Hits Different
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"Hits Different" 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 ...
. It was first released as a bonus track on the CD-only ''Lavender Edition'' of her tenth studio album, ''
Midnights ''Midnights'' is the tenth studio album by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. It was released on October 21, 2022, by Republic Records. She conceived ''Midnights'' as a concept album about nocturnal ruminations inspired by her sleepl ...
'', on October 21, 2022. The track was released for download and
streaming Streaming media refers to multimedia delivered through a network for playback using a media player. Media is transferred in a ''stream'' of packets from a server to a client and is rendered in real-time; this contrasts with file downl ...
as part of the ''Til Dawn Edition'' on May 26, 2023. Written and produced by Swift,
Jack Antonoff Jack Michael Antonoff (born March 31, 1984) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is the lead vocalist of the rock band Bleachers, and previously the guitarist and drummer for the pop band Fun and the lead vocalist of t ...
, and
Aaron Dessner Aaron Brooking Dessner (born April 23, 1976) is an American musician. He is best known as a founding member of the rock band The National (band), the National, with whom he has recorded nine studio albums; a co-founder of the indie rock duo Big ...
, "Hits Different" is a
pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...
tune with lyrics that reflect on a past relationship and contain references to some of Swift's other songs. Critics complimented the humorous tone of its lyrics and found the production catchy. After it was released for streaming, "Hits Different" peaked within the top 20 in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, and the United Kingdom. It peaked at number 27 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number 18 on the ''Billboard'' Global 200. Swift performed "Hits Different" as a "surprise song" on the
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,
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and
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stops of her sixth headlining concert tour,
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 ...
(2023-2024).


Background and recording

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 ...
announced her tenth studio album at the
2022 MTV Video Music Awards The 2022 MTV Video Music Awards were held at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey on August 28, 2022. The show was emceed by LL Cool J, Nicki Minaj, and Jack Harlow. Minaj was honored with the Video Vanguard Award, presented to her by ...
on August 28, 2022. She later revealed the name of the album, ''
Midnights ''Midnights'' is the tenth studio album by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. It was released on October 21, 2022, by Republic Records. She conceived ''Midnights'' as a concept album about nocturnal ruminations inspired by her sleepl ...
'', and its
album cover An album cover (also referred to as album art) is the front packaging art of a commercially released album, studio album or other audio recordings. The term can refer to: * the printed paperboard covers typically used to package: ** sets of a ...
on social networks but the tracklist was not immediately revealed. On a video via her
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account on September 6, titled "The making of ''Midnights''", Swift revealed that
Jack Antonoff Jack Michael Antonoff (born March 31, 1984) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is the lead vocalist of the rock band Bleachers, and previously the guitarist and drummer for the pop band Fun and the lead vocalist of t ...
, who had worked with her before on her five studio albums since ''1989'' (2014), was a producer on the album. They wrote and produced "Hits Different" with
Aaron Dessner Aaron Brooking Dessner (born April 23, 1976) is an American musician. He is best known as a founding member of the rock band The National (band), the National, with whom he has recorded nine studio albums; a co-founder of the indie rock duo Big ...
. Both Antonoff and Dessner are responsible for the track's instrumentation, putting a ray of guitars and synths to the mix, with the former also playing percussion, bass, and piano. Other musicians included James McAlister (drum kit, synth sequencing), Sean Hutchinson (drums, percussion), Evan Smith (synths), and Thomas "Doveman" Bartlett (Prophet X synth,
Teenage Engineering OP-1 The Teenage Engineering OP-1 is a synthesizer, sampler and sequencer designed and manufactured by the Stockholm-based company Teenage Engineering. The OP-1 was Teenage Engineering's first product; it was released in 2011 following an introduct ...
). The song was recorded across five recording studios located in the United States: Los Angeles-based Conway Recording and Sharp Sonics, Electric Lady, Rough Customer and Long Pond in New York. 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 ...
, assisted by Bryce Bordone, at MixStar Studios in
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, and masted by
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 ...
at Sterling Studios in
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.


