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 āLove Storyā and āYou Belong with Meā, 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 āMineā and āBack to Decemberā.
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 āWe Are Never Ever Getting Back Togetherā, āI Knew You Were Troubleā, āShake It Offā, āBlank Spaceā, āBad Bloodā, āLook What You Made Me Doā, āME! (feat. Brendon Urie of Panic! at the Disco)ā, āYou Need to Calm Downā, and āLoverā.
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 ācardiganā and āwillowā 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 āAll Too Wellā 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 Tourāa 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. āIs It Over Now? (Taylor's Version)ā, 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 Australiaās 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 albumās 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 soundtrackā āYou'll Always Find Your Way Back Homeā and āCrazierā, and contributed two songs to the Valentine's Day soundtrack, including the single āToday Was a Fairytaleā, 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: āSafe & Sound - from The Hunger Games Soundtrackā, co-written and recorded with The Civil Wars and T-Bone Burnett, and āEyes Openā. āSafe & Soundā 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 āSweeter than Fictionā, 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, āI Don't Wanna Live Foreverā, for the soundtrack of the film Fifty Shades Darker (2017). She also recorded an original song called āBeautiful Ghostsā, which she wrote with Andrew Lloyd Webber for the Cats's soundtrack (2019). In 2020, Swift's documentary Miss Americana featured the song āOnly the Youngā which was written after the 2018 United States elections. In 2022, she released an original song titled āCarolinaā 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.
Say Don
Taylor Swift Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
We're a shot in the darkest dark
Oh no, oh no, I'm unarmed
The waiting is a sadness
Fading into madness
Oh no, oh no, it won't stop
I'm standin' on a tightrope alone
Halfway out the door, but it won't close
I'm holdin' out hope for you to
Say, "Don't go"
I would stay forever if you say, "Don't go"
Why'd you have to lead me on?
Why'd you have to twist the knife?
Walk away and leave me bleedin', bleedin'?
Why'd you whisper in the dark?
Just to leave me in the night?
Now your silence has me screamin', screamin'
(Say) say, "(don't) don't (go) go"
I would stay forever if you (say) say, "(don't) don't (go) go"
(Say, say, say, say)
Now I'm pacin' on shaky ground
Strike a match, then you blow it out
Oh no, oh no, it's not fair
'Cause you kiss me and it stops time
And I'm yours, but you're not mine
Oh no, oh no, you're not there
I'm standin' on the sidewalk alone
I wait for you to drive by
I'm tryna see the cards that you won't show
I'm about to fold unless you
(Say) say, "(don't) don't (go) go"
I would stay forever if you (say) say, "(don't) don't (go) go"
Why'd you have to lead me on?
Why'd you have to twist the knife?
Walk away and leave me bleedin', bleedin'?
Why'd you whisper in the dark?
Just to leave me in the night?
Now your silence has me screamin', screamin'
(Say) say, "(don't) don't (go) go"
I would stay forever if you (say) say, "(don't) don't (go) go," whoa
(Say, say, say, say)
Why'd you have to (why'd you have to)
Make me want you (make me want you)?
Why'd you have to (why'd you have to)
Give me nothin' back?
Why'd you have to (why'd you have to)
Make me love you (make me love you)?
I said, "I love you" (I said, "I love you")
You say nothin' back
Why'd you have to lead me on? (Oh)
Why'd you have to twist the knife?
Walk away and leave me bleedin', bleedin'?
Why'd you whisper in the dark
Just to leave me in the night?
Now your silence has me screamin', screamin'
(Say) say, "(don't) don't (go) go"
I would stay forever if you (say) say, "(don't) don't (go) go," whoa
(Say, say, say, say)
But you won't, but you won't, but you won't
I would stay forever if you say, "don't go"
But you won't, but you won't, but you won't
The lyrics of Taylor Swift's song "Say Don't Go" depict a person grappling with the pain of a one-sided love and the fear of being abandoned. The singer acknowledges that they knew from the beginning that their relationship was uncertain and fragile, like a shot in the dark. They feel vulnerable and defenseless, as if they are unarmed and waiting in sadness that slowly turns into madness. Despite the agony, they are unable to stop hoping for the person they love to stay, begging them not to leave.
The singer compares their emotional state to standing on a tightrope alone, holding their breath, and waiting. They feel like they are halfway out of the door, ready to leave, but still holding on to hope that the other person will ask them to stay. They long for a simple plea, "Say, 'Don't go,'" that would make them stay forever. The pain intensifies as they question why the other person led them on, twisted the knife, and then walked away, leaving them bleeding. They wonder why they were whispered to in the dark, only to be left alone in the night, with their silence becoming unbearable.
