"Gorgeous" is a song by the American singer-songwriter

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her autobiographical songwriting, artistic versatility, and Cultural impact of Taylor Swift, cultural impact, Swift is one of the Best selling artists, w ...

from her sixth studio album, ''

Reputation The reputation or prestige of a social entity (a person, a social group, an organization, or a place) is an opinion about that entity – typically developed as a result of social evaluation on a set of criteria, such as behavior or performance. ...

'' (2017). She wrote the song with its producers,

Max Martin Karl Martin Sandberg (born 26 February 1971),Max Martin
AllMusic known professional ...

and Shellback. A

bubblegum Bubble gum (or bubblegum) is a type of chewing gum, designed to be inflated out of the mouth as a bubble. Composition In modern chewing gum, if natural rubber such as chicle is used, it must pass several purity and cleanliness tests. However, ...

electropop Electropop is a popular music fusion genre combining elements of the electronic and pop styles. It has been described as a variant of synth-pop with emphasis on a hard electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a rev ...

, and

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s b ...

song, "Gorgeous" features a loop instrumented by minimal

hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

drum machine A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument that creates percussion sounds, drum beats, and patterns. Drum machines may imitate drum kits or other percussion instruments, or produce unique sounds, such as synthesized electronic tones. A d ...

beats,

synthesizers A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

, occasional acoustic guitars, and a

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ding before the

refrain A refrain (from Vulgar Latin ''refringere'', "to repeat", and later from Old French ''refraindre'') is the Line (poetry)">line or lines that are repeated in poetry or in music">poetry.html" ;"title="Line (poetry)">line or lines that are repeat ...

. Inspired by Swift's relationship with the English actor

Joe Alwyn Joseph Matthew Alwyn (born 21 February 1991) is an English actor. Alwyn made his feature film debut as the titular character in Ang Lee's 2016 war drama '' Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk'' and has since played roles in films such as '' The F ...

, the lyrics are flirtatious confessions to a newfound romantic interest: the narrator jokingly tells this man that his striking beauty makes her miserable and yearning for more.

Big Machine Records Big Machine Records is an American record label, distributed by Universal Music Group. Big Machine is based on Music Row in Nashville, Tennessee. The label was founded in September 2005 by former DreamWorks Records executive Scott Borchetta and ...

released "Gorgeous" for

download In computer networks, download means to ''receive'' data from a remote system, typically a server such as a web server, an FTP server, an email server, or other similar systems. This contrasts with uploading, where data is ''sent to'' a remote ...

on October 20, 2017. Critical reception of the song was mixed: some reviews complimented its simple lyrics and production, but some others deemed the songwriting subpar for Swift's abilities. The track reached the top 20 on charts and received

certifications Certification is part of testing, inspection and certification and the provision by an independent body of written assurance (a certificate) that the product, service or system in question meets specific requirements. It is the formal attestatio ...

in Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Swift included "Gorgeous" in the

set list A set list, or setlist, is typically a handwritten or printed document created as an ordered list of songs, jokes, stories and other elements an artist intends to present during a specific performance. A setlist can be made of nearly any materi ...

of her 2018

Reputation Stadium Tour The Reputation Stadium Tour was the fifth concert tour and the first stadium tour by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, in support of her sixth studio album, ''Reputation'' (2017). It began in Glendale, Arizona, United States, on May ...

, and she performed it twice on

the Eras Tour The Eras Tour was the sixth concert tour by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. It began in Glendale, Arizona, United States, on March 17, 2023, and concluded in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on December 8, 2024. Spanning 149 sh ...

in 2023 and 2024.

Production and release

wrote "Gorgeous" with Swedish producers

Max Martin Karl Martin Sandberg (born 26 February 1971),Max Martin
AllMusic known professional ...

and Shellback for her sixth studio album, ''

''. The song was also produced by Martin and Shellback. It was engineered at

MXM Studios MXM and Wolf Cousins are a pair of Swedish songwriting and production organisations, founded and established by songwriter and record producer Max Martin. MXM Studios and its affiliated producers are based in New York City, and Wolf Cousins Mus ...

in Los Angeles and

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, Sweden. The track was mixed by

Serban Ghenea Serban Ghenea () is a Canadian audio engineer and mixer. He has been nominated for a Grammy Award a total of 45 times and has won 21 times. Early life and education Ghenea was born in Romania, and in 1976 he moved to Montreal with his family. H ...

at MixStar Studios in

Virginia Beach, Virginia Virginia Beach (colloquially VB) is the most populous city in the U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. The city is located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay in southeastern Virginia. It is the sixth-most populous city in the ...

