Taylor Swift released Reputation

Originally posted March 7, 2019.

Reputation Taylor Swift

Released: November 10, 2017 Peak: #14 US, #11 UK, #13 CN, #12 AU Sales (in millions): 3.0 US, 0.1 UK, 4.5 world (includes US and UK) Genre: pop

Tracks: (Click for codes to singles charts.) Ready for It? (9/3/17, 4 US, 26 AC, 10 A40, 7 UK, 7 CN, 3 AU, worldwide sales: 2.5 million) End Game (with Ed Sheeran & Future, 11/14/17, 18 US, 14 A40, 49 UK, 11 CN, 36 AU) I Did Something Bad Don’t Blame Me Delicate (3/12/18, 12 US, 110 AC, 14 A40, 45 UK, 20 CN, 28 AU, worldwide sales: 1.44 million) Look What You Made Me Do (8/24/17, 13 US, 19 AC, 7 A40, 12 UK, 13 CN, 12 AU, worldwide sales: 5.6 million) So It Goes Gorgeous (11/11/17, 13 US, 15 UK, 9 CN, 9 AU, worldwide sales: 0.77 million) Getaway Car King of My Heart Dancing with Our Hands Tied Dress This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things Call It What You Want (11/25/17, 27 US) New Year’s Day (11/27/17, 33 CW)

Review: For her sixth album, Taylor Swift turned to producers Jack Antonoff, Max Martin, and Shellback – all of whom she’d worked with on 1989 album. While that album completed Swift’s transition to pop stardom, this album is arguably her “first self-consciously ‘adult’ record,” AMG “preoccupied with sex, betrayal, and the scars they leave behind.” AMG Previous albums focused on “the singer/songwriter who grew up in public” AMG as “ a babe in the woods” AMG while this one deals with themes such as “handling fame and media coverage of celebrities.” WK Sonically, Reputation has been described as “brash, weaponized pop” (Neil McCormick, The Daily Telegraph) WK and “another shift, this time into electronic pop” (Greg Kot, Chicago Tribune). WK Rolling Stone’s Rob Sheffield said this album “builds on the synth-pop of 1989.” WK Reputation “achieves a steely, nocturnal sound,” AMG “dwelling on drum loops and synthesizers.” AMG This sound is established from the opening song, Ready for It?, which has been described as and “electronic-inspired…industrial pop song with elements of tropical house, dubstep, and trap music.” WK Swift said the song is “about finding your own partner in crime” WK and that it “introduces a metaphor you may hear more of throughout…this kind of Crime and Punishment metaphor.” WK Look What You Made Me Do, the lead single, treads similar electro-pop territory, interpolating “I’m Too Sexy” by the British dance-pop group Right Said Fred. The song started as a poem “about realizing that you couldn’t trust certain people, but realizing you appreciate the people you can trust.” WK The song hit #1 in at least 15 countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom and amassed more than a billion views on YouTube. Delicate, another single, was about “what happens when you meet somebody that you really want in your life and then you start worrying about what they’ve heard before they met you.” WK Swift wanted to use the vocoder on the song to create “an emotional and vulnerable sound for the track.” WK Nearly “every song on Reputation has a cool, gleaming patina that’s designed to put an alluring distance between Swift and the listener.” AMG The exception is “the delicate closer New Year’s Day,” AMG a song which “explores the flip side of the romanticism of a New Year’s Eve kiss.” WK It is about the person who “sticks around the next day to give you Adil and clean up the house.” WK There is some “awkwardness that’s distracting upon first listen but less so on revisits” AMG and “what’s left is a coming of age album anchored by some strong Swift songs” AMG which “carry Swift’s trademark blend of vulnerability, melody, and confidence.” AMG “They are deeply felt and complex, signs that all of the heavy-handed persona plays of reputation were a necessary exercise for her to mature as a singer/songwriter.” AMG Review Source(s): Taylor Swift’s DMDB Encyclopedia entry AMG All Music Guide review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine WK Wikipedia

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Awards:

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Justin Timberlake debuted at #1 with “Can’t Stop the Feeling”

