"Sweeter than Fiction" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift from the soundtrack to the 2013 film One Chance. Written and produced by Swift and Jack Antonoff, the track was released by Big Machine Records for download via the iTunes Store on October 21, 2013. "Sweeter than Fiction" is a 1980s electropop, bubblegum, synth-pop, and rock song with elements of new wave and Britpop. Lyrically, it details the narrator's belief in her friend that he will succeed one day. The track peaked in the top 40 on the singles charts of Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland, and the United States.
Critical reception of the song was generally positive, although retrospective opinions have regarded it as a lesser entry in Swift's discography. Some critics opined that "Sweeter than Fiction" was pivotal in shaping the synth-pop sound of Swift's album 1989, as well as the long-lasting collaboration between Swift and Antonoff. Following the 2019 dispute over the ownership of Swift's back catalog, she re-recorded the song as "Sweeter than Fiction (Taylor's Version)", which was released exclusively on the Tangerine Edition of 1989 (Taylor's Version) (2023).
Background and release
Taylor Swift was on the Red Tour to support her fourth studio album, Red, in 2013. Swift and her management at Big Machine Records wanted to release no new music in order build up anticipation for her next studio album. Upon learning about the 2013 biographical film One Chance, which is about the Britain's Got Talent winner and opera singer Paul Potts, she insisted to the label that she "[had] to be a part of this".[1]
She wrote and produced "Sweeter than Fiction" for the soundtrack of One Chance with Jack Antonoff.[2] She said that Antonoff was her choice collaborator because of his 1980s and 1990s-inspired production, "walking this line between very current-sounding music and shades of nostalgic-sounding music".[3] The song was conceived when she was also writing songs for her next album.[4] Big Machine released "Sweeter than Fiction" to the iTunes Store on October 21, 2013.[4][5]
Following a dispute with Big Machine Records in 2019 over the rights to the masters of her first six albums, Swift re-recorded her first six studio albums. The re-recording of "Sweeter than Fiction", subtitled "Taylor's Version", was released as part of a Target-exclusive "Tangerine Edition" LP record of the re-recorded album 1989 (Taylor's Version), on October 27, 2023.[6] Swift performed "Sweeter than Fiction" live for the first time, in a mashup with "Holy Ground", at the Eras Tour concert on July 6, 2024, in Amsterdam.[7]
Lyrically, Swift wrote "Sweeter than Fiction" from the perspective of Potts's wife, who stood by him and unwaveringly supported his dream of becoming an opera singer even when he was unemployed.[3][17] She also connected with Potts's resilience despite skepticism from others, including his own father.[3] The song is about believing in a friend's potentials: Swift sings from the point of view of a friend who has always believed in this friend and stood with him despite the rejection that came before the final victory, acknowledging both the external pressures and the low self-confidence that he suffers from; the refrain goes, "Then you'll stand 10 feet tall/ I will say, 'I knew it all along.'"[15][16][18]
Critical reception
Several initial reviews of the song considered it catchy.[16][19]Entertainment Weekly's Grady Smith praised "Sweeter than Fiction" for being "uplifting without being hokey and sweet without being cloying", and she dubbed the song "addictive".[11]Brian Mansfield from USA Today wrote that its "irresistible" synth-pop sound turns it into "kind of record that makes you want to ask somebody to the prom in Pretty in Pink".[20] Carl Williott of Idolator called the song "pretty great", deeming the synth-pop/new wave production "confident" and "surprisingly bold" for Swift,[14] while Mikael Wood of the Los Angeles Times complimented how well Swift executed the early 1980s new wave sound.[21] Writing for Digital Spy, Lewis Corner highlighted the "swooping chorus, which is underpinned by an '80s riff that makes you want to fist-pump the air on top of a hill in classic movie style".[22] In a more reserved review, Spin's Marc Hogan wrote that while the lyrical content was not groundbreaking, the melody was catchy enough to become commercially successful.[2]
"Sweeter than Fiction" was nominated for Best Original Song at the 71st Golden Globe Awards.[23] This was Swift's second consecutive (and overall) nomination in the category, after "Safe & Sound" the previous year.[3][24] In retrospective reviews, Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone and Hannah Mylrea of NME regarded it as a first taste of the synth-pop sound of Swift's next album, 1989 (2014).[25][26] Sheffield and Vulture's Nate Jones ranked it among the lower-tier of rankings of Swift's entire catalog.[25][27] In 2022 Business Insider ranked "Sweeter than Fiction" as Swift's sixth-best soundtrack song, calling it a "pivotal moment in Swiftian history" due to it being the first collaboration between Swift and Antonoff.[12] Meanwhile, Billboard in 2025 ranked it fifth on their compilation of Swift's soundtrack songs.[10]
Commercial performance
"Sweeter than Fiction" debuted and peaked at number 34 on Billboard Hot 100, week ending October 27, 2013.[28][29] That same week, the track debuted at number six on the Hot Digital Songs chart, with first-week downloads of 116,000.[30] Elsewhere, the song charted in the English-speaking countries, peaking in the top 40 in Canada (17),[31] New Zealand (26),[32] Ireland (38),[33] and Scotland (39);[34] while charting at number 44 in Australia and number 45 in the United Kingdom.[35][36] It also charted at number 83 in Italy[37] and number three on South Korea's international singles chart.[38]
Perone, James E. (2017). "1989 And Beyond". The Words and Music of Taylor Swift. The Praeger Singer-Songwriter Collection. ABC-Clio. pp.55–68. ISBN978-1-4408-5294-7.
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