Blank Space
Single | 1989 (2014) | 1989 (Taylor's Version) [2023]
Table of Contents
Background
«Every few years, the media finds something they unanimously agree is annoying about me. 2012-2013 they thought I was dating too much, because I dated two people in a year and a half. ‘Oh, a serial dater. She only writes songs to get emotional revenge on guys. She’s a man-hater, don’t let her near your boyfriend.’ It was kind of excessive and at first it was hurtful, but then I found a little bit of comedy in it. This character is so interesting, though. If you read these gossip sites, they describe how I am so opposite to my actual life: I’m clingy, and I’m awful, and I throw fits, and there’s drama. An emotionally fragile, unpredictable mess. I painted a whole picture of this character. She lives in a mansion with marble floors, she wears Dolce & Gabbana around the house, and she wears animal print unironically. So I created this whole character and I had fun doing it.»
Taylor Swift
Lyrical Theme
«Half the people got the joke, half the people thought I was really owning the fact that I’m a psychopath. Either one’s fine. It was No. 1 for eight or nine weeks, so I have no complaints.»
Taylor Swift
Music Video
Taylor planned to premiere to the video on “Good Morning America” on November 11, 2014, but Yahoo! accidentally leaked it a day before. Taylor posted the video onto her Vevo account quickly after the leak. The interactive app “American Express Unstaged: Taylor Swift Experience,” was released concurrently. The user could choose to either follow Taylor and her love interest throughout the linear storyline, or leave the storyline to explore other rooms in the mansion and find interactive easter eggs, such as Taylor’s childhood photos.
USA Today in 2017 named the video Taylor’s best music video up to date, calling it a “pure ‘art’ form”. Spin also dubbed it the greatest video she had done so far, praising the video’s combination of glamorous aesthetics and hilarious depiction of her reputation. The video for “Blank Space” won “Best Pop Video” and “Best Female Video” at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards. The “American Express Unstaged: Taylor Swift Experience” app won “Original Interactive Program” at the 67th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards. Rolling Stone placed “Blank Space” at No. 67 on its list of “100 Greatest Music Videos of All Time.”
Live Performances
Commercial Performance
The single also reached No. 1 in Australia, Canada, South Africa, and Scotland. It peaked atop the Euro Digital Song Sales, a Billboard component chart, and the Finnish Download Chart. “Blank Space” charted within the top five of national record charts, at No. 2 in New Zealand, Poland, Slovakia, No. 3 in Bulgaria, No. 4 in the Czech Republic, Ireland, Israel, the UK, and No. 5 in Lebanon. According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), the song was the eighth best-selling song of 2015, with 9.2 million track-equivalent units.
On August 14, 2023, after the announcement of 1989 (Taylor’s Version), “Blank Space” re-entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart at No. 49, nine years after its release. It last appeared on the chart in July 2015.
Critical Reception
Retrospective reviews of “Blank Space” have also been positive. Critic Alexis Petridis of The Guardian in 2019 declared “Blank Space” the best single Taylor had released, praising its success in transforming her image from a country singer-songwriter to a pop star thanks to its “effortless” melody and witty lyrics. Rolling Stone reviewer Rob Sheffield wrote: “Every second of ‘Blank Space’ is perfect”. Paste in 2020 described the song as “remarkably well-made, infectiously catchy, and legitimately funny”, and named it the best song on 1989. Selja Rankin from Entertainment Weekly also dubbed “Blank Space” the best track on the album, praising the over-the-top lyrics and its catchy 1980s pop sound.
Accolades
“Blank Space” won “Song of the Year” at the 2015 American Music Awards. At the 2016 BMI Awards, the song was one of the “Award-Winning Songs” that helped Taylor earn the honor “Songwriter of the Year.” It earned a nomination for “International Work of the Year” at the 2015 APRA Awards in Australia. At the 58th Annual Grammy Awards in 2016, “Blank Space” was nominated in three categories — “Record of the Year,” “Song of the Year,” and “Best Pop Solo Performance.”
Lyrics
[Verse 1]
Nice to meet you
Where you been?
I could show you incredible things.
Magic, madness, heaven, sin
Saw you there and I thought,
“Oh my God,
Look at that face
You look like my next mistake
Love’s a game, want to play?”
[Verse 2]
New money, suit and tie
I can read you like a magazine
Ain’t it funny, rumors fly
And I know you heard about me
So hey, let’s be friends
I’m dying to see how this one ends
Grab your passport, and my hand
I can make the bad guys good for a weekend
[Chorus]
So it’s gonna be forever
Or it’s gonna go down in flames
You can tell me when it’s over
If the high was worth the pain
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
‘Cause we’re young and we’re reckless, we’ll take this way too far
It’ll leave you breathless
Or with a nasty scar
Got a long list of ex lovers
They’ll tell you I’m insane
But I’ve got a blank space, baby…
And I’ll write your name.
[Verse 3]
Cherry lips, crystal skies
I could show you incredible things
Stolen kisses, pretty lies
You’re the King, baby, I’m your Queen
Find out what you want
Be that girl for a month
Wait, the worst is yet to come… (Oh no)
[Verse 4]
Screaming, crying, perfect storms
I can make all the tables turn
Rose garden filled with thorns
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
‘Cause darling, I’m a nightmare dressed like a daydream
[Chorus]
So it’s gonna be forever
Or it’s gonna go down in flames
You can tell me when it’s over
If the high was worth the pain
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
‘Cause we’re young and we’re reckless, we’ll take this way too far
It’ll leave you breathless
Or with a nasty scar
Got a long list of ex lovers
They’ll tell you I’m insane
But I’ve got a blank space, baby…
And I’ll write your name.
[Bridge]
Boys only want love if it’s torture
Don’t say I didn’t, say I didn’t warn you…
Boys only want love if it’s torture
Don’t say I didn’t, say I didn’t warn you…
[Chorus]
So it’s gonna be forever
Or it’s gonna go down in flames
You can tell me when it’s over
If the high was worth the pain
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
‘Cause we’re young and we’re reckless, we’ll take this way too far
It’ll leave you breathless
Or with a nasty scar
Got a long list of ex lovers
They’ll tell you I’m insane
But I’ve got a blank space, baby…
And I’ll write your name.
Artist | Taylor Swift | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Albums | 1989 1989 (Taylor’s Version) | |||
Released | October 27, 2014 | |||
Re-Released | October 27, 2023 | |||
Written | October 2013 | |||
Studio | Conway (Los Angeles) | |||
Genre | Electro Pop | |||
Length | 3:52 | |||
Labels | Big Machine Records Republic Records | |||
Songwriters | Taylor Swift Max Martin Shellback | |||
Producers | Max Martin Shellback | |||
1989 CHRONOLOGY | ||||
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