Released: 2015
“Ex’s & Oh’s” by Elle King is a powerhouse of a song that delves into the complexities of love, breakups, and the lingering attachment felt by past lovers. At its core, it’s a bold and cheeky anthem about the singer’s magnetic pull on her ex-partners, who, despite the breakups, seem unable to truly walk away.
The song kicks off with King reminiscing about a past relationship, where she transformed a boy into a man, teaching him things he was oblivious to before. This introduction sets the tone, showcasing her role not just as a lover but as a mentor of sorts. The mention of letting him go introduces a theme of transient relationships and personal growth, with an underlying hint that these separations, although perhaps necessary, are not always easy or clean-cut.
King then moves on to describe a specific ex from California who “curses my name” because she found someone new in the UK, highlighting the global nature of her relationships and perhaps her own wanderlust. This verse touches on the idea of moving on but also the bitterness and resistance that can come from those left behind, encapsulated in the vivid imagery of cursing and the notion of making a “getaway”.
The chorus of “One, two, three, they gonna run back to me” is catchy and confident, asserting King’s allure and the inevitability of her exes wanting to return. The phrase “Ex’s and the oh, oh, oh’s they haunt me” uses the playful pun of ‘Xs’ and ‘Os’ (kisses and hugs) to describe how past lovers linger in her life like ghosts, a metaphor for their undying attachment and perhaps King’s own inability to fully let them go as well. It’s both a declaration of independence and an acknowledgement of the complicated ties that bind.
In another verse, King sings about a summer fling in New Orleans, employing the changing seasons as a metaphor for the fleeting nature of romantic encounters. She talks about the cyclical pattern of getting high on love and then experiencing the low of breakups, suggesting a kind of inevitability to the pleasure and pain cycle of relationships. The line “So the hearts keep breakin’, and the heads just roll” evokes imagery of carefree but ultimately doomed love affairs, where emotional detachment follows passionate connections.
The song culminates in a repetition of the chorus, reinforcing the notion that despite the apparent freedom and control King exhibits over her romantic life, there’s an underlying tension and sadness to these cyclical patterns of attachment and detachment. The image of exes “climbing over mountains and a-sailing overseas” to get back to her underscores the lengths to which these connections still pull, both on her and her exes.
In summary, “Ex’s & Oh’s” by Elle King is a spirited, rocking anthem that cleverly uses wordplay and vivid imagery to explore the enduring, sometimes haunting nature of past relationships. It’s a celebration of autonomy and the complex dance between holding on and letting go, all while keeping a defiant and resilient spirit alive.
