Ezra Koenig Reveals How He Got Jude Law On A Vampire Weekend Bonus Track
By Eliot HIll
March 4, 2020
At the end of February, Vampire Weekend officially released the three bonus tracks from the Japanese release of Father of the Bride to the rest of the world.
The last bonus track, “Lord Ullin's Daughter,” features actor Jude Law reading a 200-year-old Scottish poem over the band's “Big Blue” instrumental.
The feature came as a surprise to fans who may not have known how close Koenig is to Law.
In a new interview, the singer explained how the track came to be. “I’ve known Jude for a long time. He’s come out to Vampire Weekend shows, which we always appreciated. He did a voice on Neo Yokio, the cartoon I made. So we, you know, we’ve had a relationship for a while,” he said.
As for the track itself, Koenig said, “I had this idea, basically he’s reading an old Scottish poem, ‘Lord Ullin’s Daughter.’ This poem contains this line about, ‘My bonny bride.’ It's like a really beautiful poem. And I guess when I was working on this record I knew it was gonna be called Father of the Bride,” he explained.
Vampire Weekend will be playing songs from Father Of The Bride this summer when the band embarks on its 2020 tour with stops in New York, Nebraska, Oregon and more. VW will also play a set at Governors Ball and Bonnaroo this summer.
Vampire Weekend Father of the Bride 2020 Tour dates:
05-29 Westbrook, ME - Maine Savings Pavilion
05-30 Burlington, VT - Midway Lawn
05-31 Gilford, NH - Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion
06-02 Lewiston, NY - Artpark Mainstage Theater 06-03 Pittsburgh, PA - Stage AE
06-12 Asheville, NC - The Orange Peel Outdoors
08-09 Bend, OR - Les Schwab Amphitheater
08-10 Boise, ID - Ford Idaho Center Amphitheater
08-12 Missoula, MT - Kettlehouse Amphitheater
08-14 Calgary, Alberta - BMO Centre
08-15 Edmonton, Alberta - Edmonton Convention Centre
09-23 Columbus, OH - Express Live!
09-24 Detroit, MI - Michigan Lottery Amphitheater at Freedom Hill
09-26 Cedar Rapids, IA - McGrath Amphitheatre
09-27 Lincoln, NE - Pinewood Bowl Theater
09-29 Kansas City, MO - Starlight Theatre
09-30 Tulsa, OK - BOK Center
10-06 New Orleans, LA - Saenger Theatre
10-07 Birmingham, AL - BJCC Concert Hall
Photo: Getty Images