Swift rose to mainstream prominence with her sophomore studio album, Fearless (2008), a country pop record with crossover appeal. Aided by the top-five singles “Love Story” and “You Belong with Me”, Fearless was certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Swift's third studio album, Speak Now (2010), blended country pop with elements of rock and featured the top-ten singles “Mine” and “Back to December”.
Drawing inspiration from various pop, rock, and electronic genres, Swift's fourth studio album Red (2012) saw her transcending her country roots. She completely moved to pop with her synth-pop fifth studio album, 1989 (2014), and expanded the electropop sound on her next two studio albums, reputation (2017) and Lover (2019), which respectively embraced urban and retro styles. The four albums spawned a string of international top-five singles, including “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together”, “I Knew You Were Trouble”, “Shake It Off”, “Blank Space”, “Bad Blood”, “Look What You Made Me Do”, “ME! (feat. Brendon Urie of Panic! at the Disco)”, “You Need to Calm Down”, and “Lover”.
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Swift experimented with folk and alternative rock on her eighth and ninth studio albums, folklore and evermore (both 2020), whose lead singles “cardigan” and “willow” topped charts around the world. She also released the critically acclaimed documentaries Miss Americana and Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions that year. Swift's tenth studio album, Midnights (2022), marked her triumphant return to pop after two folk albums. The album set the record for biggest first day and first week ever on Spotify, spawned the hits Anti-Hero and Lavender Haze, and sold over 1.5 million copies in its first week becoming not only the biggest debut of the decade but also Swift's biggest debut ever. She would make history by becoming the first artist to occupy the entire top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 with tracks from Midnights.
Additionally, Swift began re-recording her back catalog in November 2020 as a result of a publicized dispute with talent manager Scooter Braun and her former label Big Machine, regarding the acquisition of the masters of her back catalog. In April 2021, Swift released a re-recorded issue of her 2008 album Fearless, titled Fearless (Taylor's Version). It debuted at number one in the US. Swift continued releasing re-recorded versions of her back catalog in November, 2021 with the release of Red (Taylor's Version), a 30 track re-issue of her 2012 critical smash. The album debuted at #1 in the US, spawned the #1 hit All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor's Version) (From the Vault), and broke the record at the time for biggest first day for a female album on Spotify. Red (Taylor's Version) was a critical and commercial hit, and proved that Swift's ambitious, yet ongoing plan to re-record her first 6 albums was well worth it.
Along with the release of Red (Taylor's Version) came All Too Well: The Short Film (2021), Swift's filmmaking debut. The 15 minute romantic drama was based on the lyrical content from Swift's 2012 fan favorite “All Too Well” starring Sadie Sink and Dylan O'Brien. It had a limited theatrical release in major cities, and Swift held special screenings of the film throughout 2022 at various film festivals. In December, 2022 Taylor announced that she would be making her feature directorial debut with Oscar-winning studio Searchlight Pictures.
Following the release of Midnights, Swift would embark on her first tour in five years, The Eras Tour—a retrospective tour covering the entirety of her discography. During her ongoing tour, Swift would release her next two re-recorded albums, Speak Now (Taylor's Version) in July and 1989 (Taylor's Version) in October of 2023. The former of which would land Swift as the woman with the most number-one albums (12) in Billboard 200 history, surpassing Barbra Streisand. The latter was her sixth album to sell one million copies in a single week in the US, her largest album sales in a week span. “Is It Over Now? (Taylor's Version)”, the lead single for 1989 (Taylor's Version), would peak at number one on the Billboard Hot 100.
At the 66th annual GRAMMY Awards, Taylor Swift surprised viewers by announcing her eleventh studio album, THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT. On April 19, 2024, the album was released globally, breaking records: it became the first ever to amass 1 billion Spotify streams in a week and sold 2.6 million units in its first week in the US. Swift dominated the charts, monopolizing the top 14 spots on the Billboard Hot 100 and securing the top 10 positions on Australia’s ARIA Singles Chart. The lead single, Fortnight, featuring Post Malone, quickly soared to the number-one position on the Hot 100. Additionally, just two hours after the album’s release, Swift surprised fans with a reissue titled THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT: THE ANTHOLOGY, which included 15 extra songs.
Swift has released several songs for film soundtracks. She co-wrote two songs for the Hannah Montana: The Movie soundtrack— “You'll Always Find Your Way Back Home” and “Crazier”, and contributed two songs to the Valentine's Day soundtrack, including the single “Today Was a Fairytale”, which was her first number one on the Canadian Hot 100, and peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. She also contributed two original songs to The Hunger Games soundtrack album: “Safe & Sound - from The Hunger Games Soundtrack”, co-written and recorded with The Civil Wars and T-Bone Burnett, and “Eyes Open”. “Safe & Sound” won the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media and was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song. In 2013, Swift recorded “Sweeter than Fiction”, a song she wrote and produced with Jack Antonoff for the One Chance film soundtrack, which received a Best Original Song nomination at the 71st Golden Globe Awards. Swift and English singer Zayn Malik, mononymously known as Zayn, released a single together, “I Don't Wanna Live Forever”, for the soundtrack of the film Fifty Shades Darker (2017). She also recorded an original song called “Beautiful Ghosts”, which she wrote with Andrew Lloyd Webber for the Cats's soundtrack (2019). In 2020, Swift's documentary Miss Americana featured the song “Only the Young” which was written after the 2018 United States elections. In 2022, she released an original song titled “Carolina” for Where The Crawdads Sing (2022) inspired by the novel written by Delia Owens.
