Home | Songs By Year | Songs from 2019
Liar (Camila Cabello song)
Buy Liar (Camila Cabello song) now from AmazonFirst, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the song. And once you've experienced the song, tell everyone what you thought about it.
Wikipedia article
{{Infobox song
| name = Liar
| cover = Camila Cabello - Liar.png
| type = single
| artist = Camila Cabello
| album = Romance
| released =
| recorded =
| studio =
* Gold Tooth Music (Beverly Hills, California)
* SARM (London, England)
| genre = Pop
| length =
| label =
| writer =
| producer =
| prev_title = South of the Border
| prev_year = 2019
| next_title = Shameless
| next_year = 2019
| misc =
}}
"'Liar'" is a song by American singer Camila Cabello, from her second studio album 'Romance' (2019). The pop song was written by Cabello, Ali Tamposi, Andrew Watt, Jon Bellion, Jordan Johnson, Stefan Johnson, Lionel Richie, Jenny Berggren, Jonas Berggren, Malin Berggren, and Ulf Ekberg. Production was handled by Watt, The Monsters & Strangerz and Bellion. It was released by Epic Records and Syco Music as a double lead single with "Shameless" on September 5, 2019. "Liar" consists of trumpets, bass drums and horns, and contains samples of Richie's 1983 song "All Night Long (All Night)" and Ace of Base's 1992 song "All That She Wants". The lyrics depict Cabello's rekindled emotions for a former partner.
"Liar" peaked at number 21 on the UK Singles Chart, number 31 on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart, and at number 52 on the US 'Billboard' Hot 100. It was certified platinum in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Norway, Poland, and the United States. An accompanying music video was directed by Dave Meyers and depicts Cabello trapped inside a time loop sequence. The time loop was compared to 'Groundhog Day' (1993) and 'Russian Doll' (2019), while the music video itself was compared to 'Inception' (2010). Cabello performed the song at several televised events.
Release
From August 31 to September 1, 2019, Cabello posted several teasers regarding her second project titled 'Romance' (2019) to her social media accounts, which were scheduled to be released on September 5, 2019. The teasers included an image of Cabello seated around pillars signed 'R', a spoken-word video about love, and a clip of a key unlocking her mechanical heart. The first installment for the project was announced on September 3, 2019, as she uploaded a 15-second video of tarots displaying the names of the double singles "Shameless" and "Liar". Cabello explained her decision to release both songs simultaneously in a 2019 interview with Zach Sang, stating that she wanted people to become familiar with the sound of 'Romance'. The senior vice president of Epic Records, Sandra Afloarei acknowledged that the dual promotion of both songs had a positive impact on radio stations and considered it to be "a sign of the times".
Composition
Musically, "Liar" is a pop song, which contains an "island", reggae, and pan-Caribbean and Spanish mlange influences. It samples Lionel Richie's 1983 song "All Night Long (All Night)" and Ace of Base's 1992 song "All That She Wants", which provides a jazz element to the song. "Liar" opens with a combination of trumpets, dance-based bass drums, and mariachi-inspired horns. Elements of Latin trap and flamenco are accompanied by electronic handclaps, which leads to the ska-pop chorus. It rapidly cycles through styles of "salsa, reggaetn, flamenco, ska, [and] ballad[s]".
"Liar" was written by Cabello, Alexandra Tamposi, Andrew Wotman, Jonathan Bellion, Jordan Johnson, Stefan Johnson, Jenny Berggren, Jonas Berggren, Malin Berggren, Ulf Ekberg and Lionel Richie, and produced by Wotman, The Monsters and the Strangerz and Bellion. According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Sony/ATV Music Publishing, the song was composed using common time in the key of B minor. Cabello's vocal range spans from the low note of F3 to the high note of F5, giving the song a two octave vocal range. Throughout "Liar", Cabello "moans, whispers, and whimpers". The lyrics describe her experience of expressing feelings for a former partner, as she "seductively" claims to be a liar since "their hearts are so intertwined". Jon Pareles of 'The New York Times' stated that Cabello "sings about how a certain kiss makes her lose control", while 'Rolling Stone' writer Brittany Spanos noted that she "fall[s] deeper in love" during the chorus' lyrics, "Oh no, there you go / Making me a liar / Got me begging you for more / Oh no, there I go / Startin' up a fire".
