ME!

Feat. Brendon Urie of Panic! At The Disco | Lead Single | Lover (2019)

“ME!” is the lead single from Taylor’s seventh studio album, Lover (2019), released on April 26, 2019. Featuring Brendon Urie of Panic! at the Disco, the upbeat bubblegum pop song was written by Taylor, Urie and Joel Little, and produced by Taylor and Little. Celebrating individuality, self-acceptance and the qualities that make each person unique, “ME!” encourages listeners to embrace themselves rather than dwell on their imperfections.

“ME!” marked a new chapter for Taylor in more ways than one: it was her first single released through Republic Records after her departure from Big Machine Records, and the first song she released whose master recording she owned from the outset. Unlike her first six albums, whose original masters belonged to Big Machine, the recordings from Lover were hers to own from day one.

Background and Release

Taylor began working on Lover during a week in New York City in July 2018, while still on the “reputation Stadium Tour,” with the album’s main recording sessions beginning after the tour concluded that November. The record marked a shift from the darker atmosphere of reputation (2017), as Taylor approached songwriting from what she described to Vogue in 2019 as an “open, free, romantic, whimsical place.” She called Lover a “new beginning” and a “love letter to love, in all of its maddening, passionate, exciting, enchanting, horrific, tragic, wonderful glory,” likening its mood to the sky after a storm: “Colorful, calm, somehow more beautiful than it ever had been before.”

“ME!” took shape during the album’s January 2019 recording sessions at Electric Lady Studios in New York City, where Taylor worked with Panic! at the Disco frontman Brendon Urie and New Zealand songwriter-producer Joel Little. The collaboration with Urie came together after Taylor wrote the chorus and immediately pictured the singer joining her. During the music video premiere, she explained:

«Brendon has always been one of my favorite performers and I’ve always had it in the back of my mind that it would be INSANE to find the right thing to collab on and when I wrote this chorus I KNEW.»

Taylor Swift

Taylor had long admired his energy and theatrical performance style, while Little brought experience from his work with artists including Lorde. “ME!” marked Taylor’s first collaboration with Little and set the stage for a noticeably brighter sound than the one heard on reputation.

Taylor launched the single’s release campaign with a countdown on her official website, set to end at midnight on April 26, 2019. In the weeks leading up to the reveal, she posted pastel-colored images and clues on social media, prompting fans to speculate about the start of a new era. On April 25, hundreds of fans gathered at a butterfly mural in Nashville’s Gulch neighborhood, painted by Kelsey Montague, as the word “ME!” was added between the butterfly’s wings. Taylor then appeared in person, revealing that the mural was part of her campaign and praising fans for their “FBI level detective skills.”

Later that evening, Taylor joined Robin Roberts during ABC’s broadcast of the 2019 NFL Draft in Nashville, where she confirmed that “ME!” would feature Urie and that both the song and its music video would premiere at midnight. She described the single as “a song about embracing your individuality and really celebrating it and owning it,” adding that she wanted its catchy melody to make listeners “feel better about themselves.” Released on April 26, 2019, “ME!” arrived with a colorful, Easter-egg-filled music video co-directed by Taylor and Dave Meyers. The surprise-heavy rollout officially opened the Lover era, replacing the previous era’s darker imagery with butterflies, rainbows and pastel colors.

Artist	Taylor Swift
Album	Lover
Feature	Brendon Urie of Panic! At The Disco
Written	January 2019
Released	April 26, 2019
Studios	Electric Lady (New York City) Golden Age West (Auckland)
Genre	Bubblegum Pop
Length	3:13
Label	Republic Records
Songwriters	Taylor Swift Brendon Urie Joel Little
Producers	Joel Little Taylor Swift

Single Artwork

Lyrical Theme

At its core, “ME!” celebrates self-acceptance and the qualities that make each person unique, including the imperfections that can make them feel difficult to love. When introducing the single, Taylor explained that she wanted to use pop music’s infectious melodies to spread a positive message: “With a pop song, we have an ability to get a melody stuck in people’s heads, and I just want it to be one that makes them feel better about themselves, not worse.” Rather than encouraging listeners to compare themselves with others, she hoped the song would remind them that they are valuable precisely because of who they are. In an interview about the song, Taylor elaborated on the thinking behind its playful approach to individuality:

«This song is such a celebration and it’s so playful. When I thought of this melody, I was like, ‘It’s so catchy. What do we want to get stuck in people’s heads?’ And what I wanted was to make people happy about themselves because I think everyone is so neurotic, and insecure, and anxious about things. I think there should be a way for us to have a song stuck in our heads that reinforces the fact that we’re different. And obviously there are a lot of songs about, ‘I’m special,’ but I hadn’t heard one recently that was about, ‘I’m special because of who I am.’»

