party 4 u

Album

How I'm Feeling Now

Label

Atlantic Records

Genre

Hyperpop

Composer(s)

Charlotte AitchisonAlexander Guy Cook

Entered Chart

May 3, 2025

Peak Date

May 17, 2025

Originally conceived with her longtime collaborator A.G. Cook, Charli XCX played "Party 4 U" for the first time during the pair's joint set at the Nylon Japan 13th anniversary party on May 26, 2017. From there it lingered in a kind of musical limbo. But "Party 4 U" was never really gone; it just hadn't figured out where it belonged yet. When the COVID-19 lockdown arrived in 2020, bringing with it an unprecedented period of collective introspection and banana-bread-making, the song suddenly made perfect sense. Charli and A.G. Cook resurrected the track for her quarantine album How I'm Feeling Now, dusted it off, and gave it a new lease on life. She laid down a freshly recorded verse in her home studio, and Cook crafted a sweeping outro so affecting that Charli burst into tears upon hearing it. For an album born in isolation, "Party 4 U" fit like a glove. Its theme - throwing a party for a love interest who doesn't come - felt less like the lament of an unrequited crush and more like the soundtrack to an entire year of canceled plans and eerily empty streets. To drive the point home, Charli sprinkled in live crowd noises from her 2019 Brixton Academy show, as if to remind us that, once upon a time, we could gather en masse without the creeping existential dread of airborne contagion. Critics acclaimed When How I'm Feeling Now, which landed on many Best Albums of 2020 lists, including the top spot at Sputnik Music. Following on from the heights of Brat Summer, the full-blown phenomenon that followed the release of Charli's 2024 album Brat, fans found a new lease of love for "Party 4 U." One online trend saw TikTok users lip-sync to the track, recreating a moment from RuPaul's Drag Race where a contestant delivered a lip-synched rendition of Paula Abdul's "Cold Hearted."

I only threw this party for you
Only threw this party for you, for you, for you
I was hopin' you would come through
I was hopin' you would come through, it's true, it's true
Only threw this party for you
I only threw this party for you, for you, for you
I'm about to party on you
Watch me, watch me party on you, yeah

One thousand pink balloons
Dj with your favorite tunes
Birthday cake in August
But you were born nineteenth of June
Champagne pourin' in your mouth
Called your friends from out of town
Got the party bag with the purple pills
And I'm waiting for you by the window, yeah
Called your digits, but the phone kept ringin'
Wish I knew what you were thinking
Na-na, na, one thousand pink balloons
Dancin' on to your favorite tunes
Hope you walk in the party
'Cause I threw the party just for you, like oh

I only threw this party for you
Only threw this party for you, for you, for you
I was hopin' you would come through
I was hopin' you would come through, it's true, it's true
Only threw this party for you
I only threw this party for you, for you, for you
I'm about to party on you
Watch me, watch me party on you, yeah

You could watch me pull up on your body
Like it's summer, take my clothes off in the water
Splash around and get you blessed like holy water
I don't know what you were waiting for
You know that I've been waiting for you
(I only threw this party for you)
Yeah, if you saw my tears, would you touch me?
Kiss me on the mouth, say you love me?
Leave a message, tell me you're sorry?
Hit me right back, hit me right back
Why you treating me like someone that you never loved?

I only threw this party for you
Only threw this party for you, for you, for you
I was hopin' you would come through
I was hopin' you would come through, it's true, it's true
Only threw this party for you
I only threw this party for you, for you, for you
I'm about to party on you
Watch me, watch me party on you, yeah

I only threw this party for you
Only threw this party for you, for you, for you
I was hopin' you would come through
I was hopin' you would come through, it's true, it's true
Only threw this party for you
I only threw this party for you, for you, for you
I'm about to party on you
Watch me, watch me party on you, yeah

Party on you, party on you
Party on-party on you, party on you
Party on-party on you, party on you
Party on-party on you, party on you
Party on-party on you, party on you
Party on-party on you, party on you
Party on-party on you, party on you
Party on-party on you, party on you
Party on-party on you, party on you
Party on-party on you, party on you
Party on-party on you, party on you
Party on-party on you, party on you

Come to my party (party on-party on you, party on you)
(Party on-party on you, party on you)
Come to my party (party on-party on you, party on you)
(Party on-party on you, party on you)

All I'm thinking, all I know is (party on-party on you, party on you)
That I hope you knock on my door (party on-party on you, party on you)
Nervous energy (party on-party on you, party on you)
My heart rate rises higher, higher up (party on-party on you, party on you)
I wish you'd get here, kiss my face (party on-party on you, party on you)
Instead you're somewhere far away (party on-party on you, party on you)
My nervous energy will stay (party on-party on you, party on you)
I hope you realize one day, uh (party on-party on you, party on you)

Come to my party (party on-party on you, party on you)
(Party on-party on you, party on you)
Come to my party (party on-party on you, party on you)
(Party on-party on you, party on you)
(Party on-party on you, party on you)
(Party on-party on you, party on you)
(Party on-party on you, party on you)
(Party on-party on you, party on you)

(Party on-party on you, party on you)
(Party on-party on you, party on you)
(Party on-party on you, party on you)
(Party on-party on you, party on you)
(Party on-party on you, party on you)
(Party on-party on you, party on you)
(Party on-party on you, party on you)