"Exile" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift featuring American band Bon Iver, from Swift's eighth studio album, Folklore. The fourth track on the album, it was written by Swift, William Bowery and Justin Vernon, and produced by Aaron Dessner. The song is scheduled to be serviced to adult alternative radio on August 3, 2020, by Republic Records, as the second single from the album. "Exile" is a duetballad driven by a plodding piano and swirling strings. It received critical acclaim from critics upon release, with praise towards the duo's vocal chemistry.
Composition
Lyrics from "Exile" discuss moving on from a broken relationship. Justin Vernon delivers a "low" and "growling" vocal performance while "bemoaning a betrayed love", as Swift portrays the lover over "honeyed yet crisp" vocals. The song's instrumentation contains swirling strings and plodding piano. "Exile" is a melancholic duet that fuses Swift's soft "honeyed" vocals with Vernon's baritone, serving as an unspoken conversation between two former lovers. It sees Swift and Vernon singing over each other rather than fully listening and responding to each other, giving the song an argumentative tone with no fruitful end. The song begins with a plodding piano, advancing into a climax of chorused vocals and synths. It has drawn comparisons to "The Last Time" from Swift's fourth studio album Red, a critic stating that it replaced the latter as her most the National-esque song, and "Safe & Sound" by Swift and the Civil Wars from .
The song received universal critical acclaim from critics. E! Onlines Billy Nilles described "Exile" as a "devastating dream" and wrote that the relationship that inspired it must have hurt because it "hits like a punch to the gut". Christopher Roberts of Under the Radar included it in his list of the nine best songs of Folklores release week; he noted that "Swift and Vernon's voices mesh together well" and the latter sounds like Peter Gabrielon the track. Writing for Consequence of Sound, Matt Melis named "Exile" the Song of the Week upon the release of Folklore, and called the duo's pairing a "minor miracle in 2020". Justin Curto of Vulture stated that " taken the past four months of the pandemic to think outside herself and made her most contemplative album yet, with 'Exile' as a prime result".
