Blank Space

Background and composition

"Blank Space" is an electropop song that many critics compared to the works of fellow artist Lorde. It makes fun of Swift's recent exposure in the media about her dating life, portraying herself as "an overly attached man-eater who dates for songwriting material". The song was written by Swift along with Martin and Shellback, and produced by the latter two. "Blank Space" is composed in the key of F major and set in a 4/4 time signature at a moderate tempo of 96 beats per minute. Swift's vocals range from A₃ to D₅.

Some listeners, including Swift's mother, misheard the lyrics of "Blank Space", incorrectly hearing "got a long list of ex-lovers" as "all the lonely Starbucks lovers". On Valentine's Day 2015, Swift jokingly tweeted about the misheard lyrics and Starbucks responded.

Critical reception

"Blank Space" received critical acclaim. PopMatters called the song to be "likely the best of Swift's career and easily a candidate for the best pop song of 2014" and that it "captures the essence of 1989 in all its glimmering, solipsistic glory". The New York Times noted the song as a clever metanarrative, commenting that "This is Ms. Swift at her peak. It's funny and knowing, and serves to assert both her power and her primness." In a positive review, Robert Leedham of Drowned in Sound recognized it as "It's the work of someone who finds success in misadventure, instead of wallowing in it." Los Angeles Times called it:

A thrillingly vicious riff on Swift's reputation as a man-eater, a topic she also addresses in the album's jumpy lead single, "Shake It Off". "Got a long list of ex-lovers / They'll tell you I'm insane", she sings, her voice surging with newfound power, "But I've got a blank space, baby / And I'll write your name."

It was included in several critics' year-end lists and was the second and the sixth best song according to Time and Rolling Stone. In January 2015, "Blank Space" was ranked at number 3 on The Village Voice's annual year-end Pazz & Jop critics' poll, one rank before "Shake It Off".

Chart performance

The song topped the Hot Digital Songs charts with sales of 155,000 copies in its first week, making it the second song from 1989 to reach number 1 on the Hot Digital Songs, becoming Swift's ninth number one on that chart. Swift stood at rank three as the artist with the most number-one Digital Songs tying her with Eminem and surpassed Rihanna for the most number-one debuts. The song debuted at number 18 on the Billboard Hot 100. In its second week, the song sold 164,000 copies (up 5%) and moved up to number 13 on the Hot 100 being the Airplay Gainer. In its third week, the song sold 328,000 digital copies (up 100%), spurred by the release of its accompanying music video, and jumped to number one, becoming her third number one single and making Swift the first female artist to replace herself at number one (the number one song of the previous week was "Shake It Off") and tenth overall among all artists. The song remained at number one on the chart for seven consecutive weeks making it Swift's longest reign at #1 besting her previous records of "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" and "Shake It Off" which peaked atop for three and four weeks respectively. It also helped set a record for the longest period that the #1 spot on the Hot 100 had been held only by female musicians. On the chart issue dated January 17, 2015, it was pushed to the runner up spot as Mark Ronson's "Uptown Funk!" topped the Hot 100. It reached its one-millionth sales mark in its fifth week. As of January 2016, "Blank Space" has sold 4,325,000 copies in the United States. The song stayed in the top ten for 17 weeks including the song's seven week reign at the chart's top spot, making it Swift's second longest time lingering in the top ten, bested only by "Shake It Off" which spent 24 weeks in the chart's top ten.

In New Zealand, it debuted at number 26. In its third week, the song jumped from number 33 to number four, becoming Swift's sixth top-five hit in New Zealand. In Australia, it debuted at number twenty-nine before reaching number one on November 22.

In the United Kingdom, "Blank Space" debuted at number 99 on November 8, 2014, after the release of 1989. After the song was released as the second single from 1989, the song re-entered the chart at number 11, progressing into the top ten the following week, becoming Swift's seventh top ten hit in the UK. Ultimately, "Blank Space" peaked at number four, and charted in the top ten for 10 weeks. The song has sold over 650,000 copies in the country, as of November 2015.

According to the IFPI, the song sold 9.2 million units (combined sales and track-equivalent streams) worldwide in 2015.

