X

"X" is a song by Poppy. It served as the fifth single from her second studio album Am I a Girl? and is the fourteenth and final track on the album. It was released on October 25th, 2018. The music video was released on November 5th, 2018 and currently has over 12 million views on YouTube.

An acoustic version of the song was uploaded to YouTube on January 8th, 2019. On January 17th, this version was released on all streaming services.

Background
Poppy revealed the title along with the tracklist to Am I a Girl? on Instagram.

Theme
"X" is a song about Poppy's desire to have world peace. However, she also wishes for dark things, such as violence, sex, and drugs.

Unlike Poppy's usual songs, this song deals with mature subject matter. Musically, the song alternates between heavy metal and sunshine pop, providing a dichotomy that was uncommon in Poppy's music at the time. "Play Destroy" operates in a similar vein, with Poppy describing both tracks as a new genre called "Poppymetal". The single "Scary Mask" from her Choke EP continues this musical direction, as well as the single "Concrete" from her album I Disagree.

Lyrics
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Promotional Images
Poppy promoted the song by posting photos from the scene of the music video before and after its release.

Reception
Both the song and the music video received positive reviews from critics, who praised the song for its creative contradicting verses, melodies, and genres, and the music video for its death metal, retro-horror shout outs and hippie interludes. Andy Hill from Gigwise stated, "It's her Bohemian Rhapsody. High art for the Ritalin generation."

Trivia

 * Poppy and Titanic Sinclair made multiple references to the song's title on Twitter and Instagram prior to its release.
 * The song's title "X" is short for "ecstasy".
 * Poppy and Sinclair have stated that this is their favorite song and music video from Am I a Girl?.
 * In the teaser for the music video, it is revealed that the band members who appear in the video are credited as Halius Andromedus, Cornelius Erradicus, Maelstrom XIII and Karl. These band members are portrayed by the members of Blame Candy: Sam Palombo, Ryan Wheeler, Chris Greatti and Aaron Deming, respectively.
 * The male backing vocals in the verses are sung by Chris Greatti.
 * Poppy has confirmed that this was the last song written for Am I a Girl?.
 * The song was used as one of the theme songs for the 2019 wrestling show NXT TakeOver: Phoenix. Poppy promoted this show in her video "WWE" with the hashtag #NXTLoud.
 * This is the only Poppy song to have an acoustic version available on streaming services.
 * Poppy has said that the music video for "Voicemail" is a "continuation" of the "X" music video.
 * "X" and "Scary Mask" were written a week apart.
 * The acoustic music video was made unlisted for reasons currently unknown.
 * The music video was inspired by the 1976 horror film Carrie.