"Out of the Woods" is a song by the American singer-songwriter

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her vivid songwriting—often inspired by her personal life—has received critical praise and wide media coverage. Bor ...

from her fifth studio album, ''

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

'' (2014). Swift wrote and produced the song with Jack Antonoff. With lyrics inspired by a failed relationship and the ensuing anxieties that Swift experienced, "Out of the Woods" is a

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

song with elements of

Eurodance Euro-Dance (sometimes referred to as Euro-NRG, Euro-electronica or Euro) is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1980s in Europe. It combines many elements of hip hop, techno, Hi-NRG, house music, and Euro-Disco. This ...

and indietronica and features heavy

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

, looping

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

, and layered background vocals. Big Machine Records made the song available for download on October 14, 2014, as a promotional single for ''1989''. Swift premiered the music video for "Out of the Woods" on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

's '' Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve'' on December 31, 2015; the video depicts Swift struggling to escape from a magical forest. The song was released to US

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' (G ...

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 present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet ...

radio as the album's sixth

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

on January 18, 2016, by Big Machine in partnership with

Republic Records Republic Records is a New York City–based American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). 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 an ...

. Music critics praised "Out of the Woods" for its 1980s-influenced production and narrative lyrics offering emotional engagement. The song peaked at number 18 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and was certified 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). It also reached the top 20 of charts in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. Swift performed the song on television shows such as ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. Th ...

'' and included it in the set list of

the 1989 World Tour The 1989 World Tour was the fourth concert tour by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, in support of her fifth studio album, '' 1989'' (2014). Swift announced the tour's first dates in North America, Europe, Japan, and Oceania in November a ...

(2015). Following the 2019 dispute regarding the ownership of Swift's back catalog, she re-recorded the song as "Out of the Woods (Taylor's Version)" for her re-recorded album ''

1989 (Taylor's Version) ''1989 (Taylor's Version)'' is the fourth re-recorded album by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. It is a re-recording of Swift's fifth studio album, ''1989'' (2014), and was released on October 27, 2023, by Republic Records. The al ...

'' (2023).

Background and production

had identified as a

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

singer-songwriter until her fourth studio 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 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

'', which was released in October 2012. ''Red'' incorporates various

and

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

styles, transcending the country sound of her previous releases. Swift began writing her fifth studio album, ''

'', in mid-2013, when she was on the Red Tour. Inspired by 1980s

, she conceived ''1989'' as her first "official pop album" that transformed her image from country to pop. On ''1989'', Swift enlisted new producers including Jack Antonoff, who produced two songs with Swift for the standard edition—"Out of the Woods" and " I Wish You Would", and the bonus track " You Are in Love" for the deluxe edition; Antonoff had worked with Swift on " Sweeter than Fiction", a 1980s new wave-influenced song recorded by Swift for the soundtrack of '' One Chance'' (2013). For "Out of the Woods", Antonoff envisioned the song to feature a 1980s sound with a modern twist. He used a

Yamaha DX7 The Yamaha DX7 is a synthesizer manufactured by the Yamaha Corporation from 1983 to 1989. It was the first successful digital synthesizer and is one of the best-selling synthesizers in history, selling more than 200,000 units. In the early 1980 ...

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

to create most parts of the song, and a Minimoog Voyager for the

refrain A refrain (from Vulgar Latin ''refringere'', "to repeat", and later from Old French ''refraindre'') is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in poetry — the "chorus" of a song. Poetic fixed forms that feature refrains include the vi ...

