"Starlight" 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 ...

for her fourth studio album, ''Red'' (2012). She was inspired to write the song by the teenage romance of

Ethel Kennedy Ethel Kennedy ( ; April 11, 1928 – October 10, 2024) was an American human rights advocate. She was the widow of U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, a sister-in-law of U.S. president John F. Kennedy, and a daughter of businessman Geor ...

and

Robert F. Kennedy Robert Francis Kennedy (November 20, 1925 – June 6, 1968), also known as RFK, was an American politician and lawyer. He served as the 64th United States attorney general from January 1961 to September 1964, and as a U.S. senator from New Yo ...

: the lyrics narrate a summer romance in 1945 and depict two characters intruding a

yacht club A yacht club is a boat club specifically related to yachting. Description Yacht clubs are mostly located by the sea, although there some that have been established at a lake or riverside locations. Yacht or sailing clubs have either a mar ...

party. Produced by Swift, Nathan Chapman, and

Dann Huff Dann Lee Huff (born November 15, 1960) is an American record producer, studio guitarist, and songwriter. For his work as a producer in the country music genre, he has won several awards, including the ''Musician of the Year'' award in 2001, 2004 ...

, "Starlight" is a

dance-pop Dance-pop is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit ra ...

song with elements of

country pop Country pop (also known as urban cowboy or even urban country) is a fusion genre of country music and pop music that was developed by members of the country genre out of a desire to reach a larger, mainstream audience. Country pop music blends g ...

and

trance music Trance is a genre of electronic dance music that emerged from Electronic body music, EBM in Frankfurt, Germany, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and quickly spread throughout Europe. Trance music is typically characterized by a tempo between ...

. Music critics generally praised the narrative songwriting of "Starlight" and its

catchy Catchiness is how easy it is for a song, tune, or phrase to be recalled. It is often taken into account when writing songs, catchphrases, advertising slogans, jingles etc. Alternatively, it can be defined as how difficult it is for one to forget i ...

sound, although reviews have generally regarded it as a lesser entry in Swift's discography. Some critics remarked that the

third-person perspective Narration is the use of a written or spoken commentary to storytelling, convey a narrative, story to an audience. Narration is conveyed by a narrator: a specific person, or unspecified literary voice, developed by the creator of the story to del ...

was a showcase of her expanding artistry beyond her usual autobiographical songs. "Starlight" peaked at number 80 on the

Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine. It was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007 as the standard record chart in Canada; a new chart ...

and number 5 on the

Bubbling Under Hot 100 Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...

. Swift used "Starlight" in a commercial for her

fragrance An aroma compound, also known as an odorant, aroma, fragrance, flavoring or flavor, is a chemical compound that has a smell or odor. For an individual chemical or class of chemical compounds to impart a smell or fragrance, it must be sufficien ...

in 2013. Following a 2019 dispute over Swift's back catalog, she re-recorded "Starlight" and released it as "Starlight (Taylor's Version)", as part of her 2021 re-recorded album ''

Red (Taylor's Version) ''Red (Taylor's Version)'' is the second re-recorded album by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. It was released on November 12, 2021, by Republic Records, as part of Swift's re-recording project following the Taylor Swift masters d ...

''. The re-recorded song peaked at number 102 on the ''Billboard'' Global 200 and charted in Canada and the United States.

Background and release

conceptualized her fourth studio album, ''Red'' (2012), as a breakup album that details the complex and conflicting feelings from a lost love, inspired by a real-life relationship of hers. She worked with new producers in addition to Nathan Chapman, who had produced her previous

albums. Swift, Chapman, and

produced three songs for ''Red'', including "Starlight", which was written by Swift alone.

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 ''Red'' on October 22, 2012, and "Starlight" is number 15 on the standard track listing. Swift used "Starlight" as the soundtrack to a commercial for her

"Taylor by Taylor Swift", which was available at

Ulta Beauty Ulta Beauty, Inc., formerly known as Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc. and before 2000 as Ulta3, is an American chain of cosmetic stores headquartered in Bolingbrook, Illinois. Ulta Beauty carries both high- and low-end cosmetics, fragra ...

stores, in 2013. Swift has occasionally performed "Starlight" during several concerts. On December 3, 2012, she performed an acoustic rendition at the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, where she was honored with the Ripple of Hope Award for her humanitarian efforts. On March 27, 2013, as part of the Red Tour concert in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...

, she performed the song on acoustic guitar. She also performed it at the Reputation Stadium Tour concert in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

on November 6, 2018. 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 ...

, she sang it twice: in

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

on July 15, 2013, and as part of a mashup with " Mine" in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

on March 2, 2024. After signing a new contract with

Republic Records Republic Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). Based in New York City, it was founded by Avery Lipman and Monte Lipman as an independent label in 1995, and was acquired by UMG in 2000. Republic was initially ...

