Blank Space
"Blank Space" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift and the second single from her fifth studio album, 1989. 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.
This article is about the Taylor Swift song. For other uses, see Blank space (disambiguation)."Blank Space"
November 10, 2014
- MXM (Stockholm, Sweden)
- Conway Recording (Los Angeles, US)
3:52
- Taylor Swift
- Max Martin
- Shellback
- Max Martin
- Shellback
Big Machine in partnership with Republic Records released "Blank Space" to US radio on November 10, 2014. One of the best-selling singles of 2015, it topped charts in Australia, Canada, Iceland, Scotland, and South Africa. In the United States, it spent seven weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified eight times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Music critics praised the production and Swift's songwriting; some picked it as 1989's highlight. The song earned three nominations at the 58th Grammy Awards, including two general categories: Record of the Year and Song of the Year. Rolling Stone placed it at number 320 on their 2024 revision of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Joseph Kahn directed the music video for "Blank Space", which depicts Swift as a jealous woman who acts erratically when she suspects her boyfriend's infidelity. The video won Best Pop Video and Best Female Video at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards, and it ranked 67th on Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Music Videos of All Time. Swift included "Blank Space" in the set lists for three of her world tours: the 1989 World Tour (2015), Reputation Stadium Tour (2018), and the Eras Tour (2023). The song was covered by several rock musicians. Following the 2019 dispute regarding the ownership of Swift's back catalog, she re-recorded the song as "Blank Space (Taylor's Version)" for her 2023 re-recorded album 1989 (Taylor's Version).
Background[edit]
Inspired by 1980s synth-pop with synthesizers, drum pads, and overlapped vocals, Taylor Swift abandoned the country stylings of her previous releases to incorporate a pop production for her fifth studio album, 1989, which was released in 2014.[1][2][3] Swift began writing songs for the album in mid-2013 concurrently with the start of Swift's headlining world tour in support of her fourth studio album Red.[4] On 1989, Swift and the Swedish producer Max Martin served as executive producers.[2] Martin and his frequent collaborator Shellback produced seven out of 13 songs on the album's standard edition.[5]
Having been known as "America's Sweetheart" thanks to her wholesome and down-to-earth girl next door image,[6][7] Swift saw her reputation blemished due to her history of romantic relationships with a series of high-profile celebrities. The New York Times asserted in 2013 that her "dating history [had] begun to stir what feels like the beginning of a backlash", questioning whether Swift was in the midst of a quarter-life crisis.[8] The Tampa Bay Times observed that until the release of 1989, Swift's love life had become a fixed tabloid interest and overshadowed her musicianship.[7] Swift disliked the media portrayal of her as a "serial-dater", feeling that it undermined her professional works, and became reticent to discuss her personal life in public.[9][10] The tabloid scrutiny on her image prompted her to write satirical songs about her perceived image, in addition to her traditional romantic themes.[11]
Lyrics and music[edit]
Talking to GQ in 2015, Swift said that she envisioned "Blank Space" to be a satirical self-referential nod to the media perception of her image as "a girl who's crazy but seductive but glamorous but nuts but manipulative".[12] She admitted that she had felt personally attacked for a long time before realizing "it was kind of hilarious".[12] She co-wrote the song with its producers, Max Martin and Shellback.[5]
"Blank Space" follows the verse–chorus song structure.[13] The lyrics in the verses are clipped, "Magic, madness, heaven, sin", which the musicologist Nate Sloan said to set a mysterious and dreadful tone.[13] At one point, Swift describes herself as a "nightmare dressed like a daydream".[14] The refrain alludes to Swift's songwriting practice taking inspiration from her love life: the lyrics, "Got a long list of ex-lovers They'll tell you I'm insane But I've got a blank space, baby", are followed by a brief silence and then a clicking retractable pen sound, and Swift concludes the refrain, "And I'll write your name."[15] After the song's release, the line "Got a long list of ex-lovers" was misheard by some audience as "All the lonely Starbucks lovers", which prompted internet discussions including a response from Starbucks themselves.[16][17]
