#like we knew she wasn’t working with Max again but she had worked with Shellback

[kingofmyborrowedheart]

I’m intrigued by Shellback not returning to work on the rest of the Max Martin and Shellback tracks on 1989 (Taylor’s Version) after producing “Wildest Dreams (Taylor’s Version).”

[path-of-my-childhood]

Behind The Album: Taylor Swift’s 1989

By: Paul Zollo for Medium Date: February 12th 2016

[Excerpts]

What follows is a collage of answers from songwriters, producers, engineers and musicians who worked on the album, as well as from the artist herself.

Imogen Heap (co-producer/co-engineer): “We met at my studio in London. She had the bare bones of “Clean.” She had the lyric, the chorus and the chords. I thought it was brilliant. I was really writing the tiniest amount just to help her do what she does. I put some noises to [“Clean”], played various instruments on it, including drums, and anytime she expressed she liked something I was doing, I did it more. It was a really fun day.She recorded all her vocals [for “Clean”] during that one session. She did two takes, and the second take was it. We always thought she would probably re-record it, because we thought it can’t possibly be that easy. But after we lived with it for a few months, we felt it was great. I knew she loved [“Clean”]. She said she loved it and her mum loved it. But I wasn’t sure it would be included on the album. But everyone felt it had something special. It came together really magically. Taylor is a force of nature.”

Taylor Swift about “Clean” and working with Imogen: “I had this metaphor in my head about being in this house, there’s been a drought but you feel like there’s a storm coming. Instead of trying to block out the storm you punch a hole in the roof and just let all the rain come in, and when you wake up in the morning, it’s washed away. [On working with Imogen] The coolest thing about Imogen for me was that there was no one else in the studio. There was no assistant; there was no engineer. It was her doing everything.”

Niklas “Nikk” Ljungfelt (guitarist): “I played on “Style,” a song I started with Ali Payami for ourselves. He was playing it for Max Martin at his studio; Taylor overheard it and loved it. She and Max wrote new lyrics. But I recorded the guitar on it before it was a Taylor song. It was an instrumental. I didn’t have a clue that Taylor would sing on it. The inspiration came from Daft Punk and funky electronic music. Taylor liked that a lot when she heard the song the first time. [She was] taking a big step from the music she had done before.”

Taylor Swift about “Blank Space”: “Blank Space” was the third thing I played [Max and Shellback]. And they [said], “No, this is the very first thing we are working on today!” It’s a very sparse track. We just wanted it to be about the lyric and the vocal.

Mattias Bylund (string arranger): “We were listening to a mix when Max Martin came in and said that he wanted me to listen to [some songs]. We got to hear “Shake It Off” and “Wildest Dreams.” We immediately realized these were going to be future hits, and I was really happy to get the mission to arrange and record strings on “Wildest Dream.” I recorded them in my home studio in Tuve, Sweden. The Mellotron notes through the song were there, and the staccato strings in the chorus, those I dubbed with real strings. I added some big chords and a build-up in the bridge. On the choruses I recorded Coldplay-type rhythm chords.“

Jonas Thander (saxophonist): “I recorded alto and tenor sax [for “Shake It Off”] at my studio in Sweden. Max had recorded some MIDI horn ideas for me, and I came up with my own parts. It had no vocals when I did my part. I recorded all my horn parts, and then overdubbed other players, and edited it in a 10-hour overnight session. Sounds like a lot but I’m really picky. Then I did it all over again after the next recording day. But I love it, so no real harm done on me. People think it’s a baritone horn on the [“Shake It Off”] intro, but it’s a Mellotron. The first time I heard Taylor’s vocals was when the song was released. It sounded amazing. Those guys really know what they’re doing.”

Taylor Swift about “Shake It Off” mellotron: “The Mellotron was really helpful for us in coming up with sounds. Sometimes we later replaced them with real instruments.”

