"This Love" is a song written and recorded 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 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 produced the song with Nathan Chapman. An atmospheric ballad, "This Love" combines

soft rock Soft rock (also known as light rock or mellow rock) is a form of rock music that originated in the late 1960s in the United States and the United Kingdom which smoothed over the edges of singer-songwriter and pop rock, relying on simple, mel ...

and

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

. Its lyrics use oceanic imagery to describe the revival of a faded romance. After ''1989'' was released, the track charted 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 ...

at number 84 and the US

Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles 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 ...

at number 19. It was

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

by the

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

(RIAA) for one million track-equivalent units. In reviews of ''1989'', some

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...

labeled the song as a highlight of ''1989'', but others deemed its balladic production out of place for the album's upbeat sound. The re-recording of the song, titled "This Love (Taylor's Version)", was released on May 6, 2022, via

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 ...

. It featured on the trailers for the

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

television series ''

The Summer I Turned Pretty The Summer I Turned Pretty may refer to: * ''The Summer I Turned Pretty'' (trilogy), a book series by Jenny Han * "The Summer I Turned Pretty", a 2009 book by Jenny Han Jenny Han (born September 3, 1980) is an American author, screenwriter, e ...

''. "This Love (Taylor's Version)" features an enhanced production quality, exuding

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

tendencies. The song is included as part of ''

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 ...

,'' which was released on October 27, 2023, and is part of Swift's plan to re-record her back catalog, following the dispute over the ownership of the masters of her first six albums.

Background and writing

, an American singer-songwriter, had been known as a

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

artist prior to the release of 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 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a seconda ...

'' (2012). Many of the album's tracks incorporate predominantly

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

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 Wale ...

musical styles, a result of Swift's desire to experiment with the genres. This prompted a media debate over the validity of her status as a country artist. For her next album, ''

'', Swift decided to create a "blatant pop" record and move away from the signature country styles of her previous releases. She began writing songs for the album in mid-2013. "This Love" was the first song that Swift wrote for ''1989'', and the only one that she wrote on her own. According to ''1989''

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 ...

, she did so on October 17, 2012, when she was in Los Angeles. Swift initially envisioned "This Love" as a "fun, little short poem" for her personal journal; when she came up with a melody in her head, she opted to turn the poem into a song. To this end, she enlisted the help of her long-time collaborator Nathan Chapman, who worked with Swift on all her previous albums, to produce the track with her. "This Love" was the only song from ''1989'' produced by Chapman. The track was recorded at his Pain in the Art 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 ...

, and mixed by

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

at MixStar Studios in

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

Release and live performances

''1989'' was released on October 27, 2014, by

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 ...

; "This Love" places at number 11 on the album's track list. "This Love" peaked at number 84 on the

chart dated November 15, 2014. In the United States, it peaked at number 19 on the ''Billboard'' Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart. The track was certified platinum by the

(RIAA), which denotes one million units consisting of sales and on-demand streaming. After ''1989'' release, Swift included the song on the regular set list for the album's associated world tour, which began on May 5, 2015. The track appeared as background music for a

Victoria's Secret Victoria's Secret is an American lingerie, clothing and beauty products, beauty retailer. Founded in 1977 by a Stanford graduate student and his wife, Roy Raymond, Roy and Gaye Raymond, the company's five lingerie stores were sold to Les Wexner i ...

holiday advertisement that premiered in December 2015. Swift performed a stripped-down, acoustic version of "This Love" as a "surprise song" on the first Atlanta show of her

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

, in 2018. On May 13, 2023, she sang the song at the second concert in Philadelphia of her Eras Tour. Swift performed "This Love" on the tour again in 2024 as part of mashups with her songs " Call It What You Want" (2017) at the third Singapore concert on March 4, "

Ours Ours may refer to: People * Ours (singer), a French singer and songwriter. * Wes Ours (born 1977), an American football player Music * Ours (band), an American rock group Songs * "Ours" (song), by Taylor Swift, 2011 * "Ours", a song by Ed Sh ...

" (2011) at the second Dublin concert on June 29, and "

The Prophecy ''The Prophecy'' is a 1995 American fantasy thriller horror film starring Christopher Walken, Elias Koteas, Virginia Madsen, Eric Stoltz, and Viggo Mortensen. It was written and directed by Gregory Widen in his feature directorial debut, and ...

" at the second Indianapolis concert on November 2.

Music and lyrics

"This Love" is a

midtempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given composition, and is often also an indication of the composition's character or atmos ...

atmospheric

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

. It has a duration of around four minutes and is one of the slowest tracks in the album. The song is a primarily

and

song. ''

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

'' Sam Lansky described it as an "electro-ballad". "This Love" consists of both acoustic and electronic instruments with a slow-burning and melodramatic production. It uses

double tracking Double tracking or doubling is an audio recording technique in which a performer sings or plays along with their own prerecorded performance, usually to produce a stronger or bigger sound than can be obtained with a single voice or instrument ...

on Swift's vocals.

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 ...

, a critic for ''

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 track's sound to that of 1980s

power ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner. Balla ...

s, specifically citing

Bon Jovi Bon Jovi is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Sayreville, New Jersey in 1983. The band consists of singer Jon Bon Jovi, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, guitarists John Shanks and Phil X, percussionist Everett Bradley ...

