"Blank Space" 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 ...

and the second single from her fifth studio album, ''

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

'' (2014). Swift wrote the song with its producers, Max Martin and Shellback. Inspired by the media scrutiny on Swift's love life that affected her girl-next-door reputation, "Blank Space" portrays a flirtatious woman with multiple romantic attachments. It is an

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 ...

track with a minimal arrangement consisting of

synthesizer 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 ...

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. Hip- ...

–influenced beats, and layered vocals. Big Machine in partnership 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 ...

released "Blank Space" to US radio on November 10, 2014. One of the best-selling singles of 2015, it topped charts in Australia, Canada, Iceland, Scotland, and South Africa. In the United States, it spent seven weeks atop the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and was certified eight times platinum 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). Music critics praised the production and Swift's songwriting; some picked it as ''1989'' highlight. The song earned three nominations at the 58th Grammy Awards, including two general categories:

Record of the Year The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without re ...

and Song of the Year. ''

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 ...

'' placed it at number 320 on their 2024 revision of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Joseph Kahn directed the music video for "Blank Space", which depicts Swift as a jealous woman who acts erratically when she suspects her boyfriend's infidelity. The video won Best Pop Video and Best Female Video at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards, and it ranked 67th on ''Rolling Stone'' 100 Greatest Music Videos of All Time. Swift included "Blank Space" in the set lists for three of her world tours: the 1989 World Tour (2015), Reputation Stadium Tour (2018), and the Eras Tour (2023–2024). The song was

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by several rock musicians. Following the 2019 dispute regarding the ownership of Swift's back catalog, she re-recorded the song as "Blank Space (Taylor's Version)" for her 2023 re-recorded album ''

1989 (Taylor's Version) ''1989 (Taylor's Version)'' is the fourth re-recorded album by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. It was released on October 27, 2023, by Republic Records, as part of Swift's re-recording project following the Taylor Swift masters disput ...

''.

Background

Inspired by 1980s

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 ...

with

s, drum pads, and overlapped vocals,

abandoned the

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stylings of her previous releases to incorporate pop production for her fifth studio album, ''

'', which was released in 2014. Swift began writing songs for the album in mid-2013 concurrently with the start of Swift's headlining world tour in support of her fourth studio album '' Red''. On ''1989'', Swift and the Swedish producer Max Martin served as

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the production of media. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights or royalties). In film ...

s. Martin and his frequent collaborator Shellback produced seven out of 13 songs on the album's standard edition. Having been known as "America's Sweetheart" thanks to her wholesome and down-to-earth girl next door image, Swift saw her reputation blemished due to her history of romantic relationships with a series of high-profile celebrities. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' asserted in 2013 that her "dating history adbegun to stir what feels like the beginning of a backlash", questioning whether Swift was in the midst of a quarter-life crisis. 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 ...

'' observed that until the release of ''1989'', Swift's love life had become a fixed tabloid interest and overshadowed her musicianship. Swift disliked the media portrayal of her as a "serial-dater", feeling that it undermined her professional works, and became reticent to discuss her personal life in public. The tabloid scrutiny on her image prompted her to write satirical songs about her perceived image, in addition to her traditional romantic themes.

Lyrics and music

Talking to '' GQ'' in 2015, Swift said that she envisioned "Blank Space" to be a satirical self-referential nod to the media perception of her image as "a girl who's crazy but seductive but glamorous but nuts but manipulative". 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. "Blank Space" follows the verse–chorus song structure. The lyrics in the verses are clipped, "Magic, madness, heaven, sin", which the

musicologist Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, f ...

Nate Sloan said set a mysterious and dreadful tone. At one point, Swift describes herself as a "nightmare dressed like a daydream". 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 ...

alludes to Swift's songwriting practice taking inspiration from her love life: the lyrics, "Got a long list of ex-lovers They'll tell you I'm insane But I've got a blank space, baby", are followed by a brief silence and then a clicking retractable pen sound, and Swift concludes the refrain: "And I'll write your name." After the song's release, the line "Got a long list of ex-lovers" was misheard by some audience as "All the lonely Starbucks lovers", which prompted internet discussions including a response from

Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational List of coffeehouse chains, chain of coffeehouses and Starbucks Reserve, roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl, and Gor ...

