s) | Wax Ltd | |||
| Zella Day singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "Sweet Ophelia" onYouTube | ||||
"Sweet Ophelia" is a song released by American singer-songwriterZella Day for her secondextended play,Zella Day (2014), and her second studio album,Kicker (2015). The song was produced byWally Gagel and Xandy Barry ofWax Ltd, with lyrics written by Day, Gagel, and Barry. It was released on April 7, 2014, through B3SCI and Pinetop Records, and serves as the lead single to the former record. "Sweet Ophelia" is apop song withsynth-backed production, with lyrics about the protagonist losing their virginity.
In October 2013, "Sweet Ophelia" was written, alongside "East of Eden".[1] In an interview withWonderland, Day discussed the experience of creating the song by saying, "Sweet Ophelia happened really fast. My producers and I were hanging in the studio when I started messing around with this simple riff and floaty verse melody." On lyrics, she stated, "The first verse seemed to just fall out of me, and then we followed where the song was headed sonically."[2] The song was finalized in early 2014.
"Sweet Ophelia" is apop[2][3] song with synth-backed production.[4] The song is characterized as "dreamy", and has a consistent "colossaldrum machine beat, atop a contemporary throbbing",[4] supported with "crunchy snares",[5] and "melancholic vocals."[3] Lyrically, the song is about the protagonist losing their virginity.[6] The song alludes toHamlet'sOphelia.[7][8]
The song was released on April 7, 2014, and premiered onNoisey. It received positive reception, as Noisey Staff described it as "one of the most charming pop songs we've heard this year."[9] Amusic video for the song was released on the same day.[10] Alongside digital release, a limited edition 7"LP, featuring "1965", the B-side to the track, pressed on clearvinyl; was released.[11] Only 500 copies were pressed.[12] The cover art of the track is of a yellow flower, hovering above theGrand Canyon; an allusion to Day'sArizonan roots, in a horizontalkaleidoscopic view. The song was played live atVevoDISCVR in the Electric Room at The Dream Downtown.[13] It was also performed live at the Toyota Sessions, hosted byPandora in 2015.[14] The song was featured inThe Vampire Diaries.[15]
Idolator's Carl Williot praises the song by stating, "It's like some mystical California desert chant-turned-love ballad that never tries to pummel the listener or prove its epic might."[16] Jon Putnam fromThe Line of Best Fit comments on the chorus by stating, "It's hard not to get swept up into her windstorm when she croons, “up, up away”, as the chorus seeps away."[4]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Sweet Ophelia" |
| Wax Ltd | 3:10 |
| Total length: | 3:10 | |||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Sweet Ophelia" |
| Wax Ltd | 3:10 |
| 2. | "1965" |
| Wax Ltd | 3:41 |
| Total length: | 6:51 | |||
Performance credits
Instruments
Production
| Region | Date | Song(s) | Format | Label | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Various | April 7, 2014 | "Sweet Ophelia" | Digital download |
| [11] |
| United States | "Sweet Ophelia" / "1965" | 7"LP | [17] |