Blank Space

Album

1989

Label

Big Machine Records

Genre

Alt-Pop

Media Type

AC

Composer(s)

Taylor Swift;Max MartinShellback

Entered Chart

Nov 15, 2014

Peak Date

Nov 29, 2014

Released

November 10, 2014

Recorded

MXM (Stockholm, Sweden)Conway Recording (Los Angeles, US)

Catalog #

Big Machine Digital

This song finds Swift, who penned the track with producers Max Martin and Shellback, sending up her image as a heartbreaker who writes all of her songs about former boyfriends. She warns us that she's "got a long list of ex-lovers, they'll tell you I'm insane" plus she has, "a blank space baby, and I'll write your name." At the Secret Sessions listening parties that Swift held to preview 1989, she said her intention with this track was to run wild with the way the media portrays how she conducts her romantic life. Swift explained the "boys only want love if it's torture" lyric to UK newspaper The Sun: "I was thinking about this," she said. "Boys only want love if it's torture and a constant chase. Men want love if it's real, right, healthy and consistent." If you're one of the many who thought Swift was singing "the lonely Starbucks lovers" (or, more sensically, "star-crossed lovers") in the song's chorus, you're not alone. The real line, however, is, "Got a long list of ex-lovers." Swift found this amusing. She called it, "A delightful misunderstanding about this song that was written about misunderstandings." The song's music video was directed by Joseph Kahn (Eminem's "Without Me," Katy Perry's "Waking Up In Vegas") and filmed in September 2014 in Oheka Castle in Huntington, New York. The clip depicts Swift as an unhinged lovelorn woman who lives alone in a giant mansion with her cat, Olivia Benson. It co-stars male model Sean O'Pry as the singer's generically good-looking love interest. The male model also appeared in Madonna's steamy visual for "Girl Gone Wild." With the title cleverly wrapped up in the song's punchline, "but I’ve got a blank space baby… and I'll write your name," you're not likely to forget the song's name, even though it only shows up three times. Taylor explained the background to the cut in a chat with NME. "Every few years the media finds something they unanimously agree is annoying about me," she said. "2012-2013 they thought I was dating too much, because I dated two people in a year and a half: 'Oh, a serial dater. She only writes songs to get emotional revenge on guys. She's a man-hater, don't let her near your boyfriend.' It was kind of excessive and at first it was hurtful, but then I found a little bit of comedy in it. This character is so interesting though. If you read these gossip sites, they describe how I am so opposite my actual life: I'm clingy and I'm awful and I throw fits and there's drama. An emotionally fragile, unpredictable mess. I painted a whole picture of this character: she lives in a mansion with marble floors, she wears Dolce & Gabbana around the house, and she wears animal print unironically. So I created this whole character and I had fun doing it. Half the people got the joke, half the people thought I was really owning the fact that I'm a psychopath. Either one's fine. It was #1 for eight or nine weeks, so I have no complaints." Taylor teamed up with American Express to create an interactive app to go along with the video. "We created this 360 degree experience for fans... You essentially get to play around this storyland and explore the mansion [in the video]," she revealed on Good Morning America. "There are all of these hidden little clues. If you click on doorways you go into the next room. If you go to a clock, you can unlock little messages and clues. You can see us acting out these scenes depending on what room you're in or what part of the song." "It's really fun to actually have fans that care about videos, story lines and lyrics," she added. "And the fact that they're so engaged makes me want to create cool little things for them like this." The chorus makes up just over half of the entire song, and Swift makes sure you're paying attention. By dropping out most of the backing music at the end of each verse, the chorus is intensified. Swift performed this song to open the 2014 American Music Awards. In the very elaborate production, Swift wore an evening gown and a headset microphone as she made her way thought a variety of sets populated by a bevy of dancers portraying the men she was dismissing. At one point, she even handles a flaming rose in a bit of symbolism. Swift was honored with the Dick Clark Award For Excellence at the ceremony. One of the most memorable sounds in the song does not come from a musical instrument, but from a pen. Right before Swift sings "I'll write your name" at the end of the chorus, a single pen click promises she's ready to make good on the threat. In October 2014, Swift filed to trademark the first two lines of this song, "Nice to meet you. Where you been?" and "Could show you incredible things." This was done in response to a company that applied to trademark lines from her song "Shake It Off." These trademarks give the owners the rights to use the phrases on merchandise, stationary, and various other items. This song was made up of lines Swift collected over the years; says she put it together "like a crossword puzzle," placing the lines where they fit. With lots of lyrical ideas to choose from, she picked the best of the bunch, like "darling I'm a nightmare dressed like a daydream." Some of the video's interior scenes were shot at Winfield Mansion, which was built in 1916 at Glen Cove on New York's Long Island by the family who started the global chain of Woolworth's retail stores. The property was wrecked by a mysterious fire in early February 2015, an event spookily foreshadowed by Swift singing on this song about love going down in flames. The song dethroned Swift's previous single, "Shake It Off," from the top of the Hot 100. This meant the songstress became the first ever female in the chart's history to succeed herself at #1. The video's director Joseph Kahn told Mashable.com that Swift specifically asked for co-star Sean O'Pry by name. "She had a vision," he explained. "She's highly aware of one particular thing that's happening right now - the idea that if you date her and you break up with her, she's going to write a song about you. She's aware of this. She's not an idiot." "Taylor wanted to make a video addressing this concept of, if she has so many boys breaking up with her maybe the problem isn't the boy, maybe the problem is her," he continued. "Taylor wanted to make a video addressing this concept of, if she has so many boys breaking up with her maybe the problem isn't the boy, maybe the problem is her." Swift didn't completely yank out her country roots with this blend of pop, electropop and hip-hop. Longtime listeners will note she added her faithful acoustic guitar to the mix. Michigan post-hardcore band I Prevail charted in the Hot 100 with a punk version of the song. Their interpretation utilizes two vocalists and explosive guitars. Vocalist Brian Burkheiser also tweaked the lyrics including changing Swift's turning "bad guys good for a weekend" to making "good girls bad for a weekend." This won for Best Female Video at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards, defeating Beyoncé's "7/11." The last time Swift defeated Bey at the VMAs, Kanye West objected, rushing the stage to explain that the "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" clip deserved the award over Swift's "You Belong With Me." This time, Kanye (accompanied by his wife, Kim Kardashian), stayed put - MTV cameras made sure to capture his reaction. Later in the show, Swift presented West with the Video Vanguard Award, poking fun at their initial encounter. Swift had the video's director Joseph Kahn speak in accepting the award; Kahn explained that directors typically didn't get to give acceptance speeches because they would spend all their time thanking crew members, which he then proceeded to do. Taylor Swift took home the Best Lyrics honors at the 2015 iHeartRadio Music Awards for this song. "This is amazing because writing lyrics is my favorite part of my job, and with this song in particular, seeing how people have captioned their Instagram picture with, 'Darling I'm a nightmare dressed like a day dream' was fantastic," Swift said, as she accepted the trophy. Taylor Swift has said in the past that Fall Out Boy's Pete Wentz has influenced her lyrically, possibly more than anybody else. Speaking to Zane Lowe on his Apple Music Beats 1 radio show, she recalled his influence on this song. "'Blank Space' is a song that's just zingers, one after another after another, which I definitely learned from listening to Fall Out Boy." On October 20, 2022, amidst economic and political crisis, Liz Truss announced her intention to resign as UK prime minister after 44 days in office. UK's Channel 4 News paid cheeky tribute to the outgoing politician with a montage of Truss soundtacked by this song. A reporter for the news program opened the segment by saying, "Miss Truss said that her favorite song was 'Blank Space' by Taylor Swift. We'll leave you with that and some images of her. Good night."