themselves. Swift told ''

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'' in 2015 that when "Blank Space" was released, " alfthe people got the joke, half the people really think that he wasreally owning the fact that he wasa psychopath". According to Sloan, the narrator of "Blank Space" is unreliable, and therefore it is open to interpretation whether the song is a true portrayal of Swift's character or not. In contemporary publications, journalists commented that the track represented ''1989'' lighthearted view on failed relationships and departed from the idealized romance on Swift's past albums. Others wrote that Swift made fun of her image and the media discourse surrounding her celebrity, which later served as the foundation for 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), an album exploring her public experiences and the media gossip. Martin and Shellback employed a sparse production for "Blank Space" as Swift wanted the song to emphasize the lyrics and vocals. Musically, "Blank Space" is an

song that is set over minimal

–influenced beats.

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 ...

said that the beats resonate like the sounds of a

grandfather clock A grandfather clock (also a longcase clock, tall-case clock, grandfather's clock, hall clock or floor clock) is a tall, freestanding, weight-driven pendulum clock, with the pendulum held inside the tower or waist of the case. Clocks of this styl ...

. The song incorporates

s, percussioned

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 ...

strums, and layered backing vocals. Swift sing-speaks the verses and, in the refrain, sings in her higher

register Register or registration may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Register (music), the relative "height" or range of a note, melody, part, instrument, etc. * ''Register'', a 2017 album by Travis Miller * Registration (organ), ...

as the production

crescendo In music, the dynamics of a piece are the variation in loudness between notes or phrases. Dynamics are indicated by specific musical notation, often in some detail. However, dynamics markings require interpretation by the performer depending ...

s with faster programmed

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 ...

. Some critics compared the song's minimal production to the music of

Lorde Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor (born 7 November 1996), known professionally as Lorde ( ), is a New Zealand singer and songwriter. She is known for her unconventional style of pop music and introspective songwriting, and has been referred to ...

, specifically her 2013 album ''

Pure Heroine ''Pure Heroine'' is the debut studio album by New Zealand singer-songwriter Lorde. It was released on 27 September 2013 by Universal Music Group, Universal, Lava Records, Lava, and Republic Records. After several unsuccessful sessions with son ...

''. According to '' Spin''s Andrew Unterberger, "Blank Space" embraces 1980s pop music authenticity, but with a modern twist.

Release and commercial performance

"Blank Space" was the second single from ''1989''. In the United States, Big Machine and

released the song to rhythmic crossover radio on November 10, and

hot adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

and

contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (CHR, also known as contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top ...

on November 11, 2014. Universal sent "Blank Space" to Italian radio on December 12, 2014, and released a

CD single A CD single is a single (music), music single in the form of a compact disc (CD). Originally the ''CD single'' standard (as defined in the Rainbow Books, Red Book) was an 8 cm (3-inch) "mini CD" (''CD3''); later on the term referred to any si ...

version of "Blank Space" in Germany on January 2, 2015. "Blank Space" debuted at number 18 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart dated November 15, 2014. The single reached number one in its third week on the chart, supported by the release of its music video. It took the number-one position from ''1989'' lead single "

Shake It Off "Shake It Off" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift and the lead single from her fifth studio album, '' 1989'' (2014). She wrote the song with its producers, Max Martin and Shellback. Inspired by the media scrutiny on Swif ...

", making Swift the first woman to succeed herself at the top spot. "Blank Space" remained atop the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for seven consecutive weeks. In August 2023, "Blank Space" re-entered the Hot 100 and reached number 46 after it increased in streams; this was brought by Swift's announcement of the re-recorded album ''

'' and her performances of the song on her Eras Tour. The

(RIAA) certified "Blank Space" eight-times platinum, which denotes eight million units based on sales and track-equivalent on-demand streams, in July 2018, and the single had sold 4.6 million digital copies in the United States by October 2022. The single also reached number one in Australia, Canada, South Africa, and Scotland. It peaked atop ''Billboard'' Euro Digital Song Sales and the Finnish Download Chart. "Blank Space" charted within the top five of national record charts, at number two in New Zealand, Poland, Slovakia, number three in Bulgaria, number four in the Czech Republic, Ireland, Israel, the United Kingdom, and number five in Lebanon. The track received multi-platinum certifications in many countries, including fourteen-times platinum in Australia and four-times diamond in Brazil. It was certified four-times platinum in Canada, Poland, United Kingdom, and New Zealand; and double platinum in Austria and Portugal. According to the

International Federation of the Phonographic Industry The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) is the organisation that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide. It is a non-profit members' organisation registered in Switzerland and founded in Italy in 1 ...