; and

mastered Mastering is a form of audio post production which is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device called a master recording, the source from which all copies will be ...

by Randy Merrill at

Sterling Sound Studios George Marino (April 15, 1947June 4, 2012) was an American mastering engineer known for working on albums by rock bands starting in the late 1960s. Biography Marino was born on April 15, 1947, in the New York City borough The Bronx. He attended ...

in New York. On October 19, 2017, Swift gave a preview of the song in an

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post which featured a baby voice saying the word "gorgeous" over an

production. The baby's voice featured on the song is that of James Reynolds, a daughter of actors

Blake Lively Blake Ellender Brown (born August 25, 1987), known professionally as Blake Lively, is an American actress. A daughter of actor Ernie Lively, she made her professional debut in his directorial project ''Sandman'' (1998). She had her breakthrou ...

and

Ryan Reynolds Ryan Rodney Reynolds (born October 23, 1976) is a Canadian and American actor, producer and businessman. Known for starring in comedic and superhero films, he was the List of highest-paid film actors, world's second-highest-paid actor in 202 ...

. Swift decided to feature the baby's voice after she played an acoustic guitar demo to Lively and Reynolds and then their daughter kept saying the word "gorgeous". On October 20, "Gorgeous" was released for digital download as a

promotional single A promotional recording, promo, or plug copy is an audio or video recording distributed free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available. Promos are normally sent directly to broadcasters, such as mu ...

. It was the third song issued preceding the release of ''Reputation'', following the singles "

Look What You Made Me Do "Look What You Made Me Do" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift and the lead single from her sixth studio album, ''Reputation'' (2017). Big Machine Records released the song on August 24, 2017, following an approximately yea ...

" and " ...Ready for It?". Swift performed "Gorgeous" as part of her set list for the B96 Chicago and

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Jingle Bash 2017 on December 7, 2017, in Chicago. Swift also sang the song during the Jingle Bell Ball 2017 in London and at

BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend (R1BW) (previously known as One Big Weekend, for 2012 as Radio 1's Hackney Weekend, and for 2018 as BBC Music's Biggest Weekend) is a British music festival run by BBC Radio 1. It is held once a year, in a different l ...

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. The song was included in the set-list for her

(2018). Swift also performed "Gorgeous" as a surprise song on

The Eras Tour The Eras Tour was the sixth concert tour by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. It began in Glendale, Arizona, United States, on March 17, 2023, and concluded in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on December 8, 2024. Spanning 149 sh ...

on April 29, 2023, in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

. She sang the track again as a mashup with her song "I Think He Knows" (2019) on May 17, 2024, in the tour's stop at

Composition

"Gorgeous" is a

, electropop, and

song. Compared to the two previous ''Reputation'' singles ("Look What You Made Me Do" and "...Ready for It?"), "Gorgeous" features a brighter atmosphere with a "radio-friendly" production. The track is accompanied by a gleeful loop accompanied by minimal

and

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

, and occasional acoustic

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

sounds. The

pre-chorus Song structure is the arrangement of a song, and is a part of the songwriting process. It is typically section (music), sectional, which uses repeating forms in songs. Common piece-level musical forms for vocal music include bar form, thirty-two-ba ...

is instrumented by a drum beat reminiscent of 808 drums used in

hip hop music Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music Music genre, genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African Americans, African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide r ...

Annie Zaleski Annie Zaleski is a ''New York Times'' best-selling author and music historian. Career Zaleski is a regular writer for mainstream media outlets such as The Guardian and NPR Music, and a columnist at ''Salon''. She is based in Cleveland, Ohio w ...

wrote that the track's rhythm resembles sounds of a ticking clock. Swift sings in a high, carefree tone. Chris Willman from ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' drew similarities between the song and Swift's previous single "

Blank Space "Blank Space" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift and the second single from her fifth studio album, ''1989'' (2014). Swift wrote the song with its producers, Max Martin and Shellback. Inspired by the media scrutiny on Sw ...

