"Night Shift" is a song by American

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

musician

Lucy Dacus Lucy Elizabeth Dacus (born May 2, 1995) is an American singer-songwriter and producer. Originally from Richmond, Virginia, Dacus attracted attention with her debut album '' No Burden'' (2016), which led to a deal with Matador Records. Her secon ...

. It was released as the lead single from her album ''

Historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

'' on December 12, 2017.

Background

Dacus described the song as, "The only

breakup song A breakup song is a song describing the breakup of an intimate relationship, with associated emotions of sadness, frustration, anger, and sometimes of acceptance or relief. As one source states (discussing the upbeat breakup song " Better Things ...

I've ever written." It was inspired by her relationship with her former bassist, with whom she broke up after finishing the tour for her previous album '' No Burden''. She said that her decision to include it as the opening track on the album was:

Very deliberate! A breakup song is so immediately relatable. A first genuine heartbreak is a look into reimagining what your life is going to look like. If you accommodate somebody else and you think they’re going to be part of your life and then they’re not, you have to reform. The rest of the album has that reforming quality — having the rug pulled out from underneath you, and coming back.

Reception

"Night Shift" was released to critical acclaim. Andrew Marantz of ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' described it as "a cathartic, bridge-burning, no-fucks-given breakup song." Julien Luebbers of ''

The Spokesman-Review ''The Spokesman-Review'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Spokane, Washington, the city's sole remaining daily publication. It has the third-highest readership among daily newspapers in the state, with most of its readership base in ...

'' wrote that the song was "a vibrant example of linear construction, the song building from soft guitar and vocals to headbanging passion and some seriously impressive singing," and Layla Halabian of ''

The Fader ''The Fader'' (stylized as ''FADER'') is a magazine based in New York City that was launched in 1999 by Rob Stone and Jon Cohen. The magazine covers music, style and culture. It was the first print publication to be released on iTunes. It is o ...

'' named it, "One of the great breakup songs of all time." James Rettig of ''

Stereogum ''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine. ''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several award ...

'' called it "A six-and-a-half-minute sprawl that earns every one of those seconds," and, "A marvel of songwriting," while

Bob Boilen Bob B Boilen (b. April 10, 1953 in Brooklyn, New York City) is an American musician and media personality. He is the host and creator of NPR's online music show ''All Songs Considered'' and NPR's Tiny Desk Concerts series. In 1979 Bob Boilen pl ...

NPR Music NPR Music is a project of National Public Radio, an American privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization, that launched in November 2007 to present public radio music programming and original editorial content for music ...

's program ''

All Songs Considered ''All Songs Considered'' is a weekly online multimedia program started in January 2000 by NPR's ''All Things Considered'' director Bob Boilen. At first, the show featured information and streaming audio about the songs used as bumper music on '' ...

'' declared it "One of 2018's great songs." The song has been praised for its pacing, lyricism, and instrumentation that lies between confessional songwriting and

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

. Gabbie Nirenburg of independent music magazine No Ripcord was more mixed in her assessment, saying it "has a memorable chorus and bridge, but it is entirely too predictable to stand up to Dacus’s earlier work." In 2019,

listeners picked "Night Shift" as one of the top 25 songs of the decade.

Year-end lists

Decade-end lists

Music video

At the time of the song's release, Dacus and her label did not have the time or funding available to produce a music video. In 2023, five years from ''Historian'''s release, Dacus worked with

Jane Schoenbrun Jane Flannery Schoenbrun is an American film producer, screenwriter and film director who began working in the film industry in the late 2010s. Prior to their directorial debut in 2018, Schoenbrun produced feature-length fiction films, documentari ...

Jasmin Savoy Brown Jasmin Savoy Brown (born March 21, 1994) is an American actress. She has appeared in the HBO mystery drama series '' The Leftovers'' (2015–2017), the ABC legal drama series '' For the People'' (2018–2019), and the Showtime psychological d ...

Phoebe Bridgers Phoebe Lucille Bridgers (born August 17, 1994) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. She has released two solo albums, ''Stranger in the Alps'' (2017) and ''Punisher'' (2020), both of which received critical acclaim ...

, and others to release a video featuring Dacus as a hotel employee who stumbles across a fantastical party.

References

{{Lucy Dacus Indie rock songs 2017 songs Matador Records singles Lucy Dacus songs