Can’t Stop the Feeling! Justin Timberlake

Writer(s): Justin Timberlake, Max Martin, Johan Schuster (see lyrics here) Released: May 6, 2016 First Charted: May 21, 2016 Peak: 11 US, 12 RR, 15 BA, 110 DG, 116 AC, 19 A40, 2 UK, 11 CN, 3 AU, 1 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 7.6 US, 1.52 UK, 12.77 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 0.59 radio, 1157.7 video, 1562.18 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Justin Timberlake wrote and produced the “Can’t Stop the Feeling!” with Max Martin and Shellback for the movie Trolls, for which he served as the executive music producer. Timberlake said the movie felt “like one big, trippy disco experience” WK which needed a disco song. They initially had Earth, Wind & Fire’s “September,” but Timberlake wanted a more modern song. He noted the challenge of crafting a song which characters in the movie would sing.WK The film version featured vocals from James Corden, Zooey Deschanel, Anna Kendrick, and Gwen Stefani. Timberlake’s effort snagged a Grammy for Best Song Written for Visual Media and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Song. It took best song honors at the iHeartRadio Music Awards and Peoples’ Choice Awards. WK The uptempo single was released six months before the film came out and debuted at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, the 26th song to do so. WK It was Timberlake’s fifth song to reach the summit in the United States and topped the charts in 18 other countries. WK It became the best-selling song of 2016 in the U.S. and was named the most-played song in the U.K. WK Billboard magazine named it the year’s Top Selling Song and Top Radio Song. WK It was described as a “funky mix of disco and pop” (Entertainment Weekly) which “gives off a feeling of pure joy that only a talent as great as Timberlake could bring to the table” (Music Times’ Jon Niles). WK AZCentral’s Ed Masley said, ‘the lyrics sound like they were custom-made to be the soundtrack to your favorite summer memories.” WK The A.V. Club’s Annie Zaleski said, “The tune doesn’t have to be meaningful – in fact, the more lightweight, the better – and it should offer a few minutes of unadulterated escapism.” WK “If Friday had a sound,” said CNN Entertainment’s Lisa Respers France, “it would be…’Can’t Stop the Feeling!’” WK The video shows Timberlake in everyday places such as a laundromat, diner, and barbershop. People dance to the song at each stop and then congregate at a highway overpass at the end of the song to dance with Timberlake. WK Mark Romanek, the director, said it was “the overall feeling of unironic and sincere humanism…It makes people smile for four minutes.” WK Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Justin Timberlake DMDB encyclopedia entry for Max Martin WK Wikipedia Last updated 7/19/2023.

Max Martin: Top 40 Songs

image from tv.aftonbladet.se

More than any other individual, Max Martin may be responsible for the sound of pop music in the 21st century. As a producer and songwriter, he made a name for himself in the late ‘90s as the man behind hits by Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys, and N Sync. He went on to helm songs by Kelly Clarkson, Katy Perry, Pink, and Taylor Swift. He has co-written 21 #1 songs (noted below) on the Billboard Hot 100, putting him third behind Paul McCartney (32) and John Lennon (26). He’s been behind 54 top-ten hits, putting him ahead of Madonna, Elvis Presley, and The Beatles. He has produced 19 #1 hits, putting him second only to George Martin (23).

So, in celebration of Martin’s accomplisments, here are his top songs of all time according to Dave’s Music Database:

1. Britney Spears…Baby One More Time (1998) #1
2. Katy Perry…Roar (2013) #1
3. Katy Perry with Juicy J…Dark Horse (2013) #1
4. Taylor Swift…Shake It Off (2014) #1
5. Katy Perry…I Kissed a Girl (2008) #1
6. Taylor Swift…Blank Space (2014) #1
7. Katy Perry with Snoop Dogg…California Gurls (2010) #1
8. Taylor Swift…We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together (2012) #1
9. Kelly Clarkson…Since U Been Gone (2004)
10. Katy Perry…Hot N Cold (2008)

11. Maroon 5…One More Night (2012) #1
12. Backstreet Boys…I Want It That Way (1999)
13. Taio Cruz…Dymamite (2010)
14. Katy Perry with Kanye West…E.T. (2011) #1
15. Pink…So What (2008) #1
16. Taylor Swift…I Knew You Were Trouble (2012)
17. Katy Perry….Teenage Dream (2010) #1
18. Ariana Grande with Izzy Azalea…Problem (2014)
19. Britney Spears…Oops! I Did It Again (2000)
20. Ellie Goulding…Love Me Like You Do (2015)

21. Usher with Pitbull…DJ Got Us Falling in Love (2010)
22. Katy Perry…Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.) (2010) #1
23. Katy Perry…Wide Awake (2012)
24. Pink…Raise Your Glass (2010) #1
25. Taylor Swift…Bad Blood (2015) #1
26. Kelly Clarkson…My Life Would Suck Without You (2009) #1
27. Katy Perry…The One That Got Away (2011)
28. Jessie J with Ariana Grande & Nicki Minaj…Bang Bang (2014)
29. Jessie J…Domino (2011)
30. Pink…Fuckin’ Perfect (2010)

