"Exile" Taylor Swift and Bon Iver Song Critique

From the first time listening to “Exile,” to the hundredth time listening to the song, I like it just as much every time. So much so, I decided to write a song critique. There are three elements to the song that make it beautiful and haunting all at once.

1. The vocal combination is perfect!

The deep, indie-folk singer and voice of Bon Iver starts the song off masterfully and then it is complemented incredibly well by Taylor Swift herself. Taylor Swift never ceases to amaze me at her versatility and her willingness to try different genres and styles of singing. She does not disappoint in this song in the least! Bon Iver truly impressed me with the high vocalizing during the post-chorus. When a man with a low tone like his can still sing higher notes like that it is always jaw-dropping for the listening audience. Pairing Iver and Swift together was quite a brilliant idea!

2. The song inspires imagery and personal resonance.

Both singers sweep the listener into the scene of a couple who has had brief interaction with each other as they both recall their broken relationship experience. There is intrinsic value within the song “Exile” because as human’s we all think back to what exactly it was that caused a relationship to end. No one wants to be plagued by those endless questions and what-ifs, yet we are, and this song reminds us of our own mental frailties. We all have regrets from past relationships and tend to replay those regrets in our minds like a “film” that always has a bad ending. It is easy for people to identify with the content of this song because we have all lived it to a certain degree.

3. It emulates an emotional conversation in song-form.

It is difficult for songs to portray a conversation that is both believable and musically eloquent at the same time, but “Exile” does this, especially when they sing back and forth. Toward the latter half of the song they almost echo each other in disagreement. Though their words are in disagreement with each other, their voices and harmony meld together in agreement, thus there lies a nice paradox to the song.

Though it is a great song overall, there are two main weaknesses to it in my opinion.

1. Instrumentally it is too simple.

The plodding piano in the beginning is well-done, however I think that the song could have had some stronger stringed instruments playing as the song builds such as a cello and violin. I think the sound of a cello and violin would have been beautiful to hear distinctively in harmony in the background, instead of the more synthetic-sounding orchestra. String instruments always add deeper emotional meaning to songs.

2. The lyrics have some trite phrases.

I will admit that I tend to be a lyric snob, but I do think that some of the lyrics in the song could have been a little better. The phrase “We always walked a very thin line” just seems a little dull to me. “So step right out, there is no amount of crying I can do for you” seems overused and I think the songwriters could have used more analogies within the song so as to pair better with the “homeland,” “film,” and “exile” parallels and themes.

Overall, the song is, and will be a memorable song for 2020 and it comes as no surprise that it has been a hit in several countries already. I am glad to see that it was nominated for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards ceremony. This is certainly a well-deserved nomination and I will be interested to see if Swift and Iver perform any more songs together in the future.

To listen to "Exile" by Taylor Swift and Bon Iver follow the link below:

https://youtu.be/osdoLjUNFnA