's " I'll Be There for You" (1989). The lyrics are about feelings of heartbreak: "Lantern, burning, flickered in my mind for only you / But you were still gone, gone, gone." Swift uses the ocean as a metaphor for a love that disappears and then comes back like the tides. Critics considered it one of ''1989'' saddest songs. ''Time'' magazine's Sam Lansky argued that the chorus's catchiness made it more hopeful than anguished. Swift remarked that she frequently listened to "This Love", citing it as one of her favorites on the album.

Critical reception

Rob Sheffield of ''Rolling Stone'' selected "This Love" as one of the three best tracks on ''1989'', the other two being "How You Get the Girl" and "Clean". In an album review for ''

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 ...

'', critic Shane Kimberline lauded it as ''1989'' best song, emphasizing the chorus and "classic Swiftian" lyrics.

Jon Caramanica Jon Caramanica (born 1975) is an American journalist and pop music critic who writes for ''The New York Times''. He is also known for writing about hip hop music. Biography Born in Brooklyn, New York, Caramanica received his bachelor's degree ...

of ''

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 ...

'' thought that Swift's songwriting in "This Love" was less detail-oriented compared to her past work; Mikael Wood from 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 ...

'' took issue with the generic lyrics. Marah Eakin from ''

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

'' considered "This Love" as one of ''1989'' weaker songs because of its midtempo balladry compared to the album's upbeat production, and Corey Beasley from ''

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, ...

'' found the atmospheric balladry out of place for the album's overall sound.

Personnel

Credits are adapted from ''1989'' album liner notes. * Taylor Swift – vocals, background vocals, songwriter, producer, acoustic guitar * Nathan Chapman – producer, recording engineer, bass, drums, electric guitar,

keyboard 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 * Mus ...

* Jason Campbell – miscellaneous support * John Hanes –

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

– mixing

Charts

Certifications

"This Love (Taylor's Version)"

re-recorded A re-recording is a recording produced following a new performance of a work of music. This is most commonly, but not exclusively, by a popular artist or group. It differs from a reissue, which involves a second or subsequent release of a previousl ...

version of "This Love", titled "This Love (Taylor's Version)", was released by Swift on May 6, 2022, via

. The song is part of Swift's re-recording plan following the dispute over the ownership to her older discography's masters.

Background and release

Following a dispute with

in 2019 over the rights to the masters of her first six studio albums, including ''1989'', Swift announced her goal to re-record each of these albums. A snippet of "This Love (Taylor's Version)" was featured in the first trailer for the 2022

Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

original series ''

'', released on May 5, 2022. The song was released on digital platforms on May 6. Along with a digital single for "This Love (Taylor's Version)", Swift also released The Old Taylor Collection,

merchandise Merchandising is any practice which contributes to the sale of Product (business), products ("merch" colloquially) to a retail consumer. At a retail in-store level, merchandising refers to displaying products that are for sale in a creative w ...

themed to both ''1989'' and Swift's 2010 album ''

Speak Now ''Speak Now'' is the third studio album by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. It was released on October 25, 2010, by Big Machine Records. Swift wrote the album entirely herself while touring in 2009–2010 to reflect on her transitio ...

''. The re-recorded track is included as part of ''

'', which was released on October 27, 2023.

Composition and reception

Compared to the original version, "This Love (Taylor's Version)" features strong elements of

, which critics noted as a possible influence of Swift's 2020 indie rock-indebted albums ''

Folklore Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...

'' and ''

Evermore ''Evermore'' (stylized in all lowercase) is the ninth studio album by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. It was surprise-released on December 11, 2020, by Republic Records. Swift conceived ''Evermore'' as a "sister record" to its p ...

''. Much of the production remains the same, but the synthesizers are more subdued, and Swift's vocals are less processed, more amplified and resonant. Mary Siroky of '' Consequence'' highlighted the track as a testament to Swift's songwriting ability to "capture the magic, devastation, and fantasy of romance".

Track listing

Digital download and streaming # "This Love (Taylor's Version)" – 4:10 # " Wildest Dreams (Taylor's Version)" – 3:40

Credits and personnel

Credits are adapted from

Tidal Tidal is the adjectival form of tide. Tidal may also refer to: * ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple * Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim * TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music * Tidal (servic ...

. *

– lead vocals, background vocals, songwriting,

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...

* Christopher Rowe – production, vocal engineering * Matt Billingslea – drums * Max Bernstein –

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 ...

* Amos Heller –

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 ...

* Mike Meadows –

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, ...

* Paul Sidoti –

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 ...

* Derek Garten –

editing Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written language, written, Image editing, visual, Audio engineer, audible, or Film editing, cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing p ...

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 ...

* Bryce Bordon – engineering * David Payne – record engineering * Lowell Reynolds – editing, assistant recording engineering * Dan Burns – assistant engineering *

– mixing *

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 ...

– master engineering

Charts

Certifications

Release history

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * {{authority control 2010s ballads 2014 songs 2022 songs American soft rock songs Taylor Swift songs Rock ballads Pop ballads Songs written by Taylor Swift Song recordings produced by Taylor Swift Song recordings produced by Nathan Chapman (record producer) Song recordings produced by Chris Rowe Songs based on poems Synth-pop ballads American synth-pop songs