\n"}" id="mwBg">
"This Love" | |
---|---|
Song by Taylor Swift | |
from the album 1989 | |
Written | October 17, 2012 |
Released | October 27, 2014 |
Studio | Pain in the Art (Nashville) |
Genre | |
Length | 4:10 |
Label | Big Machine |
Songwriter(s) | Taylor Swift |
Producer(s) |
|
"This Love" is a song written and recorded by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift for her fifth studio album, 1989 (2014). Swift produced the song with Nathan Chapman. An atmospheric ballad, "This Love" combines soft rock and synth-pop. Its lyrics use oceanic imagery to describe the revival of a faded romance.
After 1989 was released, the track charted on the Canadian Hot 100 at number 84 and the US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles at number 19. It was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for one million track-equivalent units. In reviews of 1989, some music critics labeled the song as a highlight of 1989, but others deemed its balladic production out of place for the album's upbeat sound.
The re-recording of the song, titled "This Love (Taylor's Version)", was released on May 6, 2022, via Republic Records. It featured on the trailers for the Amazon Prime Video television series The Summer I Turned Pretty . "This Love (Taylor's Version)" features an enhanced production quality, exuding indie rock tendencies. The song is included as part of 1989 (Taylor's Version), which was released on October 27, 2023, and is part of Swift's plan to re-record her back catalog, following the dispute over the ownership of the masters of her first six albums.
Taylor Swift, an American singer-songwriter, had been known as a country artist prior to the release of her fourth studio album, Red (2012). [1] [2] Many of the album's tracks incorporate predominantly pop or rock musical styles, a result of Swift's desire to experiment with the genres. [3] [4] This prompted a media debate over the validity of her status as a country artist. [5] For her next album, 1989 , Swift decided to create a "blatant pop" record and move away from the signature country styles of her previous releases. [6] [7] She began writing songs for the album in mid-2013. [8]
"This Love" was the first song that Swift wrote for 1989, [9] and the only one that she wrote on her own. [10] According to 1989's liner notes, she did so on October 17, 2012, when she was in Los Angeles. [11] Swift initially envisioned "This Love" as a "fun, little short poem" for her personal journal; when she came up with a melody in her head, she opted to turn the poem into a song. [12] To this end, she enlisted the help of her long-time collaborator Nathan Chapman, who worked with Swift on all her previous albums, to produce the track with her. [13] [11] "This Love" was the only song from 1989 produced by Chapman. [14] The track was recorded at his Pain in the Art Studio in Nashville, Tennessee, and mixed by Serban Ghenea at MixStar Studios in Virginia Beach, Virginia. [11]
1989 was released on October 27, 2014, by Big Machine Records; [15] "This Love" places at number 11 on the album's track list. [16] "This Love" peaked at number 84 on the Canadian Hot 100 chart dated November 15, 2014. [17] In the United States, it peaked at number 19 on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart. [18] The track was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), which denotes one million units consisting of sales and on-demand streaming. [19]
After 1989's release, Swift included the song on the regular set list for the album's associated world tour, which began on May 5, 2015. [20] The track appeared as background music for a Victoria's Secret holiday advertisement that premiered in December 2015. [21] Swift performed a stripped-down, acoustic version of "This Love" as a "surprise song" on the first Atlanta show of her Reputation Stadium Tour, in 2018. [22] On May 13, 2023, she sang the song at the second concert in Philadelphia of her Eras Tour. [23] Swift performed "This Love" on the tour again in 2024 as part of mashups with her songs "Call It What You Want" (2017) at the third Singapore concert on March 4, "Ours" (2011) at the second Dublin concert on June 29, and "The Prophecy" at the second Indianapolis concert on November 2. [23]
"This Love" is a midtempo atmospheric ballad. [24] It has a duration of around four minutes and is one of the slowest tracks in the album. [25] [26] The song is a primarily synth-pop [27] and soft rock song. [28] [29] Time 's Sam Lansky described it as an "electro-ballad". [30] "This Love" consists of both acoustic and electronic instruments with a slow-burning and melodramatic production. [31] [32] It uses double tracking on Swift's vocals. [33] Rob Sheffield, a critic for Rolling Stone , compared the track's sound to that of 1980s power ballads, specifically citing Bon Jovi's "I'll Be There for You" (1989). [25]