Nice to meet you, where you been?
I could show you incredible things
Magic, madness, heaven, sin
Saw you there and I thought
Oh my God, look at that face
You look like my next mistake
Love's a game, wanna play? Ayy
New money, suit and tie
I can read you like a magazine
Ain't it funny, rumors fly
And I know you heard about me
So hey, let's be friends
I'm dyin' to see how this one ends
Grab your passport and my hand
I can make the bad guys good for a weekend

So it's gonna be forever
Or it's gonna go down in flames
You can tell me when it's over, mm
If the high was worth the pain
Got a long list of ex lovers
They'll tell you I'm insane
'Cause you know I love the players
And you love the game
'Cause we're young and we're reckless
We'll take this way too far
It'll leave you breathless, mm
Or with a nasty scar
Got a long list of ex lovers
They'll tell you I'm insane
But I've got a blank space, baby
And I'll write your name

Cherry lips, crystal skies
I could show you incredible things
Stolen kisses, pretty lies
You're the king, baby, I'm your queen
Find out what you want
Be that girl for a month
Wait, the worst is yet to come, oh no
Screaming, crying, perfect storms
I can make all the tables turn
Rose garden filled with thorns
Keep you second guessin' like
"Oh my God, who is she?"
I get drunk on jealousy
But you'll come back each time you leave
'Cause darling, I'm a nightmare dressed like a daydream

So it's gonna be forever
Or it's gonna go down in flames
You can tell me when it's over, mm
If the high was worth the pain
Got a long list of ex lovers
They'll tell you I'm insane
'Cause you know I love the players
And you love the game
'Cause we're young and we're reckless (oh)
We'll take this way too far
It'll leave you breathless, mm
Or with a nasty scar
Got a long list of ex lovers
They'll tell you I'm insane (insane)
But I've got a blank space, baby
And I'll write your name

Boys only want love if it's torture
Don't say I didn't, say I didn't warn ya
Boys only want love if it's torture
Don't say I didn't, say I didn't warn ya

So it's gonna be forever
Or it's gonna go down in flames
You can tell me when it's over (over), mm
If the high was worth the pain
Got a long list of ex lovers
They'll tell you I'm insane
'Cause you know I love the players
And you love the game
'Cause we're young and we're reckless (yeah)
We'll take this way too far
It'll leave you breathless, mm
Or with a nasty scar
Got a long list of ex lovers
They'll tell you I'm insane
But I've got a blank space, baby
And I'll write your name