Critical reception and commercial performance
Pareles wrote that "Liar" is a song which "border-hop[s] at the speed of pop". He listed the song at number 20 on his list of "The 54 Best Songs of 2019" and opined that is "a lighthearted plaint about the power of lust" which "work[s] nimbly and globally to hold elusive the pop attention span".
"Liar" debuted at number 56 on the US 'Billboard' Hot 100 chart dated September 21, 2019. It peaked at number 52 on the chart dated November 2, 2019, and received a platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on September 14, 2020, for sales of 1,000,000 equivalent-units. On the UK Singles Chart dated October 18, 2019, the song peaked at number 21 and remained on the chart for 13 weeks.
Music video
Background
Cabello shared a preview of the music video through social media on September 9, 2019, with a clip of her answering three questions on a polygraph. Cabello additionally stated that it was the "most fun video [she] ever made." The six-minute video was directed by Dave Meyers and released on September 12, 2019. Writing for MTV News, Patrick Hosken considered the music video to be a "mini movie". Cabello portrays several fictional characters, while 'Euphoria' actor Zak Steiner portrays her engaged fianc and billionaire oil tycoon called Reese Kensington. Keiynan Lonsdale, Nataliz Jimenez, and Chelsea Brea also appear in supporting roles.Synopsis
sequence was compared to the film 'Groundhog Day' and streaming TV series 'Russian Doll', while the overall music video was compared to the film 'Inception'.Cabello appears miserable while eating at an outdoor restaurant with her fianc, Reese Kensington, who only sees her as his trophy wife. She is in a love triangle with Kensington, and a restaurant busboy who gives her a note. Cabello exclaims, "I hate this restaurant... and I want a cheeseburger!" before exiting the restaurant, which triggers the revival of previously wilted roses, waiters admitting that the food is 10 percent natural, two men "making out" while dating other women, a bald man removing a toupe, a man showing a sleeve tattoo to his mother, and a breakdancing waiter within 10 seconds. While Cabello reprimands Kensington, she is struck by a falling elephant from the sky. She immediately wakes up and is placed in a time loop, repeating the same scene with Kensington after dying in various accidents which progressively become more surreal; these include choking to death, being run over by a horde of cyclists, and being swarmed by drones. Cabello inadvertently sets alight Kensington's mansion after burning the note given to her by the busboy, and escapes with "frizzed" hair.
Cabello is taken away by the Truth Police to be placed on a polygraph machine while wearing a straitjacket. Kensington questions her by pulling out a necklace and dildo from her purse. Cabello awakes from the nightmare sequence following the polygraph interrogation, which seemingly breaks the time loop as she abandons Kensington for the busboy. A digitally animated bird then flies into the room as three Latina talk show hosts including the main host and Cabello's alter ego La Flaca, and co-anchors Gordita and Tammy, comically criticize Cabello's actions and appearance.
Reception
Liz Calvario of 'Entertainment Tonight' commented that the music video is "telenovela-inspired" and described it as "fascinating", while Karen Gwee of 'NME' considered it to be "comedic" and "hilariously absurd". 'Billboard' writer Taylor Weatherby praised Cabello's acting skills and described the music video as a "cinematic masterpiece". Writing for 'Rolling Stone', Althea Legaspi summarized the plot as "Cabello reliving a number of scenes that get progressively more ridiculous and humorous as she tries to escape her conflicting emotions", and noted that the music video contained similarities to the song's lyrics depicting a relationship while constantly denying their own emotions. She also compared the time loop sequence to the 1993 film 'Groundhog Day'. Hosken stated that the "extravagant" music video is similar to the 2019 streaming television series 'Russian Doll' than 'Groundhog Day', contrasting Natasha Lyonne's "sense of purpose" in the former to Bill Murray's "aimless hedonism" in the latter. He added that the plot is "secondary to the overall experience" which he compared to the "mindfuckery" of the 2010 film 'Inception', and praised the cinematic scope, which he singled out "the pink shot of Cabello amid a sea of flamingos" as "downright dazzling" and acknowledged that she enjoyed portraying an increasingly unhinged person. Wade Sheridan of United Press International (UPI) additionally compared the time loop sequence to 'Groundhog Day' and 'Russian Doll'.Live performances
Cabello debuted the live performance of "Liar" at the iHeartRadio Music Festival on September 20, 2019, as the second-last song on her setlist. Katie Atkinson of 'Billboard' opined that the song's horn arrangement suited a live environment, while Hayden Brooks of iHeartRadio considered her performance with the backup dancers to have high energy. Cabello performed the song at the Fillmore Miami Beach in a private concert hosted by Verizon Up on September 25, 2019. Cabello wore a white catsuit covered in bandages with white heels and "long curly locks", as she performed with a hip-swaying dance while clouds appeared on the screen's background. On October 2, 2019, she appeared on BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge segment to perform "Liar" and a cover of Lewis Capaldi's 2018 song "Someone You Loved". Cabello performed the song on 'The Graham Norton Show' dated October 25, 2019, where she embraced Emilia Clarke following the performance. Cabello performed "Liar" at the iHeartRadio Jingle Ball in New York City on December 13, 2019, while wearing a pearl corset with latex pants. During her virtual concert series titled 'Priceless Experiences at Home' which was released on July 15, 2020, Cabello performed "Liar" in a piano medley with "Seorita" and "My Oh My" by incorporating several vocal layers.