31. Taylor Swift…22 (2013)
32. Katy Perry…Part of Me (2012) #1
33. Pink…Who Knew (2006)
34. Kelly Clarkson…Behind These Hazel Eyes (2005)
35. Britney Spears with Nicki Minaj & Ke$ha…Till the World Ends (2011)
36. Taylor Swift…Style (2015)
37. The Weeknd…Can’t Feel My Face (2015) #1
38. Avril Lavigne…What the Hell (2011)
39. Pink…U + Ur Hand (2006)
40. Backstreet Boys…Quit Playing Games with My Heart (1996)

Taylor Swift hit #1 with “Bad Blood”

Bad Blood Taylor Swift with Kendrick Lamar

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Taylor Swift dethrones herself at #1 with “Blank Space”

Blank Space Taylor Swift

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Taylor Swift released 1989

1989 Taylor Swift

Released: October 27, 2014 Peak: 111 US, 11 UK, 19 CN, 19 AU, 11 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 10.0 US, 1.25 UK, 21.0 world (includes US and UK), 37.79 EAS Genre: pop

1989 (Taylor’s Version) Taylor Swift

Released: October 27, 2023 Peak: 15 US, 13 UK, 14 CN, 114 AU Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 4.0 US, 0.3 UK, 5.74 world (includes US and UK) Genre: pop

Tracks: Click on a song title for more details. Welcome to New York [3:32] Blank Space [3:51] Style [3:51] Out of the Woods [3:55] All You Had to Do Was Stay [3:13] Shake It Off [3:39] I Wish You Would [3:27] Bad Blood [3:31] Wildest Dreams [3:40] How You Get the Girl [4:10] This Love [4:10] I Know Places [3:15] Clean [4:30] Total Running Time: 48:41 Tracks, Deluxe Edition: Wonderland [4:05] You Are in Love [4:27] New Romantics [3:50] I Know Places (piano/vocal voice memo) [3:36] * I Wish You Would (track/vocal voice memo) [1:47] * Blank Space (guitar/vocal voice memo) [2:11] * * on Target CD deluxe edition Tracks (Taylor’s Version): Click on a song title for more details. Welcome to New York [3:32] Blank Space [3:51] Style [3:51] Out of the Woods [3:55] All You Had to Do Was Stay [3:13] Shake It Off [3:39] I Wish You Would [3:27] Bad Blood [3:31] Wildest Dreams [3:40] How You Get the Girl [4:10] This Love [4:10] I Know Places [3:15] Clean [4:30] Wonderland [4:05] You Are in Love [4:27] New Romantics [3:50] Slut! [3:00] * Say Don’t Go [4:39] * Now That We Don’t Talk [2:26] * Suburban Legends [2:51] * Is It Over Now? [3:49] * * From the Vault Total Running Time: 77:49

Rating: 4.031 out of 5.00 (average of 45 ratings) Quotable: “1989 is the Thriller of the 2010s.” – Consequence of Sound Awards: (Click on award to learn more). Awards (Taylor’s Version): (Click on award to learn more).

