Released February 5, 2016 Recorded 2015 Label Dualtone Records | Format Digital download Genre Folk rock
Americana | |
Writer(s) Wesley Schultz
Jeremy Fraites | ||
"Ophelia" is a song recorded by American folk rock band The Lumineers. It was released as the lead single from their sophomore release, Cleopatra on February 5, 2016.
Contents
So far, the song has garnered over 113 million streams on Spotify.
Background
The song started out as a slower instrumental demo that Jeremiah Fraites, (one third of The Lumineers), sent to Wesley Schultz, (lead vocalist of The Lumineers), back in 2011. According to Schultz, the demo generated enough excitement to work on the project. While playing at a backbar in LA alongside The Lumineers, Schultz wrote the song's hook, which was:
"O-o-phelia, you've been on my mind girl, like a drug. O-o-phelia, heaven help a fool who falls in love."
Soon after, The Lumineers felt they needed to find a proper substitute for the name Ophelia. This was due to the fact that a song of the name had been released many years prior by the band, The Band. Nevertheless, this issue reached its end after Schultz decided that no other name had "the right musicality to it." Subsequently, Schultz had trouble writing "good" verses to carry the hook he wrote, which made the songwriting process so difficult that the project was completely abrogated until four years later. In January 2015, when it came time to work on a new record, the defunct "Ophelia" was resurrected.
I remember thinking, oh its Ophelia. So maybe I'll go back, and rehandle it, and I'll figure out how to tell the story, Hamlet combined with something else.
Over a series of vocal demos, the song was recorded at The Clubhouse in Rhinebeck, New York.
On February 8, 2016, via Facebook, the single's cover art was premiered, along with an eighteen second long snippet of the song.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Schultz said that the song's lyrics are "a vague reference to people falling in love with fame."
The song can also be heard on CW's The Flash in the last scene in Season 2 Episode 22 "Invincible".
Critical reception
The song has received mixed reviews from music critics. The song was praised by Marina Watts of The Cornell Daily Sun; where Watts refers to "Ophelia" as "hauntingly beautiful," along with also noting that the song is "a march that wishes anyone who ever falls in love the best of luck." David Dye of NPR also viewed "Ophelia" positively, while comparing its musical influences and style to The Lumineers' earlier hit, "Ho Hey."
In a negative review Brunna Pimentel wrote for The Edge, she claimed to be disappointed with the song, stating that it "might have been an okay track for the middle of the album," but "as a single, it is undoubtedly anti-climatic." Pimentel also criticized the song for its "repetitive" chorus.
Music video
The official music video was directed by Isaac Ravishankara, and released via The Lumineers' Youtube and VEVO account on February 12, 2016. Since then, it has gained over 20 million views.
Live performances
On April 7, 2016, The Lumineers performed "Ophelia" on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. The Lumineers also performed the song on Good Morning America on April 13. It was their first time on the show. A live performance of the song at the iHeartRadio music theater in LA was aired on Audience Network at 9pm on April 8.