, Swift began re-recording her first six studio albums, including ''Red'', in November 2020. The decision followed a public 2019 dispute between Swift and the talent manager

Scooter Braun Scott Samuel "Scooter" Braun ( ; born June 18, 1981) is an American businessman, investor, and record executive. Since 2023 he has served as chief executive officer (CEO) of Hybe America, the North American subsidiary of South Korean entertain ...

, who acquired Big Machine Records, including the masters of Swift's albums which the label had released. Re-recording them would enable her to have full licensing rights of her songs for

commercial use Commercial may refer to: * (adjective for) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and services ** (adjective for) trade, the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money * a dose of advertising ...

. The re-recorded version of "Starlight" was released as "Starlight (Taylor's Version)", as part of Swift's re-recorded album ''

'', which was released through Republic Records on November 12, 2021.

Composition and lyrics

Swift was inspired to write "Starlight" by the teenage romance of

and

; she had become friends with Ethel and other members of the

Kennedy family The Kennedy family () is an American political family that has long been prominent in American politics, public service, entertainment, and business. In 1884, 35 years after the family's arrival from County Wexford, Ireland, Patrick Joseph "P ...

in 2012. In the

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or cassette j-cards. Origin Liner notes are descended from the prog ...

of ''Red'', she dedicated the song to Ethel. According to Swift, she came across a black-and-white picture of Ethel and Robert dancing, thinking to herself about "how much fun they must have had that night". Her imagination of a whirlwind teenage romance informed the lyrics, which tell of a teenage couple intruding a

party in the summer of 1945. The couple was "17 and crazy", pretended they were "a duchess and a prince", and " ancedlike we're made of starlight".

Rob Sheffield Robert James Sheffield (born February 2, 1966) is an American music journalist and author. He is a long time contributing editor at ''Rolling Stone'', writing about music, TV, and pop culture. Previously, he was a contributing editor at '' Blen ...

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 ...

'' compared the narrative of "Starlight" to that of a F. Scott Fitzgerald romance, an idea corroborated by ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' Roisin O'Connor, who thought that the party setting was " Gatsby-esque". Ludovic Hunter-Tilney from the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

'' opined that the songwriting evoked

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...

's style. Swift, Chapman, and Huff produced "Starlight", which was recorded by Joe Baldridge at

Blackbird Studio Blackbird Studio is a music recording studio located at 2806 Azalea Place in Berry Hill, Tennessee. Originally built as Creative Workshop II and later operated as Creative Recording, the studio changed ownership and was rebuilt and renamed Black ...

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

. Its production was coordinated by Mike "Frog" Griffith and Jason Campbell. On the track, Chapman and Huff both played electric guitars; the former also played piano and

synth 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 a ...

. Jimmie Sloas played

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

, Charlie Judge played synth and strings, and J Bonilla played drums and programmed the percussion. A

song, "Starlight" has a lively production composed of swirling keyboards, twinkling piano, and dynamic electric guitars. Its opening evokes a

song, and the

break Break or Breaks or The Break may refer to: Time off from duties * Recess (break), time in which a group of people is temporarily dismissed from its duties * Break (work), time off during a shift/recess ** Coffee break, a short mid-morning rest ...

includes an electric guitar

solo Solo or SOLO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Characters * Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character * Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ''Star Wars Legends'' continuity * Kylo Ren (Ben Solo), a ''Star Wars'' character * Napoleon Solo, fr ...

, conceived by Chapman and performed by Huff. According to Perone, "Starlight" displays a novelty in Swift's melodic songwriting: its verses are more "conventionally tuneful" compared to the melodies built on short motives and pitch ranges of her early songs. He overall described the track as "vaguely contemporary country pop in nature", while ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' characterized it as "

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 ...

-goes-country" with Swift's twangy vocals. For the critic

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 ...

, the song's sound resembles that of

Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac are a British-American Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1967 by the singer and guitarist Peter Green (musician), Peter Green. Green named the band by combining the surnames of the drummer, Mick Fleetwood, and the bassis ...

's 1987 album ''

Tango in the Night ''Tango in the Night'' is the fourteenth studio album by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released on 13 April 1987 by Warner Bros. Records. As a result of Lindsey Buckingham's departure later that year, it is the fifth and final stu ...

''. The re-recording, "Starlight (Taylor's Version)", was produced by Swift and Christopher Rowe, who recorded her lead vocals at Kitty Committee Studio in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

Paul Mirkovich Paul Mirkovich (born March 20, 1963) is an American musician from Los Angeles. He has previously been band leader, keyboardist and duet singing partner for Cher. He has also been the band director for Janet Jackson and Anastacia and a member of t ...

executive-produced the track, and he played piano, synths, and programmed the

drum machines 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 ...

with Pete Amato and Nate Morton. The track was recorded by Justin Derrico and Travis Ference at

Capitol Studios Capitol Studios is a recording studio located at the landmark Capitol Records Building in Hollywood, California, United States. The studios, which opened in 1956, were initially the primary recording studios for the American record label Capi ...

in Hollywood; the former also played guitars and

bouzouki The bouzouki (, also ; ; alt. pl. ''bouzoukia'', , from Greek , from Turkish ) is a musical instrument popular in West Asia (Syria, Iraq), Europe and Balkans (Greece, North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Turkey). It is a member of the long-necked lute fam ...

