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Vampire Weekend frontman Ezra Koenig and iLoveMakonnen have been friends and collaborators for years, and Koenig nods to that on the band’s song “This Life” from their album Father of the Bride. On the track, Koenig interpolates Makonnen’s 2014 song “Tonight” to tell a story about love gone awry.
“This Life” tells the story of a couple whose relationship is suffering greatly to the point that both parties are committing infidelity. On the hook, Koenig interpolates Makonnen’s hook from “Tonight.” He sings:
You’ve been cheating on, cheating on me
I’ve been cheating on, cheating on you
You’ve been cheating on me
But I’ve been cheating through this life and all its suffering
Oh Christ, am I good for nothing?
In an interview with Stereogum, Koenig explained what drew him to those lines on “Tonight,” citing the importance of both party’s having cheated.
“What struck me so much about that chorus is that there are so many songs that I associate with youth that would be either: You cheated on me so fuck you, or I cheated on you and now I have to deal with myself,” he said. “There’s something I loved about the simplicity of: ‘Damn, we both cheated on each other.’ And then I liked the idea of turning it back into what it says about my life in general.”
Makonnen and Koenig previously worked together on the former’s “Down 4 So Long” remix. The pair worked together on some new music in 2016 on Vice, and Makonnen has appeared on Koenig’s podcast Time Crisis.
Genius broke down Makonnen’s song “I’ve Been Waiting” with Lil Peep and Fall Out Boy in the episode of Song Stories below.
Read the full lyrics to “This Life” and the respective discographies of Vampire Weekend and iLoveMakonnen on Genius.
