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. Following Midnights, Taylor Swift announced her eleventh studio album, “The Tortured Poets Department” (2024) which was released on April 19, 2024. She announced this record at 66th Annual Grammy Award Show accepting the award for Best Pop Vocal Album for her previous album, Midnights (2022) in honour of receiving her 13th Grammy.
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 [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, Artist of the Decade (2010s) by the American Music Awards, and Person of the Year (2023) by Time Magazine.
Taylor Swift is the Music Industry.
The Moment I Knew
Taylor Swift Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Should've burst through the door
With that "Baby, I'm right here" smile
And it would've felt like
A million little shining stars had just aligned
And I would've been so happy
Christmas lights glisten
Just waiting for you to walk in
But the time is ticking
People ask me how I've been
As I comb back through my memory
How you said you'd be here
You said you'd be here
And it was like slow motion
Standing there in my party dress
In red lipstick
With no one to impress
And they're all laughing
As I'm looking around the room
But there was one thing missing
And that was the moment I knew
And the hours pass by
Now I just wanna be alone
But your close friends always seem to know
When there's something really wrong
So they follow me down the hall
And there in the bathroom
I try not to fall apart
And the sinking feeling starts
As I say hopelessly
"He said he'd be here"
And it was like slow motion
Standing there in my party dress
In red lipstick
With no one to impress
And they're all laughing
And asking me about you
But there was one thing missing (missing, missing)
And that was the moment I knew
What do you say, when tears are streaming down your face
In front of everyone you know?
And what do you do when the one who means the most to you
Is the one who didn't show?
You should've been here
And I would've been so happy
And it was like slow motion
Standing there in my party dress
In red lipstick
With no one to impress
And they're all standing around me singing
"Happy birthday to you"
But there was one thing missing
And that was the moment I knew
Ooh, I knew
Ooh
You called me later
And said, "I'm sorry, I didn't make it"
And I said, "I'm sorry too"
And that was the moment I knew
In Taylor Swift’s song, The Moment I Knew, she sings about the absence of someone important to her on her birthday, which caused her to feel hurt and disappointed. The lyrics portray a sense of anticipation and hope, as she waits for the person to show up, and a growing sense of sadness and resignation as the hours pass by and the person fails to arrive. The chorus of the song encapsulates the feelings of disappointment and realization that something important was missing: "And it was like slow motion / Standing there in my party dress / In red lipstick / With no one to impress / And they're all singing / Happy birthday to you / But there was one thing missing / And that was the moment I knew."
Swift’s use of imagery and metaphors creates a detailed picture of her emotions throughout the evening. The image of "a million little shining stars" in the first verse reinforces the idea of the anticipation and hope she feels for the person’s arrival. Additionally, the reference to "Christmas lights" hints at the joy and celebration that could have been present if the person had shown up. The repetition of the phrase "He said he'd be here" emphasizes the disappointment and sense of betrayal she feels when he fails to show up.
Overall, The Moment I Knew is a poignant ballad that speaks to the universal experience of waiting for someone who fails to arrive. Swift’s lyrics encapsulate the highs and lows of the experience and perfectly capture the feeling of disappointment and realization when something important is missing.
Line by Line Meaning
You should've been there
I expected you to be there with a smile on your face.
Should've burst through the door
With that "Baby, I'm right here" smile
If you had shown up, it would have been perfect and complete.
And it would've felt like
A million little shining stars had just aligned
Your presence would have made everything feel magical and perfect.
And I would've been so happy
Your presence would have brought me happiness and joy.
Christmas lights glisten
I've got my eye on the door
Just waiting for you to walk in
I was hoping you would arrive and light up the room like the Christmas lights did.
But the time is ticking
People ask me how I've been
As I comb back through my memory
As time passes by, people keep asking me how I'm feeling, and I keep reliving the memories of the day you didn't show up.
How you said you'd be here
You said you'd be here
I believed your promise that you would be there for me.
And it was like slow motion
Standing there in my party dress
In red lipstick
With no one to impress
I felt like time had slowed down as I stood there looking pretty but feeling empty and unimportant without you.
And they're all laughing
As I'm looking around the room
But there was one thing missing
And that was the moment I knew
Everyone else seemed to be having fun, but I realized that what I really needed was you and your love.
And the hours pass by
Now I just wanna be alone
But your close friends always seem to know
When there's something really wrong
As time goes on, I just want to be by myself, but your friends can tell that something is troubling me deeply.
So they follow me down the hall
And there in the bathroom
I try not to fall apart
And the sinking feeling starts
As I say hopelessly
"He said he'd be here"
Your friends come with me to the bathroom, where I struggle to keep my emotions in check and the realization sinks in that you didn't keep your promise.
What do you say, when tears are streaming down your face
In front of everyone you know?
I wonder what to say when I'm crying in front of everyone who knows me.
And what do you do when the one who means the most to you
Is the one who didn't show?
It's hard to cope when the person who means everything to you is the one who let you down.
And they're all standing around me singing
"Happy birthday to you"
But there was one thing missing
And that was the moment I knew
As everyone sings "Happy Birthday," I realize that the only thing I really wanted was you.
You called me later
And said, "I'm sorry, I didn't make it"
And I said, "I'm sorry too"
And that was the moment I knew
When you finally called and apologized, I knew that your absence really hurt me and our relationship was forever changed.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Taylor Alison Swift
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@leo-gk1qf
Definitely one of the most heartbreaking songs she has ever written
@meraytu4467
Exactly
@444m1ahh
this along with champagne problems
@shivanih8918
@@444m1ahh Hoax too
@RealRoxanneWolf
@@shivanih8918 I love those two songs so much, also one of the other saddest songs she's written is my tears ricochet
@catalinacaballero2.091
And Last Kiss
@kayra7488
this song just feels like “ you’re gonna cry while youre dancing”
@aliviadandrea
This song would be so aesthetically cinematic for a music video
@manar4120
Manifesting a music video!!!!
@messymelon2513
RIGHT‼️