(IFPI), "Blank Space" was the eighth-best-selling song of 2015, selling 9.2 million units.

Critical reception

The song received widespread acclaim. Upon the release of ''1989'', Shane Kimberline of ''

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 ...

'' called "Blank Space" one of the album's best songs. ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, ...

'' Corey Baesley lauded it as "easily a candidate for the best pop song of 2014", writing that the minimal production may "sound bright and easy" but was in fact "weapons-grade, professional pop". Sydney Gore from '' The 405'' deemed "Blank Space" the album's highlight, and Aimee Cliff from ''Fact'' labeled it one of Swift's "most enjoyable songs to date" for portraying Swift's love life in a larger-than-life manner. '' Drowned in Sound'' Robert Leedham wrote that Swift succeeded in experimenting with new musical styles on ''1989'', specifically choosing "Blank Space" as an example. ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'' critic Kitty Empire picked "Blank Space" as a song that showcased Swift's musical and lyrical maturity, calling it "an out-and-out pop song with an intriguingly skeletal undercarriage". Writing for the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'', Mikael Wood selected the track as one of the album's better songs because of Swift's songwriting craftsmanship. ''

'' critic Jon Caramanica deemed the song "Swift at her peak" that "serves to assert both her power and her primness". ''

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 ...

''s Andy Gill was less enthusiastic, calling it a "corporate rebel clichéd" song. Retrospective reviews of "Blank Space" have been positive.

Alexis Petridis Alexis Petridis (born 13 September 1971) is an English journalist. He is the head Rock music, rock and pop music critic for ''The Guardian'', and a regular contributor for ''GQ''. In addition to his music journalism for the paper, he has written ...

of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' in 2019 declared "Blank Space" the best single Swift had released, praising its success in transforming Swift's image from a country singer-songwriter to a pop star thanks to its "effortless" melody and witty lyrics. ''

'' reviewer

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 ...

wrote: "Every second of 'Blank Space' is perfect." '' Paste'' in 2020 described the song as "remarkably well-made, infectiously catchy, and legitimately funny", and named it the best song on ''1989''. Selja Rankin from ''

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, ...

'' also dubbed "Blank Space" the best track on the album, praising the over-the-top lyrics and its catchy 1980s pop sound.

The Recording Academy National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Inc. (NARAS), doing business as The Recording Academy, is an American Learned society, learned academy of musicians, producers, recording engineers, and other musical professionals. It is widely kno ...

in 2023 picked "Blank Space" as one of Swift's 13 essential songs that represented her songwriting and musicianship.

Accolades

''Rolling Stone'' ranked "Blank Space" sixth on their list of the best songs of 2014, 73rd on their list of the best songs of the 2010s decade, 357th on their 2021 revision of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, and later at 320 in their 2024 revised list. ''

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'' named it as the ninth best song in their year-end list. The song placed at number three on ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...

''s annual year-end

Pazz & Jop Pazz & Jop was an annual poll of top musical releases, compiled by American newspaper ''The Village Voice'' and created by music critic Robert Christgau. It published lists of the year's top releases for 1971 and, after Christgau's two-year abse ...

critics' poll of 2014. ''

Stereogum ''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine. ''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several awar ...

'' and ''

Uproxx Uproxx Studios (stylized as ''UPROXX'') is an American music, entertainment and popular culture website and content studio. It was founded in 2008 by Jarret Myer and Brian Brater. The website was acquired in 2014 by Woven Digital (which later ...

'' ranked the song at numbers 49 and 72 on their lists of the best songs of the 2010s decade, respectively. ''Billboard'' named it one of the 100 "Songs That Defined the Decade". Katie Atkinson wrote that the single consolidated Swift's trademark autobiographical storytelling in music while "setting the standard for a new, self-aware pop star" in poking fun at her perceived image. On ''

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New Yor ...