Tom Coyne (mastering engineer): “My job was easy. Max Martin’s collaboration with Taylor Swift pretty much assured the album was going to be big, bold and beautiful. I mastered the whole album in two days. When working with professionals of this caliber, things go smoothly.”

Laura Sisk (engineer): “I worked with [producer] Jack Antonoff on three songs, “Out Of The Woods,” “You Are In Love” and “I Wish You Would.” It was just Jack and I in the studio for a lot of the tracking. Especially on “Out Of The Woods.” He and Taylor were collaborating long distance and would send ideas back and forth rapid-fire. The songs came together really quickly. There was a lot of excitement surrounding the music. When we got Taylor’s vocals for “Out Of The Woods,” I couldn’t stop listening to it. I love the chorus so much and when her background vocals kick in at the end, it brings this anthemic feeling to the song that you can feel even just a cappella.”

[jackieswift]

Hey guys! I’ve gotten a lot of new followers recently. If that is because you like my weird posts, thinks my love story right now is hilarious and cute or if it is because you hope it will give you a bigger chance of meeting Taylor, I don’t care about. I’m just really happy you all have decided to follow me here where I freak out about Taylor things the whole time, write about my boring life that mostly involves working way too much, spending time with my family and writing songs about my pathetic love life. 

I just thought it would be fun to write a little about myself since there are so many new people that might read my blog nowadays. My name is Jacqueline, but everyone calls me Jackie. Although I really hope Taylor call me Jacqueline if I ever meet her again. I’m 20 years old and live in Sweden...you know that country everyone thought Nils Sjöberg came from (lol). And that Max Martin and Shellback actually come from. Yeah, we have some great songwriters in Sweden, but most Swedish music sucks tbh. But I really do hope I can be one of them one day. I started writing songs when I was 15 and got more serious about it when I was 16. That was when I started dreaming about moving to Nashville and performing at the Grand Ole Opry. And another thing that happened when I was 15 was that I got the biggest crush on Taylor's little brother Austin (which I’m pretty sure she knows about since I wrote way too much about it during the time Taylor supposedly stalked this blog, hehe).

In less than two weeks (August 19th) I start university since I decided to take one year after high school to work which is something that most people do in Sweden. I’m not really sure of what I’m gonna end up working with, but studying at a great university is always a great start, right? Although I’m pretty scared of schools tbh. I mean I LOVE studying...maybe a bit too much. But I feel like I’m way too different. I never fit in and it’s always been a problem for me in school. I’ve therefore been bullied pretty much my entire life. For a bit more than two years, I’ve worked at a restaurant in Stockholm. It started out as a summer job, then it became a weekend job when I went back to school and the last year I’ve worked there maybe a bit too much. Anyways, I’m a waitress and I both love and hate the job. Since I work at the most crowded restaurant in the city and maybe even in the country it’s really stressful. But I’ve fallen in love with the people I work with. 

And I’ve literally fallen in love with one of the guys I work with. But he’s already taken (which I found out about MONTHS after I started liking him). Anyways, he’s moving away in September/October so welcome to my life when it’s like this big rollercoaster. I’ve never been in love before so this is something new to me. Although back when I was 17 I had this horrible relationship that I’m so happy I run away from before it destroyed me even more. Because of that relationship Better Man and All Too Well became really important in my life so when I met Taylor I bought her a light blue scarf since she left one at his place. And even though my ex didn’t make me his own, he still did in a way and I hate him for it. When Taylor stood up for herself in her trial I laid in my bed crying. And when I heard her words I knew I had to speak up! So I told my friends and parents. I’ve never in my life seen my parents so destroyed before. Or maybe I have, back when I was 12. But we’ll come to that part later. Taylor was the reason I dared saying “me too”. And the fact that I got to meet her around that time meant THE WORLD TO ME.

