New Year's Day
Single (US Country Radio) | reputation (2017)
Table of Contents
Background
In 2016, when Taylor 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 became increasingly reticent on social media, having previously maintained an active presence with a large following, and avoided interactions with the press. She conceived her sixth studio album, reputation, as an answer to the media commotion surrounding her celebrity.
Lyrical Theme
«Two New Year’s Eve’s ago, I found myself in the midst of a very incredible 3 a.m. moment where you feel like you’re invincible and you end up like jumping in a pool in the winter. And you feel super untouchable in that moment. And then the next morning you feel very fragile. And you’re like, 'This is love! This is what love really is.' We all wanna find someone to kiss at midnight, that’s cool or whatever, but who’s gonna want to hang out with you the next day when you’re like ‘ADVIL OR NOTHING.’ So this is a song about real love and finding someone to hang out with on New Year’s Day.»
Hits Daily Double wrote that “New Year’s Day” was originally only going to appear on the deluxe edition of reputation, but after that was scrapped, it was added to the standard edition.
Composition
«It was the quickest [song to record]. If you listen to the piano on that record, you can hear me moving around. You hear things clicking. Those are the ‘scratch takes’ — we did that very quickly. It came out in that sort of goofy Hollywood version of how music is written, where it comes out of moments of inspiration. Part of the process is you do that [scratch take], and then you do it for real. But we just sat there: That’s the song. You want a song to sound like itself. You don’t want to get the perfect tune. You don’t want to get the absolute perfect vocal take or the perfect panning or compression. You just want it to sound like itself. You want to feel like you’re home within the song. […] I don’t know what we would be thinking if we tried to fuck with it. I’m so proud of it because, personally, I think it’s some sort of hint at the future.»
Release
Live Performances
“New Year’s Day” was included on the set list of Taylor’s “reputation Stadium Tour” (2018), which she launched in support of reputation. During the concerts, she performed the song as part of a mash-up with “Long Live” — a song from her 2010 album Speak Now — on a piano. On April 23, 2019, she performed the song at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts during the “Time 100 Gala,” where she was honored as one of the “100 most influential people” of the year. On her show on August 9, 2023, in Los Angeles, Taylor chose “New Year’s Day” as the second and last surprise song of the US leg of her widely successful “The Eras Tour” (2023-2024). She sang the song acoustically on piano. Taylor performed “New Year’s Day” again on February 24, 2024, during her second “Eras Tour” show in Sydney. It was part of a piano mashup, together with “peace” (2020). On August 1, 2024, she paired it up with “Suburban Legends” (2023) in Warsaw.
Critical Reception
Commercial Performance
Interpolation
Lyrics
[Verse 1]
There’s glitter on the floor
After the party
Girls carrying their shoes
Down in the lobby
Candle wax and Polaroids on the hardwood floor
You and me from the night before
[Chorus 1]
But don’t read the last page
But I stay
When you’re lost and I’m scared
And you’re turning away
I want your midnights
But I’ll be cleaning up bottles with you
On New Year’s Day
[Verse 2]
You squeeze my hand three times
In the back of the taxi
I can tell that it’s gonna be a long road
I’ll be there if you’re the toast of the town, babe
…Or if you strike out
And you’re crawling home
[Chorus 2]
Don’t read the last page
But I stay
When it’s hard, or it’s wrong
Or we’re making mistakes
I want your midnights
But I’ll be cleaning up bottles with you
On New Year’s Day
[Post-Chorus]
Hold on to the memories
They will hold on to you
Hold on to the memories
They will hold on to you
Hold on to the memories
They will hold on to you
And I will hold on to you
[Bridge]
Please don’t ever become a stranger whose laugh I could recognize anywhere
Please don’t ever become a stranger whose laugh I could recognize anywhere
[Verse 3]
There’s glitter on the floor
After the party
Girls carrying their shoes
Down in the lobby
Candle wax and Polaroids on the hardwood floor
…you and me, forevermore
[Chorus 2]
Don’t read the last page
But I stay
When it’s hard, or it’s wrong
Or we’re making mistakes
I want your midnights
But I’ll be cleaning up bottles with you
On New Year’s Day
[Post-Chorus]
Hold on to the memories
They will hold on to you
Hold on to the memories
They will hold on to you
Hold on to the memories
They will hold on to you
And I will hold on to you
[Outro]
Please don’t ever become a stranger (To the memories, they will hold on to you)
Whose laugh I could recognize anywhere (Hold on to the memories, they will hold on to you)
Please don’t ever become a stranger (Hold on to the memories, they will hold on to you)
Whose laugh I could recognize anywhere
And I will hold on to you
| Artist | Taylor Swift | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Album | reputation | ||
| Released | November 9, 2017 | ||
| Recorded | 2017 | ||
| Studio | Rough Customer (Brooklyn) | ||
| Genre | Singer-Songwriter | ||
| Length | 3:55 | ||
| Label | Big Machine Records | ||
| Songwriters | Taylor Swift Jack Antonoff | ||
| Producers | Jack Antonoff Taylor Swift | ||
REPUTATION CHRONOLOGY | |||
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