Shake It Off
Lead Single | 1989 (2014)
Background
Lyrical Theme and Production
«I've had every part of my life dissected – my choices, my actions, my words, my body, my style, my music. When you live your life under that kind of scrutiny, you can either let it break you, or you can get really good at dodging punches. And when one lands, you know how to deal with it. And I guess the way that I deal with it is to shake it off.»
Release
«The message in the song is a problem I think we all deal with and an issue we deal with on a daily basis. We don’t live just in a celebrity takedown culture, we live in a takedown culture. People will find anything about you and twist it to where it’s weird or wrong or annoying or strange or bad. You have to not only live your life in spite of people who don’t understand you, you have to have more fun than they do.»
Music Video
Live Performances
Taylor premiered “Shake It Off” on television at the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards on August 24, 2014. As part of promotion of 1989, she performed the song on many national and international television shows. On October 27, 2014, the day of 1989‘s release, she performed the song as part of a mini-concert titled the “1989 Secret Sessions“, live broadcast by Yahoo! and iHeartRadio. At the after party for the 40th anniversary of Saturday Night Live, Taylor performed the song in an impromptu performance with host Jimmy Fallon on backing vocals and Paul McCartney on backing vocals and bass guitar.
“Shake It Off” was included on the set list on two of Taylor’s world tours — “The 1989 World Tour” (2015), where the song was the final number, and the “reputation Stadium Tour” (2018), where she performed the song with Camila Cabello and Charli XCX as supporting acts.
Critical Reception
“Shake It Off” received mixed reviews from music critics. While some deemed the production catchy, others found the song repetitive and lacking substance compared to Taylor’s previous album RED, which was perceived to be her artistic peak. The Guardian‘s Molly Fitzpatrick similarly lauded the song’s music, but felt that the lyrics fell short of Taylor’s songwriting abilities. Giving the song a three-out-of-five-stars score, Jeff Terich from American Songwriter regarded her new direction as “a left-turn worth following”. While Terich agreed that the lyrics were dismissive, he felt that critics should not have taken the song seriously because it was “pretty harmless”. In a positive review, Jason Lipshutz from Billboard wrote, “Swift proves why she belongs among pop’s queen bees. The song sounds like a surefire hit.” Taylor herself acknowledged the song as an outlier on 1989, and deliberately released it as the lead single to encourage audiences to explore the entire album and not just the singles.
Retrospectively, Hannah Mylrae from NME considered “Shake It Off” an effective opener for Taylor’s 1989 era, which transformed her image to mainstream pop. While saying that “Shake It Off” was not one of the album’s better songs, Rob Sheffield from Rolling Stone applauded it for “serving as a trailer to announce her daring Eighties synth-pop makeover”.
Commercial Performance
After one day of release to US radio, “Shake It Off” gained an audience of nine million. The song debuted at No. 45 on the Billboard Radio Songs chart with 29 million in all-format audience after two days of release. After its first week of release, the single debuted at No. 9 on the Billboard Adult Top 40 chart, and number 12 on the Billboard Mainstream Top 40, setting the record for the highest debut on both charts. Although not officially released to country radio, the single debuted and peaked at No. 58 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart, where it stayed for one week.
“Shake It Off” debuted at No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart dated September 6, 2014, the 22nd song to do so. After two consecutive weeks at No. 1, it dropped to No. 2, where it stayed for eight consecutive weeks. “Shake It Off” returned to No. 1 in its tenth charting week, and spent a further week at the top, totaling four non-consecutive weeks atop the Hot 100. “Shake It Off” was one of the best-selling singles of the 2010s decade in the U.S., selling 5.4 million digital copies as of January 2020. As of July 2020, the single remains Taylor’s biggest chart success on the Hot 100, where it spent nearly six months in the top ten and 50 weeks in the top 100. The song was certified “Diamond” by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), which denotes 10 million units. With this achievement, Taylor is the first female artist to have both a song and an album (Fearless) certified Diamond in the U.S.
“Shake It Off” also topped the charts in Australia and Canada, where it was certified thirteen times platinum and six times platinum, respectively. In the United Kingdom, it peaked at No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart. In Japan, “Shake It Off” peaked at No. 4 on the Japan Hot 100. The single also topped record charts in Hungary, New Zealand and Poland. It was a top-five hit in other European countries, peaking at No. 2 in Spain; No. 3 in Ireland, Norway and Sweden; No. 4 in Denmark and Israel; and No. 5 in Germany and the Netherlands.
Accolades
Lyrics
[Verse 1]
I stay out too late, got nothing in my brain
That’s what people say, that’s what people say
I go on too many dates, but I can’t make them stay
At least that’s what people say, that’s what people say
[Pre-Chorus 1]
But I keep cruising
Can’t stop, won’t stop moving
It’s like I got this music in my mind
Saying it’s gonna be alright
[Chorus]
Cause the players gonna play, play, play, play, play
And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate
Baby, I’m just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake
I shake it off, I shake it off
Heartbreakers gonna break, break, break, break, break
And the fakers gonna fake, fake, fake, fake, fake
Baby, I’m just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake
I shake it off, I shake it off
[Verse 2]
I never miss a beat, I’m lightning on my feet
And that’s what they don’t see, that’s what they don’t see
I’m dancing on my own, I make the moves up as I go
And that’s what they don’t know, that’s what they don’t know
[Pre-Chorus 2]
But I keep cruising
Can’t stop, won’t stop grooving
It’s like I got this music in my mind
Saying it’s gonna be alright
[Chorus]
Cause the players gonna play, play, play, play, play
And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate
Baby, I’m just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake
I shake it off, I shake it off
Heartbreakers gonna break, break, break, break, break
And the fakers gonna fake, fake, fake, fake, fake
Baby, I’m just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake
I shake it off, I shake it off
[Post-Chorus]
I, I shake it off, I shake it off
I, I shake it off, I shake it off
I, I shake it off, I shake it off
I, I shake it off, I shake it off
I, I shake it off, I shake it off
I, I shake it off, I shake it off
I, I shake it off, I shake it off
I, I shake it off, I shake it off
[Spoken Interlude]
Hey, hey, hey!
Just think while you’ve been getting down and out about the liars
And dirty, dirty cheats of the world you could’ve been getting down to this sick beat
[Bridge]
My ex-man brought his new girlfriend
She’s like, “oh my God”, but I’m just gonna shake
And to the fella over there with the hella good hair
Won’t you come on over, baby, we can shake, shake, shake
[Chorus]
Cause the players gonna play, play, play, play, play
And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate
Baby, I’m just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake
I shake it off, I shake it off
Heartbreakers gonna break, break, break, break, break
And the fakers gonna fake, fake, fake, fake, fake
Baby, I’m just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake
I shake it off, I shake it off
[Post-Chorus]
I, I shake it off, I shake it off
I, I shake it off, I shake it off
I, I shake it off, I shake it off
I, I shake it off, I shake it off
I, I shake it off, I shake it off
I, I shake it off, I shake it off
I, I shake it off, I shake it off
I, I shake it off, I shake it off
| Album | 1989 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Released | August 14, 2014 | |||
| Recorded | February 15, 2014 | |||
| Studio | Conway (Los Angeles) MXM (Stockholm) | |||
| Genre | Synth Pop Dance Pop | |||
| Length | 3:39 | |||
| Label | Big Machine Records | |||
| Songwriters | Taylor Swift Max Martin Shellback | |||
| Producers | Max Martin Shellback | |||
1989 CHRONOLOGY | ||||
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