
Peak
5
Weeks
27
Score
5,172
Chart Year
2015
Joseph Kahn directed the music video for "Wildest Dreams", the third time he directed a music video for a 1989 single after "Blank Space" and "Bad Blood". Filming primarily took place in Botswana and South Africa. Inspired by The Secret Conversations (2013), a memoir of the actress Ava Gardner, Swift conceived the premise for the video as an illicit love affair between two actors in an isolated place within Africa, because they could only interact with each other without other means of communication. Kahn took inspiration from romantic films set in Africa, such as The African Queen (1951), Out of Africa (1985), and The English Patient (1996). The video's narrative focuses on an affair between a classical Hollywood actress (Swift) and her male co-star (Scott Eastwood) who shoot a film in 1950s Africa. Kahn compared the affair to the romance between Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. The pair gets involved romantically off-screen, as the video features shots of wildlife such as giraffes, zebras, and lions in a broad savanna. The affair turns sour after a fight on set. As the romance ends, the pair is seen shooting in front of a savanna backdrop in a California studio. At the film's premiere, Swift's character sees her co-star with another woman. During the screening, Swift's character flees the theater and gets into a waiting limousine, as the co-star runs into the street and watches her leave.
This 1989 track finds Taylor reflecting on romance in a different way to her previous love songs. "I think the way I used to approach relationships was very idealistic," she admitted to Rolling Stone. "I used to go into them thinking, 'Maybe this is the one - we'll get married and have a family, this could be forever. Whereas now I go in thinking, 'How long do we have on the clock - before something comes along and puts a wrench in it, or your publicist calls and says this isn't a good idea?" The throwback video was directed by Joseph Kahn, who has created visuals for the likes of Shakira, Mariah Carey, Maroon 5, Britney Spears, and Kelly Clarkson. He also was behind the camera for Swift's "Bad Blood" and "Blank Space" clips. Set on August 2, 1950, the visual shows Swift and The Longest Ride actor Scott Eastwood playing two movie stars shooting a film on the Africa plains. Scott Eastwood is the youngest son of movie legend Clint Eastwood. The younger Eastwood claims that his agents advised him not to take the gig, saying they didn't want him cast as Swift's "Boy Toy." Eastwood's response: "I would love to be Taylor Swift's boy toy." The video received criticism from some media outlets for depicting wild animals and white people with barely a black person in sight. The Huffington Post's Lauren Duca wrote, "For a clip that's set in Africa - it's about as white as a Sunday morning farmer's market." Kahn denied that the video only includes white people, pointing out that he is Asian American, while two of the key creatives who worked on the clip, producer Jill Hardin and editor Chancler Haynes are African Americans. "We collectively decided it would have been historically inaccurate to load the crew with more black actors as the video would have been accused of rewriting history," he said. The director added: "This video is set in the past by a crew set in the present and we are all proud of our work. There are black Africans in the video in a number of shots, but I rarely cut to crew faces outside of the director as the vast majority of screen time is Taylor and Scott (Eastwood)." Taylor added a personal touch to the percussive elements on the track. In addition to the mallets and the tambourine, a recording of her heartbeat thumps throughout the song, a trick she may have picked up from the King of Pop, who did the same on 1987's "Smooth Criminal." The title is repeated eight times throughout, paired with the nonsense vocal hook "ah-ah, ha-ha." The clever tactic adds a touch of sweetness to the vocals while ensuring the title is unforgettable. Just how wild are these dreams? Taylor clues us in to the secret tryst ("No one has to know what we do.") without getting too explicit: His hands are in my hair, his clothes are in my room Tangled up with you all night, burning it down Taylor's uncharacteristic lower-pitched vocals during the first two verses, paired with the melodramatic love story and overall sultry vibe had critics comparing her to "Honeymoon" singer Lana Del Rey. The composer team Duomo did an orchestral cover for their 2018 album Berlin:Redux. It was later used to soundtrack a steamy scene in the "Swish" episode of Netflix's television period drama series Bridgerton. Taylor Swift re-recorded the songs on her first six albums after music manager Scooter Braun acquired Swift's old label, Big Machine Label Group and her master recordings in June 2019. Her re-recorded version, dubbed "Wildest Dreams (Taylors Version)," was previewed in the trailer for the DreamWorks animated movie Spirit Untamed. Swift released the revamped version on September 17, 2021 after the 2014 recording of the song trended on TikTok. Her fans were using "Wildest Dreams" to soundtrack their clips using the platform's new "slow zoom" filter. The new version's production credits list Swift along with Shellback and Christopher Rowe. Max Martin, who co-produced the original, didn't get involved with the re-recording. The power metal band Dragonforce covered "Wildest Dreams" as a bonus track for select editions of their 2024 album Warp Speed Warriors. Sprinting in at less than three minutes, DragonForce cranks up the speedometer, unleashing a turbo-charged, shred-heavy rendition that gives Swift's love song a high-octane makeover.
