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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| “Blank Space” | |
|---|---|
| Single by Taylor Swift | |
| from the album 1989 | |
| Released | November 10, 2014 |
| Studio | MXM, Stockholm, SwedenConway Recording, Los Angeles, US |
| Genre | Electropop |
| Length | 3:51 |
| Label | Big MachineRepublic |
| Songwriter(s) | Taylor SwiftMax MartinShellback |
| Producer(s) | Max MartinShellback |
| Taylor Swift singles chronology | |
| “Shake It Off“ (2014)”Blank Space“ (2014)”Style“ (2015) | |
| Music video | |
| “Blank Space” on YouTube |
“Blank Space” is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift for her fifth studio album 1989 (2014). Swift co-wrote the song with its producers Max Martin and Shellback. For the lyrics, she conceived “Blank Space” as a satirical self-referential nod to her reputation as a flirtatious woman with a series of romantic attachments, which blemished her once wholesome girl next door image. Musically, the track is an electropop song with minimal hip hop-influenced beats. Republic Records in partnership with Swift’s then-label Big Machine released “Blank Space” to US radio stations on November 10, 2014, as the second single from 1989.
“Blank Space” spent seven weeks atop the US Billboard Hot 100, received 8× Platinum certifications from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and has sold 4.6 million copies in the US as of July 2019. It also topped charts in Australia, Canada, Iceland, Scotland, and South Africa. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) reported “Blank Space” as one of the best-selling singles of 2015, with 9.2 million track-equivalent units. Contemporary critics praised the song’s production and Swift’s songwriting; some picked it as 1989‘s highlight. The song appeared on year-end lists by such publications as Rolling Stone and Time, and earned three nominations at the 58th Grammy Awards, including two general categories—Record of the Year and Song of the Year.
Joseph Kahn directed the music video for “Blank Space”, which depicts Swift as a jealous woman who acts erratically upon suspecting her boyfriend’s fidelity. Photography took place mostly at Oheka Castle, with a few additional scenes shot at Woolworth Estate. The video won Best Pop Video and Best Female Video at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards. Swift included “Blank Space” on the set lists for two of her concert tours: the 1989 World Tour (2015) and Reputation Stadium Tour (2018).
For “Blank Space”, Swift took inspirations from the media perception of her image as “a girl who’s crazy but seductive but glamorous but nuts but manipulative”. Talking to GQ in 2015, Swift said that she envisioned the song to be a satirical self-referential nod to her reputation. She admitted that she had felt personally attacked for a long time before realizing “it was kind of hilarious”. She co-wrote the song with its producers, Max Martin and Shellback. In “Blank Space”, she describes herself as a “nightmare dressed like a daydream”. The chorus contains the lyrics “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,” which allude to Swift’s trademark songwriting taking inspirations from her love life. The line “Got a long list of ex-lovers” is often misheard as “All the lonely Starbucks lovers”, prompting internet discussions including a response from Starbucks themselves upon the song’s release.
“Blank Space” won Song of the Year at the 2015 American Music Awards. At the 2016 BMI Awards, the song was one of the Award-Winning Songs that helped Swift earn the honor Songwriter of the Year. It earned a nomination for International Work of the Year at the 2015 APRA Awards in Australia. At the 58th Annual Grammy Awards in 2016, “Blank Space” was nominated in three categories—Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Pop Solo Performance.
Music video
Development and release
The video was primarily shot at Oheka Castle.
Joseph Kahn directed the music video for “Blank Space”. Swift approached Kahn with the idea for treatment, desiring the video to portray her self-deprecation as a “crazy villain” akin to the lyrics. According to Kahn, Swift envisioned “Blank Space” as “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”. Photography took place at two locations in Long Island— primary shooting took place at Oheka Castle, with a few additional scenes shot at Woolworth Estate. The video was shot over three days in September 2014; the last day was dedicated to film American Express Unstaged: Taylor Swift Experience, an interactive 360° mobile app in collaboration with American Express. For the video, Swift was thorough in choosing the concepts and imagery. Kahn spoke of his working experience with Swift on Mashable: “When you have an artist wanting to test her imaging, it’s always great territory to be in”.
Kahn took inspirations from Stanley Kubrick‘s 1971 film A Clockwork Orange for the video’s symmetrical framing style, calling it “a really funny way to approach a pop video”. The video begins with Swift’s love interest (played by model Sean O’Pry) approaching Swift’s mansion. Upon arrival, the boyfriend and Swift quickly become a loving couple. They engage in various romantic activities together, dancing, painting a portrait for the boyfriend, walking along the estate grounds, and riding horses into the woods. Halfway through the video, Swift notices her boyfriend texting someone, and the couple begins to fall apart. They begin to fight, and Swift shows erratic behaviors such as throwing vases, slashing the painted portrait, and burning her boyfriend’s closet, which drives the boyfriend to end the relationship. At a high point, Swift uses a golf club to destroy her boyfriend’s car, a reference to Tiger Woods‘ 2009 cheating scandal. As the boyfriend leaves the estate, a new man approaches, offering Swift a new hope for love.
Swift planned to premiere to the video on Good Morning America on November 11, 2014, but Yahoo! accidentally leaked it a day before. Swift posted the video onto her Vevo account quickly after the leak. The interactive app American Express Unstaged: Taylor Swift Experience, featuring the 360° video version of “Blank Space”, was released concurrently. The user can choose to either follow Swift and her love interest throughout the linear storyline, or leave the storyline to explore other rooms in the mansion and find interactive easter eggs, such as Swift’s childhood photos. The app was available for free on mobile app stores. Kahn talked to Rolling Stone that the app was created with “superfans” who wanted to “feel even closer to Swift” in mind.
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