, which brought forth an "extremely modern" sound that he desired. He edited his background vocals and layered them over looping

. After completing the instrumental, Antonoff sent it to Swift when she was on a plane. Swift sent him a voice memo containing the lyrics roughly 30 minutes later; it was the first time Swift wrote the lyrics to an existing track. According to 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 the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are desce ...

of ''1989'', "Out of the Woods" was recorded by Laura Sisk, assisted by Brendan Morawski, at

Jungle City Studios Jungle City Studios is a recording studio owned and operated by Ann Mincieli, Alicia Keys's longtime engineer and studio coordinator. Located in Chelsea, Manhattan, it was designed by John Storyk of Walters-Storyk Design Group. Recordings at Ju ...

in New York City; and Sam Holland, assisted by Cory Bice, at Conway Recording Studios in Los Angeles. Swift's vocals were produced by Max Martin.

Music and lyrics

Music critics described "Out of the Woods" as a 1980s-influenced synth-pop song. Hannah Mylrea from ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' and Edwin Mcfee from '' Hot Press'' noted influences of indietronica and

. The song features pulsing synthesizers, loud drums, and echoing background vocals that gradually build up towards the end. Compared to other tracks of ''1989'', "Out of the Woods" features a denser production. Antonoff took inspiration from the music of rock band

My Morning Jacket My Morning Jacket is an American rock band formed in Louisville, Kentucky in 1998. The band consists of vocalist/guitarist Jim James, bassist Tom Blankenship, drummer Patrick Hallahan, guitarist Carl Broemel, and keyboardist Bo Koster. The ba ...

: "every sound is louder than the last ... It started out big, and then I think the obvious move would have been to do a down chorus, but the idea was to keep pushing." The lyrics are about a fragile romance, inspired by the anxieties Swift experienced from a tumultuous relationship. In the refrain, Swift repeats the line, "Are we out of the woods yet?" over and over, indicating her desire to stabilize the relationship. Swift ponders over its inevitable end: "Your necklace hanging from my neck the night we couldn't quite forget / When we decided to move the furniture so we could dance / Baby, like we stood a chance." The

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

narrates an accident that requires one of the couple to undergo a surgery: "Remember when you hit the brakes too soon / Twenty stitches in a hospital room." The accident in the bridge was inspired by a snowmobile accident that she and an ex-lover had suffered when they were on a ski trip; she had persuaded the

tabloid media Tabloid journalism is a popular style of largely sensationalism, sensationalist journalism (usually dramatized and sometimes unverifiable or even Fake news, blatantly false), which takes its name from the Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid ne ...

to not publicize it. Besides its literal sense, the accident is a metaphor for the relationship's fragility and how the two have to deal with its aftermath. When promoting ''1989'' in October 2014, Swift remarked that "Out of the Woods" was the song that "best represents

he album He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...

Release and commercial performance

On October 13, 2014, Swift premiered 15 seconds of "Out of the Woods" on ''

''. Big Machine Records made the song available for download on October 14, 2014, as a promotional single for ''1989''. It is track number four on ''1989'', which was released on October 27, 2014, by Big Machine. Swift premiered the music video for "Out of the Woods" on '' Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve'', broadcast on December 31, 2015. Big Machine and

released the song to US

and

radio stations on January 19, 2016; it was the sixth

from ''1989''. In Italy, "Out of the Woods" was released to radio on February 5, 2016, by

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

. "Out of the Woods" entered the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart dated November 1, 2014, at number 18, its peak position. It entered the ''Billboard'' Digital Songs at number one, becoming Swift's eighth chart topper. After its video premiere on ''New Year's Rockin' Eve'', the song re-appeared on the Hot 100 at number 46. By May 2016, the

(RIAA) had certified it

platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Platinu ...

for one million units based on digital sales and

streaming Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...

. The single peaked within the top 10 on charts of

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

(number six) and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

(number eight). In Australia, the song peaked at number 19 on the

singles chart A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often in combination. These include rec ...

and 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, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing th ...

(ARIA). The track was certified gold by the

British Phonographic Industry British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is the British recorded music industry's Trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards, the Classic BRIT Awards, National Album Day, is home to the Mercury Prize, and co-owns the Official Charts Company with th ...

(BPI) and platinum by 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 19 ...

(IFPI) in Norway.