When I was 12 I was deathly ill and it’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever experienced, but I still think it gets a second place after sitting in the same room as my ex that I was afraid of for over a year. Not knowing if you’re gonna survive a sickness when you’re just a little kid is hard and kids being really mean about it just made it even worse. I only had A FEW friends that actually gave me a hand and said: “hey we’re here for you”. Most people bullied me instead. The worst words I think I’ve ever gotten to hear in my life is “You should have just died when you were so sick. The world would have been a much better place without you in it. It’s not like anyone would miss you. Do you really think that? No the reason you’re parents cried at night wasn’t because they were afraid you might die, it’s because they were afraid you might live. So just go and kill yourself. The world would be better without you. We don’t want you here. No one’s ever gonna want you here” because even though I knew they were wrong it was so hard having to listen to that time after time. 

Okay, let’s be a bit more positive. I’m a last kiss baby which y’all will notice by following me. July 9th is a freaking party in my world. Not because it’s my birthday and I get older, but because Taylor Swift wrote my favorite song and mentioned my birthday in it. PLUS I did have my last kiss December 13th, 2017 which is pretty funny considering that’s her birthday.

I have named my future children so my future husband won’t have that much to say about it, lol. Okay, we can talk about it but Heavenly it is...because when I was 16 I heard the word and was like “Wow that’s the most gorgeous word I’ve ever heard. Could I name my future daughter that? Well, why not people name their kids weirder things in society today.” So when Taylor said Heavenly today I kind of jumped up and down and screamed and got a bit too excited about it.

Sometimes people say I look like Taylor. I don’t really see it, but I like wearing red lipstick and write country songs so hey that’s always something. But if we’re looking at Taylor personality I truly feel like I’ve found a sister although like a better version of me. So because of Taylor I every day try to be a better human being. 

I’m SOOOOO excited about Lover and even though it’s my first school week I will totally care more about the album than school because hello it’s not like the first week will decide more than which people I will hang out with for the next three and a half years anyway. But yeah otherwise school is my life. I’m that kind of person that gets way too annoyed if she misses one point on a test. I’m a perfectionist and that’s probably why I love Tumblr so much because here’s the only place I don’t feel like I have to be perfect because you guys will accept me no matter what.

Anyways, have a great day/evening/night or whatever. I think I*m going to sleep pretty soon. So see y’all tomorrow ❤️

[tslyricx]

8. WE ARE NEVER EVER GETTING BACK TOGETHER

Taylor refuses to continue an on-and-off relationship with her boyfriend and declares that We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.

The song is the lead single for Taylor Swift’s fourth studio album, Red. It received a Grammy Award nomination for Record of the Year and was Swift’s first #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100.

In addition, her boyfriend called off an arrangement again that they had planned (see lyrics directly preceding hook). This time she can’t take it anymore, which is why they break up, hence her saying “We are never ever getting back together.” They can still talk but she’ll never get serious with him ever again: “ We are never, ever, ever getting back together We are never, ever, ever getting back together You go talk to your friends, talk to my friends, talk to me But we are never, ever, ever, ever getting back together Like, ever”

When she refuses to get back together with her ex, he seeks help by talking to not only his own friends, but hers as well, but this time it doesn’t matter who he tries to go through to get to Taylor: they are never, EVER getting back together.

This is also a reference to the real-life incident that inspired Taylor to write the song. She described it in an interview with Nightline: “She was already in a songwriting session when a friend of her ex’s came by and said hello, mentioning that her ex had told him that they were getting back together. When the friend left, she told her co-writers how frustrated she was because she had already told her ex that they were never getting back together, and she meant it. One of her cowriters suggested that it would make a great song, so she picked up her guitar and vented!” Basically, she’s saying, “You go tell your friends that we’re getting back together, but saying so doesn’t change the fact that it’s never going to happen.”

In the last pre-chorus, we can see that unlike the previous “oohs” in the song, these “oohs” are more celebratory. Their effervescence intoxicates the listener with their sheer joy. In fact, Taylor is finally feeling free from her relationship, and realizes that she is truly never ever getting back together with him.