With sales of over 200 million records worldwide, Swift is a best-selling music artist. Her accolades include 14 Grammy Awards, including four Album of the Year wins, which makes Swift the artist with the most awards for that category in history, two Brit Awards (including a Global Icon award), an Emmy Award, 28 Guinness World Records, 32 American Music Awards (the most wins by an artist), and 23 Billboard Music Awards (the most wins by a woman). She ranked eighth on Billboard's Greatest of All Time Artists Chart (2019) and was listed on Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time (2015). Swift has been included in various power rankings, such as Time's annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world (2010, 2015 and 2019) and Forbes Celebrity 100 (placing first in 2016 and 2019). She was named Woman of the Decade (2010s) by Billboard, Artist of the Decade (2010s) by the American Music Awards, and Person of the Year (2023) by Time Magazine.
How To Get The Girl
Taylor Swift Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
(Oh oh oh, oh oh, oh oh)
(Oh oh)
Stand there like a ghost
Shaking come the rain, rain
She'll open up the door
And say, are you insane, -ane?
Say it's been a long six months (oh oh oh, oh oh oh, oh oh, oh oh)
And you were too afraid to tell her what you want, want (oh oh oh, oh oh oh, oh oh, oh oh)
And that's how it works
That's how you get the girl
And then you say
I want you for worse or for better
I would wait for ever and ever
Broke your heart, I'll put it back together
I would wait for ever and ever
And that's how it works
That's how you get the girl, girl, oh
And that's how it works
That's how you get the girl, girl
Remind her how it used to be, be
Yeah, with pictures in frames of kisses on cheeks, cheeks
Tell her how you must've lost your mind (oh oh oh, oh oh oh, oh oh, oh oh)
When you left her all alone and never told her why, why (oh oh oh, oh oh oh, oh oh, oh oh)
And that's how it works
That's how you lost the girl
And now you say
I want you for worse or for better
I would wait for ever and ever (ever and ever)
Broke your heart, I'll put it back together
I would wait for ever and ever
And that's how it works
That's how you get the girl, girl, oh
And that's how it works
That's how you get the girl, girl, yeah
And you could know, oh
That I don't want you to go
Remind me how it used to be
Pictures in frames of kisses on cheeks
And say you want me, yeah, yeah
And then you say I want you for worse or for better (worse or for better)
I would wait for ever and ever (ever and ever)
Broke your heart, I'll put it back together
I would wait for ever and ever (I want you for ever and ever)
And that's how it works
That's how you get the girl, girl, oh
(That's how it works) and that's how it works
That's how you get the girl, girl, oh (get the girl)
(That's how it works) and that's how it works
That's how you get the girl, girl, oh
And that's how it works
That's how you get the girl, girl, oh
And that's how it works
That's how you got the girl
In "How You Get the Girl," Taylor Swift gives relationship advice on how to win back an ex-girlfriend. The song starts with Swift singing about standing in the rain outside of her house hoping for her to come back to him, but she questions his sanity. He admits that he was too afraid to tell her what he wanted when they were together which was the reason for their breakup. He then realizes that saying what he really wants and showing how much he is willing to do for her is how to win her back. He tells her that he will be there for her no matter what and that he will always be by her side through thick and thin. Swift sings about how reminding her of the good times they had and making her feel wanted once again is how to win back the girl.
The song speaks of the complexities of relationships and how important communication and showing your true feelings are in making them work. Sometimes, it takes losing something to realize what you want and to go after it. The song shows that even if you make mistakes in a relationship, you can still make up for them with patience, persistence, and love.
Line by Line Meaning
Stand there like a ghost
Approach the girl tentatively, like a ghost, uncertain of how she will react
Shaking come the rain, rain
Overcome with doubt and anxiety, shaking like a leaf in the rain
She'll open up the door
If she's interested, she'll open up the door to the possibility of a relationship
And say, are you insane, -ane?
She may question your intentions and sanity for approaching her in this way
Say it's been a long six months
Acknowledge the amount of time that has passed since you were last in contact
And you were too afraid to tell her what you want, want
Admit that you were too scared to express your feelings for her
That's how you get the girl
This approach is the key to winning her over
And then you say
If you follow this strategy, you can then express your true feelings
I want you for worse or for better
Express your devotion to her, no matter the circumstances
I would wait for ever and ever
Promise to wait for her for as long as it takes, showing your commitment to the relationship
Broke your heart, I'll put it back together
Acknowledge if you've hurt her in the past, and promise to make things right
Remind her how it used to be, be
Take her back to happier times, reminding her of the good memories you shared
Yeah, with pictures in frames of kisses on cheeks, cheeks
Use visual aids to trigger positive memories, like pictures of special moments and affectionate displays
Tell her how you must've lost your mind
Admit that leaving her was foolish and you regret it
When you left her all alone and never told her why, why
Acknowledge if you failed to communicate and left her in the dark, causing confusion and hurt
That's how you lost the girl
This is how you lost her in the first place, by failing to communicate and show your love
And you could know, oh
That I don't want you to go
Make it clear that you do not want to lose her again
And say you want me, yeah, yeah
Reinforce that you want her back in your life
That's how you got the girl
By showing your devotion and commitment to the relationship, you have successfully won her over
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Max Martin, Johan Karl Schuster, Taylor Alison Swift
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@amylopez4248
It's amazing how this version feels even more alive
@AwkwardlyDbeauty
Yes 🥰
@heatheristhebestever
IM JAMMING
@DragTok
YESSSS IT NEEDS A MUSIC VIDEO ITS SO VISUAL!!
@Tess7
I love it
@bumble_bee88
It really does
@beasttryna2997
One of the best songs in 1989 in my opinion. it just hits so hard!!!
@onnaoryan9667
YESSSS ! AND ITS SO UNDERRATED
@justinjuerakhan7934
Most definitely❤❤❤❤
@eevee6261
Agreed!!