cardigan
Lead Single | folklore (2020)
Table of Contents
Background and Composition
«The song is about a long lost romance, and why young love is often fixed so permanently within our memories. When looking back on it, why it leaves such an incredible mark and how special it made you feel; all the good things it made you feel, all the pain that it made you feel...The line about feeling like you were an old cardigan under someone's bed, but someone put you on and made you feel like you were their favorite.»
Taylor Swift
«That’s the first song we wrote. After Taylor asked if I would be interested in writing with her remotely and working on songs, I said, 'Are you interested in a certain kind of sound?' She said, 'I’m just interested in what you do and what you’re up to. Just send anything, literally anything, it could be the weirdest thing you’ve ever done,' so I sent a folder of stuff I had done that I was really excited about recently. 'cardigan' was one of those sketches; it was originally called 'Maple.' It was basically exactly what it is on the record, except we added orchestration later that my brother wrote. I sent [the file] at 9 p.m., and around 2 a.m. or something, there was 'cardigan,' fully written. That’s when I realized something crazy was happening. She just dialed directly into the heart of the music, and wrote an incredible song, and fully conceived of it, and then kept going. It harkens back to lessons learned, or experiences in your youth, in a really beautiful way, and this sense of longing and sadness but ultimately, it’s cathartic. I thought it was a perfect match for the music, and how her voice feels. It was kind of a guide. It had these lower register parts, and I think we both realized that this was a bit of a lightning rod for a lot of the rest of the record.»
Aaron Dessner
Music Video
Live Performances
Critical Reception
Commercial Performance
With the song’s debut at the No. 1 spot of the Billboard Hot 100, it became Taylor’s sixth No. 1 single in the United States. Along with folklore debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 the same week, Taylor became the first artist ever to debut atop the Hot 100 and Billboard 200 simultaneously. The song further topped Billboard Hot Alternative Songs, Hot Rock & Alternative Songs, Streaming Songs and Digital Song Sales charts, making Taylor the first act in history to garner twenty chart-toppers on the latter.
Award Recognition
Fashion and Aesthetic
Lyrics
[Verse 1]
Vintage tee, brand new phone
High heels on cobblestones
When you are young they assume you know nothing
Sequined smile, black lipstick
Sensual politics
When you are young they assume you know nothing
[Chorus 1]
But I knew you
Dancing in your Levi’s
Drunk under a streetlight
I knew you
Hand under my sweatshirt
Baby, kiss it better
[Refrain]
And when I felt like I was an old cardigan under someone’s bed
You put me on and said I was your favorite
[Verse 2]
A friend to all is a friend to none
Chase two girls, lose the one
When you are young they assume you know nothing
[Chorus 2]
But I knew you
Playing hide-and-seek and
Giving me your weekends
I knew you
Your heartbeat on the High Line
Once in twenty lifetimes
[Refrain]
And when I felt like I was an old cardigan under someone’s bed
You put me on and said I was your favorite
[Bridge]
To kiss in cars and downtown bars
Was all we needed
You drew stars around my scars
But now I’m bleeding
[Chorus 3]
‘Cause I knew you
Stepping on the last train
Marked me like a bloodstain
I knew you
Tried to change the ending
Peter losing Wendy
I knew you
Leaving like a father
Running like water
And when you are young they assume you know nothing
[Verse 3]
But I knew you’d linger like a tattoo kiss
I knew you’d haunt all of my what-ifs
The smell of smoke would hang around this long
‘Cause I knew everything when I was young
I knew I’d curse you for the longest time
Chasing shadows in the grocery line
I knew you’d miss me once the thrill expired
And you’d be standing in my front porch light
And I knew you’d come back to me
You’d come back to me
And you’d come back to me
And you’d come back
[Refrain]
And when I felt like I was an old cardigan
Under someone’s bed
You put me on and said I was your favorite
[Spoken]
“So first of all, I’m obsessed with, like, pretty much all of these tracks, and it was really hard to figure out like what I wanted to write first because I had thoughts for all of them. So, unbelievable archives, I can’t believe you have this just, like, laying around, that’s…ridiculous, these are unbelievable. But anyway, I was working something up for the “Maple” one? And I came up with this thing, and it’s probably gonna obviously like be sequencing differences like, you know, different lengths and different verses and whatever, but this is just like a rough, uh, thing.”
[Verse 1]
Vintage tee, brand new phone
High heels on cobblestones
When you are young they assume you know nothing
Sequin smile, black lipstick
Sensual politics
When you are young they assume you know nothing
[Chorus 1]
But I knew you
Dancing in your Levi’s
Drunk under a streetlight
I knew you
Hand under my sweatshirt
Baby, kiss it better
[Refrain]
And when I felt like I was an old cardigan under someone’s bed
You put me on and said I was your favorite
[Verse 2]
A friend to all is a friend to none
Chase two girls, lose the one
When you are young they assume you know nothing
[Chorus 2]
But I knew you
Living in a gold age
Sneak into my bird cage
I knew you
Laughing like a damn fool
Breaking every damn rule
[Refrain]
And when I felt like I was an old cardigan under someone’s bed
You put me on and said I was your favorite
[Instrumental Break]
“And then, there’s like a break, because I don’t really know what’s gonna happen here, but I do have like a… I think it’s here? Was where I was putting a bridge thing.”
[Bridge]
And to kiss in cars and downtown bars
Was all we needed
You drew stars around my scars
Now I’m bleeding
I’m bleeding
[Instrumental Break]
“We’ll work on that and not make it bad. And then, um, there’s all this time, but when the, like, kind of major chorus comes back in, I wait ’til then, and then, I start singing again. I don’t think it’s right now, but… there it is. The ending.”
[Chorus 3]
‘Cause I knew you
Stepping on the last train
Marked me like a bloodstain
I knew you
Tried to change the ending
Peter leaving Wendy
I knew you
Dancing in your Levi’s
Drunk under a streetlight
I knew you
That when you are young they assume you know nothing
[Verse 3]
But I knew you’d linger like a stolen kiss
I knew you’d haunt all of my what-ifs
The smell of smoke would hang around this long
‘Cause I knew everything when I was young
I knew I’d curse you for the longest time
I knew I’d wish you would’ve changed your mind
I knew you’d miss me once the moment died
I knew to love would be to lose my mind
[Outro]
And then, I don’t know. You let me know what you think. And, uh, that’s just kind of like a rough idea of… something. Let me know if you like it.
Artist | Taylor Swift | |||
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Album | folklore | |||
Released | July 24, 2020 | |||
Written | April 28, 2020 | |||
Studios | Kitty Committee (Los Angeles) Long Pond (Hudson Valley) | |||
Genre | Indie Folk | |||
Length | 3:59 | |||
Label | Republic Records | |||
Songwriters | Taylor Swift Aaron Dessner | |||
Producer | Aaron Dessner | |||
FOLKLORE CHRONOLOGY | ||||
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