Mount Everest

Album: Imagination & the Misfit Kid (2019)
Charted: 58
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • At 29,031.7 feet (8848.8 metres), Mount Everest is the tallest mountain above sea level on our planet.

    Labrinth starts off this song by declaring he's "top of the world" and Mount Everest has nothing on him. He continues in the cocky, narcissist vein throughout the rest of the tune, boasting how he doesn't need anybody else, not even answering his phone. However, all of Labrinth's achievements and time spent accumulating his possessions and wealth are ultimately meaningless. "Behind the cracks of the mask you hold up is someone that realizes the truth and wishes to be free," he explained. "You say all these things like you believe them, hoping they could quiet the truthful noise in your mind. And then you finally realize... that all the things you left behind to be at the top of the world were available to you at the beginning. And thus the death of the old you begins."
  • Style-wise, this track unites the jazzy soul of Nina Simone and bluesy rock and roll of Screamin' Jay Hawkins with some Kanye-esque rap. "I love things like that where you can merge different worlds and different eras," Labrinth told Variety.
  • Labrinth released "Mount Everest" as the third single from his Imagination & the Misfit Kid album on June 21, 2019. Two days later, it aired on the second episode of the HBO teen drama series Euphoria. Labrinth composed the show's score in close collaboration with its creator, Sam Levinson.
  • Labrinth isn't the first artist to use Mount Everest as the basis for their bragging. Other songs that reference the towering Himalayan mountain include:

    "Bombs Away by B.O.B. ("So fly, no gravity. So high, Mount Everest").

    "Bodak Yellow" by Cardi B ("Pockets Mount Everest").

    "Guess Again" by Plan B ("We'll take them down instead. Drop 'em on their head from the height of Mount Everest").

    "Wiley Flow" by Stormzy ("Tens and twenties and thousands. I can't never just lowe dem (no). On Mount Everest shoutin'").
  • "Mount Everest" wasn't a hit when Labrinth first released it, but it entered the UK singles charts 33 months later after trending on TikTok.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Lip-Synch Rebels

Lip-Synch RebelsSong Writing

What happens when Kurt Cobain, Iron Maiden and Johnny Lydon are told to lip-synch? Some hilarious "performances."

Boy Bands

Boy BandsFact or Fiction

From NKOTB to 1D, how well do you know your boy bands?

Brandi Carlile

Brandi CarlileSongwriter Interviews

As a 5-year-old, Brandi was writing lyrics to instrumental versions lullabies. She still puts her heart into her songs, including the one Elton John sings on.

Part of Their World: The Stories and Songs of 13 Disney Princesses

Part of Their World: The Stories and Songs of 13 Disney PrincessesSong Writing

From "Some Day My Prince Will Come" to "Let It Go" - how Disney princess songs (and the women who sing them) have evolved.

Dean Friedman - "Ariel"

Dean Friedman - "Ariel"They're Playing My Song

Dean's saga began with "Ariel," a song about falling in love with a Jewish girl from New Jersey.

Did They Really Sing In That Movie?

Did They Really Sing In That Movie?Fact or Fiction

Bradley Cooper, Michael J. Fox, Rami Malek, Reese Witherspoon, Gwyneth Paltrow and George Clooney: Which actors really sang in their movies?