"Teardrops on My Guitar" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, originally released as part of her debut studio album, Taylor Swift (2006). Big Machine Records released the song to country radio on February 20, and to pop radio on November 9, 2007, as the second single from Taylor Swift in the United States. An international mix was released as part of the international edition of Swift's second studio album, Fearless, in 2009.
Swift wrote "Teardrops on My Guitar" with Liz Rose. Inspired by her feelings for a high-school classmate, the lyrics depict an unrequited love. Nathan Chapman produced the track, which is a gentle acoustic guitar–driven ballad that incorporates mandolin, fiddle, electric guitar, and hushed steel guitar; the version released to pop radio features a drum loop. Music critics disputed the country genre classification and categorized it as pop or soft rock; they generally complimented Swift's vocals and songwriting for earnestly portraying teenage heartbreak.
In the United States, the single peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, reached the top 10 on the Pop Songs chart to become Swift's first pop crossover hit, and was certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. It charted and received certifications in Canada and the United Kingdom. Trey Fanjoy directed the music video, which stars Swift as a heartbroken girl after learning that her love interest is in a relationship. Swift performed "Teardrops on My Guitar" on the Fearless Tour (2009–2010) and during several concerts of her later tours.
Background and release
Taylor Swift spent four months near the end of 2005 to record her debut studio album, Taylor Swift, with the producer Nathan Chapman.[1] Recording for the album was completed after Swift had finished her freshman year of high school.[2]Taylor Swift was released by Big Machine Records in North America on October 24, 2006; she wrote or co-wrote every song, including "Teardrops on My Guitar", which was a writing collaboration with Liz Rose.[3][4]
Swift was inspired to write "Teardrops on My Guitar" by a high-school classmate, whose first name Drew is mentioned in the lyrics.[5] According to Swift, the two sat next to each other in class and became friends; although she wanted to date him, he frequently spoke to her about another girl he had feelings for, which led to Swift developing an unrequited love for him.[6] She channeled this feeling into songwriting and developed the idea for "Teardrops on My Guitar" while on her way home from school one day.[6] The subject of the song was unaware of his influence until after it was released: Swift was on a way to attend a hockey game and he appeared at her driveway; according to Swift, because they had not talked for over two and a half years, it was an awkward encounter but ended civilly.[7][8]
"Teardrops on My Guitar" was the second single from Taylor Swift.[9] In the United States, Big Machine Records released the song to country radio on February 20, 2007,[10] and, in a partnership with Republic Records, released it to contemporary hit radio on November 9, 2007.[11] Outside the United States, "Teardrops on My Guitar" was released as part of Swift's second studio album, Fearless, in March 2009.[12][13] The song was released to Italian radio on May 8, 2009, by Universal Music Group.[14] In the United Kingdom, the song was released as the second single from Fearless on May 25, 2009, by Mercury Records.[15][16] Following a 2019 dispute over the talent manager Scooter Braun's acquisition of Big Machine and the masters to Swift's back catalog, Big Machine re-released "Teardrops on My Guitar" on limited-edition vinyl in August 2019.[17]
A sample of the refrain featuring mandolin and guitar. Despite its release to country radio, critics had conflicting opinions about its genre and described it as pop and soft rock.