Music and lyrics

"Hits Different" is 3 minutes and 54 seconds long. It is a buoyant
pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...
song. In an article published in ''
Business Insider ''Business Insider'' (stylized in all caps: BUSINESS INSIDER; known from 2021 to 2023 as INSIDER) is a New York City–based multinational financial and business news website founded in 2007. Since 2015, a majority stake in ''Business Inside ...
'', Callie Ahlgrim and Courteney Larocca described the soundscape of "Hits Different" as "warm and triumphant like a montage about falling in love, or finding freedom in a big city", although it depicts a reflection over a past relationship. Larocca described it as a song that evokes the
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 ...
sound of the late 1990s and early 2000s by country
crossover Crossover may refer to: Entertainment Music Albums * ''Cross Over'' (album), a 1987 album by Dan Peek, or the title song * ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987 * ''Crossover'', an album by Intrigue * ''Crossover'', an album by ...
acts such as
Shania Twain Eilleen Regina "Shania" Twain ( ; born August 28, 1965) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. She has sold over 100 million records, making her one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists of all time and the best-sel ...
,
Alanis Morissette Alanis Nadine Morissette ( ; born June 1, 1974) is a Canadian and American singer, songwriter, musician, and actress. Known for her emotive mezzo-soprano voice and confessional songwriting, she became a cultural phenomenon during the mid 199 ...
, and
Faith Hill Audrey Faith McGraw (; born September 21, 1967), known professionally as Faith Hill, is an American Country music, country singer. She is one of the most successful country music artists of all time, having sold almost 50 million albums worldwide ...
.
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 ...
'' said the song features plenty of "sun-kissed California rock guitar", while Jason Lipshutz of ''Billboard'' said that the "shimmering guitar and fizzy emotion" create "a sense of wanderlust" reminiscent of Swift's 2012 album ''
Red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a seconda ...
''. Critics compared the "drunken display of heartbreak" to "Death by a Thousand Cuts" from Swift's 2019 album '' Lover'', and the lyrics' comical nature to
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 2011 single "
Marvins Room "Marvins Room" is a song by Canadian recording artist Drake. It is the lead single from Drake's second studio album ''Take Care''. Produced by 40, it features keyboard-based instrumentation and muted bass. "Marvins Room" is performed from the p ...
". An emotional breakup song, "Hits Different" contains "funny" lyrics and nods to Swift's 2006 track " Our Song". The first verse pictures an image of a heartbreak with an introduction from the singer: "I washed my hands of us at the club / You made a mess of me". She imagines her past lover with a different partner, which makes her vomit. In the
chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song), the part of a song that is repeated several times, usually after each verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in whic ...
, Swift makes a glimpse why she feels this way, by singing: "It hits different 'cause it's you." The second verse reveals her mindset regarding the ray of her previous relationships, even calling most of them "
Kens KENS (channel 5) is a television station in San Antonio, Texas, United States, affiliated with CBS and owned by Tegna Inc. The station's studios are located on Fredericksburg Road in northwest San Antonio, near the South Texas Medical Center, ...
", to highlight their interchangeability. She refers to past splits as "freeing like summer", and sings that her friends recoil from her, since she complains about her situation too much. During the "tragic"
bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...
, Swift expresses her continuous personal connection to the past lover's items. Callie Ahlgrim of ''Business Insider'' likened a quote from this portion of the song―"Dreams of your hair and your stare and sense of belief in the good in the world"―to ''Evermore'' album tracks "Gold Rush" and "
Dorothea Dorothea, also spelt Dorothee (German), Dorothée (French), and Dorotea, is a female given name from Greek (Dōrothéa) meaning "god's gift". In English it is more commonly spelt Dorothy. People with this name include: Aristocracy * Countes ...
", since both of them contain references to dreaming. Another reference to the former song is found in the end of the bridge, when Swift calls the subject an "argumentative, antithetical dream girl", which is reminiscent of the lyric "At dinner parties, I call you out on your contrarian shit", since "
argumentative {{more citations needed, date=April 2018 In the American legal system, argumentative is an evidentiary objection raised in response to a question which prompts a witness to draw inferences from facts of the case."An attorney shall not ask argu ...
" and "
contrarian {{Short pages monitor