Critical reception

Upon the release of ''1989'', music critics compared the 1980s-influenced production of "Out of the Woods" to the music of 1980s musicians including

Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English singer, musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and lead singer of the rock band Genesis and also has a career as a solo performer. Between 1982 and ...

and

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

Sam Lansky Sam Lansky (born September 23, 1988)Connelly, Sherryl (January 14, 2016)"Time magazine culture editor Sam Lansky reveals his wild days in new memoir 'The Gilded Razor'. ''NEW YORK DAILY NEWS''. Retrieved April 6, 2017. is an American journalist, a ...

from ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'', Jason Lipshutz 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 advertise ...

'',

Brian Mansfield Brian Mansfield (born September 24, 1963) is an American writer and journalist. Early life and education Mansfield grew up in Nashville, Tennessee. He graduated from David Lipscomb High School. In 1984, Mansfield received a bachelor's degre ...

from ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

'', and Lindsay Zoladz from ''

Vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...

'' praised the production for showcasing Swift's expanding artistry beyond her previous country styles. In a review of ''1989'' for the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'', Mikael Wood deemed "Out of the Woods" one of the album highlights, describing it as the most authentic tribute to the 1980s synth-pop sound that Swift tried to recreate on the album. Other reviews complimented Swift's lyrical craftsmanship and storytelling, which she had honed on her previous country songs. Lipshutz remarked that although the song was a musical departure for Swift, it was a reminder of her abilities to present "striking, instantly unforgettable images". Writing for ''

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 ...

'', Andy Gill argued that the intricate lyrics capturing "dramatic emotional change in a few striking lines" of "Out of the Woods" were rare for a pop song.

Carl Wilson Carl Dean Wilson (December 21, 1946 – February 6, 1998) was an American musician, singer, and songwriter who co-founded the Beach Boys. He was their lead guitarist, the youngest sibling of bandmates Brian and Dennis, and the group's ''de ...

, in a ''1989'' review for ''

Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

'', picked it as his favorite off the album, highlighting both the detailed lyrics and the production. Esther Zuckerman of ''

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

'' deemed the production generic, but highlighted the lyrics as a testament to Swift's ability to offer emotional engagement in her songs. "Out of the Woods" ranked at number 94 on '' Pitchfork''s list of the 100 Best Tracks of 2014. In retrospective reviews, Mylrea and Nate Jones from ''Vulture'' complimented the song's production and emotional sentiments, but Rob Sheffield from ''

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

'' was less enthusiastic, feeling that the production overwhelms the intricate lyrics. ''NME'', honoring Antonoff with the Songwriter Award in

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

, selected "Out of the Woods" as one of his best songs.

Music video

Joseph Kahn Joseph Kahn may refer to: *Joseph Kahn (director) (born 1972), a film and music video director *Joseph Kahn (journalist) (born 1964), American journalist * Joseph Kahn (shipping executive) (1916–1979), American businessman See also *Joseph Hahn ...

directed the music video for "Out of the Woods". The video's filming locations in New Zealand included

Bethells Beach Te Henga, or Bethells Beach, is a coastal community in West Auckland, New Zealand. The Māori name for the area, "Te Henga", is in reference to the long foredunes which run along the beach and look like the or gunwale of an upturned waka hull. ...

and the mountains of Queenstown. During the filming, a severe storm struck, causing a one-week delay. Conservationists in the area claimed that the production team breached their permit and endangered a rare native bird by using up to 12 vehicles, an accusation that Swift's crew denied. The video shows Swift battling to get out of a forest, interpreting the title literally. Swift is seen struggling to escape a magical forest while being chased by a pack of wolves as animate roots constantly follow her. She then finds herself in different natural settings like snowy mountains, an ocean, a barren landscape, a muddy location, and a burning forest. At the end of the video, the woods disappear as she finds a beach, where another version of her is standing by the shore as she reaches for her. The video ends with the caption "She lost him, but she found herself, and somehow that was everything," which is a hidden message written in the booklet of ''1989''. Kahn said that Swift "suffered for the art"; she did not employ a double stunt and did all the action, such as crawling through the mud and running through the snow, by herself. Media publications remarked on the video's visual effects and cinematic storytelling. Amanda Bell from

MTV News MTV News is the news production division of MTV. The service is available in the US with localized versions on MTV's global network. In February 2016, MTV Networks confirmed it would refresh the MTV News brand in 2016, to compete with the likes ...

compared the video's cinematic quality to the ''

Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...