Transition from Country to Pop When a teenage Taylor Swift entered the scene with her self-titled debut album in 2006, she was a country artist with pop appeal. Over four albums, she “eased her longtime listeners” CQ toward pop by adding “plenty of pop touches into her modern country sound.” CQ Swift had experimented with “blatant pop music on the still country-tinged Red” RS’19 but her “metamorphosis into a full-fledged pop star reached an apex with 1989” CQ when she “officially left the cowboy boots behind,” CQ “going for broke with a new identity,” BB “marking her full transition from country to pop with polished production and emotionally resonant storytelling.” OH The Writing Taylor maintained the “savvy, self-aware lyrics” NME she’d honed in “writing astutely observed country ballads” SL 1989’s “standout tracks retain the narrative detail and clever metaphor-building that distinguished Swift’s early songs.” SL “There’s a great flow to 1989 – Swift had relocated to New York City during the writing and production of the record, and there’s a throughline of youthful freedom connecting each track. One of Swift’s great gifts as a writer has always been her ability to make listeners and fans feel like her close friends; she’s sharing her diary with us, whether it’s in the exuberance of opener ‘Welcome to New York,’ the bliss of ‘Style,’ or the yearning of ‘Wildest Dreams.’” CQ A Newfound Maturity “There’s also a maturity to 1989, with Swift starting to write about love in a more existential way than she had on some of her previous albums. There’s less short-term frustration and more wistfulness, giving the record a vaguely timeless quality.” CQ Swift called it her most “sonically cohesive” studio album. WK It generally satisfied her critics as well. The Guardian’s Alexis Petridis said the album is full of “undeniable melodies and huge, perfectly turned choruses and nagging hooks.” WK Billboard said “it was big, bright and fun, even in her more lovelorn moments” BB and the AV Club said, “it’s smart and cheeky by turns, expertly produced but also resolutely human.” AV Synths Instead of Cowboy Boots “1989 is a synth-pop masterpiece.” OH This was “a gleaming synthpop behemoth,” GU “a love letter to the Pet Shop Boys and Eurythmics, all glossy synths, icy snares.” RS’20 The album, named after Swift’s birth year, saw Swift “replacing acoustic guitars and pedal steel with multi-layered synthscapes, drum machines, and densely packed vocal tracking.” SL The Thriller of the 2010s “Every note and marketing stunt seems carefully planned, sure, but…[it] was far from pre-fab. It’s one of those incredibly rare records that unites everyone from jaded music critics to tweens, a phenomenon that might seem perfectly manufactured but is in fact a kind of rare cosmic event.” AV “Out of all of Swift’s post-country albums, 1989 remains her most fully realized.” UD “It’s one that’s worth returning to again and again.” CQ “It’s basically a perfect pop album.” OH “Everything on this blockbuster collection sounded timeless.” NME This “is the Thriller of the 2010s.” CS’19 It’s the true-blue pop album that doesn’t die, storming through one month after another, until you sit back and go, ‘Jesus Christ, that came out two years ago?’” CS’19 “Every song feels and sounds like a smash hit, and half of them actually were.” AV “Shake It Off,” “Blank Space,” and “Bad Blood” “became part of our American life the same way ‘Beat It,’ ‘Billie Jean,’ and ‘Wanna Be Startin’ Something’ became American FM traditions.” CS’19 Commercial and Critical Success 1989 became Swift’s third album to sell more than a million copies in its first week, making her the first artist to do so. WK The 1.287 million tally was the highest sales week since 2002 WK and 1989 was the only album in 2014 to exceed a million in sales. WK Swift also won her second Grammy for Album of the Year. Notes A deluxe edition added tracks “Wonderland,” “You Are in Love,” and “New Romantics.” A Target deluxe edition also added alternate versions of “I Know Places,” “I Wish You Would,” and “Blank Spaces.” In 2015, Ryan Adams released a track-by-track covers album of 1989. In 2023, Taylor released her re-recorded version of the album (1989: Taylor’s Version). The Songs Here’s a breakdown of each of the individual songs.

Welcome to New York Taylor Swift

Writer(s): Taylor Swift, Ryan Tedder Released: 1989 (2014), 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (2023) First Charted: 11/8/14 (original), 11/11/23 (Taylor’s Version) Peak: 48 BB, 39 UK, 19 CN, 23 AU (original); 14 BB, 12 UK, 15 CN, 11 AU (Taylor’s Version) Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 1.0 US (original); 0.20 UK, 0.28 world (Taylor’s Version) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 27.88 video, 311.84 (original), 194.96 (Taylor’s Version) streaming

Blank Space Taylor Swift

Writer(s): Taylor Swift, Max Martin, Shellback Released: 11/10/2014 (single), 1989 (2014), 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (2023) First Charted: 11/2/14 (original), 11/11/23 (Taylor’s Version) Peak: 17 BB, 16 BA, 17 DG, 17 ST, 15 RR, 14 AC, 16 A40, 4 UK, 16 CN, 13 AU, 7 DF (original); 12 BB, 15 UK, 11 CN, 9 AU (Taylor’s Version) Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 8.0 US, 2.40 UK, 14.26 world (includes US + UK) (original); 0.20 UK, 0.64 world (Taylor’s Version) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 3848.47 video, 2580.65 (original), 388.93 (Taylor’s Version) streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: “Blank Space” was the second single from Taylor Swift’s fifth studio album 1989. It followed previous single, “Shake It Off,” to the top of the Billboard Hot 100. In fact, Swift knocked herself out of the top spot, becoming the first woman in the history of the chart to do so. WK It spent seven weeks on top, her longest-running number 1 to that point. Like its predecessor, it amassed more than 2 billion YouTube views. “Lyrically, Swift is at her most experimental and self-referential, like on the cheeky Blank Space,” RS’19 “one of her best songs ever.” BB The “minimalist electropop” WK song was compared by some critics to the work of Lorde (“Royals”). WK It was an “imperious meta-pop takedown of her image of a serial Dater who uses her exes as score-settling songwriting fodder…using a humour and lightness of touch she’s never equalled.” NME Swift wrote the song with Max Martin and Shellback, who also produced. PopMatters called the song “likely the best of Swift’s career.” WK The New York Times said “This is Ms. Swift at her peak.” WK The song was nominated for Grammys for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Pop Solo Performance. She also took home an iHeart Radio Music Award for Best Lyrics for the song. SF For the video, Swift wanted to continue with the jokes about how she included her ex-boyfriends in her songs. Joseph Kahn, who’d done Eminem’s “Without Me” and Katy Perry’s “Waking Up in Vegas,” was tapped to direct the video. Swift is depicted as “an unhinged lovelorn woman who lives alone in a giant mansion.” SF In July 2015, the video became the fourth to reach one billion views on Vevo. WK It won the MTV awards for Best Pop Video and Best Female Video. WK