The lyrics are about feelings of heartbreak: "Lantern, burning, flickered in my mind for only you / But you were still gone, gone, gone." [34] Swift uses the ocean as a metaphor for a love that disappears and then comes back like the tides. [26] Critics considered it one of 1989's saddest songs. [26] [35] Time magazine's Sam Lansky argued that the chorus's catchiness made it more hopeful than anguished. [30] Swift remarked that she frequently listened to "This Love", citing it as one of her favorites on the album. [9]
Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone selected "This Love" as one of the three best tracks on 1989, the other two being "How You Get the Girl" and "Clean". [25] In an album review for musicOMH , critic Shane Kimberline lauded it as 1989's best song, emphasizing the chorus and "classic Swiftian" lyrics. [36] Jon Caramanica of The New York Times thought that Swift's songwriting in "This Love" was less detail-oriented compared to her past work; [34] Mikael Wood from the Los Angeles Times took issue with the generic lyrics. [37] Marah Eakin from The A.V. Club considered "This Love" as one of 1989's weaker songs because of its midtempo balladry compared to the album's upbeat production, [24] and Corey Beasley from PopMatters found the atmospheric balladry out of place for the album's overall sound. [38]
Credits are adapted from 1989 album liner notes. [11]
Chart (2014) | Peak position |
---|---|
Canada (Canadian Hot 100) [17] | 84 |
US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles ( Billboard ) [18] | 19 |
Chart (2022–2023) | Peak position |
---|---|
Portugal (AFP) [39] | 103 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [40] | Gold | 35,000‡ |
United States (RIAA) [19] | Platinum | 1,000,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |
"This Love (Taylor's Version)" | |
---|---|
Promotional single by Taylor Swift | |
from the album 1989 (Taylor's Version) | |
B-side | "Wildest Dreams (Taylor's Version)" |
Released | May 6, 2022 |
Genre | |
Length | 4:10 |
Label | Republic |
Songwriter(s) | Taylor Swift |
Producer(s) |
|
Lyric video | |
"This Love (Taylor's Version)" on YouTube |
A re-recorded version of "This Love", titled "This Love (Taylor's Version)", was released by Swift on May 6, 2022, via Republic Records. The song is part of Swift's re-recording plan following the dispute over the ownership to her older discography's masters.
Following a dispute with Big Machine Records in 2019 over the rights to the masters of her first six studio albums, including 1989, Swift announced her goal to re-record each of these albums. A snippet of "This Love (Taylor's Version)" was featured in the first trailer for the 2022 Prime Video original series The Summer I Turned Pretty , released on May 5, 2022. [41] The song was released on digital platforms on May 6. [9] Along with a digital single for "This Love (Taylor's Version)", Swift also released The Old Taylor Collection, merchandise themed to both 1989 and Swift's 2010 album Speak Now . [42] The re-recorded track is included as part of 1989 (Taylor's Version) , which was released on October 27, 2023. [43]
Compared to the original version, "This Love (Taylor's Version)" features strong elements of indie rock, which critics noted as a possible influence of Swift's 2020 indie rock-indebted albums Folklore and Evermore . [12] [44] Much of the production remains the same, [45] but the synthesizers are more subdued, and Swift's vocals are less processed, more amplified and resonant. [27] [44] [46] Mary Siroky of Consequence highlighted the track as a testament to Swift's songwriting ability to "capture the magic, devastation, and fantasy of romance". [45]
Digital download and streaming [47]
Credits are adapted from Tidal. [48]
Chart (2022–2023) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [49] | 23 |
Canada (Canadian Hot 100) [50] | 30 |
Global 200 ( Billboard ) [51] | 35 |
Greece International (IFPI) [52] | 85 |
Hungary (Single Top 40) [53] | 36 |
Ireland (IRMA) [54] | 26 |
Malaysia (RIM) [55] | 5 |
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) [56] | 40 |
Philippines ( Billboard ) [57] | 13 |
Singapore (RIAS) [58] | 17 |
UK Singles (OCC) [59] | 42 |
US Billboard Hot 100 [60] | 42 |
Vietnam (Vietnam Hot 100) [61] | 23 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [62] | Platinum | 70,000‡ |
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil) [63] | Gold | 20,000‡ |
New Zealand (RMNZ) [64] | Gold | 15,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |
Region | Date | Format | Version | Label | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Various | May 6, 2022 | Taylor's Version | Republic | [47] |
"New Romantics" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, who wrote it with the producers Max Martin and Shellback. The title is a reference to a cultural movement of the 1970s and 1980s, whose new wave musical style influenced the song's synth-pop production and pulsating synthesizers. The lyrics are about reigniting one's hopes and energy after emotional hardships.
