Dancing with Our Hands Tied

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"Dancing with Our Hands Tied"
Song by Taylor Swift
from the album Reputation
ReleasedNovember 10, 2017 (2017-11-10)
Studio
Length3:31
Label Big Machine
Songwriters
Producers
  • Max Martin
  • Shellback
  • Oscar Holter
Audio
"Dancing With Our Hands Tied" on YouTube

"Dancing with Our Hands Tied" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift from her sixth studio album, Reputation (2017). Swift wrote the song with the producers Max Martin, Shellback, and Oscar Holter. An electronic-heavy track, "Dancing with Our Hands Tied" is instrumented with propelling beats, an EDM and future bass refrain, and elements of dubstep, UK garage, drum and bass, and house music. The lyrics are about a secret romantic relationship in the face of public exposure.

Contents

Several critics praised the production of "Dancing with Our Hands Tied" as catchy and sophisticated. The track has received certifications in Australia, New Zealand, and the UK. Swift performed the track as an acoustic number on her Reputation Stadium Tour (2018), and twice as a "surprise song" on the Eras Tour (2023–2024).

Background and release

The American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift created her sixth studio album, Reputation , as a response to the controversies that blemished her once-wholesome "America's Sweetheart" reputation. [1] It was released on November 10, 2017, by Big Machine Records; "Dancing with Our Hands Tied" is the eleventh track on the album. [2] [3] Swift wrote "Dancing with Our Hands Tied" with its producers: Max Martin, Shellback, and Oscar Holter. [3] "Dancing with Our Hands Tied" has been certified platinum in Australia, gold in New Zealand, and silver in the UK. [4] [5] [6]

Music and lyrics

At 3 minutes and 31 seconds, [2] "Dancing with Our Hands Tied" is an electronic-heavy song, [7] instrumented with propelling beats [8] and an EDM and future bass refrain. [9] [10] The track features influences of various British dance and club genres, [11] such as dubstep, [12] 2-step garage, [11] UK garage, [13] drum and bass, [14] and house music. [15] The song is composed in the key of C minor, [16] set over a fast tempo of 160 beats per minute. [17] The production of the verses incorporates piano chords, [2] an understated synth bass and percolating synth arpeggiators, and the refrain is accompanied by a bass drop. After the bridge, Swift uses the upper register of her vocal range, reaching F5 and G5 successively. [17]

Rolling Stone 's Rob Sheffield wrote that the track's implementation of 1980s-styled beats were similar to A-ha's "Take On Me" (1984), [18] and The Independent 's Roisin O'Connor opined that the production was reminiscent of Don Henley's "The Boys of Summer" (1984) and Robyn's "Dancing on My Own" (2010). [19] Alexis Petridis of The Guardian likened the track's sound to the "AOR-inspired sound" of Swift's previous album 1989 (2014), [20] while Kitty Empire of The Observer deemed the EDM refrain "ravey", [9] and O'Connor thought that the dubstep and garage production resembled Swift's 2012 single "I Knew You Were Trouble". [13] The music critic Annie Zaleski opined that "Dancing with Our Hands Tied", with its "moody" atmosphere and 1980s synthwave homage, served as the precedent to the Weeknd's "Blinding Lights" (2019), a track also co-produced by Oscar Holter. [2]

In "Dancing with Our Hands Tied", Swift's narrator details a romantic relationship that serves as a refuge for her amidst catastrophes like wildfires and floods, but she is anxious that this low-profile relationship would be exposed to the outer world. [2] This romance happens when the narrator was 25 years old, and she alludes to how the lover turns her bed "into a sacred oasis". [18] [21] [22] She is aware of the public perception on her romance: "I loved you in spite of deep fears that the world would divide us." [23] [24] Refinery29 's Elena Nicolaou noted that the song lyrically resembles "Slow Dancing in a Burning Room" (2006) by John Mayer; she noted that both of the song's choruses are about "people intimately dancing through a doomed situation" and that the lyric, "Swaying as the room burned down", creates a lyrical parallel to Mayer's song. [25] Sheffield thought that the narrative resembled Romeo and Juliet more than Swift's 2008 single "Love Story" did. [18]

Reception and live performances

Swift performed "Dancing with Our Hands Tied" as an acoustic number on her 2018 Reputation Stadium Tour. Taylor Swift performing Fearless during Reputation Stadium Tour - New Jersey, 2018.jpg
Swift performed "Dancing with Our Hands Tied" as an acoustic number on her 2018 Reputation Stadium Tour.

