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End Game

Feat. Ed Sheeran & Future | Single | reputation (2017)

“End Game” is track two on Taylor’s sixth studio album, reputation (2017). It features Ed Sheeran and Future and was released as the album’s third single. They all sing to their respective partners, confessing they want to be their end game.

Background

Taylor released her fifth studio album, 1989, in October 2014. Its synth-pop production transformed her sound and image from country-oriented to mainstream pop. The album was a massive commercial success and solidified Taylor’s status as a global pop star. However, in 2016, when she was at the peak of overexposure, some of her rivals in the industry (including Scooter Braun, Kanye West and Justin Bieber) succeded in launching a worldwide hate campaign against her. As a result, Taylor disappeared from public view for an entire year and thought about quitting music for good. She was mostly absent on social media, having previously maintained an active presence with a large following, and avoided appearances in public. In the meantime, she was working on her sixth studio album, reputation, which served as an answer to the media scrutiny surrounding her celebrity.

Lyrical Theme

Taylor began working on “End Game” alone. The song revolves around the idea of her wanting to spend the rest of her life with her new boyfriend, signifying a deep and enduring connection, while navigating public scrutiny and personal reputations. While she never mentions her lover by his name, she told fans at a “reputation Secret Session” in late 2017 that all love songs on reputation were written with her boyfriend at the time, Joe Alwyn, in mind.

Guest Verses

Taylor invited her close friend Ed Sheeran over for pasta on July 13, 2017. They had previously worked together on her 2012 track “Everything Has Changed,” on which Ed sang the second verse. Taylor had already written the lyric, “I wanna be your A-team” and wanted to play it for Ed because of his breakthrough single “The A Team”. She then told him she would love for him to provide a verse, so they began writing it right away.

Notably, Ed sings, “I’ve made mistakes and made some choices, that’s hard to deny. After the storm, something was born on the 4th of July.” He and his wife Cherry Seaborn got together over the July 4 weekend in 2015 and the couple celebrated their first anniversary at Taylor’s house in Rhode Island over the holiday in 2016. He said:

«I actually wrote [my verse] in, I remember where it was, I was in a hotel room in New York, in bed at about eight o'clock in the morning. I woke up ‘cause for some reason I, like, dreamed it in my head what I was gonna do. […] I woke up and then, like, typed it all out and then recorded it like a day later and sent it to [Taylor]. And I remember [she] liked it, which is good, positive. […] I’ve never really featured like this, maybe I’ve done, like, two tracks where I’ve featured. […] Well, you see, [the 'Fourth of July' line] is kind of a play on words. Not really a play on words, it’s kind of…there’s a film with Tom Cruise called Born on the Fourth of July…my relationship started on the fourth of July.»

Ed Sheeran

The idea to collaborate with Future came about when Taylor and Ed got drunk and just began talking about how cool it would be if he would feature too. “End Game” is Taylor’s overall third collaboration with a rapper, following the remix of her track “Bad Blood” (2015) with Kendrick Lamar and “Both of Us” (2012), a song by B.o.B., featuring Taylor.

Live Performances

Taylor and Ed Sheeran performed “End Game” for the first time during the “Jingle Ball” festival hosted by iHeartRadio on December 2, 2017. A solo version of the song was included in the regular set list for Taylor’s “reputation Stadium Tour” (2018).

Five years later, Taylor performed the song acoustically for the first time during her sixth headlining concert tour, “The Eras Tour” (2023-2024). It was the second surprise song during her show on November 11, 2023, in Buenos Aires (Argentina). She sang it acoustically on piano. Instead of reputation‘s standard green, the light-up bracelets glowed red and yellow as a tribute to Taylor’s boyfriend, Travis Kelce, an NFL star from the Kansas City Chiefs, whose team colors are red and yellow. Travis was present at the show that night. On August 15, 2024, Taylor performed “End Game” at Wembley Stadium with Ed Sheeran in London. That night, they also played “Everything Has Changed” (2012) and Ed’s hit song “Thinking Out Loud” (2014).

Music Video

On January 12, 2018, Taylor uploaded the music video for “End Game” onto her Vevo channel. Directed by Joseph Kahn, the video depicts her partying at three locations during nighttime: with Future on a yacht in Miami, with Ed Sheeran at a nightclub in Tokyo, and with various friends at a New Year’s Eve party and a double decker bus in London. While singing/rapping with Future, Taylor is seen riding shotgun in a Lamborghini Aventador with him. In one of the London scenes, she is seen sitting on a bar playing Snake on a handheld game console, a reference to her reputation as a “snake” during promotion of the album. This reference is also noted in one of the Tokyo scenes, in which she rides a motorcycle in a snakeskin-patterned bodysuit.