The album version of "Teardrops on My Guitar" is 3 minutes and 35 seconds,[18] while the radio edit is 3 minutes and 24 seconds.[19] It is a ballad with an arrangement led by mandolin, composed of steel guitar, hushed pedal steel, subdued banjo, and a mix of acoustic and electric guitars.[8][20] Swift sings with soft vocals[19] which feature a light twang.[21] Critics described its arrangement as simple and its sound as mournful, solemn, and tender.[22][19][23] According to Annie Zaleski, the composition and Swift's voice have a restraint quality, but she sings with underscored emotions as if she were "fighting to hold back those tears".[8]
Although the song was released to country radio, critics had different opinions on its genre classification. Grady Smith from Rolling Stone thought that its mournful sound followed the tradition of country ballads,[23]NPR and Roger Holland of PopMatters categorized it as a pop song; the latter argued that it contains little country elements.[24][25] Ed Masley from The Arizona Republic described the genre as soft rock.[21] According to the musicologist James E. Perone, "Teardrops on My Guitar" contains prominent pop hooks and is a musically flexible track that be categorized into pop, country, or rock.[26] The version released to pop radio, at three minutes long, omits the banjo, mandolin, and steel guitar, adds a mid-tempo drum loopecho effects to Swift's singing.[24][27][28] Perone described this version as an "anonymous pop ballad".[26]
The lyrics of "Teardrops on My Guitar" depict an unrequited love that evokes yearning and heartbreak.[22][29] Swift's narrator is in love with a boy named Drew, who likes another girl. She fakes "a smile so he won't see" how she is hurt inside.[24] Her unspoken feelings intensify and leave her insecure ("I bet she's beautiful") and obsessive ("Can he tell that I can't breathe?).[24] Dave Heaton of PopMatters interpreted the lines, "And there he goes, so perfectly/ The kind of flawless I wish I could be", as a familiar theme in Swift's songs that is an unachievable ideal of being perfect.[30]
Critical reception
"Teardrops on My Guitar" received generally positive reviews from critics, who highlighted the earnest adolescent feelings that Swift's songwriting portrays. Randy Lewis of the Los Angeles Times thought that the teenage sensibilities contributed to Taylor Swift's charm,[31] and Deborah Evans Price of Billboard thought that the lyrics had a conversational quality that made the audience easily relate to Swift as a friend.[19] Perone regarded the "teardrops on my guitar" imagery as one of her most memorable lyrical details.[26] NPR selected "Teardrops on My Guitar" as one of the defining songs of the 2000s decade; its editorial was impressed with the way Swift "captures the physicality of yearning without over-selling or over-sexualizing it", which recalled classic girl-group songs by the Shirelles, the Crystals, and the Cookies and resonated with many young women.[24] Jon Bream of Star Tribune considered the song's message empowering for females.[32]
Reviews also praised the production. Price described Swift's singing voice as pure and earnest, praised the production as sweet and tender, and wrote that the song was "destined to be a hit".[19] Perone considered the arrangement simple yet effective, showcasing Swift's early abilities to draw from diverse musical styles of country, pop, and rock.[26]Rolling Stone selected the track as an example of Swift's early success for "sounding bright-eyed but remarkably seasoned".[33] Reviewing the pop version, Chuck Taylor from Billboard considered it a "beautiful mainstream intro" for Swift's burgeoning success,[20] while Maura Johnston of Pitchfork wrote that it exemplified Swift's "deft melodic touch and conversational way with deeply felt emotions" that resonated with many listeners.[27] Fiona Chua of MTV Asia selected "Teardrops on My Guitar" as a standout on the Asian edition of Fearless.[22]
Retrospective reviews of "Teardrops on My Guitar" have remained generally positive. The song was included in Business Insider's 2019 list the 14 best songs written by teenagers[34] and Teen Vogue's 2016 list of the "91 Best Songs About Unrequited Love".[35]Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone considered it one of Swift's "defining early smashes".[36]Vulture's Nate Jones regarded the track as the best example of Swift and Rose's "early songwriting cheat code", highlighting how "they switch the words of the chorus around at the end of the song".[37]Variety's Chris Willman dubbed it the starting point of Swift's pop success beyond country.[38]Alexis Petridis of The Guardian provided a lukewarm commentary, saying that the single was well-crafted but unexceptional.[28]
Commercial performance
"Teardrops on My Guitar" was Swift's breakthrough chart success.[22][24] In the United States, it peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart[39] and at number two on the Hot Country Songs chart,[40] and it became Swift's first pop crossover success, peaking at number seven and spending 21weeks on the Pop Songs chart.[41][42] The single peaked within the top 10 of four airplay charts—Hot Country Songs, Pop Songs, Adult Pop Songs, and Adult Contemporary.[43] It was certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America in April 2014, for surpassing three million units based on sales and streaming.[44] By July 2019, "Teardrops on My Guitar" had sold three million digital copies in the United States.[45]
Tyler Hilton portrayed the male lead in the video for "Teardrops on My Guitar".