He said, "Let's get out of this town Drive out of the city away from the crowds" I thought, "Heaven can't help me now" Nothin' lasts forever But this is gonna take me down He's so tall and handsome as hell He's so bad but he does it so well I can see the end as it begins My one condition is Say you'll remember me Standin' in a nice dress Starin' at the sunset, babe Red lips and rosy cheeks Say you'll see me again Even if it's just in your Wildest dreams, ah, ha Wildest dreams, ah, ha I said, "No one has to know what we do" His hands are in my hair, his clothes are in my room And his voice is a familiar sound Nothin' lasts forever But this is gettin' good now He's so tall and handsome as hell He's so bad but he does it so well And when we've had our very last kiss My last request is Say you'll remember me Standin' in a nice dress Starin' at the sunset babe Red lips and rosy cheeks Say you'll see me again Even if it's just in your Wildest dreams, ah, ha (ha, ha) Wildest dreams, ah, ha You'll see me in hindsight Tangled up with you all night Burnin' it down Someday, when you leave me I bet these memories Follow you around You'll see me in hindsight Tangled up with you all night Burnin' (burnin'), it (it), down (down) Someday, when you leave me I bet these memories Follow (follow), you (you), around (around) (Follow you around) Say you'll remember me Standing in a nice dress Starin' at the sunset, babe Red lips and rosy cheeks Say you'll see me again Even if it's just pretend Say you'll remember me Standin' in a nice dress Starin' at the sunset babe Red lips and rosy cheeks Say you'll see me again Even if it's just in your (just pretend, just pretend) Wildest dreams, ah, ha (ah) Wildest dreams, ah, ha Even if it's just in your Wildest dreams, ah, ha In your wildest dreams, ah, ha
| Week | Chart Date | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nov 15, 2014 | 76 | 50 |
| 1 | Sep 19, 2015 | 15 | 111 |
| 2 | Sep 26, 2015 | 12 | 114 |
| 3 | Oct 3, 2015 | 13 | 113 |
| 4 | Oct 10, 2015 | 10 | 116 |
| 5 | Oct 17, 2015 | 8 | 118 |
| 6 | Oct 24, 2015 | 9 | 117 |
| 7 | Oct 31, 2015 | 6 | 120 |
| 8 | Nov 7, 2015 | 5 | 121 |
| 9 | Nov 14, 2015 | 7 | 119 |
| 10 | Nov 21, 2015 | 8 | 118 |
| 11 | Nov 28, 2015 | 8 | 118 |
| 12 | Dec 5, 2015 | 9 | 117 |
| 13 | Dec 12, 2015 | 13 | 113 |
| 14 | Dec 19, 2015 | 14 | 112 |
| 15 | Dec 26, 2015 | 18 | 108 |
| 16 | Jan 2, 2016 | 23 | 103 |
| 17 | Jan 9, 2016 | 22 | 104 |
| 18 | Jan 16, 2016 | 18 | 108 |
| 19 | Jan 23, 2016 | 21 | 105 |