Critical Reception

The song received mixed reviews from critics. In a review by Pitchfork, Meaghan Garvey was not impressed by the guest appearances of Future and Sheeran, the former of which was seemingly a means to help Taylor stay relevant with contemporary hip hop trends. Garvey also criticized the production as bland, feeling that the song is an “uninspired” attempt at the authentic hip hop sound: “The decisions here feel measured to the point of lifelessness; preoccupied by the end game, risks become liabilities.” Brian Josephs from Spin praised Future’s verse, feeling that the rapper “fully owned it, making him a bizarrely good fit for a modern day Swift song”. “End Game” was one of the award-winning songs at the 2019 BMI Awards. It also won Pop Award at the 2019 BMI London Awards, in honor of songwriters and producers.

Commercial Performance

The track was released as the third single off reputation and sent to contemporary hit radio on December 3, 2017 in the United States. The music video was directed by Joseph Kahn and was released on January 11th, 2018. “End Game” became Taylor’s 55th top forty hit and the third single from reputation to reach the top 40.

Lyrics

[Chorus: Taylor Swift & Future]
I wanna be your end game
I wanna be your first string
I wanna be your A Team
I wanna be your end game
End game

[Post-Chorus: Taylor Swift & Future]
Big reputation
Big reputation
Ooh, you and me we got big reputations
Ah, and you heard about me
Ooh, I got some big enemies (Yeah)
Big reputation
Big reputation
Ooh, you and me would be a big conversation
Ah, and I heard about you (Yeah)
Ooh, you like the bad ones too?

[Verse 1: Future]
You so dope
Don’t overdose
I’m so stoked
I need a toast
We do the most
I’m in the Ghost
Like I’m whippin’ a boat
I got a reputation, girl
That don’t precede me (Yeah)
I’m one call away whenever you need me (Yeah)
I’m in a G5 (Yeah)
Come to the A-Side (Yeah)
I got a bad boy persona
That’s what they like (What they like)
You love it
I love it too
‘Cause you my type (You my type)
You hold me down
And I protect you with my life

[Pre-Chorus 1: Taylor Swift & Future]
I don’t wanna touch you
I don’t wanna be
Just another ex love
You don’t wanna see
I don’t wanna miss you (I don’t wanna miss you)
Like the other girls do
I don’t wanna hurt you
I just wanna be
Drinking on a beach with
You all over me
I know what they all say (I know what they all say)
But I ain’t trying to play

[Chorus: Taylor Swift]
I wanna be your end game (End game)
I wanna be your first string (First string)
I wanna be your A Team (A Team)
I wanna be your end game
End game

[Verse 2: Ed Sheeran]
Knew her when I was young
Reconnected when we were little bit older, both sprung
I got issues and chips on both of my shoulders
Reputation precedes me
In rumors I’m knee-deep
The truth is it’s easier to ignore it
Believe me
Even when we’d argue we’d not do it for long
And you understand the good and bad end up in a song
For all your beautiful traits and the way you do it with ease
For all my flaws, paranoia and insecurities
I’ve made mistakes and made some choices
That’s hard to deny
After the storm
Something was born on the 4th of July
I’ve passed days without fun
This end game is the one
With four words on the tip of my tongue
I’ll never say it

[Pre-chorus 2: Taylor Swift]
I don’t wanna touch you
I don’t wanna be
Just another ex love
You don’t wanna see
I don’t wanna miss you (I don’t wanna miss you)
Like the other girls do
I don’t wanna hurt you
I just wanna be
Drinking on a beach with
You all over me
I know what they all say (Yeah)
But I ain’t trying to play

[Chorus: Taylor Swift]
I wanna be your end game (End game)
I wanna be your first string (Wanna be your first string)
I wanna be your A Team (A Team)
I wanna be your end game
End game

[Post-Chorus: Taylor Swift]
Big reputation
Big reputation
Ooh, you and me we got big reputations
Ah, and you heard about me
Ooh, I got some big enemies
Big reputation
Big reputation
Ooh, you and me would be a big conversation
Ah, and I heard about you
Ooh, you like the bad ones too?

[Verse 3: Taylor Swift]
I hit you like BANG
We tried to forget it, but we just couldn’t
And I bury hatchets, but I keep maps of where I put ’em
Reputation precedes me
They told you I’m crazy
I swear I don’t love the drama
It loves me
And I can’t let you go
Your hand print’s on my soul
It’s like your eyes are liquor
It’s like your body is gold
You’ve been calling my bluff
On all my usual tricks
So here’s the truth from my red lips

[Chorus: Taylor Swift, Future & Ed Sheeran]
I wanna be your end game
End game
I wanna be your first string (Me and you)
First string
I wanna be your A Team (Be your A Team now)
A Team
I wanna be your end game
End game
I wanna be your end game
Oh, I do
I wanna be your first string
First string
I wanna be your A Team
A Team
I wanna be your end game
End game