"Ex's & Oh's" is a song recorded by American singer and songwriter Elle King for her debut studio album, '' Love Stuff'' (2015). It was released on September 23, 2014, as King's debut solo single and the album's lead single via

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

. The song achieved success in the rock genre, peaking at number 1 on the ''Billboard''

Hot Rock Songs Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (formerly known as Rock Songs and Hot Rock Songs) is a record chart published by ''Billboard'' magazine. From its debut on June 20, 2009, through October 13, 2012, the chart ranked the airplay of songs across alternati ...

chart, and later crossed over to

adult pop Pop music is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the ...

radio. In June 2015, "Ex's & Oh's" was certified Gold by

Music Canada Music Canada (formerly Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA)) is a non-profit trade organization that was founded 9 April 1963 to represent the interests of companies that record, manufacture, produce, and distribute music in Canada. It a ...

; it has since been certified double Platinum. "Ex's & Oh's" reached the top of the

Alternative Songs Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks (1988–2009) and Alternative Songs (2009–2020)) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-played ...

chart in September 2015, becoming only the second song by a solo female to reach the top since 1996 after

Lorde Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor (born 7 November 1996), known professionally as Lorde ( ), is a New Zealand singer-songwriter. Taking inspiration from aristocracy for her stage name, she is known for her unconventional musical styles and i ...

achieved the feat in 2013 with "

Royals Royals may refer to: Entertainment * The Royals (band), a Jamaican reggae vocal group * The Royals, original name of The Midnighters * "Royals" (song), a 2013 single by Lorde * ''The Royals'' (TV series), a 2015 E! network drama series * ''The ...

". The song also became King's first and only top-10 hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 to date. It also charted moderately well internationally, attaining top-10 peaks in Australia, Austria, and New Zealand, amongst others. At the

58th Grammy Awards The 58th Annual Grammy Awards was held on February 15, 2016, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The ceremony recognizes the best recordings, compositions and artists of the eligibility year, which was from October 1, 2014, to September 30, 201 ...

, "Ex's & Oh's" was nominated for

Best Rock Performance The Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. According to the 54th Grammy Awards description guide it is designed for s ...

and Best Rock Song.

Composition

"Ex's & Oh's" is an uptempo

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

blues rock Blues rock is a fusion music genre that combines elements of blues and rock music. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electric blues and rock (electric guitar, electric bass guitar, and drums, sometimes w ...

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

song with elements of Southern rock, and a swing beat. The song was written by Elle King with the song's producer, Dave Bassett, and King credits him with helping her shape the sound of the album. Its instrumentation includes the guitar and drums and is influenced by

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

. The song's lyrics describe the narrator's past relationships with needy men and her tendency to "

hew Hew is a masculine given name. Notable people with the name include: * Hew Ainslie (1792–1878), Scottish poet * Hew Dalrymple, Lord North Berwick (1652–1737), Scottish judge and politician * Sir Hew Dalrymple, 2nd Baronet (1712-1790), Scottis ...

men up and eat them." King describes how her ex-boyfriends are like ghosts; they always want to come back to haunt her. She also explains how her feelings toward her boyfriends quickly shift and her carelessness over the relationship. According to Musicnotes.com, the song is written in E minor.

Critical reception

"Ex's & Oh's" received acclaim from many music critics.

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance writer, occ ...

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

labelled the song one of the highlights of ''Love Stuff'', writing, "When King walks a fine line between rock crunch and soul testifying, there's some fire." Entertainment blog '' Renowned for Sound'' rated the song 4.5 stars out of 5; reviewer Marcus Floyd praised both King's storytelling ability and the song's catchy production, saying that "it just has this attractive sound that makes you want to hear it again and again". Bradley Stern wrote a very positive review of the song for ''MuuMuse'' in which he described the song as "ballsy, brash and profoundly #unapologetic."

Music video

Two music videos were released for the song. The first premiered on October 7, 2014 and features the song's lyrics played out in a

carnival Carnival is a Catholic Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (or Pre-Lent). Carnival typi ...

shooting gallery attraction. It is a hybrid of

animation Animation is a method by which image, still figures are manipulated to appear as Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent cel, celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited ...

and

live action Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ga ...

. King does not appear in the video. The second (fully live action) video premiered on May 1, 2015. Directed by Michael Maxxis, it begins with King's character kicking her boyfriend, played by Thom Glant, out of their car in the middle of a desert, and then focuses largely on a barbecue party and other recreational activities at King's trailer campsite in the desert. The video occasionally cuts back to King's boyfriend trying to find her, which he eventually does. Featuring many scantily clad male characters and scenes with clear sexual innuendos, the video inverts the

objectification of women Sexual objectification is the act of treating a person solely as an Object (philosophy), object of sexual desire. Objectification more broadly means treating a person as a commodity or an object without regard to their personality or dignity. Ob ...

common in contemporary music videos, and has been praised by critics for this role reversal.

Live performances

* October 22, 2014, in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

for ''Paste'' Magazine. * February 17, 2015, on '' The Today Show''. * April 3, 2015, on ''

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jimmy Fallon that airs on NBC. The show premiered on February 17, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. It is the seventh incar ...

''. * October 26, 2015, on ''

Jimmy Kimmel Live! ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. The nightly hour-long show debuted on January 26, 2003, at Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywood, Los ...

'' * December 16, 2015, on '' TFI Friday Christmas Special'' in the UK. * December 19, 2015, on Dermot O'Leary, BBC Radio 2 * December 31, 2015, on ABC's yearly broadcast of '' Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with

Ryan Seacrest Ryan John Seacrest (born December 24, 1974) is an American media personality and producer. He is the co-host of ''Live with Kelly and Ryan'', as well as the host of multiple media shows including ''American Idol'', ''American Top 40'', and '' ...

''. She was part of the prerecorded portion that is broadcast from Hollywood, California. * January 22, 2016, on

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's ''

The Graham Norton Show ''The Graham Norton Show'' is a British comedy chat show presented by Graham Norton. It was initially broadcast on BBC Two, from 22 February 2007, before moving to BBC One in October 2009. It currently airs on Friday evenings, with Norton s ...

'' in the UK.

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications and sales

Release history

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ex's and Oh's 2014 debut singles 2014 songs Elle King songs RCA Records singles Songs written by Dave Bassett (songwriter) Songs with feminist themes Number-one singles in Iceland