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Florida!!!

Feat. Florence + The Machine | THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT (2024)

“Florida!!!” is track eight on Taylor’s eleventh studio album, THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT (2024). It features the English band Florence + The Machine, since their frontwoman Florence Welch co-wrote the song and also provides lead vocals alongside Taylor. “Florida!!!” describes the want to escape from unpleasant circumstances and start fresh, picking Florida as a metaphorical location because it is a place where many criminals choose to flee.

Background and Recording

Taylor started working on THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT immediately after she submitted her tenth studio album, Midnights in 2022. She started working on “Florida!!!” specifically while she visited New Orleans that December. She spent her 33th birthday on December 13 at the city’s Esplanade Studios. Kevin Louis, one of the musicians who worked on the song (as well as “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?” and “Fresh Out the Slammer“), wrote: “For Taylor Swift’s 33rd birthday, she had the cats come to the studio and record a few tunes.”

The album’s conception took place when Taylor’s personal life was once again a widely covered topic in the press after her split from her boyfriend of six years, Joe Alwyn, and subsequent short-lived relationship with Matty Healy. Taylor described the creation of THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT as her “lifeline” during this time:

«TORTURED POETS is an album that I think, more than any of my albums that I’ve ever made, I needed to make it. It was really a lifeline for me, just the things I was going through, and the things I was writing about. It kind of reminded me of why songwriting is something that actually gets me through my life. And I’ve never had an album where I needed songwriting more than I’d needed it on TORTURED POETS.»

Taylor Swift

She continued working on the album in secrecy throughout the US leg of “The Eras Tour” in 2023. In May, Taylor invited Florence Welch to Electric Lady Studios in New York City, where they finished writing and recording the song together with Jack Antonoff. Actress Emma Stone (one of Taylor’s close friends) is credited for the “oddities” in the track.

Lyrical Theme

Speaking to iHeartRadio, Taylor explained that Florida is a stereotypical location to which criminals flee to start afresh. She parallels this with the feeling she has whenever she goes through a breakup, stating that she feels like she wants to start afresh, be unknown and escape. Florida therefore felt extra symbolic as a place around which to centre this song:

«I think I was coming up with this idea of like, 'What happens when your life doesn't fit, or the choices you've made catch up to you?' And you're just surrounded by these harsh consequences, and judgement, and circumstances did not lead you to where you thought you would be. And you just wanna escape from everything you've ever known. Is there a place you could go? I was watching Dateline and you know, people have these crimes that they commit and they immediately skip town and go to Florida. You know, they try to reinvent themselves, have a new identity, blend in. And I think when you go trough a heartbreak, there's this part of you that thinks, 'I want a new name, I want a new life. I don't want anyone to know where I've been, or know me at all.' And so that was the jumping-off point behind, 'Where would you go to reinvent yourself and blend in?' Florida!»

Taylor Swift

Florence Welch told British Vogue that Taylor approached her with “a concept and a story”, which is her “favourite way to start songwriting”. She continued: “There’s the sort of bigness of Taylor Swift The Phenomenon, and then there’s the Taylor I spend time with in the studio, who is just the sweetest and most down to earth. We had such a fun time! And then when it came out I was like, ‘Oh, shit!’ I almost didn’t think of the scale of it.”

Production

“Florida!!!” is a power ballad with an uptempo production accompanied by jarring drums and guitars reminiscent of indie rock. Laura Snapes of The Guardian thought that the song has a melodramatic Southern Gothic direction similar to “no body, no crime” on Taylor’s ninth studio album, evermore (2020) and the “desolate Americana” influenced by Lana Del Rey.

Live Performances

“Florida!!!” received its first live performance on August 20, 2024, during Taylor’s eighth London show on “The Eras Tour” (2023-2024). She sang the song with Florence Welch of Florence + The Machine after “So High School” (2024). They performed the song together again on October 18, 19 and 20, 2024, this time in Miami. Reflecting on these shows, Taylor wrote:

«My mystifyingly talented friend Florence came to Miami and each night we performed 'Florida!!!' in Florida!!!»