The second verse portrays the singer pacing on shaky ground, as their emotions are unstable. They describe a moment when the other person's kiss stops time, and they surrender themselves to them, even though the other person is not present. They reveal their desperate yearning, waiting on the sidewalk, trying to uncover the other person's true intentions. They are about to give up unless they hear the words they long for: "Say, 'Don't go.'"
The song continues to explore the pain and confusion caused by the other person's actions, highlighting the singer's frustration at being given nothing back, despite their love and vulnerability. The lyrics express bewilderment at why the other person led them on, made them want them, and yet gave them no reciprocation. The song concludes with the repeated plea for the other person to say, "Don't go," expressing the singer's willingness to stay forever if they hear those words, but ultimately realizing that the other person won't say them.
Overall, "Say Don't Go" captures the feelings of unrequited love, desperation, and the torment of clinging onto hope in a one-sided relationship.
Line by Line Meaning
I've known it from the very start
I have always been aware of this situation or feeling
We're a shot in the darkest dark
We are taking a chance in a difficult or uncertain situation
Oh no, oh no, I'm unarmed
I feel vulnerable and defenseless
The waiting is a sadness
Waiting for you is causing me sadness
Fading into madness
This sadness is slowly driving me crazy
Oh no, oh no, it won't stop
This feeling of sadness and madness won't go away
I'm standin' on a tightrope alone
I am in a precarious situation all by myself
I hold my breath a little bit longer
I am anxiously holding onto hope for a little while longer
Halfway out the door, but it won't close
I am ready to leave, but something is stopping me
I'm holdin' out hope for you to
I am still hopeful that you will
Say, 'Don't go'
Express to me that you don't want me to leave
I would stay forever if you say, 'Don't go'
If you tell me not to leave, I would stay with you indefinitely
Why'd you have to lead me on?
Why did you give me false hope or false signals?
Why'd you have to twist the knife?
Why did you have to hurt me even more?
Walk away and leave me bleedin', bleedin'?
Why did you abandon me while I am in pain?
Why'd you whisper in the dark?
Why did you say something intimate or special to me in secret?
Just to leave me in the night?
Only to abandon me when it mattered the most?
Now your silence has me screamin', screamin'
Your lack of communication is driving me to frustration and desperation
(Say) say, '(don't) don't (go) go'
Tell me not to leave
I would stay forever if you (say) say, '(don't) don't (go) go'
My commitment to staying with you is dependent on you asking me not to leave
Now I'm pacin' on shaky ground
I am anxiously moving back and forth on unstable and uncertain territory
Strike a match, then you blow it out
You ignite my hope and then extinguish it
Oh no, oh no, it's not fair
This situation or treatment is unjust or unfair
'Cause you kiss me and it stops time
When you kiss me, it feels like everything else fades away
And I'm yours, but you're not mine
I have given myself to you, but you do not reciprocate the same commitment
Oh no, oh no, you're not there
You are emotionally distant or unavailable
I'm standin' on the sidewalk alone
I am left alone on the sidewalk
I wait for you to drive by
I hope for your presence or acknowledgment
I'm tryna see the cards that you won't show
I am trying to understand your motives or intentions that you keep hidden
I'm about to fold unless you
I am on the verge of giving up unless you
Make me want you
Inspire me to desire you
Give me nothin' back?
Provide me with nothing in return?
Make me love you
Convince me to fall in love with you
I said, 'I love you'
I expressed my love for you
You say nothin' back
You do not respond or reciprocate my love
But you won't, but you won't, but you won't
However, you refuse to do so
I would stay forever if you say, 'don't go'
I am willing to remain with you indefinitely if you ask me not to leave
Lyrics Ā© BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Diane Eve Warren, Taylor Alison Swift
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@winterbreezekirb1201
The fact that itās an intertwining of the melodyās of clean, how you get the girl, and all you had to do was stay while still feeling original is immaculate
@stefsire
i thought i was the only one who noticed the similaritiessssss
@mostlythinking1964
I thought so...I'm glad I hav company š„¹
@sheilamaepalao
It is more similar with Forever Winter even the lyrics
@visualscenes
I thought of this during my first listen right now.
@XydneyyendyX
Yeah
@seraphicgrandeur
A LITERAL GEM. I DONT KNOW HOW I SURVIVED THE LAST 9 YEARS WITHOUT THIS MASTERPIECE! SO GLAD SHE RELEASED IT
@charlottemarie1005
Imagine all the other songs she hasn't shown us š¢š¢
@scottiebritt3009
Please please Swifties, listen to Smokey Black Nights and help me get her to release it. Trust Tay listens to her fans@@charlottemarie1005
@aestheticqueen15
@@charlottemarie1005well Iām sure itās a surprise or for later releases