Style Taylor Swift

Writer(s): Taylor Swift, Max Martin, Shellback, Ali Payami Released: 2/9/2015 (single), 1989 (2014), 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (2023) First Charted: 11/15/14 (original), 11/11/23 (Taylor’s Version) Peak: 6 BB, 13 RR, 12 AC, 12 A40, 21 UK, 6 CN, 8 AU, 26 DF (original); 9 BB, 19 AC, 10 UK, 8 CN, 7 AU (Taylor’s Version) Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 3.0 US, 1.8 UK, 6.59 world (includes US + UK) (original); 0.4 UK, 0.63 world (Taylor’s Version) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 967.92 video, 1890.94 (original), 452.10 (Taylor’s Version) streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: Style was also a top-10 hit. Insider’s Ahlgrim described it as a “transcendent experience,” IS and said that “Lyrically, Swift has rarely been more in control. Each winking detail has been carefully chosen; each image is precisely painted. The song's narrative builds and smolders, gradually, until the climactic lament…blows it all wide open…The moment feels like an explosion, or a rebirth.” IS

Out of the Woods Taylor Swift

Writer(s): Taylor Swift, Jack Antonoff Released: 1/19/2016 (single), 1989 (2014), 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (2023) First Charted: 11/1/14 (original), 11/11/23 (Taylor’s Version) Peak: 18 BB, 11 DG, 20 AC, 11 A40, 8 CN, 19 AU (original); 16 BB, 18 UK, 14 CN, 12 AU (Taylor’s Version) Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 1.0 US (original); 0.20 UK, 0.29 world (Taylor’s Version) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 213.27 video, 377.61 (original), 286.02 (Taylor’s Version) streaming About the Song: The sixth, and final, official single was the top 20 hit Out of the Woods, with what Insider described as “the perfect bridge.” IS

All You Had to Do Was Stay Taylor Swift

Writer(s): Taylor Swift, Max Martin Released: 1989 (2014), 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (2023) First Charted: 11/15/14 (original), 11/11/23 (Taylor’s Version) Peak: 92 CN (original); 20 BB, 23 CN (Taylor’s Version) Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 0.04 world (Taylor’s Version) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 15.50 video, 251.77 (original), 167.49 (Taylor’s Version) streaming

