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Never Grow Up

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

“Never Grow Up” is track eight on Taylor’s third album, Speak Now (2010). In July 2009, she moved out of her family home into a 1.9 million dollar condo in downtown Nashville, Tennessee. “Never Grow Up” was written the first night she was living on her own because she couldn’t fall asleep. The re-recording of the song, “Never Grow Up (Taylor’s Version)”, was released on July 7, 2023, on Speak Now (Taylor’s Version).
Table of Contents

Background and Lyrical Theme

“Never Grow Up” was written by Taylor and co-produced with Nathan Chapman. It switches from a lullaby addressed to a young child to Taylor feeling alone as she spends her first night in her new apartment on her own. The song has an undercurrent of sadness as she reflects on the innocence of childhood:

«‘Never Grow Up’ is a song about the fact that I don’t quite know how I feel about growing up. It’s tricky. Growing up happens without you knowing it. Growing up is such a crazy concept because a lot of times when you were younger you wish you were older. I look out into a crowd every night and I see a lot of girls that are my age and going through exactly the same things as I’m going through. Every once in a while I look down and I see a little girl who is seven or eight, and I wish I could tell her all of this. There she is, becoming who she is going to be and forming her thoughts and dreams and opinions. I wrote this song for those little girls.»

“Never Grow Up” was used in a Walmart Christmas commercial in 2012.

Live Performances

Taylor has only performed the song a couple of times, as it makes her quite emotional. During one of her performances on the “1989 World Tour” (2015), Taylor dedicated “Never Grow Up” to Leo Thames, her godson. She said:

«I wrote it when I was like 18 or 19, but my friend just had a baby and she made me godmother of it. I was holding this little baby the other night, and I was just thinking differently. When you’re holding onto something that’s so innocent, and so perfect, and has no idea what’s coming for it with the world. The world is going to throw so many things at you as you grow up.»

Taylor also chose “Never Grow Up” as the first surprise song for her show on July 7, 2023, in Kansas City while on “The Eras Tour” (2023-2024). Earlier that day, she had released Speak Now (Taylor’s Version). On July 10, 2024, while on tour in Zurich, she played a mashup of “Never Grow Up” with “Robin” (2024); another song, which she wrote about the innocence of childhood. During the tour’s final weekend on December 6, 2024, she paired the song with “The Best Day” (2008) in Vancouver. Her parents both attended said show.

Taylor's Version

The re-recording of the song, “Never Grow Up (Taylor’s Version)” was released on July 7, 2023. In the prologue for Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), Taylor writes that the song still means a lot to her:

«I was encountering the milestones and checkpoints of normal teenage growth. I had cataclysmic crushes and brushes with heartache. I moved out of my parents' house and set my bags down in a new apartment. I hung photos on my own walls and decorated the space where I would sob and cackle and shatter and dream. Sometimes I felt like a grown up, but a lot of the time I just wanted to time travel back to my childhood bed, where my mom would read stories to me until I fell asleep. [...] I still sometimes wish I was a little kid again in a tiny bed, before I ever grew up.»

Upon the release of Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), “Never Grow Up (Taylor’s Version)” debuted and peaked at No. 58 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, the week ending July 13, 2023.

Lyrics

[Verse 1]
Your little hand’s wrapped around my finger
And it’s so quiet in the world tonight
Your little eyelids flutter cause you’re dreaming
So I tuck you in, turn on your favorite night light

[Pre-Chorus 1]
To you, everything’s funny
You got nothing to regret
I’d give all I have, honey
If you could stay like that

[Chorus]
Oh darling, don’t you ever grow up
Don’t you ever grow up
Just stay this little
Oh darling, don’t you ever grow up
Don’t you ever grow up
It could stay this simple
I won’t let nobody hurt you
Won’t let no one break your heart
And no one will desert you
Just try to never grow up
Never grow up

[Verse 2]
You’re in the car on the way to the movies
And you’re mortified your mom’s dropping you off
At 14, there’s just so much you can’t do
And you can’t wait to move out someday and call your own shots

[Pre-Chorus 2]
But don’t make her drop you off around the block
Remember that she’s getting older too
And don’t lose the way that you dance around in your PJ’s getting ready for school

[Chorus]
Oh darling, don’t you ever grow up
Don’t you ever grow up
Just stay this little
Oh darling, don’t you ever grow up
Don’t you ever grow up
It could stay this simple
No one’s ever burned you
Nothing’s ever left you scarred
And even though you want to
Please try to never grow up

[Bridge]
Take pictures in your mind of your childhood room
Memorize what it sounded like when your dad gets home
Remember the footsteps, remember the words said
And all your little brother’s favorite songs
I just realized everything I have is someday gonna be gone

[Verse 3]
So here I am in my new apartment
In a big city, they just dropped me off
It’s so much colder than I thought it would be
So I tuck myself in and turn my night light on
Wish I’d never grown up
I wish I’d never grown up

[Chorus Variation]
Oh, I don’t wanna grow up
Wish I’d never grown up
I could still be little
Oh, I don’t wanna grow up
Wish I’d never grown up
It could still be simple

[Final Chorus]
Oh darling, don’t you ever grow up
Don’t you ever grow up
Just stay this little
Oh darling, don’t you ever grow up
Don’t you ever grow up
It could stay this simple

[Outro]
I won’t let nobody hurt you (Never grow up)
Won’t let no one break your heart
And even though you want to
Please try to never grow up, oh (Never grow up)
Don’t you ever grow up, oh
Never grow up
Just never grow up

General Information
ArtistTaylor Swift
AlbumsSpeak Now
Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)
ReleasedOctober 25, 2010
Re-ReleasedJuly 7, 2023
WrittenJuly 2010
GenreSinger-Songwriter
Length4:52
LabelsBig Machine Records
Republic Records
SongwriterTaylor Swift
ProducersNathan Chapman (original)
Christopher Rowe
Taylor Swift
SPEAK NOW CHRONOLOGY
The Story of UsNever Grow UpEnchanted
Song Certification
Hidden Message
I moved out in July
Song Artwork
Live Performance
Lyric Video
Taylor's Version
Original Audio