" (2014). Maeve McDermott of ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

'' likened the chorus of the song to the music of

Katy Perry Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (born October 25, 1984), known professionally as Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. She is one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists in hist ...

. ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 185 ...

'' Spencer Kornhaber commented that the song's drums in the pre-chorus reminded him of hip hop songs, specifically the 2004 single "

Drop It Like It's Hot "Drop It Like It's Hot" is a song by American rapper Snoop Dogg featuring American musician Pharrell Williams. It was released on September 27, 2004, as the lead single from Snoop Dogg's seventh studio album, '' R&G (Rhythm & Gangsta): The Mast ...

" by

Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. ( ; born October 20, 1971), better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg), is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Rooted in West Coast hip-hop, he is widely regarded as one of t ...

featuring

Pharrell Williams Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973), also known mononymously as Pharrell, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer, and fashion designer. He first became known as one half of the music production duo ...

. Lyrically, the song depicts Swift getting infatuated with a new love interest that is too beautiful and seems unattainable, inspired by Swift's relationship with the English actor

. "Gorgeous" begins with a baby's voice saying the word "gorgeous", sampling the voice of James Reynolds, daughter of Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds. In the track, Swift portrays a promiscuous aspect in an attempt to get the attention of a prospective lover. She confesses that she is prompted to cheat on her boyfriend in order to get along with this new man, through the lines, "I got a boyfriend, he's older than us / He's in the club doing I don't know what." She gets

melodrama A melodrama is a Drama, dramatic work in which plot, typically sensationalized for a strong emotional appeal, takes precedence over detailed characterization. Melodrama is "an exaggerated version of drama". Melodramas typically concentrate on ...

tic, singing "You've ruined my life by not being mine", which is followed by a

ding. In the

, Swift restates that her love interest is so "gorgeous" that she "can't say anything to isface", leaving her dumbstruck. Compared to her previous songs about unrequited love or hopeless romance, "Gorgeous" sees Swift assuming a more assertive position: "I'm so furious / At you for making me feel this way." She no longer gets overtly heartbroken should the relationship with this person not come true: "Guess I'll just stumble on home to my cats... alone."

Critical reception

The song garnered mixed reviews from critics. In a positive review, Maeve McDermott of ''USA Today'' called it a proof for Swift's "domination". Christopher Rosa from '' Glamour'' stated that it was evidence that Swift was "single-handedly saving pop music in 2017," calling it "fizzy" and "delightful". In a review for ''Variety'', Chris William called it a pop song that offers "conventional pleasures", and appreciated it as a welcoming reminder of Swift's abilities as a songwriter, after the dark sounds of ''Reputation'' previous singles "Look What You Made Me Do" and "...Ready for It?". Jon Blistein of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' agreed, calling it the "

yang Yang may refer to: * Yang, in yin and yang, one half of the two symbolic polarities in Chinese philosophy * Korean yang, former unit of currency of Korea from 1892 to 1902 * YANG, a data modeling language for the NETCONF network configuration p ...

to the vindictive, angry yin" of "Look What You Made Me Do". Clayton Purdom from ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...

'' wrote that the song "clears the low bar set by its two predecessors Look What You Made Me Do' and '...Ready for It?', calling it "an extremely basic and extremely good" song. ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

''s Eric Renner Brown gave it a B+, deeming it a welcoming sign of Swift's songwriting skills compared to the petty lyrics of the two previous ''Reputation'' singles. Richard S. He from ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' was less complimentary, calling the lyrics clumsy: "For the first time ever, wift'sso tongue-tied she can't even think of a rhyme." Spencer Kornhaber of ''

'' praised the song's catchy production and straightforward lyrics, but felt that the song's hip hop influences proved that Swift was becoming another unoriginal singer " ttemptingto convey new edge, new danger, by trying on a little more syncopation". Frank Guan of ''

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

'', while saying that the song "isn't terrible", was disappointed with the production and lyrics. Guan deemed the romantic narrative of the song "disjointed and implausible", and Swift's delivery akin to a "malfunctioning android". He added that judging from the vengeance and drama-filled lyrics of the previous ''Reputation'' singles, "Gorgeous" proved that Swift was becoming "a woman whose tremendous success has magnified her resentments to the point where she can't even enjoy the happiest of emotions: falling in love". Similarly, Jordan Sargent from ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

'' felt that the song, whose narrative was a step down from Swift's traditional vivid songwriting, was overshadowed by the dark and tumultuous promotional campaign for ''Reputation'' and its lead single "Look What You Made Me Do".