'' series, and commented that the video's message "serves as a clear metaphor for her very public relationship history and how she transformed each conflict into her own personal victories, one in particular".

Live performances and other usage

During promotion of ''1989'', Swift performed "Out of the Woods" on televised shows including ''

Jimmy Kimmel Live! ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. The nightly hour-long show debuted on January 26, 2003, at Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywood, Los ...

'', '' The Ellen DeGeneres Show'', and ''Good Morning America''. She performed the song as part of the "''1989'' Secret Sessions", live streamed by

iHeartRadio iHeartRadio (often shortened to just "iHeart") is an American freemium broadcast, podcast and radio streaming Computing platform, platform owned by iHeartMedia. It was founded in August 2008. , iHeartRadio was functioning as the national umbr ...

and

Yahoo! Yahoo! (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web services provider. It is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California and operated by the namesake company Yahoo Inc., which is 90% owned by investment funds managed by Apollo Global Man ...

on October 27, 2014, the same day the album was released. On

in 2015, Swift included the song as the penultimate number on the regular set list. Swift played a stripped-down rendition of "Out of the Woods" on piano at the

Grammy Museum The Grammy Museum is any of a group of museums containing exhibits relating to winners of the Grammy Award for achievement in recording. The museums in this group include: *The Grammy Museum at L.A. Live, which opened in 2008 in Los Angeles, Califo ...

in Los Angeles on September 30, 2015; John Blistein from ''Rolling Stone'' praised this version over the synth-pop production for better conveying the emotional sentiments of the lyrics. On December 3, 2015, she sang the song on piano at Hamilton Island in Australia as part of a

Nova 96.9 Nova 96.9 (call sign: 2SYD) is a commercial radio station operating in Sydney, Australia. The station is owned by NOVA Entertainment along with sister station, smoothfm 95.3 Audience In 2014 Nova had a 4% share of the Sydney audience on ...

radio program. Swift performed "Out of the Woods" as the opening number to the

58th Annual Grammy Awards The 58th Annual Grammy Awards was held on February 15, 2016, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The ceremony recognizes the best recordings, compositions and artists of the eligibility year, which was from October 1, 2014, to September 30, 20 ...

on February 15, 2016. She also included the song in the set lists of her shows at the

Formula 1 Grand Prix Formula One, abbreviated to F1, is the highest class of Open-wheel car, open-wheeled auto racing series managed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), motorsport's world governing body. The "formula" in the name alludes to ...

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

on October 22, 2016, and

DirecTV DirecTV (trademarked as DIRECTV) is an American multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital satellite service serving the United States. It ...

's pre-

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...

event Super Saturday Night in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

on February 4, 2017. Swift sang "Out of the Woods" as a "surprise song" during the stops in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

and

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

of her

Reputation Stadium Tour The Reputation Stadium Tour was the fifth concert tour by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, in support of her sixth studio album ''Reputation'' (2017). The all- stadium tour began on May 8, 2018, in Glendale, Arizona, and concluded on ...

(2018) and the stop in

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

of her Eras Tour (2023–2024). She also performed the song in a mashup with " Is It Over Now?" (2023) at Eras Tour shows in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

and

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, and included " Clean" (2014) as part of the mashup during an Eras Tour show in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. Rock singer Ryan Adams recorded a

country folk Contemporary folk music refers to a wide variety of genres that emerged in the mid 20th century and afterwards which were associated with traditional folk music. Starting in the mid-20th century a new form of popular folk music evolved from tradit ...