Taylor Swift

Critical Reception

The song received generally positive reviews from critics. Samantha Olson of Cosmopolitan ranked it the best song from the album, complimenting Welch’s vocals and the production. In her ranking, she says the song encapsulates the “essence of Florida.” Jason Lipshutz of Billboard ranked the song third against the album’s sixteen tracks, commending Taylor’s emotional vocals and the brash sound. Pitchfork‘s Shaad D’Souza said it was the boldest and most energetic song from the album’s mostly subdued, contemplative tones. Chris Willman of Variety called it the “funniest track” from the album, referring to the lines “My friends all smell like weed or little babies” and “Fuck me up, Florida”.

Commercial Performance

Upon the album’s release, its tracks occupied the Top 14 of the US Billboard Hot 100; “Florida!!!” opened at its peak of No. 8 on the chart, where Taylor became the first artist to monopolize the Top 14. The song also became Florence + the Machine’s first Top 10 entry and Welch’s second following “Sweet Nothing” (2012) with Calvin Harris. In Canada, the song peaked at No. 9 on the Canadian Hot 100.

Outside of North America, “Florida!!!” along with tracks from the album occupied the Top 9 of the Billboard Global 200; the song debuted and peaked at No. 7 on the chart, where it became Taylor’s 33rd Top 10 entry and Florence + the Machine’s first. In Australia and New Zealand, the song reached No. 7 on the ARIA Singles Chart and No. 9 on the Official New Zealand Music Chart. On the former chart, it made Taylor the artist with the most entries in a single week with 29 and marked Florence + the Machine’s second Top 10 entry after “Spectrum (Say My Name)” (2012). Elsewhere, “Florida!!!” charted within the Top 25 in Singapore (12), Ireland (13), Luxembourg (18), Portugal (18), Malaysia (20), South Africa (22), and the Philippines (23).

Lyrics

[Verse 1: Taylor Swift]
You can beat the heat
If you beat the charges, too
They said I was a cheat
I guess it must be true
And my friends all smell like weed or little babies
And this city reeks of driving myself crazy

[Pre-Chorus 1: Taylor Swift]
Little did you know
Your home’s really only a town
You’re just a guest in
So you work your life away
Just to pay for a timeshare
Down in Destin

[Chorus: Taylor Swift & Florence Welch, Taylor Swift]
Florida!!!
Is one hell of a drug
Florida!!!
Can I use you up?

[Verse 2: Florence Welch, Taylor Swift & Florence Welch]
The hurricane with my name when it came
I got drunk and I dared it to wash me away
Barricaded in the bathroom with a bottle of wine
Well me and my ghosts, wе had a hell of a time
Yes, I’m hauntеd, but I’m feeling just fine
All my girls got their lace and their crimes
And your cheating husband disappeared, well
No one asks any questions here
So I did my best to lay to rest
All of the bodies that have ever been on my body
And in my mind, they sink into the swamp
Is that a bad thing to say in a song?

[Pre-Chorus 2: Florence Welch]
Little did you know your home’s
Really only the town you’ll get arrested
So you pack your life away
Just to wait out the shitstorm
Back in Texas

[Chorus: Taylor Swift & Florence Welch, Taylor Swift]
Florida!!!
Is one hell of a drug
Florida!!!
Can I use you up?

[Bridge: Taylor Swift, Florence Welch, Taylor Swift & Florence Welch]
I need to forget so
Take me to Florida
I got some regrets
I’ll bury them in Florida
Tell me I’m despicable
Say it’s unforgivable
At least the dolls are beautiful
Fuck me up, Florida!
I need to forget so
Take me to Florida
I got some regrets
I’ll bury them in Florida
Tell me I’m despicable
Say it’s unforgivable
What a crash, what a rush
Fuck me up, Florida!
It’s one hell of a drug
It’s one hell of a drug
Love left me like this
And I don’t want to exist
So take me to Florida

[Pre-Chorus 3: Taylor Swift, Taylor Swift & Florence Welch, Florence Welch]
Little did you know
Your home’s really only a town
You’re just a guest in
So you work your life away
Just to pay for a timeshare
Down in Destin
Little did you know your home’s
Really only the town you’ll get arrested
So you pack your life away
Just to wait out the shitstorm
Back in Texas

[Final Chorus: Taylor Swift & Florence Welch, Taylor Swift]
Florida!!!
Is one hell of a drug
Florida!!!
Can I use you up?
Florida!!!
Is one hell of a drug
Florida!!!
Go on, fuck me up…