"Love Story" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. It was released as the lead single from her second studio album, Fearless, on September 15, 2008, by Big Machine Records. Inspired by a boy who was unpopular with her family and friends, Swift wrote the song using William Shakespeare's tragedy Romeo and Juliet as a reference point. The lyrics narrate a troubled romance that ends with a marriage proposal, contrary to Shakespeare's tragic conclusion. Produced by Swift and Nathan Chapman, the midtempo country pop song includes a key change after the bridge and uses acoustic instruments including banjo, fiddle, mandolin, and guitar.
"Fearless" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift and the title track of her second studio album, Fearless (2008). She wrote the track with Liz Rose and Hillary Lindsey, and produced it with Nathan Chapman. A country pop and pop rock song, "Fearless" is instrumented by booming drums and chiming guitars. Lyrically, it sees Swift's narrator embracing the romantic drive of a thrilling first date, allowing herself to live true to her heart.
"White Horse" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift and the second single from her second studio album, Fearless (2008). Big Machine Records released the track to US country radio on December 8, 2008. Swift wrote "White Horse" with Liz Rose and produced it with Nathan Chapman. An understated country pop ballad, the song is driven by a finger-picked guitar and includes piano and cello accents. The lyrics incorporate fairy-tale imagery of princesses and white horses: the narrator is heartbroken upon realizing that her boyfriend is not an ideal figure like she thought, and in the end she leaves her town with hopes of finding somebody more worthy.
"Sparks Fly" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift from her third studio album, Speak Now (2010). Swift had written the track in 2006 and occasionally performed it live, and she recorded it for Speak Now after receiving fan requests to release it. Produced by Swift and Nathan Chapman, "Sparks Fly" is a track combining pop rock, arena rock, and country; its production incorporates dynamic electric guitars and subtle fiddles. The lyrics are about temptations and reluctance caused by a dangerous love affair.
"Begin Again" is a song written and recorded by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift for her fourth studio album, Red (2012). It was released as the second single from Red on October 1, 2012, by Big Machine Records. Produced by Swift, Dann Huff, and Nathan Chapman, "Begin Again" is a gentle country, soft rock, and folk-pop ballad with arpeggiated acoustic guitar, steel guitar, and percussion. Its lyrics detail falling in love again after going through heartbreak.
"Red" is a song written and recorded by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift and the title track of her fourth studio album (2012). The song was produced by Swift, Dann Huff, and Nathan Chapman. Big Machine Records released the song onto the iTunes Store on October 2, 2012, as Red's second promotional single, and to U.S. country radio on June 24, 2013, as an official single. Musically, "Red" combines country, roots rock, pop rock, soft rock over acoustic banjo, guitars, and electronic vocal manipulation. Lyrically about a tumultuous relationship, the refrain likens the conflicting emotions to a spectrum of colors, including the color red which symbolizes the ensuing intense feelings.
"State of Grace" is a song written and recorded by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift from her fourth studio album, Red. To promote the album before its release, Big Machine Records released the song for download on October 16, 2012. Produced by Swift and Nathan Chapman, "State of Grace" is an arena rock song that uses chiming, feedback-drenched guitars and pounding drums. An acoustic version features as a deluxe-edition bonus track. The lyrics are about the tumultuous feelings evoked by the first signs of love.
"22" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift from her fourth studio album, Red (2012). It was released as the album's fourth single on March 12, 2013, by Big Machine Records. Written and produced by Swift, Max Martin, and Shellback, "22" combines pop styles such as dance-pop and bubblegum with disco and 1990s rock. The track begins with an acoustic guitar riff and progresses into an upbeat refrain which incorporates pulsing synthesizers and syncopated bass drums. The lyrics celebrate being 22 years old while acknowledging the heartache that the narrator experienced in the past.