-oriented cover of "Out of the Woods" for his track-by-track cover of Swift's ''1989''. Yahoo! writer Oscar Gracey said that the cover "makes us want to hike through a forest, find a clearing, and mourn the relationships that didn't quite work out", and ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American 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 cre ...

'' Annie Zaleski viewed that Adams's acoustic production "exacerbates the song's uncertainty about a relationship's status".

Credits and personnel

Credits are adapted from the

of ''1989'' *

– vocals, songwriter, producer * Jack Antonoff – producer, songwriter, guitar, electric guitar, bass,

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

, background vocals * Cory Bice – recording assistant * Tom Coyne – mastering * Serban Ghenea – mixing * John Hanes – mix engineer * Sam Holland – recording * Max Martin – vocal producer * Brendan Morawski – recording assistant * Laura Sisk – recording

Charts

Certifications

Release history

Promotional release

Single release

"Out of the Woods (Taylor's Version)"

After signing a new contract with

, Swift began re-recording her first six studio albums in November 2020. The decision followed a public 2019 dispute between Swift and talent manager 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 in hopes of substituting the Big Machine–owned masters. Republic Records released ''1989'''s re-recording, ''

'', on October 27, 2023. The re-recording of "Out of the Woods", subtitled "Taylor's Version", was released as track number four on the re-recorded album. Prior to that, a snippet of "Out of the Woods (Taylor's Version)" was used in a trailer for the American animated adventure film '' Migration'' (2023).

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the liner notes of ''1989 (Taylor's Version)''. Technical * Taylor Swift – producer * Jack Antonoff – producer, recording, programming * Zem Audu – synth recording * Bryce Bordone – engineer for mix * Jozef Caldwell – assistant engineer * Serban Ghenea – mixing * David Hart – synth recording *

Mikey Freedom Hart Mikey Freedom Hart is a Grammy Award-winning American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He has worked with Bleachers, Taylor Swift, Empress Of, Dev Hynes a.k.a. Blood Orange, ASAP Rocky, Lana Del Rey, Tei Shi, and T ...

– synth recording, programming * Sean Hutchinson – drums recording * Oli Jacobs – recording * Jack Manning – assistant engineer * Joey Miller – assistant engineer * Megan Searl – assistant engineer * Jon Sher – assistant engineer * Michael Riddleberger – drums recording *

Christopher Rowe Christopher Rowe may refer to: * Christopher Rowe (record producer) Christopher Rowe, is an American record producer, audio engineer and guitarist specializing in country rock. He is best known for his work with Taylor Swift. Career Rowe beg ...

– recording * Laura Sisk – recording * Evan Smith –

Juno Juno commonly refers to: *Juno (mythology), the Roman goddess of marriage and queen of the gods *Juno (film), ''Juno'' (film), 2007 Juno may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional characters *Juno, in the film ''Jenny, Juno'' *Ju ...

recording, programming Musicians * Taylor Swift – lead vocals, songwriter * Jack Antonoff – songwriter, bass, drums, synthesizer, background vocals * Zem Audu – synthesizer * David Hart – acoustic guitar, electric guitar * Mikey Freedom Hart – acoustic guitar, electric guitar, synthesizer, background vocals * Sean Hutchinson – drums, percussion * Michael Riddleberger – drums, percussion * Evan Smith – Juno, background vocals

Charts

Certifications

References

Sources

External links

* {{authority control 2014 songs 2016 singles Big Machine Records singles Taylor Swift songs Song recordings produced by Jack Antonoff Song recordings produced by Taylor Swift Song recordings produced by Max Martin Songs written by Jack Antonoff Songs written by Taylor Swift Music videos directed by Joseph Kahn American synth-pop songs Ryan Adams songs