"Teardrops on My Guitar" | ||||
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Single by Taylor Swift | ||||
from the album Taylor Swift | ||||
Released | February 24, 2007 | |||
Format | CD single, digital download | |||
Recorded | 2006; Sound Cottage (Nashville, Tennessee)[1] |
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Genre | Country pop | |||
Length | 3:36 | |||
Label | Big Machine | |||
Writer(s) | Taylor Swift, Liz Rose | |||
Producer | Nathan Chapman | |||
Taylor Swift singles chronology | ||||
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"Teardrops on My Guitar" is a song by American country pop singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. The song was co-written by Swift, alongside Liz Rose and produced by Nathan Chapman with Swift's aid. "Teardrops on My Guitar" was released on February 24, 2007 by Big Machine Records, as the second single from Swift's eponymous studio album, Taylor Swift (2006). The song was later included on the international release of Swift's second studio album, Fearless (2008), and released as the third single from the album in the United Kingdom. It was inspired by Swift's experience with Drew Osenbach, a classmate of hers whom she had feelings for. He was completely unaware and continually spoke about his girlfriend to Swift, something she pretended to be endeared by. Years afterwards, Osenbach appeared at Swift's house, but Swift rejected him. Musically, the track is soft and is primarily guided by a gentle acoustic guitar. Some critics have queried the song's classification as country music.
Critics received the track generally positively, complimenting Swift's vocal delivery and songwriting style. The song is considered to be Swift's breakthrough single, as it spread her popularity throughout the United States. "Teardrops on My Guitar" was commercially successful, peaking at number thirteen on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the best-charting single from Taylor Swift on the chart. The single was also certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Its music video was directed by Trey Fanjoy and features Swift as she sees her love interest develop a relationship with another female. The video received a nomination for MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist, but lost to Tokio Hotel's music video for "Ready, Set, Go!". The song was promoted through multiple live performances, some while supporting as opening act for various country artists' concert tours. She also performed "Teardrops on My Guitar" on her first headlining tour, the Fearless Tour (2009–10).
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Swift was inspired to write "Teardrops on My Guitar" about her experience with a boy named Drew, a classmate of hers whom she had feelings for. During their freshman year of high school at Hendersonville High School,[2][3] Swift and Osenbach sat beside each other in a class everyday. The two developed a fond friendship, although Swift secretively desired for it to become a romantic relationship. Because of Osenbach's unawareness, he would frequently speak to Swift about a girl he had feelings for, something Swift pretended to be endeared by, commenting, "How beautiful she was, how nice and smart and perfect she was. And I sat there and listened, never meaning it any of the times I said 'Oh, I'm so happy for you.'"[4] Osenbach and his love interest eventually developed, which lasted for a few years, a solid relationship and Swift never confessed her feelings to him. By the release of Taylor Swift, he remained unaware of Swift's intentions or the song and continued his relationship with the same female.[4] Upon "Teardrops on My Guitar"'s release as a single, Osenbach attempted to contact Swift via phone calls, which Swift did not respond to; he then left voicemails, but Swift felt too awkward to call back.[5]
Two years after the album's release, as she was leaving her house to attended a Nashville Predators hockey game with Kellie Pickler and Carrie Underwood, Osenbach appeared at her driveway. A car parked and, out of it, exited Osenbach and a friend of his.[6] After two and a half years of not speaking, the two conversed: "He was like, 'Hey, how's it going?' And I'm like, 'Wow, you're late. Good to see you.' But we were civilized."[6] Swift conjectured multiple theories as to why Osenbach appeared at her house. One of them was that he was attempting to prove to his friend that he was indeed the subject of "Teardrops on My Guitar". Other possibilities was that he wanted to amend their friendship or believed Swift was still pining away from him.[6] Swift said it would have been poetic if he approached her upon the album's release and she would have accepted, but that she had already moved on.[7] Swift cited "Teardrops on My Guitar" as an example of how she expresses her sentiments in songs and sometimes in no other manner. She was not afraid of using Osenbach's first name on the track and, therefore, believed it was very honest and susceptible, something she adored.[4]