In the bridge, she tells us that she used to have the naive expectation that everything would end up fine and that no matter what they could still get back together: “ I used to think that we were forever, ever And I used to say, "Never say never" Ugh, so he calls me up and he's like, "I still love you" And I'm like, "I just- I mean, this is exhausting, you know? Like, we are never getting back together, like, ever"” Now she’s less naive and realizes some relationships just don’t work out like a fairy-tale. In this part of the song she speaks as though she is actually talking to him on the phone, which helps you to connectwith the lyrics, and also makes them more catchy. 

What have Taylor said about the song?

She described the process of writing this song as one of the most humorous experiences she’s had while recording. She explained some of the song’s background to USA Today:

“It’s a definitive portrait of how I felt when I finally stopped caring what my ex thought of me. He made me feel like I wasn’t as good or as relevant as these hipster bands he listened to…So I made a song that I knew would absolutely drive him crazy when he heard it on the radio. Not only would it hopefully be played a lot, so that he’d have to hear it, but it’s the opposite of the kind of music that he was trying to make me feel inferior to.”

She also sarcastically explained the song as a “really romantic song……touching and sensitive…….to my lovely ex boyfriend.”

Favorite lyrics: “ I'm really gonna miss you picking fights / And me, falling for it, screaming that I'm right / And you, would hide away and find your peace of mind / With some indie record that's much cooler than mine.”

Album: Red released on October 22, 2012.

Witten by: Taylor Swift, Shellback & Max Martin.

Hidden message: When I stopped caring what you thought.

Picture: Photo from the Red booklet.

Source: https://genius.com/Taylor-swift-we-are-never-ever-getting-back-together-lyrics

[kaylorklossswift]

...I’m not ready for this!

What you say???! Joe Wawa-whaaaaatttt??!

--------------------------------------------------------------

Here’s what this bs article says:

Right on the dot at 8 a.m. this morning, Taylor Swift released the full audio to her second single, "...Ready For It?" after sharing a teaser last night. And, while Swift never names names, it would appear this song may be her very first about current boyfriend Joe Alwyn off of these lyrics. (Swift and Alwyn have been quietly dating for months so this would also be the first time she's spoken about him.)

Swift wrote the single with Ali Payami, Shellback, and Max Martin so of course, all their experiences may have inspired the final product. Here, the lyrics (via Genius) annotated with any references to him:

Knew he was a killer

First time that I saw him

Last November, Swift was photographed leaving the screening for Alwyn's movie Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk. Alwyn literally plays a killer—private Billy Lynn—in the military film.

Wonder how many girls he had loved and left haunted

But if he's a ghost then I can be a phantom

Holding him for ransom

As Genius users point out, this idea of haunting an ex echoes the lyrics in Swift's "Wildest Dreams" ("Someday when you leave me/I bet these memories/Follow you around.")

Some boys are tryin' too hard

He don't try at all though

Younger than my exes but he act like such a man so

Alwyn is just 26 years old. By comparison, Swift's last two boyfriends, Calvin Harris and Tom Hiddleston are 33 and 36 respectively. The "trying too hard" line could be a generic observation about what men have done to try to impress her or a subtle jab at what Hiddleston did (taking her all around Europe, wearing the "I Heart T.S. tank, etc. as they had a very showy romance.)

I see nothing better, I keep him forever

Like a vendetta

The "vendetta" could actually be hers against the media or anyone who paints her as a serial dater unable to keep a man ("I go on too many dates/but I can't make them stay," Swift sang in "Shake It Off," mocking this false characterization of her.)

Swift spoke about those people's mischaracterization of her love life when discussing "Blank Space" at the Grammy museum in September 2015. "It got pretty out of control there for a couple of years. ... Every article was like, 'Taylor Swift, standing near some guy—watch out, guy!'" she said. "My first reaction was to be like, 'That's a bummer. This isn't fun for me.' But then my second reaction ended up being like, 'Hey, that's actually a really kind of interesting character they're writing about. She jet sets around the world, collecting men, and she can get any of them ... but she's so clingy, so they leave and she cries and then she gets another one in her web and she traps them and locks them in her mansion and then she's crying in her marble bathtub surrounded by pearls.' So I was like, I can use this."

