Taylor Alison Swift is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans… Read Full Bio ↴Taylor Alison Swift is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her narrative songwriting, which is often inspired by her personal life, has received widespread media coverage and critical praise.

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.

Tied Tigether With a Smile
Taylor Swift Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Seems the only one who doesn't see your beauty
Is the face in the mirror looking back at you
You walk around here thinking you're not pretty
But that's not true 'cause I know you

Hold on, baby, you're losing it
The water's high, you're jumping into it
And letting go, and no one knows

That you cry, but you don't tell anyone
That you might not be the golden one
And you're tied together with a smile
But you're coming undone

I guess it's true that love was all you wanted
'Cause you're givin' it away like it's extra change
Hoping it will end up in his pocket
But he leaves you out like a penny in the rain
Oh, 'cause it's not his price to pay
It's not his price to pay

Hold on, baby, you're losing it
The water's high, you're jumping into it
And letting go, and no one knows
That you cry, but you don't tell anyone
That you might not be the golden one
And you're tied together with a smile
But you're coming undone

Hold on, baby, you're losing it
The water's high, you're jumping into it
And letting go, and no one knows
That you cry, but you don't tell anyone
That you might not be the golden one
And you're tied together with a smile
But you're coming undone

You're tied together with a smile
But you're coming undone, oh

Goodbye, baby
With a smile, baby, baby

Overall Meaning

Taylor Swift's "Tied Together with a Smile" is a soulful ballad that delves into the painful insecurity and need for validation prevalent among many young women. Swift begins the song by observing that the person who doubts their beauty the most is looking back at them from the mirror. She tells the listener that she knows they believe they're not beautiful, but it’s not true. Swift delivers a poignant message, reminding her fans that everyone struggles and beautiful people are not exempt from pain.

Although the person Swift sings to is trying to maintain a facade of happiness and a perfect life, she can see the cracks in their façade. From her lyrics, it is evident the person is so desperate for love and validation that they're giving their love away carelessly. Perhaps, they want to be noticed or appreciated by another person but sadly, these efforts are not reciprocated, causing them to feel lower and not pretty. This idea that self-worth is attached to someone else's feeling about you is a theme that Swift explores throughout some of her work.

Swift uses the metaphor of being "tied together with a smile" to illustrate how the person is a bundle of contradictions, struggling inwardly while projecting an outwardly happy demeanor. Throughout the ballad, there are hints that she is aware of how the facade is slipping, with the line "you're tied together with a smile, but you're coming undone." This line reminds us that no one can bury their pain for too long before it bubbles over.

Line by Line Meaning

Seems the only one who doesn't see your beauty
It appears as if you are the only one who does not appreciate your own beauty.

Is the face in the mirror looking back at you
The only entity that cannot see your beauty is the reflection staring back at you in the mirror.

You walk around here thinking you're not pretty
You believe that you are not good-looking, which makes you self-conscious.

But that's not true 'cause I know you
Contrary to what you believe, I am aware that you are attractive.

Hold on, baby; you're losing it
Please be patient as you seem to be losing grip on your emotions.

The water's high, you're jumping into it
It feels like you are jumping into deep waters, which might be difficult to get out of.

And letting go, and no one knows
You feel like you are letting go of things, and nobody knows how it affects you.

That you cry; but you don't tell anyone
You are most likely shedding tears, but you keep this information to yourself.

That you might not be the golden one
It is possible that you are not perfect or in the best situation.

And you're tied together with a smile
You present yourself in a certain manner, probably through smiling, despite how you're dealing with things.

But you're coming undone
Despite your effort to put on a good face, things seem to be falling apart.

I guess it's true that love was all you wanted
Perhaps all you wanted was to be loved.

'Cause you're givin' it away like it's extra change
You seem to be giving away your love without much thought, like excess coins.

Hoping it will end up in his pocket
You are probably hoping that the love you offer will be appreciated by someone who deserves it.

But he leaves you out like a penny in the rain
Your love might end up being disregarded, like a useless penny left in the rain.

Oh, 'cause it's not his price to pay
It might not be his responsibility to respond to your love the way you want him to.

You're tied together with a smile
You are maintaining a certain presentation of yourself, likely through smiling or happy appearances.

But you're coming undone, oh
Despite your efforts to keep it together, you are breaking down.

Goodbye, baby
Perhaps it is time to bid farewell to the situation causing your distress.

With a smile, baby, baby
As you leave, don't forget to smile, even though it might be tough.

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Anthem Entertainment
Written by: Taylor Alison Swift, Elisabeth Wagner Rose

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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anon

on Blank Space

Nice to meet you, where you been?
Hey there, I'm interested in getting to know you. What's your story? test

I could show you incredible things. Magic, madness, heaven, sin
I can offer you an exciting, unpredictable experience. It could be heavenly or dangerous.

Saw you there and I thought, Oh my God, look at that face. You look like my next mistake
When I saw you, I was immediately drawn to you. But I have a habit of getting into relationships that end poorly.

Love's a game, wanna play? Ayy
I view relationships as a game, and I want to see if you're up for playing it with me.

New money, suit and tie. I can read you like a magazine
You appear to be wealthy and put together, but I can tell that you're not as perfect as you may seem.

Ain't it funny, rumors fly. And I know you heard about me. So hey, let's be friends
There are likely rumors and gossip about me, but I want to befriend you despite what you might have heard.

I'm dyin' to see how this one ends. Grab your passport and my hand. I can make the bad guys good for a weekend
I'm curious to see where this relationship will go. Let's go on an adventure together and I can change your perspective on things.

So it's gonna be forever. Or it's gonna go down in flames. You can tell me when it's over, mm. If the high was worth the pain
Our relationship might be long-lasting or it might be a complete disaster. Once it's over, let me know if it was worth all the trouble.

Got a long list of ex lovers. They'll tell you I'm insane. 'Cause you know I love the players. And you love the game
I've had many past relationships that didn't end well, and they might say I'm crazy. But I can tell that you're a player, and I like the game.

Cherry lips, crystal skies. I could show you incredible things. Stolen kisses, pretty lies
I can give you thrilling, romantic experiences. But I might also deceive you with sweet lies.

You're the king, baby, I'm your queen. Find out what you want. Be that girl for a month
You can be in charge of this relationship, and I'll be there to fulfill your desires. I can try being someone different for a month.

The worst is yet to come, oh no. Screaming, crying, perfect storms. I can make all the tables turn. Rose garden filled with thorns
Things might get even worse between us. We could have explosive fights and difficulties. But I have the power to change things around. Our relationship might seem wonderful, but it has hidden dangers.

Keep you second guessing like. Oh my God, who is she? I get drunk on jealousy. But you'll come back each time you leave
I can be unpredictable and keep you on your toes. I'm prone to jealousy, but you'll keep coming back to me despite my flaws.

'Cause darling, I'm a nightmare dressed like a daydream
I might seem lovely and sweet, but I can turn into a total nightmare in a relationship.

Boys only want love if it's torture. Don't say I didn't, say I didn't warn ya
Many men enjoy being in dramatic, tumultuous relationships. I'm warning you that's what you're in for with me.

But I've got a blank space, baby. And I'll write your name
I may have a history of failed relationships, but now there's an opportunity for something new and exciting with you. I'll make you mine, and it'll be unforgettable.