'' list of the 100 best singles of the 2010s, "Blank Space" ranked 15th. "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 2016 APRA Awards in Australia. At the 58th Annual Grammy Awards in 2016, "Blank Space" was nominated in three categories—

, Song of the Year, and Best Pop Solo Performance.

Music video

Development and release

Joseph Kahn directed the music video for "Blank Space". According to Kahn, Swift conceptualized the video to " ddressthis 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 on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

: 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 American Express Company or Amex is an American bank holding company and multinational financial services corporation that specializes in payment card industry, payment cards. It is headquartered at 200 Vesey Street, also known as American Expr ...

. Kahn told ''

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'' that Swift was thorough in choosing the visual devices and imagery: "When you have an artist wanting to test her imaging, it's always great territory to be in." Kahn took inspirations from

Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American filmmaker and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Stanley Kubrick filmography, his films were nearly all adaptations of novels or sho ...

's 1971 film '' A Clockwork Orange'' for the video's symmetrical framing style. The video begins as the male love interest ( Sean O'Pry) drives an

AC Cobra The AC Cobra, sold in the United States as the Shelby Cobra and AC Shelby Cobra, is a sports car manufactured by British company AC Cars, with a List of Ford engines#8 Cylinder, Ford V8 engine. It was produced intermittently in both the Uni ...

towards the mansion of Swift's character. They quickly become a loving couple: they dance together, paint a portrait of the boyfriend, walk along the estate grounds, and ride horses. Halfway through the video, Swift's character notices him texting someone, and the couple begins to fall apart: they begin to fight and Swift's character shows erratic behaviors such as throwing vases, slashing the painted portrait, and burning her boyfriend's clothes, which drives him to end the relationship. Before the boyfriend leaves the mansion, Swift's character smashes her boyfriend's car using a golf club, a reference to

Tiger Woods Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in List of golfers with most PGA Tour wins, PGA Tour wins, ranks second in List of men's major championships winning golfers, men's m ...

's 2009 cheating scandal. After he drives away, a new man ( Andrea Denver) approaches, offering Swift a new hope for love. Swift planned to premiere the video on ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'', often abbreviated as ''GMA'', is an American breakfast television, morning television program that is broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends wit ...

'' on November 11, 2014, but

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accidentally leaked it a day before; Swift posted the video onto her

Vevo Vevo LLC ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized in all caps until 2013) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available ...

account quickly afterwards. The interactive app ''American Express Unstaged: Taylor Swift Experience'', featuring the 360° video version of "Blank Space", was released for free onto mobile app stores. 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 Easter eggs, also called Paschal eggs, are eggs that are Egg decorating, decorated for the Christian holiday of Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. As such, Easter eggs are commonly used during the season of Eastertide (Easter ...

, such as Swift's childhood photos. Kahn told ''Rolling Stone'' that the app was created with "superfans" who wanted to "feel even closer to Swift" in mind.

Reception

Some media outlets compared the narrative of "Blank Space" to that of '' Gone Girl'', citing that both Swift's character and ''Gone Girl'' protagonist " tripaway the romantic sheen she's given all her relationships in the past". Randall Roberts from the ''Los Angeles Times'' wrote that Swift delivered an "

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

-worthy" performance. ''Billboard'' praised the video's cinematic quality and aesthetics and found Swift's self-referential portrayal amusing, which served as "icing on the blood-filled cake". ''The Guardian'' columnist Jessica Valenti complimented Swift's portrayal of her perceived image and dubbed the video "a feminist daydream", where "the narrow and sexist caricatures attached to women are acted out for ''our'' amusement, their full ridiculousness on display". ''

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 ...

'' and ''Spin'' in 2017 deemed "Blank Space" the greatest video Swift had done; the latter praised the aesthetics as glamorous and lauded the hilarious depiction of Swift's reputation. ''

'' in 2020 picked "Blank Space" as the best video among the ''1989'' singles, describing it as "the only music video that can be earnestly described as ' Kubrickian. It won Best Pop Video and Best Female Video at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards and earned a nomination for Best International Female Video at the

MTV Video Music Awards Japan The MTV Video Music Awards Japan (MTV VMAJ for short) are the Japanese version of the MTV Video Music Awards. Like the MTV Video Music Awards in the United States, in this event artists are awarded for their songs and videos through online vo ...

