Style Taylor Swift – Song Summary

Style Taylor Swift is a song by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift and the third single from her fifth studio album, 1989 (2014). Swift wrote the song with producers Max Martin, Shellback, and Ali Payami. “Style” was released to radio on February 9, 2015, by Big Machine in partnership with Republic Records. An incorporation of pop, funk, disco, and electronic styles, “Style” is built on an electric guitar riff, pulsing synthesizers, and dense vocal reverb. The lyrics are about an on-and-off couple stuck in an unhealthy relationship because they are never “out of style”.

When “Style” was first released, critics generally praised the production and deemed it a highlight of 1989, but a few considered the lyrics unsophisticated. In retrospect, critics have regarded it as one of Swift’s best songs. “Style” was ranked in year-end best-of lists by Pitchfork (2014) and Pazz & Jop (2015). In the United States, the single peaked at number six and was 1989’s third consecutive top-ten single on the Billboard Hot 100, and it was certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). “Style” also reached the top 25 and received multi-platinum certifications in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.

Filmmaker Kyle Newman directed the song’s music video, which premiered on February 13, 2015. It features Swift and actor Dominic Sherwood as a couple who reminisce about their relationship through illusions and flashbacks using broken mirror pieces. Swift included “Style” on regular set lists for three of her world tours: the 1989 World Tour (2015), the Reputation Stadium Tour (2018), and the Eras Tour (2023). Following the 2019 dispute regarding the ownership of Swift’s back catalog, she re-recorded the song as “Style (Taylor’s Version)” for her re-recorded album 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (2023).

Style Taylor Swift – Music Video

American filmmaker Kyle Newman directed the music video for “Style”, which was shot in Los Angeles and completed within four days in summer 2014. Before its release, Swift posted several teaser images and short clips from the video on her social media accounts. She planned to premiere the video on Good Morning America on the morning of February 13, 2015, but Canadian music channel Much released it at midnight.

Swift uploaded the video to her Vevo account on the same day. In the video, English actor Dominic Sherwood plays Swift’s love interest. Swift contacted him by text message roughly a month before the shooting; the two had known of each other through mutual friends. By the time they worked on the video, Sherwood had finished the film Take Down, which was later renamed Billionaire Ransom (released in 2016).

The video does not have a clear narrative but features disparate flashbacks of Swift and her love interest by the seashore, in the woods, and on car rides. At some points, the broken mirror pieces, through which Swift and her lover see each other, symbolize memories of a past relationship that linger on. Media publications noted and praised the video’s darker, more abstract and sensual atmosphere compared to the videos for “Shake It Off” and “Blank Space”. Vox’s Kelsey McKinney opined that Swift embraced her sexuality using “sensual imagery” of her touching herself, which showcased her maturity as an artist. Emilee Lindner of MTV called the video “mature, tasteful, and … sexy”.

Spence Kornhaber from The Atlantic, meanwhile, remarked that Swift expressed her sexuality in a more conservative manner compared to her contemporaries that distinguished her from “the pop obsession with women’s bodies.” InStyle writer Hayley Spencer deemed it “Swift’s most cinematic video to date.”

Several images in the video featuring silhouettes of Swift’s head overlaid by other scenes of her lover, the forests, smoking clouds, or thunder storms, were compared to the opening credits of the crime drama series True Detective. The Wall Street Journal’s Michael Driscoll, meanwhile, compared the video’s atmosphere to that of 1980s pop videos, specifically Chris Isaak’s 1989 single “Wicked Game”. Mikael Wood of the Los Angeles Times labelled the visual “a creepy homage” to David Lynch’s mystery film Mulholland Drive (2001).

For More Taylor Swift Fandom, Follow this Link…

Home – Taylor Swift

To Return to Our Main Valentine Site, Follow this Link…

The Website Dedicated to Valentine’s Day – (saintvalentinesday.net)