Under the Rex Orange County moniker, O'Connor has released one mixtape, bcos u will never b free, and three studio albums: Apricot Princess, Pony, and Who Cares?. Both Pony and Who Cares? made the top 5 in the UK and US, and the latter topped the UK Albums Chart. O'Connor also released a live album, entitled Live at Radio City Music Hall, in 2020.
Alexander James O'Connor was born on 4 May 1998, to Nina and Phil O'Connor, a professional sports photographer. He grew up in the village of Grayshott, Hampshire near Haslemere. O'Connor's interest in music began at a young age. At age 5, O'Connor joined the choir at the school where his mother worked. He became a drummer and later taught himself piano. The name Rex Orange County is based on a teacher-given nickname, "The OC", after his surname O'Connor.
At age 16, O'Connor began playing the guitar and started to produce his own music using Apple's Logic software. At this age, he also began attending the BRIT School where he studied drumming and was one of four percussionists in his year; the relative rareness of his primary instrument provided him with wide exposure to various projects of others in his school which he credits with exposing him to new music.
On 4 September 2015, O'Connor self-released his debut album bcos u will never b free on SoundCloud and Bandcamp. Upon listening to the album, fellow English musician and producer Two Inch Punch got in touch with him, providing him with a management team. The two have continued to collaborate throughout O'Connor's career in the form of the tracks "UNO", "Best Friend", and "Untitled". The album also caught the attention of American rapper Tyler, the Creator, who sent him an email describing his enjoyment of the project. This led to him flying O'Connor out the following year to Los Angeles to collaborate on his album Flower Boy, with him co-writing and contributing vocals to the songs "Boredom" and "Foreword". On 17 November 2016, O'Connor released the single "UNO", a song Clash magazine described by writing, "The buoyant keyboard riff underpins a hypnotic half-spoken vocal, one that veers from topic to topic in a hazy burst of creative mania." On 25 January 2017, he released the single โBest Friendโ (premiering on Apple Music's Beats 1 station), followed later in the year by the release of his second album Apricot Princess. His work was compared by Aimee Cliff of The Fader in 2017 to "other artsy, post-genre teen artists, such as Kevin Abstract or Steve Lacy".
O'Connor's first release following the success of Apricot Princess and Flower Boy was on 11 October 2017 with the single "Loving Is Easy", created in collaboration with the Dutch artist Benny Sings. On 16 April 2018, he performed the song in his television debut on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. On 31 May 2018, he released a cover of "You've Got a Friend in Me" in collaboration with Randy Newman, the creator of the song. He was also featured in Spotify's Rise Program.
On 9 October 2018, O'Connor was scheduled to appear on the French television program Quotidien, but refused to perform because it featured a sketch by comedian Alison Wheeler parodying the Ku Klux Klan, which he called "tasteless".
On 14 February 2019, O'Connor released the single "New House". Later that year on 12 September, he released "10/10"; the lead single from his third album Pony. Released on 25 October 2019, Pony was his first major-label album released through RCA Records.
On 30 September 2020, O'Connor released an EP with recordings from his performance at Radio City Music Hall in New York City during his Pony tour titled Live at Radio City Music Hall alongside a documentary released on YouTube. This documentary showed the events leading up to this performance as well as the early conclusion of the Pony tour due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In October 2020, O'Connor confirmed that he was in the process of recording a fourth studio album titled Who Cares? In January 2021, he liked a Tweet seemingly confirming that it would be released at some point later that year. However, this did not materialize. On 13 January 2022, he began officially teasing the album, sending out postcards containing a phone number that when called, a snippet of the song would play. The album was released on 11 March 2022, and was his first to top the UK Albums Chart, entering ahead of Impera by Ghost.
Growing up, O'Connor listened to Queen, ABBA, Stevie Wonder, and American alternative artists like Weezer and Green Day. He cites these artists and others as core inspirations for his own music.
Best Friend
Rex Orange County Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
'Cause right now I see all these people that love me
But I still feel alone
Can't help but check my phone
I could've made you mine
But no, it wasn't meant to be and see, I wasn't made for you
And you weren't made for me
Though it seemed so easy
And that's because I wanna be your favorite boy
I wanna be the one that makes your day
The one you think about as you lie awake
I can't wait to be your number one
I'll be your biggest fan and you'll be mine
But I still wanna break your heart and make you cry
But won't you wait?
You know it's too late
I'm on my own shit now
Let me tell you how it feels to be fucking great
I feel great
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa
You need to be yourself
Love someone for loving you instead of someone really cool
That makes your heart melt
Who knows what you truly felt?
You're still my favorite girl
You better trust me when I tell you
There ain't no one else more beautiful in this damn world
In this damn world
You're gonna wanna be my best friend, baby
You're gonna wanna be my best friend
I said that
You're gonna wanna be my best friend, baby
You're gonna wanna be my best friend, best friend
You're gonna wanna be my best friend, baby
You're gonna wanna be my best friend
Best friend
You're gonna wanna be my best friend, baby
You're gonna wanna be my best friend
I say that I'm happy
I say that I'm happy
But no, no, no, no
No, no, no
Oh, I still wanna be your favorite boy
I wanna be the one that makes your day
The one you think about as you lie awake
And I can't wait to be your number, your number one
I'll be your biggest fan and you'll be mine
But I still wanna break your heart and make you cry
I still wanna be your favorite boy
I wanna be the one
I might just be the one
The song "Best Friend" by Rex Orange County is about the conflicting emotions of wanting to be in love with someone and also wanting to maintain a friendship. The first verse speaks about being surrounded by people who love the singer, yet still feeling alone because the person they want to be with isn't there. Checking their phone highlights the hope of a message from the desired person. The second verse admits that the person perhaps missed a chance to be with the desired love interest as they weren't meant to be together - it may have seemed easy, but it wasn't right. Regardless, the singer still wants to be the object of the love interest's affection, the one they think about and make their day, as well as break their heart, which is conveyed in the chorus.
The second half of the song addresses the love interest directly. It counsels that instead of loving someone "really cool," they should love someone who loves them back. The final refrain repeats the chorus as a reminder that the love interest will want to be friends with the singer, and that they still want to be the love interest's favorite boy. The song weaves together conflicting emotions, addressing the tension between desire and reality, and ultimately recognizes that, while relationships don't always work out, friendship can still grow from honest communication.
Line by Line Meaning
I should've stayed at home
I regret coming out because despite being surrounded by people who love me, I still feel lonely.
Can't help but check my phone
I keep looking at my phone hoping for someone to message me and make me feel less alone.
I could've made you mine
I had feelings for you and could have pursued a relationship, but it wasn't meant to be.
And you weren't made for me
We weren't compatible and even though it seemed like it would be easy, it wasn't.
That makes your heart melt
Don't be fooled by someone who seems cool, love someone who loves you back.
You're still my favorite girl
Even though we didn't end up together, you're still special to me and I think you're beautiful.
You're gonna wanna be my best friend, baby
I know eventually you'll realize that I'm someone worth being friends with and you'll want to be my best friend.
I say that I'm happy
I try to convince myself that I'm happy, but deep down I know I'm not.
Oh, I still wanna be your favorite boy
I still want to be the one who brings you happiness and makes you feel special.
Lyrics ยฉ Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Alexander O'Connor, Benjamin Ross Ash
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind