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Mean

Single | Speak Now (2010) | Speak Now (Taylor's Version) [2023]

“Mean” is track six on Taylor’s third studio album, Speak Now (2010). It is an anti-bullying anthem she wrote as a response to people who were critical of her singing voice at the time. The song was released as a single and won two Grammys. Its re-recording, “Mean (Taylor’s Version)”, was released on July 7, 2023, on Speak Now (Taylor’s Version).

Background and Lyrical Theme

“Mean” is heavy on fiddle and banjo and “the most country-sounding thing” Taylor has ever done, according to producer Nathan Chapman. Taylor wrote the song alone in the kitchen of her since-sold LA cottage. It is aimed at a critic who rebuked her performance with Stevie Nicks at the 52nd Grammy Awards. The critic in question is said to be Bob Lefsetz, who had given a captious review of her performance on his blog. Taylor said:

«When you do what I do, you put yourself out there for a lot of people to say whatever they want about it. I get that not everyone is gonna like everything that you do. And I get that no matter what you're going to get criticized for something. There are a million different opinions from a million different people. But I also get that there are different ways to criticize someone. There’s constructive criticism, there’s professional criticism, and then there’s just being mean. And there’s a line that you cross when you just start to attack everything about a person. And there's one guy, man, who just crossed the line, over and over again. Just being mean and saying things that would ruin my day. This happens no matter what you do, no matter how old you are, not matter what your job is. No matter what your place is in life, there's always someone who's just mean to you. And dealing with that is all that you can control. This song is about how I handle it and sort of my mindset about the whole situation.»

Taylor Swift

As the years went by, Taylor got more comfortable sharing the details behind the story of the song. She told her audience at a concert at Harvey Mudd college in October 2012: “I wrote the song ‘Mean’ about a critic who really, really, really strongly disliked me. And with critics and journalists I respect that it’s their job to put out constructive criticism. I usually will take that criticism and be like, ‘Okay, maybe they’re right about that, I will work on that.’ This critic hated me. Hated. Just like, assault rifle, one after the other just like, mistles. Hated me. So I felt really helpless and I felt, ‘There’s nothing I can do about this,’ and so I did what I always do: I went into my lonely little corner and I wrote a song about it. And then it went out into the world and it became like an anti-bullying thing about the fact that people pick on each other and it’s not okay. Wherever you are in life. Whether you are in middle school – middle school’s awful for the bullying thing, oh my God – but in junior high? It’s still there. High school? Still bullies, awesome. College? People still picking on you. And then you go out into the real world and people still pick on you. It just affects everybody. All I can say is with this song, I wanna thank you for everything that you did to make it into something that was bigger than just a critic who hated me. Because we won two Grammys for this song and it’s all because of you.”

As a testimony to its positive message, “Mean” was used for the “Free Falling To End Bullying” campaign in conjunction with the Anderson Center for Autism.

Music Video

The accompanying music video for “Mean” was directed by Declan Whitebloom. It was shot over a two-day period in Los Angeles, with the Orpheum Theatre serving as its backdrop. The concept of the video was developed by both Taylor and Whitebloom, who praised her commitment and involvement with the production of the music video. In an interview with MTV News, Whitebloom said that “Mean” is very personal to Taylor because “it’s about a critic who was a little too harsh on her”. However, he added that people can relate to its message, saying “we all have similar stories in our life that hit similar emotional cues, and to open it up and make it broader about lots of people and situations makes it much more accessible.”

Among others, actresses Joey King and Presley Cash are featured in the video. Twelve years later, they also starred in the music video for the Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) track “I Can See You” together with Taylor Lautner.

Live Performances

“Mean” was first performed during the mini documentary Taylor Swift: Speak Now which aired as a Thanksgiving special on NBC in 2010. Taylor later sang the song at the 46th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards on April 3, 2011 and at the 54th Grammy Awards on February 12, 2012, famously changing the first line of one of the final choruses to “Someday, I’ll be singing this at the Grammys”. She performed “Mean” as part of the regular setlist during her “Speak Now World Tour” (2011-2012), and “The RED Tour” (2013-2014). Taylor later performed it on selected dates on “The 1989 World Tour” (2015). During her “reputation Stadium Tour” (2018) it was the surprise song for the first Dublin show. On “The Eras Tour” (2023-2024), Taylor sang “Mean” in Tampa as the second surprise song during her show on April 15, 2023. She played it again on June 22, 2024, this time as a mashup with “thanK you aIMee” in London. In true Speak Now fashion, she changed some of the lyrics to, “Someday, I’ll be singing this in Wembley.”

Critical Reception

The song garnered critical acclaim for its lyrical detail and country sound. Mandi Bierly from Entertainment Weekly praised the production of the song, saying “[the song] is a nice touch: It brings a sincerity to her pain and lets you focus on the words, which do, near the end, turn cheeky (proving she handles it with a sense of humor).” Theon Weber from The Village Voice described the song as “huge and hugely compassionate, and fearless” and praised it for being “chipper and funny because the narrator is predicting escape from someone she dislikes.” Kevin John Coyne of Country Universe graded the production of the song as “A”, complimenting the message of the song which “articulates the distinction between honesty and cruelty so well.”

