"Forever Winter" is a power pop track that incorporates horns, flutes, and guitars in its refrain. The lyrics find Swift worrying about her friend's mental health challenges and suicidal tendencies. Music critics praised the song for its complex production and Swift's diverse vocals. "Forever Winter" peaked at number 87 on the Billboard Global 200 and reached the national charts of Canada and the United States.
Background and release
After ending her 13-year contract with Big Machine Records and signing a new deal with Republic Records in 2018, Taylor Swift began re-recording her first six studio albums in November 2020.[2][3] The decision followed a public 2019 dispute between Swift and the talent manager Scooter Braun, who had acquired Big Machine, including the masters of her albums which the label had released.[4][5] By re-recording the albums, Swift had full ownership of the new masters, which enabled her to control the licensing of her songs for commercial use and therefore substitute the Big Machine–owned masters.[6]
In April 2021, Swift released her first re-recorded album, Fearless (Taylor's Version), a re-recording of her second studio album, Fearless (2008); the album features several unreleased "From the Vault" tracks that she had written but left out of the original version's track listing.[7] On November 12, 2021, she released Red (Taylor's Version), the re-recorded version of her fourth studio album, Red (2012).[8] "Forever Winter" is one of the album's vault tracks and number 27 on its track listing.[9][10] On the week ending November 27, 2021, it reached number 26 on the US Hot Country Songs chart,[11] number 64 on the Canadian Hot 100 chart,[12] number 79 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart,[13] and number 87 on the Billboard Global 200 chart.[14]
Production and composition
"Forever Winter" was co-written by Mark Foster (left in 2014) and co-produced by Jack Antonoff (right in 2012)
Swift wrote "Forever Winter" with Mark Foster and produced it with Jack Antonoff, who programmed the track and recorded it with Laura Sisk at Conway Recording Studios in Los Angeles, Electric Lady Studios in New York City, and Rough Customer Studio in Brooklyn. Christopher Rowe recorded Swift's vocals at Kitty Committee Studio in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Jon Sher, John Rooney, Lauren Marquez worked as assistant recording engineers. Foster additionally provided background vocals, while Antonoff played drums, guitars, keyboards, percussion, bass, and Mellotron.[15]
"Forever Winter" is four minutes and twenty-three seconds long.[1] It is a power pop song opening with an energetic brass that evokes the music of the Salvation Army church, according to The Independent's Helen Brown.[16] The song then transitions into the refrain that features an upbeat arrangement and Swift's dynamic vocals, incorporating horns, flutes, and guitars.[17][18]
The lyrics find Swift trying to help a friend through his mental health challenges and suicidal tendencies.[19][20] She worries that his thoughts may be leaning towards suicide ("Live my life scared to death he'll decide to leave instead"), although his thoughts during their phone calls sound less suicidal than they truly are.[19] She tells him how much he matters to her ("I'd fall to pieces on the floor/ If you weren't around") and that she will always support him ("I'll be summer sun for you forever/ Forever winter if you go").[18] Some music journalists found "Forever Winter" similar to Swift's single "Renegade" (2021).[21][22]
Critical reception
Music critics praised "Forever Winter" for its detailed production and Swift's diverse vocals. Variety's Chris Willman lauded the track for its cheerful rhythm, mature concept, and "bittersweet" trumpet notes and saxophone embellishments,[19][23] and Vulture's Nate Jones believed that Swift's feelings resonate authentically in "Forever Winter".[24]Time's Samantha Cooney similarly complimented the trumpet notes and how "you can hear the emotions in Swift's voice".[25] Josh Kurp of Uproxx thought that her "voice cracks" during the refrain contributed depth to the song.[20]Billboard's Jason Lipshutz commended the track for its complex production and Swift's subtle and diverse vocals; he considered it the album's eighth-best vault track.[17] Lauren McCarthy from Nylon wrote: "It's a testament to both Swift's songwriting and vocals that the song is [...] one of her rawest and heart-wrenching."[26]
In a less enthusiastic review, Business Insider's Callie Ahlgrim felt "Forever Winter" did not possess the "gut-punch revelations or keen-eyed observations" found in "Renegade" and criticized how it portrayed the narrator as a "kind of happiness tool at a man's disposal". Courteney Larocca from the same publication took issue with the narrator's perspective of viewing her friend as an issue to be resolved, but appreciated the refrain in which the narrator addresses him directly. They both placed the song last in their ranking of the album's vault tracks.[22] "Forever Winter" appeared in 2023 rankings of Swift's vault tracks by Nylon's McCarthy and Steffanee Wang (6 out of 21),[26] Kurp (15 out of 26),[20] Willman (19 out of 25),[19] and Lipshutz (23 out of 26),[27] and 2024 rankings of her discography by Jones (120 out of 245) and Rolling Stone'sRob Sheffield (168 out of 274).[21][24]
Personnel
Credits are adapted from the liner notes of Red (Taylor's Version).[15]
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