Light On (Maggie Rogers song)
| "Light On" | ||||
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| Single by Maggie Rogers | ||||
| from the album Heard It in a Past Life | ||||
| Released | October 10, 2018 | |||
| Length | 3:53 | |||
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| Songwriter(s) |
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| Producer(s) |
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| Maggie Rogers singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "Light On" on YouTube | ||||
"Light On" is a song by American singer and songwriter Maggie Rogers. It was released on October 10, 2018 as the fifth single of Rogers' major-label debut studio album, Heard It in a Past Life.[1] Rogers co-wrote the song with Kid Harpoon and both co-produced it with Greg Kurstin.
Background[]
Announcing the song release, she revealed that the track was about "gratitude". "it’s the most vulnerable ive ever felt in a song" [sic], she tweeted.[2] In an interview with Billboard, Rogers revealed that the song was about "feeling out of control". She recalled, "There's always a part of it that has to feel like work or something that's not entirely you".[3]
During an interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music's Beats 1 on October 10, 2018, Rogers said,
This was the final song I wrote for the record. [...] I wrote this record which captures all those feelings of being overwhelmed and being uncertain. I realized the one story I hadn’t written was about all of the joy. I really wanted to say thank you to my fans, and write a letter to them to tell them what had happened and how much they meant to me. Because in all this time when I was really uncertain, I would get on stage every night, and be so certain. It was never the music I was unsure about, it was everything else around it that I found overwhelming.[4]
Critical reception[]
Meredith Nardino of Atwood Magazine said that "...Rogers is laying her whole heart on the table, bringing us backstage to some of the most challenging moments of her creative life."[5] Upon reviewing for the associated album, Clash called it as the "stand out track" of the album, commented: "['Light On' is] where infectious energy and choppy beats are enough to bob Rogers’ characteristically peppy vocals over some of the prettiest melody you are likely to hear this year."[6] Writing for Variety, Chris Willman called the track "gets passionate about feeling strangely passionless."[7]
Live performances[]
On November 3, 2018, Rogers performed the song during her appearance on the forty-fourth season of Saturday Night Live.[8] The performance was met with a mixed response, with Bustle called it as "may not have been the best introduction".[9] She performed it on Ellen on January 16, 2019.[10] During her Heard in a Past Life Tour stop at the O2 Academy, Brixton, England, she brought out musician Florence Welch to perform the song.[11] Rogers performed the track during her morning television debut set on Today Show on April 25, 2019.[12]
Personnel[]
- Maggie Rogers – vocals, production, percussion
- Chris Allgood – mastering engineer assistance
- Julian Burg – engineering
- Serban Ghenea – mixing
- John Hanes – mixing engineering
- Kid Harpoon – production, acoustic guitar, bass guitar, electric guitar, piano, drum programming
- Greg Kurstin – production, bass, drums, guitar, keyboards, piano, engineering
- Emily Lazar – mastering
- Alex Pasco – engineering
Credits adapted from Tidal.[13]
Track listings[]
- Digital download[14]
- "Light On" – 3:53
- Digital download – Winston Marshall Remix[15]
- "Light On" (Winston Marshall Remix) – 5:11
Charts[]
| Chart (2018–19) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| New Zealand Hot Singles (RMNZ)[16] | 40 |
| US Adult Alternative Songs (Billboard)[17] | 1 |
| US Adult Top 40 (Billboard)[18] | 31 |
| US Alternative Digital Song Sales (Billboard)[19] | 9 |
| US Dance Club Songs (Billboard)[20] | 26 |
| US Rock Airplay (Billboard)[21] | 35 |
References[]
- ^ Sodomsky, Sam (October 10, 2018). "Maggie Rogers Announces Debut Album, Shares New Song "Light On": Listen". Pitchfork. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
- ^ Rogers, Maggie [@maggierogers] (October 8, 2018). "this is a song about gratitude. it's the most vulnerable ive ever felt in a song. it's about how overwhelmed + scared i was during all that change, but mostly about all the light you gave me when I couldn't always find it for myself. 'light on' out wednesday.