Overview
- Swift revealed during a Grammy Museum Icon Sessions Q&A in Los Angeles that she first wrote the track as a “really sad piano ballad.”
- She recounted that producers Max Martin and Shellback heard the ballad and asked, “What if it’s dubstep?” which prompted a radical rethink of the track’s sound.
- Swift said she was hesitant at first but that the dubstep-inflected production “ended up being the best thing for it” and praised collaborators who bring bold ideas.
- The song appeared on her 2012 album Red and became a major hit, debuting at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and peaking at No. 2.
- Swift credited Martin and Shellback with teaching her to ‘flip’ a song’s production against its lyrics, a technique she tied to her broader shift between pop experimentation and a renewed focus on her Nashville roots.