How You Get The Girl

1989 (2014)

“How You Get the Girl” works as an advice to a guy who wants to get a girl back. Taylor suggests better tactics than the ones her former lovers seemed to have used on her. It was released on her fifth album, “1989” (2014).

The song was featured in an ad for Diet Coke which starred Taylor’s cat Olivia. It is an upbeat, catchy pop song written by Taylor, Max Martin & Shellback in early 2013. In 2014, Taylor told radio.com:

“The song ‘How You Get the Girl’ is a song that I wrote about how you get the girl back if you ruined the relationship somehow and she won’t talk to you anymore. Like, if you broke up with her and left her on her own for six months and then you realize you miss her. All the steps you have to do to edge your way back into her life, because she’s probably pretty mad at you. So it’s kind of a tutorial. If you follow the directions in the song, chances are things will work out. Or you may get a restraining order.” — Taylor Swift

The song has also been rumored to be about the then on/off relationship between Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez.

Lyrics

[Intro]
Oh oh oh.
Oh-oh.

[Verse 1]
Stand there like a ghost shaking from the rain (rain).
She’ll open up the door and say, “Are you insane (‘ane)?”
Say it’s been a long 6 months
And you were too afraid to tell her what you want.

[Pre-chorus 1]
And that’s how it works.
That’s how you get the girl.

[Chorus]
And then you say,
“I want you for worse or for better,
I would wait forever and ever,
Broke your heart, I’ll put it back together.
I would wait forever and ever.”

And that’s how it works
That’s how you get the girl, girl…
Oh.

And that’s how it works
That’s how you get the girl, girl

[Verse 2]
Remind her how it used to be (yeah, yeah)
With pictures in frames of kisses on cheeks (cheeks)
Tell her how you must have lost your mind. (uh-uh)
When you left her all alone, and never told her why (why).

[Pre-chorus 2]
And that’s how it works.
That’s how you lost the girl.

[Chorus]
And now you say,
“I want you for worse or for better,
I would wait forever and ever (ever and ever),
Broke your heart, I’ll put it back together (together).
I would wait forever and ever (ever and ever).”

And that’s how it works
It’s how you get the girl, girl…
Oh.

And that’s how it works
It’s how you get the girl, girl
(Yeah, yeah)

[Bridge]
And you know (oh-oh oh oh)
That I don’t want you to go oh-oh

Remind me how it used to be.
Pictures in frames of kisses on cheeks.
And say you want me.
Yeah

[Chorus]
And that’s how it works
That’s how you get the girl, girl.
Oh. [x4]

[Outro]
That’s how it works.
That’s how you got the girl.