Swift told NME in 2015 that when "Blank Space" was released, "[half] the people got the joke, half the people really think that [she]was like really owning the fact that [she was] a psychopath".[18] According to Sloan, the narrator of "Blank Space" is unreliable, and therefore it is open to interpretation whether the song is a true portrayal of Swift's character or not.[19] In contemporary publications, journalists commented that the track represented 1989's lighthearted view on failed relationships and departed from the idealized romance on Swift's past albums.[20][21][22] Others wrote that Swift made fun of her image and the media discourse surrounding her celebrity, which later served as the foundation for her sixth studio album Reputation (2017), an album exploring her public experiences and the media gossip.[23][24]
Martin and Shellback employed a sparse production for "Blank Space" as Swift wanted the song to emphasize the lyrics and vocals.[2] Musically, "Blank Space" is an electropop song[25] that is set over minimal hip hop-influenced beats.[26] The song incorporates synthesizers, percussioned guitar strums, and layered backing vocals.[21][27] In the refrain, Swift sings in her higher register and the production crescendos with faster programmed drums.[13] Some contemporary critics compared the song's minimal production to the singer-songwriter Lorde's music, specifically her 2013 album Pure Heroine.[14][21][28] Spin's Andrew Unterberger wrote that as with the rest of 1989, "Blank Space" embraces 1980s pop music authenticity while incorporating a modern twist.[28] Baesley thought that the minimal production may "sound bright and easy, but it's anything but the latter to create", and he called it "weapons-grade, professional pop".[21]
Release and commercial performance[edit]
Big Machine and Republic Records released "Blank Space" as the second single from 1989, after the lead single "Shake It Off". In the United States, the song impacted US rhythmic crossover radio on November 10,[29] and hot adult contemporary[30] and contemporary hit radio on November 11, 2014.[31] Universal sent "Blank Space" to Italian radio on December 12, 2014,[32] and released a CD single version of "Blank Space" in Germany on January 2, 2015.[33]
"Blank Space" debuted at number 18 on the US Billboard Hot 100 on the chart dated November 15, 2014.[34] The single reached number one in its third week on the chart, supported by the release of its music video. It took the number-one position from 1989's lead single "Shake It Off", making Swift the first and to date, the only woman ever in Billboard Hot 100 chart history to succeed herself at the top spot.[35] "Blank Space" remained atop the Billboard Hot 100 for seven consecutive weeks.[36] As of July 2019, "Blank Space" has sold 4.6 million copies in the United States.[37] The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified the single 8× Platinum, which denotes eight million units based on sales and track-equivalent on-demand streams.[38] On the Hot 100 chart dated August 19, 2023, "Blank Space" re-entered at number 49, after it gained in streams following the announcement of 1989 (Taylor's Version) and as Swift had been performing it on the Eras Tour.[39] It rose to number 46 the following week.[40]
The single also reached number one in Australia,[41] Canada,[42] South Africa,[43] and Scotland.[44] It peaked atop the Euro Digital Song Sales, a Billboard component chart,[45] and the Finnish Download Chart.[46] "Blank Space" charted within the top five of national record charts, at number two in New Zealand,[47] Poland,[48] Slovakia,[49] number three in Bulgaria,[50] number four in the Czech Republic,[51] Ireland,[52] Israel,[53] the United Kingdom,[54] and number five in Lebanon.[55] It received multi-platinum certifications in Australia (13× Platinum),[56] Canada (4× Platinum),[57] New Zealand (4× Platinum),[58] and the UK (2× Platinum).[59] According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), the song was the eighth-best-selling song of 2015, with 9.2 million track-equivalent units.[60]
Credits are adapted from 1989 album liner notes.[5]
"Blank Space (Taylor's Version)"
October 27, 2023
Prime Recording (Nashville)
3:51
- Taylor Swift
- Max Martin
- Shellback
- Taylor Swift
- Christopher Rowe