Open A Window

Album: Who Cares? (2022)
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Songfacts®:

  • Penned by Alex O'Connor (aka Rex Orange County) during the pandemic era, this string-laden song finds the English singer stifled by the lockdown. Frustrated at being stuck at his parents' home in Surrey away from all he loves, he pines to escape his confines.

    So can I open a window?
    Can somebody open the door?
    There's so many reasons
    I can barely take it anymore
  • O'Connor's longtime pal, Tyler, the Creator, takes the third verse. He's sympathetic towards his friend's predicament but would deal with it differently himself. Rather than getting stressed out, Tyler would just move on to a place that serves him better.
  • O'Connor did eventually get away from lockdown England. He drove to Amsterdam with his bassist and friend Joe MacLaren, where they visited Benny Sings, the Dutch songwriter and producer who worked on Rex Orange County's 2017 single "Loving Is Easy." Together they sketched out three songs, including "Open a Window" and his "Keep It Up" single. Later in the year, he returned to The Netherlands, and in a 12-day stint recorded the Who Cares? album with Sings.
  • "Open a Window" marks the fourth collaboration between Rex Orange County and Tyler, the Creator. Rex featured on two tracks off the hip-hop star's 2017 album Flower Boy: "Boredom" and "Foreword," and provided backing vocals on a third song, "Garden Shed."

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