. The ''American Express Unstaged: Taylor Swift Experience'' app won Original Interactive Program at the 67th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards. ''Rolling Stone'' placed "Blank Space" at number 67 on its list of the 100 Greatest Music Videos of All Time.

Live performances and other versions

Swift performed "Blank Space" during the "''1989'' Secret Session", live streamed by Yahoo! and

iHeartRadio iHeartRadio (often shortened to just "iHeart") is an American freemium broadcast, podcast, radio streaming and Music Streaming platform owned by iHeartMedia. Founded in August 2008, iHeartRadio serves as the national umbrella brand for iHeart ...

on October 27, 2014. Swift premiered the song on television at the 2014 American Music Awards, where she recreated the narrative of the music video, acting as a psychopathic woman who acts erratically towards her boyfriend. She again performed the song on '' The Voice'' on November 25, at the 2014 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show on December 2, and during Capital FM's Jingle Bell Ball 2014 in London, broadcast on December 5. On February 25, 2015, Swift opened the 2015 Brit Awards with a rendition of "Blank Space". At the beginning of the performance, Swift sang the song in front of a white background featuring

silhouette A silhouette (, ) is the image of a person, animal, object or scene represented as a solid shape of a single colour, usually black, with its edges matching the outline of the subject. The interior of a silhouette is featureless, and the silhouett ...

s of backup dancers. The song was part of the set lists for three of Swift's concert tours— the 1989 World Tour (2015), Reputation Stadium Tour (2018), and the Eras Tour (2023–2024). On September 9, 2019, Swift performed the song at the City of Lover one-off concert in Paris, France. She performed the song again at the We Can Survive charity concert on October 19, 2019, in Los Angeles. At the 2019 American Music Awards, where Swift was honored Artist of the Decade, she performed "Blank Space" as part of a medley of her hits. She again performed the song at Capital FM's Jingle Bell Ball 2019 in London, and at iHeartRadio Z100's Jingle Ball 2019 in New York City. Following the song's debut at the 2014 American Music Awards, the rapper Pitbull uploaded a remix featuring his rap verse to

SoundCloud SoundCloud is a German audio streaming service owned and operated by SoundCloud Global Limited & Co. KG. The service enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is ...

on December 15, 2014. The retro music group Postmodern Jukebox transformed the song into a 1940s-inspired track in their cover, and the rock band

Imagine Dragons Imagine Dragons are an American pop rock band formed in 2008, based in Las Vegas, Nevada. The band currently consists of lead singer Dan Reynolds, guitarist Wayne Sermon, and bassist Ben McKee. They first gained exposure with the release of ...

performed a slowed down rendition of the song sampling Ben E. King's " Stand by Me" at

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 ...

Live Lounge in February 2015. I Prevail, another rock band, released a

post-hardcore Post-hardcore is a punk rock music genre that maintains the aggression and intensity of hardcore punk but emphasizes a greater degree of creative expression. Like the term " post-punk", the term "post-hardcore" has been applied to a broad conste ...

cover of "Blank Space" as their debut single in December 2014. The cover reached number nine on ''Billboard'' Hot Rock Songs and number 90 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and received a platinum certification by the RIAA, which denotes one million track-equivalent units. It was also certified Gold 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 ...

(ARIA) in 2024. The rock singer

Ryan Adams David Ryan Adams (born November 5, 1974) is an American Rock music, rock and Country music, country singer-songwriter. He has released 30 studio albums and three as a former member of Whiskeytown. In 2000, Adams left Whiskeytown and released ...

covered "Blank Space" on his 2015 track-by-track cover album of Swift's ''1989''. On his rendition, Adams incorporated stripped-down, acoustic string instruments, contrasting the original's electronic production. The indie singer

Father John Misty Joshua Michael Tillman (born May 3, 1981), better known by his stage name Father John Misty, is an American musician. He is known for his satirical lyrics and eccentric performance style. Tillman began his career in Seattle in the early 2000s. O ...

released a cover version of the song in the style of the rock band

the Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground were an American Rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1964. Its classic lineup consisted of singer and guitarist Lou Reed, Welsh multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and percussionis ...

in 2015. The cover is a reinterpretation of Adams's version and is built on the melody of the song " I'm Waiting for the Man".