There were positive reviews of "Dancing with Our Hands Tied", particularly for its production. Petridis and Under the Radar 's Ellen Peirson-Hagger selected the track as one of the Reputation songs that showcased Swift as a skilled pop songwriter. [20] [26] The A.V. Club 's Clayton Purdom highlighted the "massive, laser-light chorus", [27] while Joe Goggins of Drowned in Sound opined that the track was in line with modern trends in popular music, accompanied by Swift's "consistent cool detachment to [her] vocal delivery" that made it different from her past music. [28] State's Nick Heatherington commented that the track is "more traditional" and "drives along at a leisurely pace". [29] The writer and musician Kev Nickells opined that the production was sophisticated, with a "highly complex, very produced beat" and a stronger focus on rhythm in the arrangement, compared to Swift's previous pop songs. [11] Zaleski highlighted Swift's agile vocal performance, portraying "from optimistic and concerned [to] anguished" moods that accompany the "intrigue-filled music". [2] O'Connor praised the beat as "excellent" but opined that the refrain was "clunky in a way that holds the song back". [13]

Other reviews commented on the lyricism. Peirson-Hagger wrote that the lyrics showcased Swift's romanticism that was in contrast with the "bad girl" image that the other Reputation tracks postulate. [26] Pitchfork's Jamieson Cox picked the track as one of the examples of Reputation where Swift writes about sexually explicit themes. [21] O'Connor highlighted the vulnerability in the song, deeming it an example of how Swift could capture feelings and small moments in her songwriting. [19] Sheffield ranked "Dancing with Our Hands Tied" 195 out of 286 songs in Swift's entire discography as of October 2025; he wrote that the line, "I'm a mess, but I'm the mess that you wanted", evoked the "saddest line" that Fiona Apple had written ("I know I'm a mess he don't wanna clean up"). [18]

On the Reputation Stadium Tour, Swift performed "Dancing with Our Hands Tied" as an acoustic number on guitar. [30] [31] [32] Variety 's Chris Willman wrote that the acoustic rendition proved that the song "worked as well acoustically without the Max Martin-izing", [33] while The Guardian 's Bog Gordon commented that the acoustic performance "seemed heartening and important [...] as these were moments that focussed on the talented artist rather than the showbusiness of it all". [34] She also performed it twice as a "surprise song" during her next concert tour, the Eras Tour (2023–2024): on guitar at the second Rio de Janeiro concert on November 19, 2023; [35] and on guitar in a mashup with "The Albatross" (2024) at the second Dublin concert on June 29, 2024. [36]

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Reputation [3]