Commercial performance

In the U.S., "Gorgeous" debuted at number 13 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart dated October 30, 2017. Despite not being released to radio, the song drew 3.6 million in all-format airplay audience. On the

Digital Songs The Digital Song Sales (previously named Digital Songs and Hot Digital Songs) ranks the best-selling digital songs in the United States, as compiled by Luminate and published by '' Billboard'' magazine. Although it originally started tracking ...

chart, it was Swift's 14th number-one chart entry, extending Swift's record as the artist with the most Digital Songs number-one debuts (13). This made ''Reputation'' the first album since

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals and creatures * A male duck * Drake (mythology), a term related to and often synonymous with dragon People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family ...

's '' Views'' (2016) to spawn three or more Digital Songs number ones, and the first album by a female artist since Swift's ''1989'' (2014) to do so. "Gorgeous" spent four weeks on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. It was

certified gold Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA) for exceeding 500,000 units based on sales and on-demand streaming. In the U.K., where "Gorgeous" was added to

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

's playlist, it peaked at number 15 on the UK Singles Chart and was certified platinum (600,000 units) by the

British Phonographic Industry BPI (British Recorded Music Industry) Limited, trading as British Phonographic Industry (BPI), is the British recorded music industry's trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards; is home to the Mercury Prize; co-owns the Official Charts C ...

(BPI). In Australia, the track peaked at number nine on the

ARIA Singles Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

, becoming ''Reputation'' third top-10 chart entry. It was certified triple platinum by the

Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival Records (Australia), Festival, Sony Music ...

. In Brazil, the song received a gold certification from

Pro-Música Brasil Pro-Música Brasil (PMB), previously Associação Brasileira dos Produtores de Discos (ABPD) ( English: Brazilian Association of Record Producers), is an official representative body of the record labels in the Brazilian phonographic market. H ...

(PMB). Elsewhere, "Gorgeous" entered the top 10 on charts of Malaysia (eight), Canada (nine), and Hungary (nine). "Gorgeous" was a top-20 chart entry in Scotland (12), the Philippines (13), Lebanon (15), Slovakia (17), Ireland (18), and New Zealand (19). The song peaked at number 15 on the

Euro Digital Song Sales The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, p ...

, a ''Billboard'' chart ranking the best-selling digital singles in Europe. It additionally charted within the top 40 on charts in Austria, the Czech Republic, Norway, Portugal, and Slovenia.

Credits and personnel

Credits are adapted from the liner notes of ''Reputation''. *

– vocals, songwriter *

Max Martin Karl Martin Sandberg (born 26 February 1971),Max Martin
AllMusic known professional ...

– producer, songwriter,

programming Program (American English; also Commonwealth English in terms of computer programming and related activities) or programme (Commonwealth English in all other meanings), programmer, or programming may refer to: Business and management * Program m ...

, keyboards * Shellback – producer, songwriter, programming, keyboards,

guitars The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

* Sam Holland – engineer * Michael Ilbert – engineer * Cory Bice – assistant engineer * Jeremy Lertola – assistant engineer *

– mixing * John Hanes – mix engineer *

Randy Merrill Randy Merrill is an American mastering engineer who has worked with international artists including Blink-182, DAY6, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Maroon 5, Harry Styles, One Direction, Adele, Imagine Dragons, Beck, Liam Gallagher, Jonas Brothers, Muse ...

– mastering * James Reynolds – baby voice intro

Charts

Certifications

References

Source

* {{Authority control 2017 songs Songs written by Max Martin Songs written by Shellback (record producer) Songs written by Taylor Swift Song recordings produced by Max Martin Song recordings produced by Shellback (record producer) Taylor Swift songs Electropop songs Bubblegum pop songs American synth-pop songs

Production and release

Composition

Critical reception

Commercial performance

Credits and personnel

Charts

Certifications

See also

References

Source