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from 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 ''1989'' *

– vocals, background vocals,

songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

, shouts * Cory Bice – recording assistant * Tom Coyne – mastering * Serban Ghenea – mixing * John Hanes – mixing engineer * Sam Holland – recording * Michael Ilbert –

audio recording Sound recording and reproduction is the electrical, mechanical, electronic, or digital inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording t ...

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

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked, its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external electric Guitar amplifier, sound amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar. It uses one or more pickup (music technology), pickups ...

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

, keyboards,

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

, programming, shouts, stomps

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications

Release history

"Blank Space (Taylor's Version)"

After signing a new contract with Republic Records in 2018, Swift began re-recording her first six studio albums in November 2020. The decision followed a public 2019 dispute between Swift and the music executive Scooter Braun, who acquired Big Machine Records, including the masters of Swift's albums which the label had released. By re-recording the albums, Swift had full ownership of the new masters, which enabled her to control the licensing of her songs for commercial use and therefore substituted the Big Machine–owned masters. The re-recording of "Blank Space", subtitled "Taylor's Version", was released as part of ''1989'' re-recording, ''

'', on October 27, 2023. Swift produced "Blank Space (Taylor's Version)" with Christopher Rowe, who had produced her previous re-recordings. The track was engineered by Derek Garten at Prime Recording Studio in

Nashville, Tennessee 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 ...

; mixed by Ghenea at MixStar Studios in Virginia Beach, Virginia; and mastered by Randy Merrill at

Sterling Sound 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 Edgewater, New Jersey. Rowe and Sam Holland recorded Swift's vocals at Conway Recording Studios in Los Angeles and Kitty Committee Studio in New York.

Reception

While giving positive reviews, music critics had different opinions on the re-recording's production. ''

The Line of Best Fit ''The Line of Best Fit'' is an independent online magazine based in London, concentrating on new music. It publishes independent music reviews, features, interview, and media. Founded by Richard Thane in February 2007 and currently edited by P ...

'' journalist Kelsey Barnes commented that "Blank Space (Taylor's Version)" sounded like an "exact replica", but ''The Independent'' Adam White wrote that the re-recorded song features Swift's matured vocals that eroded the "raw mania" of the original song. In ''NME'', Hollie Geraghty praised the re-recording for showcasing one of the album's "deliciously polished belters that still feel brand new nearly a decade later". "Blank Space (Taylor's Version)" peaked at number nine on the ''Billboard'' Global 200 chart. On national singles charts, the re-recorded song peaked within the top 20 in Australia (9), Canada (11), New Zealand (12), and the United States (12).

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''1989 (Taylor's Version)'' * Taylor Swift – lead vocals, background vocals, songwriter, producer * Matt Billingslea – drums programming,

membranophone A membranophone is any musical instrument which produces sound primarily by way of a acoustic membrane, vibrating stretched membrane. It is one of the four main divisions of instruments in the original Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument ...

, electric guitar, synthesizer * Bryce Bordone – engineer for mix * Dan Burns – synth bass programming, synth programming, additional engineer * Derek Garten – additional programming, engineer, editor * Serban Ghenea – mixing * Sam Holland – vocals recording * Max Martin – songwriter * Mike Meadows – acoustic guitar, electric guitar, synthesizer * Randy Merrill – mastering * Christopher Rowe – producer, background vocals, vocals recording * Shellback – songwriter

Charts

Certification

References

Sources

* * * {{authority control 2014 songs 2014 singles Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles I Prevail songs Canadian Hot 100 number-one singles Music videos directed by Joseph Kahn Number-one singles in Iceland Number-one singles in Scotland Satirical songs Song recordings produced by Max Martin Song recordings produced by Shellback (record producer) Song recordings produced by Taylor Swift Song recordings produced by Chris Rowe Songs written by Taylor Swift Songs written by Max Martin Songs written by Shellback (record producer) Taylor Swift songs South African Airplay Chart number-one singles MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video Ryan Adams songs Big Machine Records singles Electropop songs

Background

Lyrics and music

Release and commercial performance

Critical reception

Accolades

Music video

Development and release

Reception

Live performances and other versions

Credits and personnel

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications

Release history

"Blank Space (Taylor's Version)"

Reception

Personnel

Charts

Certification

See also

References

Sources