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA) [4] Platinum70,000‡
New Zealand (RMNZ) [5] Gold15,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI) [6] Silver200,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ↑ Yahr, Emily (November 15, 2017). "Taylor Swift Avoided – and Mocked – the Media with Reputation. And It Worked" . The Washington Post . Archived from the original on October 19, 2020. Retrieved December 15, 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Zaleski 2024, p. 143.
  3. 1 2 3 Swift, Taylor (2017). Reputation (CD liner notes). Big Machine Records. 00843930033102.
  4. 1 2 "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2024 Singles" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association . Retrieved December 12, 2025.
  5. 1 2 "New Zealand single certifications – Taylor Swift – Dancing with Our Hands Tied". Radioscope. Retrieved December 12, 2025.Type Dancing with Our Hands Tied in the "Search:" fieldand press Enter.
  6. 1 2 "British single certifications – Taylor Swift – Dancing with Our Hands Tied". British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved December 12, 2025.
  7. ↑ Mylrea, Hannah (September 8, 2020). "Every Taylor Swift song ranked in order of greatness". NME . Archived from the original on September 8, 2020. Retrieved December 12, 2025.
  8. ↑ Bassett, Jordan (November 10, 2017). "Taylor Swift – Reputation Review". NME . Archived from the original on November 11, 2017. Retrieved December 10, 2025.
  9. 1 2 Empire, Kitty (November 12, 2017). "Taylor Swift: Reputation Review – Lust, Loss and Revenge". The Observer . Archived from the original on December 6, 2020. Retrieved December 10, 2025.
  10. ↑ Chatterjee, Uppy (November 11, 2017). "Review: Taylor Swift Takes A New Direction With Reputation - But Is It The Right One?". The Music . Archived from the original on October 6, 2021. Retrieved December 10, 2025.
  11. 1 2 3 Nickells 2024, p. 127.
  12. ↑ Song, Jane (February 11, 2020). "All 158 Taylor Swift Songs, Ranked". Paste . Archived from the original on June 25, 2023. Retrieved December 12, 2025.
  13. 1 2 3 O'Connor, Roisin (July 23, 2020). "Taylor Swift's 100 album tracks – ranked". The Independent . Archived from the original on September 12, 2025. Retrieved December 12, 2025.
  14. ↑ Rayner, Ben (November 10, 2017). "New album Reputation shows Taylor Swift in love — with the trends: review". The Toronto Star . Archived from the original on August 3, 2025. Retrieved December 12, 2025.
  15. ↑ "We Did the Impossible and Ranked Taylor Swift's 50 Best Songs of All Time". Cosmopolitan . October 6, 2025. Archived from the original on November 8, 2025. Retrieved December 12, 2025.
  16. ↑ "Taylor Swift "Dancing with Our Hands Tied" Sheet Music in C Minor". Musicnotes. Musicnotes.com. on behalf of Sony/ATV Music Publishing. November 10, 2017. Archived from the original on August 27, 2017. Retrieved July 22, 2025.
  17. 1 2 Somville & Benoit 2025, p. 278.
  18. 1 2 3 4 Sheffield, Rob (October 6, 2025). "'Dancing with Our Hands Tied' (2025)". Rolling Stone . Archived from the original on September 10, 2024. Retrieved December 15, 2025.
  19. 1 2 O'Connor, Roisin (November 10, 2017). "Taylor Swift's album Reputation might be her best yet". The Independent . Archived from the original on October 8, 2025. Retrieved December 12, 2025.
  20. 1 2 Petridis, Alexis (November 10, 2017). "Taylor Swift: Reputation review – superb songcraft meets extreme drama". The Guardian . Archived from the original on November 10, 2017. Retrieved May 20, 2025.
  21. 1 2 Cox, Jamieson (November 13, 2017). "Taylor Swift: Reputation Album Review". Pitchfork . Archived from the original on November 13, 2017. Retrieved December 10, 2025.
  22. ↑ Bruton, Louise (November 10, 2017). "Taylor Swift: Reputation – Clever Songwriting, Beauty in Tiny Details". The Irish Times . Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved December 10, 2025.
  23. ↑ D'Souza, Shaad (October 18, 2025). "Can Taylor Swift Be an Underdog and the Biggest Pop Star on Earth?: Critic's Notebook" . The New York Times . Retrieved December 12, 2025.
  24. ↑ Yahr, Emily (November 10, 2017). "Taylor Swift's Reputation: A track-by-track breakdown of feuds, relationships and Kanye". The Washington Post . Archived from the original on February 4, 2023. Retrieved December 12, 2025.
  25. ↑ Nicolaou, Elena (November 18, 2017). "Here's What Every Song On Taylor Swift's "Reputation" Is Actually About". Refinery29. Archived from the original on September 5, 2025. Retrieved July 18, 2025.
  26. 1 2 Peirson-Hagger, Ellen (November 13, 2017). "Taylor Swift: Reputation". Under the Radar . Archived from the original on November 12, 2025. Retrieved December 15, 2025.
  27. ↑ Purdom, Clayton (November 10, 2017). "Taylor Swift has a big, drunken night out on Reputation". The A.V. Club . Archived from the original on November 11, 2017. Retrieved December 15, 2025.
  28. ↑ Goggins, Joe (November 10, 2017). "Album Review: Taylor Swift - Reputation". Drowned in Sound . Archived from the original on August 5, 2025. Retrieved December 15, 2025.
  29. ↑ Hetherington, Nick (November 21, 2017). "Taylor Swift: Reputation". State . Archived from the original on November 21, 2017. Retrieved December 15, 2025.
  30. ↑ Warner, Denise (May 9, 2018). "Here Are All the Songs Taylor Swift Played on the Opening Night of the Reputation Tour". Billboard . Archived from the original on May 22, 2018. Retrieved July 16, 2025.
  31. ↑ Greene, Andy (November 28, 2018). "Taylor Swift's 'Reputation' Tour: The 10 Best Surprise Moments" . Rolling Stone . Archived from the original on May 17, 2019. Retrieved July 16, 2025.
  32. ↑ Verrico, Lisa (June 10, 2018). "Pop review: Taylor Swift at the Etihad Stadium, Manchester" . The Times . Retrieved December 12, 2025.
  33. ↑ Willman, Chris (May 16, 2018). "Taylor Swift's 'Reputation' Tour Has Bad Blood, Good Will, Sex Appeal and Serpents". Variety . Archived from the original on May 17, 2018. Retrieved December 15, 2025.
  34. ↑ Gordon, Bob (October 20, 2018). "Taylor Swift review - tour shows a star, and reputation, still in ascendance". The Guardian . Archived from the original on December 22, 2019. Retrieved December 15, 2025.
  35. ↑ West, Bryan (November 17, 2023). "Fans speculate Taylor Swift's surprise song in Brazil is dedicated to fan who died". USA Today . Archived from the original on January 26, 2025. Retrieved May 21, 2025.
  36. ↑ Iasimone, Ashley (June 29, 2024). "Taylor Swift Debuts 'The Albatross' Live in Mashup With a Reputation Song in Dublin". Billboard . Archived from the original on May 22, 2025. Retrieved May 21, 2025.

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