King of My Heart

Last updated

"King of My Heart"
Song by Taylor Swift
from the album Reputation
ReleasedNovember 10, 2017
Studio
Genre
Length3:34
Label Big Machine
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Max Martin
  • Shellback
Audio
"King of My Heart" on YouTube

"King of My Heart" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift from her sixth studio album, Reputation (2017). She wrote the song with its producers, Max Martin and Shellback. An electropop and EDM track, "King of My Heart" incorporates pounding drum machines, pulsing synths, and vocals manipulated by a vocoder. The lyrics are about infatuation and devotion: the narrator proclaims herself as an "American queen" and her lover as the king to her heart, body, and soul.

Contents

Several reviews deemed the production catchy and engaging, but others found the song underwhelming or unmemorable. The track received certifications in Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. Swift performed "King of My Heart" live on her 2018 Reputation Stadium Tour, where the performance was accompanied by dancers playing large drums. She also sang it three times on the Eras Tour in 2023 and 2024.

Background and release

Taylor Swift's fifth studio album, 1989 (2014), was a commercial success that transformed her image from a country music artist to a global pop icon. [1] [2] Her heightened fame was accompanied by increasing tabloid gossip; [3] her reputation as "America's Sweetheart", a result of her wholesome and innocent image, was blemished from publicized short-lived relationships and disputes with other celebrities, including a dispute with the rapper Kanye West and the media personality Kim Kardashian. [4] Swift went on a hiatus in 2015 and 2016 [5] [6] and conceived her sixth studio album, Reputation , as an answer to the media commotion surrounding her celebrity. [7]

According to Swift, Reputation has two major themes; one is vengeance and drama, and the other about finding love and friendship, which she described as "something sacred throughout all the battle cries". [8] The album was released by Big Machine Records on November 10, 2017; [9] "King of My Heart" is track number 10. [10] Although the song did not chart, it has been certified platinum in Australia, [11] gold in New Zealand, [12] and silver in the United Kingdom. [13]

Music and lyrics

Swift wrote "King of My Heart" with the producers Max Martin and Shellback, who both programmed the track and played keyboards on it. Shellback also played drums and bass. The song was engineered by Sam Holland and Michael Ilbert at MXM Studios in Los Angeles and Stockholm, and by Noah Passovoy at Conway Recording Studios in Los Angeles. "King of My Heart" was mixed by Serban Ghenea at MixStar Studios in Virginia Beach. [10]

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"King of My Heart"
The refrain of "King of My Heart" features Swift's vocals manipulated by a vocoder and heavy drums.
Problems playing this file? See media help.

A 1980s-inspired [14] electropop [15] and EDM track, [16] "King of My Heart" is instrumented by pounding drum machines, [17] surging synths and keyboards, [18] [19] and vocals manipulated with a vocoder, most heavily in the refrains—an effect that Ann Powers of NPR attributed to the influences of rappers and R&B artists. [20] Luiza Lodder of No Ripcord wrote that the manipulated vocal harmonies create a "robotic breakdown", [21] while the music critic Annie Zaleski described the vocal effects as melodic and "pristine [like] a church choir". [22] The song's mix also incorporates faint acoustic guitars. [23]

"King of My Heart" is a love song [24] that addresses both lust and wholesome romance. [25] It sees Swift's narrator declaring herself as an "American queen" [26] and that her lover is the king to her heart, body, and soul. [25] Although initially detached and affirming that she is "perfectly fine" and "lives on [her] own", [18] she details how her love interest is drawn to her as if she were "a Motown beat", [27] deems him superior to other men who have luxury cars like Range Rover or Jaguar (Swift pronounces Jaguar using a British English accent), [28] [29] and says that no other man has satisfied her like he does. [25] Wanting to keep this blossoming relationship private, the narrator contemplates on its healing power: "Is this the end of all the endings?/ My broken bones are mending with all these nights we're spending." [22] [25]

Swift was inspired by the romance of Khal Drogo and Daenerys Targaryen in the fantasy series Game of Thrones while writing "King of My Heart". She described the pounding drums in the post-chorus as sounding like "Dothraki drums". [22] Behind the lyrics, she said that she structured the verses and refrains of "King of My Heart" so that each section represents a phase of a relationship's progress: "I wanted [the phases] to have their own identity, but seem like they were getting deeper and more fast-paced as the song went on." [30]