. Morton also played live drums, and Alexander Krivtsov played

electric bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

. Engineered by Bryce Bordone and Derek Garten at Prime Recording Studio in Nashville, "Starlight (Taylor's Version)" was mixed by Ghenea at MixStar Studios in

Virginia Beach Virginia Beach (colloquially VB) is the List of cities in Virginia, most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. The city is located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay in southeaster ...

Reception

Reviews of "Starlight" were mixed to positive. In lukewarm reviews, Mesfin Fekadu of the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

opined that the song lacks "oomph and feeling" and was derivative of Swift's previous styles, and Sean Daly of the ''

Tampa Bay Times The ''Tampa Bay Times'', called the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It is published by the Times Publishing Company, which is owned by The Poynter Institute ...

'' considered it a filler and "midtempo fluff" that " wiftcan write ... in her sleep". Brian Passey from ''The Spectrum'' thought that Swift's songwriting style on "Starlight" evoked the style of

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

, which made her lose some trademarks. More complimentary reviews considered "Starlight" a catchy song. Joseph Hudak of ''

Country Weekly ''Country Weekly'' (known as ''Nash Country Weekly'' from 2015–16) was an American magazine about country music. It was in circulation between April 1994 and May 2016. The publisher, Cumulus Media, now maintains the site Nash Country Daily. O ...

'' described it as "a dazzler, custom-made for ecstatic nights in the club", Michael Robbins of ''Spin'' selected it as one of the ''Red'' tracks that "go down like pop punch spiked by pros", and ''Billboard'' commented that the song served as a "danceable, fists-in-the-air love anthem". Sam Werner of the ''

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving Greater Pittsburgh, metropolitan Pittsburgh in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the fi ...

'' regarded it as one of ''Red'''s songs that are "quintessential Swift", and Allison Stewart of ''

'' selected it as one of the album's tracks that are musically interesting for combining new styles for Swift and her old country sound. ''

MusicOMH ''MusicOMH'' (stylized as ''musicOMH'') is a London-based online music magazine which publishes independent reviews, features and interviews from across all genres including classical, metal, rock and R&B. History ''MusicOMH'' was founded an ...

'''s Philip Matusavage wrote that the song "shows that Swift can do brilliant pop all by herself", an idea corroborated by Perone, who thought that Swift could do well as a commercial pop songwriter. Zaleski considered "Starlight" one of Swift's early creative nonfiction songs before fully embracing fictional narratives on her 2020 album ''Folklore''. Upon the release of ''Red'' in 2012, "Starlight" peaked at number 80 on the

, number 28 on the US

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

chart, and number 5 on the US

chart. The re-recorded version, "Starlight (Taylor's Version)", peaked at number 73 on the Canadian Hot 100 and number 90 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 2021; it additionally peaked at number 102 on the ''Billboard'' Global 200 chart.

Personnel

"Starlight" (2012) * Taylor Swift – producer, writer * Nathan Chapman – producer, electric guitars, electric guitar

conceiving, piano,

– producer, electric guitars, electric guitar solo performing * Jimmie Sloas – bass * Charlie Judge – synth, strings * J Bonilla – drums, percussion programming * Mike "Frog" Griffith – production coordinating * Jason Campbell – production coordinating * Joe Baldridge – recording *

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 ...

– mixing * John Hanes – mix engineering * Tim Roberts – mix engineer assistant * Tom Coyne – mastering "Starlight (Taylor's Version)" (2021) * Taylor Swift – producer, writer, background vocals, lead vocals * Christopher Rowe – producer, lead vocals recording *

– additional recording, drum machine programming, executive producer, piano, synths * Justin Derrico – recording, acoustic guitar,

, electric guitar * Pete Amato – additional recording,

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 ...

programming * Travis Ference – recording, additional recording, editing * Nate Morton – drum machine programming, drums * Alexander "Sasha" Krivtsov –

electric bass The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an electric but with a longer neck and scale leng ...

* Bryce Bordone –

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

* Derek Garten – engineering, editing *

– mixing

Charts

"Starlight"

"Starlight (Taylor's Version)"

References

Sources

* * *

External link

* {{Taylor Swift songs 2012 songs Taylor Swift songs Songs written by Taylor Swift Song recordings produced by Taylor Swift Song recordings produced by Nathan Chapman (record producer) Song recordings produced by Dann Huff American dance-pop songs Kennedy family