Shake It Off Taylor Swift

Writer(s): Taylor Swift, Max Martin, Shellback Released: 8/18/2014 (single), 1989 (2014), 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (2023) First Charted: 8/24/14 (original), 11/11/23 (Taylor’s Version) Peak: 14 BB, 14 BA, 14 DG, 12 ST, 12 RR, 15 AC, 16 A40, 58a CW, 2 UK, 14 CN, 13 AU, 6 DF (original); 28 BB, 24 CN, 18 AU (Taylor’s Version) Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 10.0 US, 3.6 UK, 19.16 world (includes US + UK) (original); 0.20 UK, 0.31 world (Taylor’s Version) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 3723.64 video, 1987.59 (original), 240.99 (Taylor’s Version) streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: In 2014, Taylor Swift made a conscious decision to embrace pop music completely and abandoned attempts to pigeon-hole her work into a country mold. The result was met with immediate approval in the pop world. Lead single “Shake It Off,” from 1989 – Swift’s fifth studio album – debuted atop the Billboard Hot 100. It was her second time atop the chart – the first being “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” the lead single from her previous album, 2012’s Red. The song also set up Swift for the biggest album debut in a decade with 1.29 million sales in its first week. She wrote the song with Max Martin and Shellback, who also collaborated with Swift on “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” and “I Knew You Were Trouble.” SF It marked Martin’s 18th #1 as a songwriter, putting him only behind Paul McCartney (32) and John Lennon (26). SF The song is uptempo with a melody which Billboard magazine’s Jason Lipshutz compared to Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ “Thrift Shop.” He called it a “surefire hit” which “proves why she belongs among pop’s queen bees.” WK A Music Times critic compared the song to Pharrell Williams’ “Happy” while Shirley Halperin, from The Hollywood Reporter, described it as an uptempo version of Idina Menzel’s “Let It Go” and called it “pop-tastic.” WK Lyrically, the song is Swift’s message to her haters. With its “undeniable energy” AV her reply to detractors was “the ‘Hey Ya’ of 2014.” AV She said, “People can say whatever they want…at any time, and we cannot control that…You can either let it get to you… [or] you just shake it off.” SF She told the BBC “it honestly doesn’t matter if someone else doesn’t want to understand you.” SF. The song found some detractors; Kevin Fallon of The Daily Beast said it was “a great pop song,” but “the least musically interesting song” of her career, noting that “this new direction…is woefully depressing.” WK Mark Romanek, who was previous behind Johnny Cash’s “Hurt” and Michael and Janet Jackson’s “Scream,” directed the video. In it, Swift surrounded herself with what Music Times called “some of the world’s best dancers in the styles of hip hop, lyrical, ballet, jazz and even cheerleader” while Swift embraced “her inner dorky dancer.” WK The video received mixed reviews. Direct Lyrics called it a “fun one” but The Guardian’s Molly Fitzpatrick said the mix of different dance styles was “fun, but the conceit falls flat.” WK Jezebel called it a “cringe-worthy mess” WK while rapper Earl Sweatshirt criticized the video for playing on racial stereotypes. SF

I Wish You Would Taylor Swift

Writer(s): Taylor Swift, Jack Antonoff Released: 1989 (2014), 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (2023) First Charted: 11/11/23 (Taylor’s Version) Peak: 31 BB, 32 CN (Taylor’s Version) Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 0.04 world (Taylor’s Version) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 8.50 video, 171.78 (original), 144.84 (Taylor’s Version) streaming

Bad Blood Taylor Swift

Writer(s): Taylor Swift, Max Martin, Shellback Released: 5/17/2015 (single), 1989 (2014), 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (2023) First Charted: 11/15/14 (original), 11/11/23 (Taylor’s Version) Peak: 11 BB, 15 BA, 15 DG, 16 RR, 9 AC, 13 A40, 4 UK, 11 CN, 13 AU, 13 DF (original); 7 BB, 24 AC, 13 UK, 7 CN, 52 AU (Taylor’s Version) Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 6.0 US, 1.2 UK, 9.19 world (includes US + UK) (original); 0.20 UK, 0.31 world (Taylor’s Version) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 1689.86 video, 1014.69 (original), 302.41 (Taylor’s Version) streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: “Bad Blood” was the fourth of 1989’s five top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100. The song charted briefly upon the album’s initial release in October 2014 but was officially released as a single in May 2015 – in a remixed version featuring Kendrick Lamar – in May 2015. It was the third song from the album to hit #1. There was speculation that the “vitriolic” RS’11 Bad Blood was about Katy Perry, with whom Swift had a widely reported feud. Swift claimed a female singer had tried to sabotage her concert tour by hiring away people who had worked for her. Others simply thought the song was about lost romance, the central theme of the album. Swift told GQ, “It was not a song about heartbreak. It was about the loss of friendship.” SF She told Rolling Stone, “Sometimes the lines in a song are lines you wish you could text-message somebody in real life…like, ‘Burn. That would really get her…but…my intent was not to create some gossip-fest. I wanted people to apply it to a situation where they felt betrayed in their own lives.” SF Either way, it fit with an established tendency for Swift to play victim and call others out publicly. Critics gave the song mixed reviews, some saying the lyrics were repetitive and the production was generic. WK Mike Diver from Clash called it “a litany of diary-page break-up clichés set to directionless thumps and fuzzes.” WK Mikael Wood from the Los Angeles Times said it was “a generic song where Swift fails to showcase herself as a distinctive artist.” WK On the flip side, Sasha Geffen of Consequence of Sound applauded it as a defiant tune with heavy, hip-hop beats. Andy Pettifier of The Quietus said the song was “crammed with merit…all sass and bile.” WK A high-budget video directed by Joseph Kahn featured a cast of singers and models whom the media called Swift’s “squad.” The group included Jessica Alba, Cindy Crawford, Selena Gomez, Ellie Goulding, Gigi Hadid, Hailee Steinfeld, and Zendaya. The video was premiered at the Billboard Music Awards. It set a then-record for most views (20.1 million) in its first day. SF It won MTV’s Video of the Year and Best Collaboration. It also won a Grammy for Best Music Video and was nominated for Best Pop Duo/Performance.

