Born in West Reading, Pennsylvania, Swift relocated to Nashville, Tennessee in 2004 to pursue a career in country music. She broke into the country music scene with her eponymous self-titled debut studio album, Taylor Swift in 2006, which included the singles "Teardrops on My Guitar" and "Our Song". Swift also released the holiday album, Sounds of the Season: The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection, later titled as The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection in October 2007.
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 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.
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 12 Grammy Awards (including three Album of the Year wins), two Brit Awards (including a Global Icon award), an Emmy Award, 28 [https://guinnessworldrecords.com/]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 and Artist of the Decade (2010s) by the American Music Awards.
I Almost Do
Taylor Swift Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
This time of night you're still up
I bet
You're tired from a long hard week
I bet
You're sittin' in your chair by the window
Looking out at the city
And I bet
And I just wanna tell you
It takes everything in me not to call you
And I wish I could run to you
And I hope you know that every time I don't
I almost do
I almost do
I bet
You think I either moved on or hate you
'Cause each time you reach out there's no reply
I bet
It never ever occurred to you
That I can't say "Hello" to you
And risk another goodbye
And I just wanna tell you
It takes everything in me not to call you
And I wish I could run to you
And I hope you know that every time I don't
I almost do
I almost do
Oh, we made quite a mess, babe
It's probably better off this way
And I confess, babe
In my dreams you're touching my face
And asking me if I wanna try again with you
And I almost do
And I just wanna tell you
It takes everything in me, not to call you
And I wish I could run to you
And I hope you know that every time I don't
I almost do
I almost do
Uh-uh-uh
I bet
This time of night you're still up
I bet
You're tired from a long hard week
I bet
You're sittin' in your chair by the window
Looking out at the city
And I hope
Sometimes you wonder 'bout me
The song “I Almost Do” by Taylor Swift is a poignant reflection on the lingering feelings that she has towards her former lover. In the song, she expresses how she can’t help but think about him, especially at specific moments of the day. The opening verses create an image of her former lover late at night, possibly after a long week, sitting in his chair by the window, looking out at the city, and wondering if she ever thinks of him. Taylor also shares how hard it is for her not to call him, and how she wishes she could run to him.
The chorus is an admission of her feelings and how she almost does call him, and almost does run to him. She knows that every time she doesn’t call him, she is still thinking of him. On the other hand, the second verse of the song shows that her former lover might think that she has moved on, or that she hates him, as each time he reaches out, there's no reply. Taylor acknowledges that it never occurred to him that she couldn't say hello or risk another goodbye.
The bridge of the song is a wistful expression of her desires - that she could try again with him. She confesses that she dreams of him touching her face and asking her if she wants to try again with him, and every time she almost does.
Line by Line Meaning
I bet
I'm confident
This time of night you're still up
It's nighttime and you're still awake
I bet
I'm confident
You're tired from a long hard week
You're exhausted from a week of work
I bet
I'm confident
You're sittin' in your chair by the window
You're seated next to the window
Looking out at the city
Gazing at the city view
And I bet
I'm confident that
Sometimes you wonder 'bout me
You question about me occasionally
And I just wanna tell you
I want to inform you
It takes everything in me not to call you
It's too hard for me to not call you
And I wish I could run to you
I wish I could come to you
And I hope you know that every time I don't
And I hope you realize that every time I don't
I almost do
I almost end up calling you anyway
I bet
I'm confident
You think I either moved on or hate you
You believe I moved on or hate you
'Cause each time you reach out there's no reply
Because you never get a response when you try to contact me
I bet
I'm confident
It never ever occurred to you
You never once thought about
That I can't say "Hello" to you
The reason I don't return your greeting
And risk another goodbye
Is to avoid experiencing another farewell
Oh, we made quite a mess, babe
We created a huge, complicated situation
It's probably better off this way
It's most likely better that we remain apart
And I confess, babe
And I admit
In my dreams, you're touching my face
Whenever I dream, we have physical contact with each other
And asking me if I wanna try again with you
And asking me if I'm willing to give you another chance
And I almost do
I almost say yes
And I just wanna tell you
I want to inform you
It takes everything in me, not to call you
It's too hard for me to not call you
And I wish I could run to you
I wish I could come to you
And I hope you know that every time I don't
And I hope you realize that every time I don't
I almost do
I almost end up calling you anyway
Uh-uh-uh
I bet
I'm confident
This time of night you're still up
Even at this hour, you're still awake
I bet
I'm confident
You're tired from a long hard week
You're exhausted from a long and tough week
I bet
I'm confident
You're sittin' in your chair by the window
You're seated next to the window
Looking out at the city
Gazing at the city view
And I hope
And I desire
Sometimes you wonder 'bout me
You ponder about me at times
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Taylor Alison Swift
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Lulu V
Omg I'm ready to cry. Doesn't matter how much time has passed. This song will always open a part that hurts. So beautiful
Allison Frazier
I came from Ronan... Gotta get all of the crying out at once
Nada Kunlanart
I feel the same ❤️
Mitch Lauren Santillan
Sameee😭😭
Keerthy R
Ikr!!!!
Avrylle Calumba
sameee😭😭
새연
When RED was released, I was just a high school freshman, jamming to her songs while doing homework. Never did I know that a decade later, I would relate much more with the lyrics after learning how to mend a broken heart a couple of times. Time sure flies, but Taylor's songs become more meaningful to me as time goes on. I'm proud that I grew up listening to her music
lindsay
that’s beautiful. i’m a high school freshman right now, listening to red for the first time, and it’s incredible. i can’t imagine how awesome it is for you <3
Records of Berries
Same, I was 16-18 when this came out. Looking back at the past 9 years, we’ve all been through all these heartbreaks and more. It feels different this time
StraighttoER
Same here. Sitting at my chair, this time of night a decade later listening to this song again but completely changed and still me at the same time. Idk how to explain it but theres this certain emotion im feeling rn, its like happiness and im feeling content with where i am rn listening to this song enjoying it like its my first time.
Its like being comforted by an old friend who knew me a long time ago and still wrapping me around in their arms with just the same warmth they used to give me.