Music video

The accompanying music video was directed by Joseph Kahn, who said that Swift approached him with the idea for the treatment, saying she was all too aware of the jokes made about all of her ex-boyfriends and how she likes to include them in her songwriting. She told him that she wanted to address the general thought of her in the clip in a fun way by playing a crazy villain. The video was shot over three days in September at two different Long Island locations; 12 hours in day one, 18 hours in day two and 10 hours for filming the American Express Unstaged app. Most of the scenes depicting Swift were filmed at Oheka Castle in Huntington, New York, while some of the interior scenes were shot at the Woolworth Mansion. After two days of filming with Swift, a second unit crew assistant-directed by Henry Thong kept going, taking much of the photography that would later be used to construct the world within the American Express Unstaged: Taylor Swift Experience app. The video was partly inspired by A Clockwork Orange. Kahn explained, "There's a lot of symmetrical framing that's Kubrickian, which is a really funny way to approach a pop video. But it's there if you look at the way there's center-framing and symmetry throughout the whole thing," Swift's love interest in the video is portrayed by model Sean O'Pry.

The video accidentally leaked on Yahoo! on November 10, 2014. Kahn tweeted about the accidental early release, "I'll link video later when I think it's clear. I think it may be a mistake on Yahoo's part—they may have released it early by accident." To which he later added, "Yup. Yahoo effed up. Wait to see the Blank Space video. Let Taylor introduce it herself. It'll be worth it :)"

American Express Unstaged: Taylor Swift Experience is a 360° music video app for "Blank Space" that compliments the classic-style linear music video. The 360° video features a similar storyline to the classic-style video, uses the same set, and stars the same Swift and O'Pry. The user can follow Swift and her love interest throughout many rooms of the mansion, although the user may leave the couple and go to other rooms to find interactive easter eggs and watch the butlers doing their work. Kahn, the video's director, compared it to a "stage play" and dubbed it a "choose-your-own-adventure" video. The video was filmed using special 360° cameras and can be viewed by downloading the app to a smartphone or tablet. When in the app, the user physically moves their phone to move their point of view. The app won the Emmy for Original Interactive Program at the 2015 ceremony.

As of February 2017, the video is one of 49 videos with over 1 billion views on YouTube. With over 1.97 billion views, it is the sixth most viewed YouTube video of all time and has the most views for a female artist. On July 3, 2015, it became the fourth and, at that time, the fastest music video to reach 1 billion views on Vevo. On October 20, 2015, it became the most watched music video on Vevo. In July 2015, "Blank Space" was nominated for two VMAs at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards, Best Pop Video and Best Female Video; the video won both its nominations during the ceremony on August 30, 2015.

Track listing

1. "Blank Space" – 3:51
2. "Blank Space" (Mr. Worldwide Remix) – 3:58
3. "Blank Space" (Jump Smokers Remix) – 4:43

Live performances

Swift performed the song on television for the first time at the 2014 American Music Awards. She first performed it live as part of Taylor Swift's 1989 Secret Session with iHeartRadio on October 27, 2014 in New York City, streamed on iHeartRadio and Yahoo!. Swift performed the song in The Voice and the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. She also performed the song live in London, U.K. at Capital FM's Jingle Bell Ball 2014 along with some of her other songs. This was also a major part of the set list of the 1989 World Tour.

Cover versions

Ryan Adams' cover version of the song was featured on his Taylor Swift tribute album, 1989 (2015). Father John Misty released a cover version of the song in the style of the rock band The Velvet Underground in 2015. The cover is a reinterpretation of Adams' version and is built on the melody of the song "I'm Waiting for the Man."

I Prevail released a post-hardcore cover. This garnered much attention to the band, and has received over 30 million views on YouTube since.

Willam Belli released a parody cover on her second album "Shartistry in Motion" (2015) as "Ride for AIDS" with fellow drag queen Alaska. The profits of the song went to HIV related charities.

Rockabye Baby! Released a lullaby version of the song.

Credits and personnel

Credits are adapted from album liner notes.

Certifications

Since May 2013, RIAA certifications for digital singles include on-demand audio and/or video song streams in addition to downloads.