Wildest Dreams Taylor Swift

Writer(s): Taylor Swift, Max Martin, Shellback Released: 8/31/2015 (single), 1989 (2014), 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (2023) First Charted: 11/15/14 (original), 10/2/21 (Taylor’s Version) Peak: 5 BB, 12 BA, 12 RR, 2 AC, 14 A40, 40 UK, 4 CN, 3 AU, 26 DF (original); 37 BB, 23 AC (Taylor’s Version) Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 4.0 US, 1.2 UK, 6.98 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 1025.97 (original), 55.00 (Taylor’s Version) video, 1244.54 (original), 1055.92 (Taylor’s Version) streaming

Awards (original): (Click on award to learn more). Awards (Taylor’s Version):

About the Song: Wildest Dreams, with its “atmospheric romance,” RS’19 was the fifth single from the album to reach the top 10 in the U.S.

How You Get the Girl Taylor Swift

Writer(s): Taylor Swift, Max Martin, Shellback Released: 1989 (2014), 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (2023) First Charted: 11/15/14 (original), 11/11/23 (Taylor’s Version) Peak: 81 CN (original); 40 BB, 34 CN (Taylor’s Version) Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 0.04 world (Taylor’s Version) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 16.80 video, 198.99 (original), 129.57 (Taylor’s Version) streaming

This Love Taylor Swift

Writer(s): Taylor Swift Released: 5/19/22 (Taylor’s Version), 1989 (2014), 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (2023) First Charted: 11/15/14 (original), 5/19/22 (Taylor’s Version) Peak: 84 CN (original); 42 BB, 42 UK, 30 CN, 23 AU (Taylor’s Version) Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 1.0 US (original); 0.20 UK, 0.31 world (Taylor’s Version) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 32.90 video, 123.47 (original), 391.96 (Taylor’s Version) streaming

I Know Places Taylor Swift

Writer(s): Taylor Swift, Ryan Tedder Released: 1989 (2014), 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (2023) First Charted: 11/11/23 (Taylor’s Version) Peak: 36 BB, 35 CN (Taylor’s Version) Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 9.10 video, 149.10 streaming About the Song: “Songs like I Know Places ride a reggae swagger and trap-influenced snare beats before launching into a soaring, Pat Benatar-esque chorus. It’s an effortless fusion that, like much of 1989, displays Swift’s willingness to venture outside her comfort zone without much of a safety net, and test out an array of sonic experiments that feel both retro and of the moment.” SL

Clean Taylor Swift

Writer(s): Taylor Swift, Imogen Heap Released: 1989 (2014), 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (2023) First Charted: 11/11/23 (Taylor’s Version) Peak: 30 BB, 28 CN (Taylor’s Version) Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 0.04 world (Taylor’s Version) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 21.0 video, 220.17 (original), 189.71 (Taylor’s Version) streaming About the Song: The album also included the “atmospheric” IS “electro-chill of Clean,” RS’20 “easily the holy grail among Swift’s closing tracks.” IS This is “one of her starkest, grandest romantic exorcisms, comparing love’s memory to ‘a wine-stained dress I can’t wear anymore’ and unspooling images of drowning and surviving that can bring to mind another Eighties hero, Kate Bush.” RS’20

Wonderland Taylor Swift

Writer(s): Taylor Swift, Max Martin, Shellback Released: 1989: Deluxe Edition (2014), 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (2023) First Charted: 3/7/15 (original), 11/11/23 (Taylor’s Version) Peak: 51 BB, 59 CN, 84 AU (original), 39 BB, 37 CN, 22 AU (Taylor’s Version) Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 0.20 UK, 0.29 world (Taylor’s Version) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 16.70 video, 169.03 (original), 129.61 (Taylor’s Version) streaming