Trey Fanjoy directed the music video for "Teardrops on My Guitar", and Swift developed the idea for the narrative with Fanjoy.[56] In an interview with VH1, Swift said that although her label's personnel expected the video to be "more city" and "have an older setting", she insisted on shooting it at Hume-Fogg High School in Nashville, which she thought was true to the song's narrative and "back to basics".[57][58] The singer and actor Tyler Hilton portrayed the male lead. Swift had been fond of Hilton's music and acting on the television series One Tree Hill and the film Walk the Line, and she chose him to portray the love interest because she thought he physically resembled the song's subject.[56][59] She invited her high-school friends, her cousin, and her brother Austin to portray fellow high-school students in the halls.[60]
The video depicts Swift and Hilton as high-school students. Swift's character is in love with Hilton's, but he is in love with another girl. Scenes of the two characters studying together at school are intertwined with scenes of Swift's character alone in her bedroom, wearing elaborate makeup with rhinestones near her eyes and a long aquamarine evening gown, lying beside an acoustic guitar on her bed. By the song's bridge, Swift's character witnesses the male lead kissing his girlfriend as she watches despondently. The video ends with Swift in the bedroom, crying on the mattress.[56]
The video premiered on CMT, CMT Pure, and Great American Country on February 20, 2007.[10] Besides being aired on country music channels, the video also received airplay on MTV's Total Request Live, being Swift's first video to do so.[61] The video received a nomination for "Number One Streamed Music Video" at the web-hosted 2007 CMT Online Awards[62] and a nomination for Best New Artist at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards;[63] Swift said she was "stunned" to be nominated at the MTV awards.[57]Spin and Grammy.com thought that "Teardrops on My Guitar" was Swift's first music video with depth to its visual narrative and featured some of her video trademarks: being rejected by a love interest, yearning, and elaborate gowns.[64][65]
Swift performed the song on all venues of her first headlining concert tour, the Fearless Tour, which extended from April 2009 to June 2010. During each performance, she donned a sparkly cocktail dress and black, leather boots.[83] The performance initiated with Swift sitting in a desk, next to a backup dancer who portrayed Swift's love interest, at the upper level of the stage,[83] which a library was projected onto.[84] The backup dancers then stood up to slow dance with a female backup dancer as Swift sang from above. Swift then appeared at the main stage to conclude the performance.[85] Jim Abbot of The Orlando Sentinel attended the March 5, 2010, concert at the Amway Arena in Orlando, Florida. He stated, "Taking a cue from her pal Miley Cyrus, Swift embellishes hits such as 'Teardrops On My Guitar' and 'Love Story' with a lot of flashy production in concert."[86] Swift performed the song for the first time in three years during The Red Tour's stop in San Antonio on May 22, 2013. Swift performed the song for the first time in 5 years at the Denver stop on her Reputation Stadium Tour on May 25, 2018.[87] Most recently, she performed it as a surprise song at her first show in Nashville on the Eras Tour on May 5, 2023.[88]
Credits and personnel
Credits are adapted from the liner notes of Taylor Swift (2006).[18]
Taylor Swift– vocals, songwriter, guitar, harmony vocals
Nainby, Keith (2024). "'I Hope You Think of Me': The Art of Taylor Swift". Examining Blank Spaces and the Taylor Swift Phenomenon: An Investigation of Contingent Identities. Lexington Books. pp.31–80. ISBN978-1-6669-4272-9.
Perone, James E. (2017). "The Early Years". The Words and Music of Taylor Swift. The Praeger Singer-Songwriter Collection. ABC-Clio. pp.6–19. ISBN978-1-4408-5294-7.
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