California born and raised Salem Ilese attended Berklee College of Music in Boston for two years where she studied Songwriting, Performance, and Production. She left the school early to pursue a full-time career as a singer-songwriter in LA. This anti-fairytale tune is her breakthrough single.
Ilese wrote the song in August 2019 during a writing session with songwriter/producers Jason Hahs and Bendik Møller. Hahs had recently been to see the 2019 version of The Lion King, which had disappointed him. Ilese recalled to Rolling Stone that when she asked Hahs how he was doing, he replied: "I'm really mad at Disney." Ilese readily agreed with the sentiment, having also lost faith in the Disney façade. "When I was four, I would walk around dressed like a princess on any random day of the week," she said. "Growing up you expect a prince and a white horse to come and rescue you from the tower," Ilese continued. "In reality, you get boys in high school who are scared of commitment and stand you up for a date." Ilese started talking about how Disney gave an incredibly false view on relationships, and the three created the song from there.
The second verse makes fun of a couple of classic animated Disney films. She jokes about Cinderella eventually getting a divorce after the prince cheats on her with the Sleeping Beauty. My fairy grandma warned me Cinderella's story Only ended in a bad divorce The prince ain't sleeping when he Takes his sleeping beauty To the motel on his snow white horse Ilese explained to Genius: "I wanted to take a classic Disney story and put it in the real world. Maybe, the prince cheated on Cinderella with Sleeping Beauty, and they got a divorce. Much more believable than living happily ever after!"
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