"Everything Has Changed" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift featuring the English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran from Swift's fourth studio album, Red (2012). It was released as the sixth single from the album on July 14, 2013, by Big Machine Records. A music video for the song was released earlier on June 6, 2013. Produced by Butch Walker, "Everything Has Changed" is a guitar-led folk-pop ballad. Its lyrics are about wanting to know a new lover better. The song received mixed reviews from critics, who either complimented or criticized the production.
"The Last Time" is a song by Taylor Swift featuring Gary Lightbody, taken from Swift's fourth studio album, Red (2012). Swift wrote the track with Lightbody and Jacknife Lee; the latter two are members of the rock band Snow Patrol. A power ballad, the song sees Swift's and Lightbody's characters expressing their perspectives on a failed relationship, torn between heartbreak and forgiveness. The production combines alternative rock and folk over dramatic string instruments and an orchestral background in the refrain. "The Last Time" was released in the United Kingdom on November 4, 2013, as a single from Red.
"Out of the Woods" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift from her fifth studio album, 1989 (2014). Swift wrote and produced the song with Jack Antonoff. With lyrics inspired by a failed relationship and the ensuing anxieties that Swift experienced, "Out of the Woods" is a synth-pop song with elements of Eurodance and indietronica and features heavy synthesizers, looping drums, and layered background vocals.
"Welcome to New York" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift from her fifth studio album, 1989 (2014). Written by Swift and Ryan Tedder, the song was inspired by Swift's relocation to New York City in April 2014. Its lyrics explore a newfound freedom in the city and a lighthearted attitude towards past heartbreaks.
"Blank Space" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift and the second single from her fifth studio album, 1989 (2014). Swift wrote the song with its producers, Max Martin and Shellback. Inspired by the media scrutiny on Swift's love life that affected her girl-next-door reputation, "Blank Space" portrays a flirtatious woman with multiple romantic attachments. It is an electropop track with a minimal arrangement consisting of synthesizers, hip hop–influenced beats, and layered vocals.
"Style" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift and the third single from her fifth studio album, 1989 (2014). She wrote the track with its producers Max Martin, Shellback, and Ali Payami. An incorporation of pop, funk, disco, and electronic styles, "Style" is built on an electric guitar riff, pulsing synthesizers, and dense vocal reverb. The lyrics are about a couple who could not escape from an unhealthy relationship because they are never "out of style". Big Machine in partnership with Republic Records released the song to US radio on February 9, 2015.
"Bad Blood" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift from her fifth studio album, 1989 (2014). She wrote the song with the Swedish producers Max Martin and Shellback. It is a pop song using keyboards and hip hop–inspired drum beats, and the lyrics are about betrayal by a close friend. A remix featuring the American rapper Kendrick Lamar, with additional lyrics by Lamar and production by the Swedish musician Ilya, was released to radio as 1989's fourth single on May 17, 2015, by Big Machine and Republic Records.
"Enchanted" is a song written and recorded by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift for her third studio album, Speak Now (2010). Produced by Swift and Nathan Chapman, the song is a power ballad combining pop, rock, and country. The production incorporates gentle acoustic guitars and crescendos after each refrain, leading to dynamic electric guitars, a steady drum beat, and a vocal harmony-layered coda. In the lyrics, a narrator is infatuated with someone after meeting them for the first time, and she worries about whether the initial feeling will be reciprocated.
"Message in a Bottle" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. It was her first writing collaboration with Max Martin and Shellback. The song was intended for but excluded from her fourth studio album, Red (2012). Shellback and Elvira Anderfjärd produced the track for Swift's re-recorded album, Red (2021). "Message in a Bottle" is a 1980s-influenced dance-pop, synth-pop, and electropop song with lyrics about the anxiety from falling in love.
"Treacherous" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift from her fourth studio album, Red (2012). She wrote the track with its producer, Dan Wilson. Blending styles of country and pop, "Treacherous" is a slow-burning ballad that builds up into a finale. Its lyrics are about a narrator's attempt to protect a fragile and dangerous relationship. A demo of the song was included in the tracklist of Red's deluxe edition.
"Question...?" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift from her tenth studio album, Midnights (2022). Written and produced by Swift and Jack Antonoff, it is a minimalist electropop and synth-pop track that incorporates synth tones and sharp drum machine beats. The song contains a vocal sample of Swift's 2014 track "Out of the Woods". In the lyrics, Swift's narrator confronts an ex-lover with questions regarding their past behaviors and what could have happened differently.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)