“Open a Window” by Rex Orange County (ft. Tyler, The Creator)

Requesting that ‘somebody open a window’ can be taken colloquially as pointing to the idea of the requester instantly needing some type of relief. And such is the context in which the phrase is used in this song.

The first verse reads as if the vocalist is “trying to find a way to get out” of his relationship with the addressee. It is not precisely clear who the addressee is. However, the said individual would clearly be loved one, perhaps his lover even. But as the piece progresses, Rex and Tyler seem to be speaking to the general premise of being caught up in some type of stifling situation, to the point where they “can barely take it anymore”.

And it is really Tyler who drives the ideology home that if faced with such a predicament, he’d rather expeditiously forsake the matter than let it stress him out into perpetuity. So in that regard, the instruction to “open a window” or “open the door” can be taken as alluding to the vocalist’s desire to escape.

Rex Orange County and “Open a Window”

Rex Orange County can still be considered sort of an underground musician, as he made a name for himself via self-publishing platforms like SoundCloud. Whereas in 2019 he dropped Pony, his first major-label album via RCA Records, his biggest hits to date predate that era.

“Open a Window” is from his second RCA-based LP, “Who Cares?”. The song itself was released as its third single on 9 March 2022.

This track finds Rex Orange County, a singer from the UK, teaming up Tyler, the Creator, a popular rapper from California. The two of them are actually established collaborators. For example, Rex was featured on a couple of tracks from Tyler’s successful 2017 album “Flower Boy“.