Critical reception

Reception of "King of My Heart" was somewhat mixed to positive. Several reviews, including those by the Associated Press, the Tallahassee Democrat , and The Guardian , complimented its production and melody as catchy and engaging. [31] [32] [33] Cleveland.com 's Troy L. Smith considered it a brilliant homage to 1980s music, naming Phil Collins's "Take Me Home" (1985) as an influence for the drums. [14] Dan DeLuca of The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote that "King of My Heart" was one of the Reputation tracks that "bring Swift's melodic gifts to bear, and nicely balance out the more self-consciously edgy tracks". [34] In a review for The Music, Uppy Chatterjee praised the huge-sounding drums, vocal effects, and "crisp" EDM production as interesting and having character, resulting in "the best showcase of [Swift's] darker sound". [16] Allaire Nuss of Entertainment Weekly thought that the song was successful in experimenting with styles that were new for Swift's music, bringing forth a "compelling" and "lavish catharsis". [35]

In 2024, two editors of The A.V. Club selected the song among Swift's 22 most underrated. Mary Kate Carr thought that the lyrics contained references to British English jargons and Swift's country beginnings, and she lauded the song for being "both highly specific and also an instant earworm". [25] Paste's Jane Song deemed the lyrics mentioning luxury Range Rover and Jaguar cars "enjoyable" as they showcased Swift's disinterest in caring about if her suitors made more money than her. [36] For Will Hodgkinson of The Times , "King of My Heart" is one of the album tracks that embody themes of togetherness and wholesome romance, which makes the album convincing. [37]

Several reviews thought otherwise that the production was unmemorable or gimmicky. Hannah Mylrea of NME thought that the lyrics contained a "soppiness" and the "jittery instrumentation" turned out dated, [15] an idea corroborated by Eleanor Graham of The Line of Best Fit, who contended that the EDM production was unoriginal amidst a saturated influx of similar production styles in the market. [38] Entertainment.ie considered the track a filler, [39] and Carl Wilson from Slate described it as "dreary-from-the-title-down". [40] The Independent 's Roisin O'Connor thought that "King of My Heart" was the least effective love song on Reputation, but its "juddery beat" and Swift's vocals "have a certain je ne sais quoi ". [41] In a critical review, Annie Galvin of PopMatters panned "King of My Heart" as the album's worst song, writing that its lyrics mentioning Swift's claiming herself as an "American queen" like "a Motown beat" embrace African American stereotypes and showcase Swift's "ignorance of racial appropriation". [27]

Unreleased music video

On August 4, 2025, in a podcast interview South Korean-American director Joseph Kahn, who worked on the previous visuals for Reputation, revealed that "King of My Heart" was scheduled to be the second single and that an official music video was recorded, but never completed due to Swift's decision to focus on "…Ready For It?" instead. [42] Kahn described the video as very "conceptual" and was mainly VFX.

Live performances

Swift performing "King of My Heart" on her Reputation Stadium Tour in 2018 Taylor Swift - Reputation Tour Seattle - King of My Heart 1.jpg
Swift performing "King of My Heart" on her Reputation Stadium Tour in 2018

Swift performed "King of My Heart" live on the Reputation Stadium Tour in 2018. [43] The number was accompanied by a golden throne decoration in the background, [44] six shirtless dancers banging huge tribal drums, [45] video screens showing slithering snakes, [46] and a giant inflatable cobra. [47]

Several publications highlighted the aesthetics and stage of the performance as maximalist and theatric. [45] [46] [48] Billboard reflected that the performance of "King of My Heart" was given a "monster treatment" and became a live highlight. [44] Galvin was critical of the performance, deeming it a representation of "racial appropriation" of black music tropes and dancers without exploring deeper connotations. [27] Chris DeVille of Stereogum opined that Swift could have "cool[ed] it" with the number and performed her older hits instead. [49]

On the Eras Tour, Swift performed "King of My Heart" live as a "surprise song" on three shows. [50] She first performed it on piano at the August 8, 2023, show in Los Angeles. [51] [52] Slant Magazine opined that the performance showed that the song "has aged well" and described the number as a "fan favorite" from Reputation. [53] She sang "King of My Heart" again on piano at the May 30, 2024, concert in Madrid, Spain, [50] and as part of a piano mashup with "The Alchemy" (2024) at the August 15, 2024, concert in London, England. [54]

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the liner notes of Reputation. [10]

