Everything Is Embarrassing

"Everything Is Embarrassing" is a synth-pop,[1] electropop,[2] dance-pop,[3] alternative pop,[4] and synth-rock[2] ballad.[5] It was written by Ferreira, Ariel Rechtshaid, and Dev Hynes, while the latter two produced and co-produced the track, respectively. Hynes, a former friend of Ferreira, had sent her a demo of the song, which was inspired by a failed relationship; Ferreira then modified the original lyrics and structure along with Rechtshaid.[1][6][7][8]

"Everything Is Embarrassing" was met with acclaim from music critics. The single was named "Best New Track" by Pitchfork the day following its premiere[3] In his review of Ghost, Jon Caramanica of The New York Times called the song "counterintuitive and brilliant" and "one of the year's unlikely pop gems".[23]

Several publications and music blogs listed the song among the best of 2012, including Pitchfork,[24] The Guardian,[25] the Los Angeles Times,[26] Billboard,[27] Spin,[28] Fact,[29] the Bangkok Post,[30] and New York, the latter of which named it the best song of the year.[31] It was placed at number fifteen in the 2012 Pazz & Jop critics' poll.[32] In 2014, Pitchfork placed "Everything Is Embarrassing" at number 14 on its list of "The 200 Best Tracks of the Decade So Far (2010–2014)", writing: "[The song] is ostensibly a done-with-your-shit kiss-off, and it's a glorious one", adding "she might be ready to move on, but she's still feeling a million conflicting emotions, and few songs capture that internal strife as honestly and effortlessly as 'Everything Is Embarrassing' does."[33] In 2018, NPR ranked the track as the 149th greatest song by a female or nonbinary artist in the 21st century, saying:

Sky Ferreira's 'Everything Is Embarrassing' marked her first foray into pop stardom – by that point, the 20-year-old had a successful career as a model and actress, but this downtrodden dance-pop single produced by 1980s revisionists Dev Hynes and Ariel Rechtshaid ushered in a new musical moment. Ferreira's vocals are impossibly cool, fully embracing the humiliation of anxiety and unfulfilled romances. It's a song that submits to mundane mortifications, the sound of sweet suffering.[34]

In 2019, Pitchfork ranked the song at number 12 on its list "The 200 Best Songs of the 2010s".[35] On October 9, 2019 Ferreira in an Instagram post celebrated the recognition by Pitchfork, with a screenshot photo from the list, stating she would be 'releasing new music right before the decade (2010s) is over'.[36]

Capitol Records requested that an accompanying music video for "Everything Is Embarrassing" with no budget be filmed following the track's online premiere; it was directed by Grant Singer, who had previously directed the clips for Ferreira's tracks "Sad Dream" and "Lost in My Bedroom", and was filmed in one day in Los Angeles before Ferreira was scheduled to depart for New York City shortly after.[37] It was premiered through Pitchfork on October 1, 2012;[38] the black-and-white clip sees Ferreira singing in various locations throughout the city, including a playground, on the Los Angeles Metro and the roof of the Capitol Records Building.[37]

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Night Time, My Time: B-Sides Part 1.[39]