Track listings
Credits and personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of 'Romance'.
'Recording'
* Recorded at Gold Tooth Music (Beverly Hills, California) and SARM Studios (London, England)
* Mixed at MixStar Studios (Virginia Beach, Virginia)
* Mastered at the Mastering Palace (New York City, New York)
'Personnel'
* Camila Cabello vocals, songwriting
* The Monsters and the Strangerz production, keyboards
* Andrew Watt production, songwriting, guitar, keyboards
* Jon Bellion miscellaneous production, songwriting
* Alexandra Tamposi songwriting
* Jordan Johnson songwriting
* Stefan Johnson songwriting
* Jenny Berggren songwriting
* Jonas Berggren songwriting
* Malin Berggren songwriting
* Ulf Ekberg songwriting
* Lionel Richie songwriting
* John Hanes mixing
* Serban Ghenea mixing
* Paul Lamalfa recording
* Dave Kutch mastering
'Sample credits'
* "Liar" contains a sample of "All Night Long (All Night)" (1983) performed and written by Lionel Richie, and "All That She Wants" (1992) performed by Ace of Base and written by members Ulf Ekberg, Malin Berggren, Jenny Berggren and Jonas Berggren.
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
Release history
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
|+ Release dates and formats for "Liar"
! Region
! Date
! Format
! Version
! Label
!
|-
! scope="row"| Various
| September 5, 2019
|
| rowspan="5"| Original
| rowspan="2"|
|
|-
! scope="row" | United Kingdom
| rowspan="2" | September 6, 2019
| rowspan="3" | Contemporary hit radio
|
|-
! scope="row" | Australia
| rowspan="2" |Sony
|
|-
! scope="row" | Italy
|September 13, 2019
| {{center|}}
|-
! rowspan="3" scope="row"| Various
| December 12, 2019
| 12-inch picture disc
| rowspan="3"|
| {{center|}}
|-
| December 20, 2019
|
| Live
|
|-
| February 25, 2020
| 7-inch vinyl
| Original
| {{center|}}
|}
See also
* List of number-one singles of 2019 (Poland)
* List of number-one singles of 2020 (Poland)
References
Category:2019 singles
Category:2019 songs
Category:Camila Cabello songs
Category:Epic Records singles
Category:Number-one singles in Poland
Category:Syco Music singles
Category:Songs written by Ali Tamposi
Category:Songs written by Andrew Watt (record producer)
Category:Songs written by Camila Cabello
Category:Songs written by Jenny Berggren
Category:Songs written by Jonas Berggren
Category:Songs written by Jon Bellion
Category:Songs written by Jordan Johnson (songwriter)
Category:Songs written by Lionel Richie
Category:Songs written by Linn Berggren
Category:Songs written by Stefan Johnson
Category:Songs written by Ulf Ekberg
Category:Song recordings produced by the Monsters & Strangerz
Category:Music videos directed by Dave Meyers (director)
Buy Liar (Camila Cabello song) now from Amazon
<-- Return to songs from 2019