Certifications

Certifications for "King of My Heart"
RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA) [11] Platinum70,000‡
New Zealand (RMNZ) [12] Gold15,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI) [13] Silver200,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ↑ Levine, Nick (August 21, 2019). "Taylor Swift's Lover: The struggle to maintain superstardom". BBC. Archived from the original on March 1, 2021. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
  2. ↑ McNutt 2020, p. 79.
  3. ↑ Ryan, Patrick (November 9, 2017). "5 things Taylor Swift's past USA Today interviews tell us about her Reputation era". USA Today . Archived from the original on November 10, 2017. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
  4. ↑ Berman, Judy (January 28, 2020). "Taylor Swift: Miss Americana Is an Intriguing But Incomplete Sketch of an Icon in Transition" . Time . Archived from the original on March 8, 2021. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
  5. ↑ 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 February 5, 2025.
  6. ↑ Chen, Joyce (August 24, 2017). "Taylor Swift: Everything That's Happened Since Her 1989 Era" . Rolling Stone . Retrieved June 10, 2025.
  7. ↑ Hiatt, Brian (September 30, 2019). "9 Taylor Swift Moments That Didn't Fit in Our Cover Story" . Rolling Stone . Archived from the original on October 1, 2019. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
  8. ↑ Suskind, Alex (May 9, 2019). "Taylor Swift Reveals How Game of Thrones (and Arya's Kill List) Inspired reputation". Entertainment Weekly . Archived from the original on May 9, 2019. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
  9. ↑ Caulfield, Keith (November 14, 2017). "Taylor Swift's Reputation Sold 1.05M Copies in First Four Days in U.S., Now 2017's Top Selling Album". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved February 28, 2025.
  10. 1 2 3 Swift, Taylor (2017). Reputation (CD liner notes). Big Machine Records. 00843930033102.
  11. 1 2 "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2024 Singles" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association . Retrieved January 31, 2025.
  12. 1 2 "New Zealand single certifications – Taylor Swift – King of My Heart". Radioscope. Retrieved January 31, 2025.Type King of My Heart in the "Search:" field.
  13. 1 2 "British single certifications – Taylor Swift – King of My Heart". British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved January 31, 2025.
  14. 1 2 Smith, Troy L. (November 9, 2017). "Taylor Swift's Reputation remains stellar on new album (Review)". Cleveland.com . Retrieved January 31, 2025.
  15. 1 2 Mylrea, Hannah (September 8, 2020). "Every Taylor Swift song ranked in order of greatness". NME . Archived from the original on September 8, 2020. Retrieved January 31, 2025.
  16. 1 2 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 January 31, 2025.
  17. ↑ Lipshutz, Jason (November 10, 2017). "Taylor Swift's Reputation: The Pop Star Embraces Her Flaws on Her Riskiest Album Yet". Billboard . Archived from the original on January 7, 2023. Retrieved January 31, 2025.
  18. 1 2 Bruner, Raisa (November 10, 2017). "Analyzing Every Song on Taylor Swift's Reputation". Time . Archived from the original on July 26, 2020. Retrieved January 31, 2025.
  19. ↑ Jenkins, Craig (November 10, 2017). "Taylor Swift's Reputation Fixates on Big Enemies and Budding Romance" . Vulture . Archived from the original on January 2, 2023. Retrieved January 31, 2025.
  20. ↑ Powers, Ann (November 10, 2017). "The Old Taylor's Not Dead". NPR. Archived from the original on June 9, 2020. Retrieved January 31, 2025.
  21. ↑ Lodder, Luiza (December 21, 2017). "Taylor Swift's Reputation and the Death of an Ingénue". No Ripcord. Retrieved January 31, 2025.
  22. 1 2 3 Zaleski 2024, p. 142.
  23. ↑ Kornhaber, Spencer (November 10, 2017). "Where the Old Taylor Swift Is Hiding Within Reputation" . The Atlantic . Archived from the original on June 25, 2018. Retrieved January 31, 2025.
  24. ↑ Rayner, Ben (November 10, 2017). "New Album Reputation Shows Taylor Swift In Love — with the Trends" . The Toronto Star . Retrieved January 31, 2025.
  25. 1 2 3 4 5 Gajjar, Saloni; Carr, Mary Kate (October 30, 2023). "22 great but seriously underrated Taylor Swift songs". The A.V. Club . Archived from the original on October 24, 2023. Retrieved January 31, 2025.
  26. ↑ Nevins, Jake (November 10, 2017). "Blue-eyed Brits and Kanye digs: decoding Taylor Swift's Reputation". The Guardian . Archived from the original on January 5, 2023. Retrieved January 31, 2025.
  27. 1 2 3 Galvin, Annie (August 2, 2018). "How Does Taylor Swift's Reputation Fit in with The Current Political Climate?". PopMatters . Retrieved February 5, 2025.
  28. ↑ Schrodt, Paul (November 11, 2017). "Taylor Swift's Lyrical Obsession With Cars, From 'Tim McGraw' to Reputation". Billboard . Retrieved January 31, 2025.