Rolling Stone ranked “Mean” at No. 24 on their list of the “100 Greatest Country Songs of All Time,” the highest ranking for a song released in the 21st century and only one of three to be released in 2010s after “Springsteen” and “Follow Your Arrow” performed by Eric Church and Kacey Musgraves, respectively. Taste of Country ranked “Mean” as the 15th best country song of the 2010s.

Commercial Performance

“Mean” was released as a promotional single from Speak Now on October 19, 2010, as part of “Countdown to Speak Now,” an exclusive campaign by the iTunes Store. Upon its release as a promotional single, “Mean” debuted at No. 2 on the Hot Digital Songs with approximately 163,000 downloads. This led to the song debuting and peaking at No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100, making Taylor the first act to claim the chart’s top debut (Hot Shot Debut) in three successive weeks. The song fell off the chart the following week when Speak Now was released, a victim of iTunes‘ “Complete My Album” scheme where the customers returned their early purchased tracks from Speak Now to upgrade to a full album purchase. The week of November 6, 2010, the song also debuted on Hot Country Songs at No. 55.

Upon its release as an official single, “Mean” re-entered Billboard Hot 100 at No. 90 and No. 17 on the Hot Country Songs. The week of May 14, 2011, Taylor made a record when “Mean” jumped from No. 12 to No. 9 on Hot Country Songs, becoming her 13th consecutive Top Ten hit on that chart. It made her one of two women (the other being Carrie Underwood) to begin her chart histories with 13 consecutive Top Tens since the survey’s 1944 launch.

Two Grammys

In 2012, “Mean” won two Grammy Awards, one for “Best Country Solo Performance” and the other for “Best Country Song”. In her acceptance speech, Taylor said:

«This one really means a lot to me because this is for a song called 'Mean' that I wrote. There's really no feeling quite like writing a song about someone who's really mean to you, and completely hates you, and makes your life miserable...and then winning a Grammy for it.»

Taylor Swift

Taylor's Version

The re-recording of the song, “Mean (Taylor’s Version)” was released on July 7, 2023. In the prologue for Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), Taylor openly admits how much she took the criticism of her singing voice to heart at the time:

«In my darker moments, I was tormented by the doubt that swirled loudly around my ascent and my merits as an artist. I was trying to create a follow up to the most awarded country album in history, while staring directly into the face of intense criticism. I had been widely and publicly slammed for my singing voice and was first encountering the infuriating question that is unfortunately still lobbed at me to this day: does she really write her songs? Spoiler alert: I really, really do. In the years since, I've developed a thicker skin about public criticism and the cynicism with which some people approach the music I make. At that time, it leveled me. I had these voices in my head telling me that I had the perfect chance and I blew it. I hadn’t been good enough. I had given it all I had and been found wanting.»

Taylor Swift

Upon the release of Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), “Mean (Taylor’s Version)” debuted and peaked at No. 39 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, the week ending July 13, 2023.

Lyrics

[Verse 1]
You, with your words like knives and swords and weapons that you use against me
You have knocked me off my feet again, got me feeling like a nothing
You, with your voice like nails on a chalkboard calling me out when I’m wounded
You, picking on the weaker man

[Pre-chorus 1]
Well, you can take me down with just one single blow
But you don’t know what you don’t know

[Chorus]
Someday I’ll be living in a big ole city
And all you’re ever gonna be is mean
Someday I’ll be big enough so you can’t hit me
And all you’re ever gonna be is mean
Why you gotta be so mean?

[Verse 2]
You, with your switching sides and your wildfire lies and your humiliation
You have pointed out my flaws again, as if I don’t already see them
I walk with my head down, trying to block you out ’cause I’ll never impress you
I just wanna feel okay again

[Pre-chorus 2]
I bet you got pushed around, somebody made you cold
But the cycle ends right now ’cause you can’t lead me down that road
And you don’t know what you don’t know

[Bridge]
And I can see you years from now in a bar
Talking over a football game with that same big loud opinion
But nobody’s listening
Washed up and ranting about the same old bitter things
Drunk and grumbling on about how I can’t sing
But all you are is mean
All you are is mean
And a liar, and pathetic, and alone in life
And mean, and mean, and mean, and mean

[Chorus]
But someday I’ll be living in a big ole city
And all you’re ever gonna be is mean, yeah
Someday I’ll be big enough so you can’t hit me
And all you’re ever gonna be is mean
Why you gotta be so?

[Final Chorus]
Someday I’ll be living in a big ole city (Why you gotta be so?)
And all you’re ever gonna be is mean (Why you gotta be so?)
Someday I’ll be big enough so you can’t hit me (Why you gotta be so?)
And all you’re ever gonna be is mean
Why you gotta be so mean?