"White Mercedes" is a song by English singer-songwriter

Charli XCX Charlotte Emma Aitchison (born 2 August 1992), known professionally as Charli XCX, is an English singer and songwriter. Born in Cambridge and raised in Start Hill, Essex, she began posting songs on Myspace in 2008, which led to her discovery ...

. It was released on 23 October 2019 by

Asylum Asylum may refer to: Types of asylum * Asylum (antiquity), places of refuge in ancient Greece and Rome * Benevolent Asylum, a 19th-century Australian institution for housing the destitute * Cities of Refuge, places of refuge in ancient Judea ...

and Atlantic UK as the fourth and final single from her third studio album '' Charli'' (2019). It was written by Charli XCX and produced by A.G. Cook, Andrew Watt and Happy Perez. The song is an emotional pop ballad about burning through a relationship with her boyfriend and throwing it away. An accompanying music video for the single, directed by Colin Solal Cardo, features Charli interacting with a sports car, a horse and a monster truck, all colored in white.

Background and composition

Lyrically, in ''

Paper Magazine ''Paper'' (also known as ''Paper Mag'') is a New York City-based independent magazine focusing on fashion, popular culture, nightlife, music, art, and film. Initially produced monthly, the magazine eventually became a quarterly publication, and a ...

'', Charli XCX explained that every time she comes back to her relationship, she becomes "this annoying, hectic person" and her boyfriend, Huck Kwong, ends up getting hurt. Charli acknowledges she is undeserving of his love. "White Mercedes" is described as an emotional ballad song. The song is composed in time and the

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

D major D major (or the key of D) is a major scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. Its key signature has two sharps. Its relative minor is B minor and its parallel minor is D minor. The D major scale is: : Ch ...

, with a

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...

of 130 beats per minute.

Music video

Synopsis

The video starts with Charli performing inside a white sports car that's upside down, which later bursts into flames. She then interacts with a white horse and rides in the backseat of a white monster truck that crushes other cars. In the video, Charli is seen wearing a pink fluffy gown with multi-colored chains, leather knee-high boots and a slicked-back

ponytail A ponytail is a hairstyle in which some, most or all of the hair on the head is pulled away from the face, gathered and secured at the back of the head with a hair tie, clip, or other similar accessory and allowed to hang freely from that point ...

. The video was set in

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

, the capital city of

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

Release

The song's music video was directed by Colin Solal Cardo and premiered on 10 October 2019 at Charli XCX's

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account.

Live performances

On 26 September 2019, Charli XCX performed "White Mercedes" in the Artists Den concert at Rooftop at Pier 17 in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and she also performed it during the

Pitchfork Music Festival The Pitchfork Music Festival is an annual summer music festival organized by ''Pitchfork Media'' and held in Union Park in Chicago, Illinois. Starting in 2011, the festival announced a branch staged in Paris at Grande halle de la Villette. The fe ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

on 1 November 2019. The singer performed the song throughout her

Charli Live Tour The Charli Live Tour was a concert tour by British recording artist Charli XCX in support of her third studio album '' Charli'' (2019). The tour was announced alongside the album's official reveal on June 13, 2019. The tour started on September 2 ...

in 2019 and 2020.

Formats and track listings

*;Digital download – Remixes EP # "White Mercedes" DX's Miami Sunset Remix– 3:20 # "White Mercedes" BH & Jack Remix– 3:10 # "White Mercedes" artin Vogel Remix– 2:53

Credits and personnel

Location

*Recorded at: Andrew Watt's house

Personnel

Credits adapted from

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. *

– vocals, songwriter, executive producer * A.G. Cook – executive producer, additional production, programmer * Andrew Watt – songwriter, producer, guitar, keyboards, programmer * Happy Perez - songwriter, producer, guitar, keyboards, programmer *

Serban Ghenea Șerban Ghenea (born October 13, 1969) is a Grammy award-winning Romanian-Canadian audio engineer and mixer. Early life and education Ghenea was born in Bucharest, Romania in 1969. In 1976 he moved to Montreal with his family. He later attended ...

– mixer *

Chad Smith Chad Gaylord Smith (born October 25, 1961) is an American musician who has been the drummer of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers since 1988. The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012. Smith is also the drummer of the ...

– drums *

Ali Tamposi Alexandra Tamposi (born November 17, 1989) is an American songwriter from West Palm Beach, Florida. She is best known for co-writing Kelly Clarkson's song "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)," 5 Seconds of Summer's song "Youngblood (5 Seconds of S ...

– songwriter * Nathan Perez – songwriter * Stuart Hawkes – masterer * John Hanes – engineerer * David Rodriguez – engineerer

Release history

References

{{Charli XCX 2019 singles 2019 songs Charli XCX songs Asylum Records singles Atlantic Records UK singles Songs about heartache Songs written by Charli XCX Songs written by Happy Perez Songs written by Andrew Watt (record producer) Songs written by Ali Tamposi Song recordings produced by Andrew Watt (record producer) Music videos shot in Ukraine