Taylor Swift

The song conveys this message through a playful back-and-forth between Taylor and Urie, whose characters acknowledge their flaws while reassuring each other that nobody else could take their place. Taylor’s character admits to being impulsive and prone to overreacting, presenting these imperfections as part of what makes her distinctive rather than something she needs to hide. As she explained, “I think there should be a way for us to have a song stuck in our heads that reinforces the fact that we’re different.” This lighthearted approach also sets the tone for Lover, introducing an era in which Taylor explored love with greater openness, warmth and a willingness to embrace imperfection.

Production

“ME!” leans into bright bubblegum pop, pairing handclaps and bouncy percussion with an instantly catchy, chant-like chorus. Joel Little and Taylor build the production around colorful layers and theatrical vocal exchanges between Taylor and Brendon Urie, giving the track an almost musical-theatre energy. The deliberately oversized sound matches the song’s playful personality, making it feel less like a typical love song and more like a full-blown pop celebration.

Live Performances

Taylor and Brendon Urie gave “ME!” its live debut by opening the 2019 Billboard Music Awards on May 1, just days after the single’s release. The pair reunited for performances at the season finale of The Voice on May 21 and iHeartRadio’s Wango Tango on June 1, bringing the song’s colorful, theatrical energy to each stage. Taylor also performed it solo during her international promotional run, including appearances at Germany’s Next Topmodel, The Graham Norton Show and the French version of The Voice, where she paired it with “Shake It Off.”

Taylor continued performing “ME!” throughout the summer and autumn of 2019, including her Amazon Prime Day concert, a Good Morning America show in Central Park and the one-off City of Lover concert in Paris on September 9. She later sang it at the We Can Survive charity concert, on Japanese television, at the Alibaba Singles’ Day Gala in Shanghai and at London’s Jingle Bell Ball. On December 13, her 30th birthday, she performed the song at iHeartRadio Z100’s Jingle Ball in New York City. The City of Lover performance gained a second life when it was released on digital music platforms on May 17, 2020, after the concert was broadcast as a television special amid the cancellation of the planned “Lover Fest” tour.

Despite being the lead single from Lover, “ME!” did not make the main setlist of “The Eras Tour” (2023–2024), making its eventual appearance all the more memorable. On November 20, 2023, Taylor performed the song acoustically on guitar as a surprise song at the final Rio de Janeiro show, marking its tour debut. Before playing it, she acknowledged the Brazilian audience’s support for the album, explaining that they had originally planned to come to Brazil and perform Lover songs but had to wait until then. The crowd sang along so loudly that Taylor reacted with surprise, turning a song often overlooked in discussions of her catalogue into a particularly joyful moment for the fans who had been waiting to hear it live.

Music Video

The colorful music video for “ME!” marked a symbolic departure from the dark aesthetic of reputation, welcoming fans into the Lover era. Taylor described it to The Independent in May 2019 as a “love letter to romantic, epic musical films” with an eccentric twist, drawing inspiration from Disney films and classics like Singin’ in the Rain. The video amassed over 65.2 million views in its first 24 hours, breaking Vevo’s record at the time. Taylor also revealed that the video contained multiple layers of Easter eggs hinting at the upcoming album, singles and tour.

Accolades and Critical Reception

“ME!” received mixed reviews from music critics, with its infectious pop hooks praised by some and its deliberately sugary sound and lyrics criticized by others. Roisin O’Connor of The Independent commended Taylor’s “mastery of the infectious pop hook,” describing the single as a drastic reinvention that signalled a brighter era. Time’s Raisa Bruner viewed it as an anthem of self-love, while noting that it lacked the emotional depth of Taylor’s most memorable songwriting. Other critics were less enthusiastic: Rob Harvilla of The Ringer called it a “cloyingly goofy Disney-pop confection,” and Spencer Kornhaber of The Atlantic argued that its simplistic approach sacrificed some of the qualities that had made Taylor’s songwriting distinctive. Reacting to the reviews, Taylor said:

«I wanted [fans] to see that I’m heading in a different direction musically than they’ve seen in the past few years. This song was to change expectations and be a bit of a palette cleanser before they heard more of this new project. Plus, the chorus just makes me happy and lifts my mood when I sing it. I never want to be presumptuous, but I hoped it might do the same for someone who’s having a shitty day.»

Taylor Swift

While the song itself divided critics, its colorful music video became a major awards contender. At the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards, “ME!” received nominations for “Best Collaboration” and “Best Cinematography,” winning “Best Visual Effects” for its elaborate, pastel-filled visuals. It also won “Best Video” at the 2019 MTV Europe Music Awards and “Best Female International Artist Video” at the MTV Video Music Awards Japan. Further nominations followed at the 2020 iHeartRadio Music Awards for “Best Music Video” and “Favorite Music Video Choreography,” reflecting the video’s impact beyond its initial online success.

The video also made history through its viewership: it amassed 65.2 million views on Vevo in its first 24 hours, setting a new record, and reached 100 million views in just 79 hours, the fastest any video had achieved that milestone on the platform at the time. These achievements made “ME!” a striking example of how Taylor’s elaborate visual storytelling and carefully planted Easter eggs could turn a single release into a major pop-culture event, even as the song’s critical reception remained divided.

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