Pre-Chorus:

I-I-I see how this is gonna go

Touch me and you'll never be alone

I-Island breeze and lights down low

No one has to know

Swift has kept her romance with Alwyn very low profile. It wasn't reported they were dating until May, and at that point, The Sun reported it had been for several months(perhaps after she went to his screening in November, though they were spotted together as early as October. Outlets have tried to put together timelines, but none are confirmed.). Most recently, a source close to Swift told People that "her decision to keep her relationship with Joe quiet is making her happy."

The "i-island breeze" Swift is talking about could be a quiet vacation they took in a tropical paradise or just a veiled way of referring to England (and London), which is an island. Alwyn is British, and Swift spent an extended amount of time there in the U.K. during the spring while he was shooting his film The Favourite.

Chorus:

In the middle of the night, in my dreams

You should see the things we do, baby, mmm...

In the middle of the night in my dreams

I know I'm gonna be with you

So I take my time

No matter how wild Swift's fantasies about him are ("in the middle of the night, in my dreams" is similar in tone to "Wildest Dreams" ("Say you'll see me again even if it's just in your wildest dreams")), Swift's assertion she takes her time matches People's recent report that she and Alwyn have "have been getting to know each other slowly without any pressure.” Her last romance with Tom Hiddleston, conversely, became very intense fast. (They were quickly meeting the others' parents weeks after first being photographed together.) She may be suggesting here that she learned that doesn't work for her.

In the middle of the night

(Are you ready for it?)

Verse 2:

Knew I was a robber

First time that he saw me

Stealing hearts and running off and never saying sorry

A reference here to her serial dater reputation and the eight high-profile relationships that came before Alwyn (Tom Hiddleston, Calvin Harris, Joe Jonas, Taylor Lautner, Harry Styles, Conor Kennedy, Jake Gyllenhaal, and John Mayer).

But if I'm a thief then

He can join the heist

And we'll move to an island

And, and he can be my jailer

Swift had a jailbird aesthetic in her "Look What You Made Me Do" music video.

Burton to this Taylor

A likely nod to legendary Old Hollywood couple Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor.

Every love I've known in comparison is a failure

I forget their names now

I'm so very tame now

Never be the same now, now

Swift's way of saying she's completely over Harris and Hiddleston, even if they may not becompletely publicly.

Pre-Chorus

I-I-I see how this is gonna go

Touch me, and you'll never be alone

I-Island breeze and lights down low

No one has to know

Chorus:

In the middle of the night, in my dreams

You should see the things we do, baby, mmm...

In the middle of the night in my dreams

I know I'm gonna be with you

So I take my time

(Are you ready for it?)

(Ooh, are you ready for it?)

Post-Chorus:

Baby, let the games begin

Let the games begin

This song seems to be Swift's first public comment on her and Alwyn. The two were photographed together by paparazzi for the first time in July before her Colorado trial. "Let the games begin" could be the game of love. But it could also be her saying let their public relationship begin and their dealing with the press coverage of it. She's serious about him.

Let the games begin

Baby, let the games begin

Let the games begin

Let the games begin

Bridge:

I-I-I see how this is gonna go

Touch me and you'll never be alone

I-Island breeze and lights down low

No one has to know

Chorus:

In the middle of the night, in my dreams

You should see the things we do, baby, mmm...

In the middle of the night in my dreams

I know I'm gonna be with you

So I take my time

In the middle of the night

Post-Chorus:

Baby, let the games begin

Let the games begin

Let the games begin

(Are you ready for it?)

Baby, let the games begin

Let the games begin

Let the games begin

(Are you ready for it?)