  29. ↑ Sheffield, Rob (April 25, 2024). "'King of My Heart' (2017)". Rolling Stone . Retrieved February 5, 2024.
  30. ↑ Mastrogiannis, Nicole (November 11, 2017). "Taylor Swift's iHeartRadio reputation Release Party: Everything We Learned". iHeartMedia. Archived from the original on November 11, 2017. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
  31. ↑ Fekadu, Mesfin (November 10, 2017). "Music Review: Taylor Swift's reputation is pure pop magic". Associated Press News . Archived from the original on November 9, 2023. Retrieved January 31, 2025.
  32. ↑ Jamieson, Mackenzie (November 27, 2017). "Are you ready for it? A track by track analysis of Taylor Swift's Reputation". Tallahassee Democrat . Archived from the original on March 5, 2024. Retrieved January 31, 2025.
  33. ↑ 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 January 31, 2025.
  34. ↑ DeLuca, Dan (November 10, 2017). "Taylor Swift returns, with her Reputation at stake" . The Philadelphia Inquirer . Retrieved January 31, 2025.
  35. ↑ Nuss, Allaire (May 3, 2024). "Every Taylor Swift album, ranked". Entertainment Weekly . Archived from the original on November 26, 2022. Retrieved January 31, 2025.
  36. ↑ Song, Jane (February 11, 2020). "All 158 Taylor Swift Songs, Ranked". Paste . Archived from the original on June 25, 2023. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
  37. ↑ Hodgkinson, Will (November 10, 2017). "Pop review: Taylor Swift: Reputation" . The Times . Retrieved January 31, 2025.
  38. ↑ Graham, Eleanor (November 10, 2017). "Taylor Swift's reputation is a microcosm of America's explosive political landscape". The Line of Best Fit . Archived from the original on January 21, 2021. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
  39. ↑ "First Listen: Here's our track-by-track review of Taylor Swift's new album Reputation". Entertainment.ie . November 10, 2017. Retrieved January 31, 2025.
  40. ↑ Wilson, Carl (November 13, 2017). "On Reputation, the 'Old Taylor' Is Dead, but the New One Isn't Quite Ready to Come to the Phone". Slate . Archived from the original on January 3, 2021. Retrieved January 31, 2025.
  41. ↑ O'Connor, Roisin (January 31, 2020). "Taylor Swift's 100 album tracks – ranked". The Independent . Archived from the original on January 9, 2025. Retrieved January 31, 2025.
  42. ↑ "Not a Drill: Taylor Swift Filmed an Unreleased "King of My Heart" Music Video". Cosmopolitan. August 5, 2025. Retrieved August 6, 2025.
  43. ↑ Caramanica, Jon (May 9, 2018). "Taylor Swift Begins Her 'Reputation' Tour, Taking on Foes and Her Old Self" . The New York Times . Retrieved January 31, 2025.
  44. 1 2 Unterberger, Andrew; Olivier, Bobby (February 27, 2023). "20 Taylor Swift Songs That Probably Won't Make The Eras Tour Setlist (But Really Should)". Billboard . Retrieved January 31, 2025.
  45. 1 2 Wood, Mikael (May 9, 2018). "Review: Taylor Swift is a willing warrior in pop stardom's celebrity death match" . Los Angeles Times . Archived from the original on June 29, 2024. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
  46. 1 2 Cridlin, Jay (August 15, 2018). "Review: Taylor Swift lights up Tampa with majestic, open-hearted concert at Raymond James Stadium". Tampa Bay Times . Archived from the original on April 28, 2024. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
  47. ↑ Cribb, Daniel (October 20, 2018). "Review: Taylor Swift's 'Reputation' Stadium Tour Lives Up To The Hype". The Music . Archived from the original on December 28, 2024. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
  48. ↑ Rietmulder, Michael (May 22, 2018). "Review: Taylor Swift's juggernaut Reputation tour conquers CenturyLink Field". The Seattle Times . Archived from the original on December 13, 2024. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
  49. ↑ DeVille, Chris (July 12, 2018). "Big Reputation: A Trip To Taylor Swift's Hyper-Maximalist Stadium Tour". Stereogum . Archived from the original on December 5, 2024. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
  50. 1 2 Iasimone, Ashley (December 11, 2024). "All the Surprise Songs Taylor Swift Has Performed on The Eras Tour". Billboard . Archived from the original on March 19, 2023. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
  51. ↑ "Taylor Swift's 'Eras' Tour: Variety Picks the Best Moments, Key Songs, Iconic Outfits and More". Variety . August 11, 2023. Retrieved February 6, 2025.
  52. ↑ Shafer, Elise (December 9, 2024). "Taylor Swift's Eras Tour: Every Surprise Song She's Played". Variety . Retrieved June 4, 2025.
  53. ↑ Schrodt, Paul (August 10, 2023). "Taylor Swift's Eras Tour in L.A.: 'Deeply Abnormal and Beautiful'". Slant Magazine . Retrieved February 6, 2025.
  54. ↑ Paul, Larisha (August 15, 2024). "Taylor Swift Performs 'Everything Has Changed' and 'Thinking Out Loud' With Ed Sheeran in London" . Rolling Stone . Retrieved February 6, 2025.

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