You Are in Love Taylor Swift

Writer(s): Taylor Swift, Jack Antonoff Released: 1989: Deluxe Edition (2014), 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (2023) First Charted: 3/14/15 (original), 11/11/23 (Taylor’s Version) Peak: 83 BB, 99 AU (original), 43 BB, 42 AU (Taylor’s Version) Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 0.05 world (Taylor’s Version) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 17.50 video, 163.20 (original), 174.91 (Taylor’s Version) streaming

New Romantics Taylor Swift

Writer(s): Taylor Swift, Max Martin, Shellback Released: 2/23/2016 (single), 1989: Deluxe Edition (2014), 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (2023) First Charted: 3/21/15 (original), 11/11/23 (Taylor’s Version) Peak: 46 BB, 18 AC, 9 A40 (original), 29 BB, 27 CN (Taylor’s Version) Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 0.04 world (Taylor’s Version) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 152.50 video, 338.57 (original), 231.70 (Taylor’s Version) streaming

Slut! Taylor Swift

Writer(s): Taylor Swift, Jack Antonoff, Patrik Berger Released: 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (2023) First Charted: November 8, 2023 Peak: 3 BB, 5 UK, 3 CN, 4 AU Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- US, 0.20 UK, 0.31 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 11.60 video, 468.98 streaming About the Song: When Taylor Swift re-recorded her 1989 album in 2023, she added five songs that were billed as being “from the vault.” This was one of the five.

Say Don’t Go Taylor Swift

Writer(s): Taylor Swift, Diane Warren Released: 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (2023) First Charted: November 11, 2023 Peak: 5 BB, 7 UK, 5 CN, 3 AU Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- US, 0.20 UK, 0.31 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 296.49 streaming About the Song: When Taylor Swift re-recorded her 1989 album in 2023, she added five songs that were billed as being “from the vault.” This was one of the five.

Now That We Don’t Talk Taylor Swift

Writer(s): Taylor Swift, Jack Antonoff Released: 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (2023) First Charted: November 8, 2023 Peak: 2 BB, 2 UK, 2 CN, 2 AU Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- US, 0.20 UK, 0.31 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 446.80 streaming About the Song: When Taylor Swift re-recorded her 1989 album in 2023, she added five songs that were billed as being “from the vault.” This was one of the five.

Suburban Legends Taylor Swift

Writer(s): Taylor Swift, Jack Antonoff Released: 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (2023) First Charted: November 11, 2023 Peak: 10 BB, 14 UK, 10 CN, 8 AU Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- US, -- UK, 0.04 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 165.37 streaming About the Song: When Taylor Swift re-recorded her 1989 album in 2023, she added five songs that were billed as being “from the vault.” This was one of the five.

Is It Over Now? Taylor Swift

Writer(s): Taylor Swift, Jack Antonoff Released: 10/31/2023 (single), 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (2023) First Charted: October 31, 2023 Peak: 11 BB, 12 ST, 11 RR, 13 AC, 11 A40, 11 UK, 11 CN, 12 AU Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- US, 0.60 UK, 0.89 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 38.90 video, 603.54 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: When Taylor Swift re-recorded her 1989 album in 2023, she added five songs that were billed as being “from the vault.” This was one of the five. It was the most successful of the five, debuting at #1.

Resources/References: AZ Amazon AV The A.V. Club (11/20/2019). “The 50 Best Albums of the 2010s” BB Billboard (11/19/2019). “The 100 Greatest Albums of the 2010s” CS’19 Consequence of Sound (12/29/2019). “The Top 100 Albums of the 2010s” CQ Consequence.net (9/12/2022). “The 100 Greatest Albums of All Time” GU Guardian (9/13/2019). “The 100 Best Albums of the 21st Century” IS Insider (12/30/2019). “The 15 Best Albums of the Decade, Ranked” NME New Musical Express (NME) (11/29/2019). “The Best Albums of the Decade: The 2010s” OH One Hit Thunder (2/10/2026). “The Thundred: The Top 100 Albums of All Time” RS’19 Rolling Stone (12/3/2019). “The 100 Best Albums of the 2010s” RS’20 Rolling Stone (9/22/2020). “The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time” SL Slant (12/20/2019). “The 100 Best Albums of the 2010s” SF Songfacts page for “Shake It Off” SF Songfacts page for “Blank Space” SF Songfacts page for “Bad Blood” UD U Discover Music (12/13/2019). “Best Albums of the 2010s: 30 Classics That Defined the Decade” WK Wikipedia page for 1989 WK Wikipedia page for “Shake It Off” WK Wikipedia page for “Blank Space” WK Wikipedia page for “Bad Blood” Related DMDB Pages: First posted 12/23/2020; last updated 9/7/2026.