"Teardrops on My Guitar" is a country pop song with a length of three minutes and thirty-six seconds.[8] It is set in common time and has a moderate tempo of 104 beats per minute.[9] It is written in the key of B♭ major and Swift's vocals span one octave, from F3 to B♭4.[9] Swift sings in a breathless manner.[10] It follows the chord progression B♭–Gm–E♭–F.[9] The track's instrumentation is gently guided by mandolin and acoustic guitar,[11] with accents of brushed drums.[12] It ultimately resulting in a simple[13] and tender undertone.[14]
The lyrics of "Teardrops On My Guitar" speak of heartbreak and are direct, referring to the subject by his first name, Drew.[10][13] The song describes fancying someone who already interested in someone else and, therefore, maintaining the sentiments a secret. To him, Swift acted as though she was happy about his relationship,[15] while crying and lamenting at home.[10] Dave Heaton of PopMatters interpreted the lines "And there she goes, so perfectly / The kind of flawless I wish I could be" to address Swift's ideal of perfection and her attempting to meet it, but not succeeding, a predominant theme on Fearless.[16]
Regarding the song's musical genre, Roger Holland of PopMatters believed there was no reason for Swift to limit herself into only the country music or why she should be a country artist at all. Holland continued, "Yet this is the channel to market she has chosen, and so she has to be prepared to hear complaints about the way that trademarked Mutt Lange guitar whine has been married to her bright shiny pop songs in order to get them onto CMT, GAC, and country radio."[17] Bill Lamb of About.com rated "Teardrops on My Guitar" four out of five stars. Lamb complimented Swift's vocal delivery and songwriting style, but criticized the production and arrangement, perceiving them to be dull. He added that the track's refrains were most impacting and deemed it among the most memorable songs of 2007.[12] Sean Dooley, also of About.com, described Swift's vocals as "nothing less than captivating."[10] Lucy Davies of the BBC believed "Teardrops on My Guitar" was not impressed by the song's lyrical similarity with other songs on Taylor Swift or Fearless.[18]
Fiona Chua of MTV Asia said "Teardrops on My Guitar" demonstrated that with Swift, "what you hear is what you get", and selected it as one best cuts on Fearless.[13] Deborah Evans Price of Billboard stated that "Teardrops on My Guitar" showcased the same qualities as "Tim McGraw" (2006) – solid gifts of songwriting and time-halting earnest and pure voice. Price declared that the song made obvious that Swift would have much success for years to come at the time. She believed the track was ultimately relatable and Swift was capable of making the song palpable.[14] Chuck Taylor, also of Billboard, reviewed the pop version release of "Teardrops on My Guitar", and stated it was a "beautiful mainstream intro to an artist whose rise is ably exemplified by her last name."[11] An uncredited review from Rolling Stone attributed the track to be one of the reasons why Taylor Swift was so commercially successful.[19] Jon Bream of Star Tribune believed the song was in attempt to empower high school- and college-age females by confronting males.[20]
On the week ending March 24, 2007, "Teardrops on My Guitar" debuted at number ninety-three on the Billboard Hot 100.[21] After thirty-seven weeks upon the chart, on the week ending March 1, 2008, the song reached its peak at number thirteen, becoming the highest-charting single from Taylor Swift on the chart.[22][23] On the week ending May 17, 2008, the song spent its last week on the Billboard Hot 100 at number forty-nine, after a total of forty-eight weeks on the chart.[24] "Teardrops on My Guitar" peaked at number two on the Hot Country Songs chart on August 18, 2007. The track spent a total of twenty-five weeks on Hot Country Songs.[23] "Teardrops on My Guitar" was a crossover hit as well, peaking at number seven on Mainstream Top 40 (Pop Songs) and spending twenty-one weeks on the chart.[23] The single was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for the shipment of over 2,000,000 copies.[25] As of December 2011, "Teardrops on My Guitar" has sold 2,642,000 copies in the United States.[26] Because of its success, the song is considered to be Swift's breakthrough single, as it spread her popularity throughout the United States.[12][13] In Canada, the song peaked at number forty-five on the Canadian Hot 100 on the week ending August 18, 2007.[23] The single was certified platinum by Music Canada for sales of 80,000 digital downloads.[27] Released as the third single from Swift's second studio album Fearless (2008), the track debuted at number one-hundred on the week ending April 27, 2009 and peaked at number fifty-one on the week ending May 23, 2009 in the United Kingdom.[28]
The accompanying video to "Teardrops on My Guitar" was directed by Trey Fanjoy, who directed the video for "Tim McGraw". Swift decided to film the video with Fanjoy as a result of how positive the experience was when filming "Tim McGraw". She appreciated all the preparation techniques that she taught her and stated, "You have to remember the people who were good to you in the beginning".[29] Swift said the video centered around unrequited love.[29] Some of Swift's associates first believed the video should have been set in a prior era. They then though about filming the video at a large city. However, Swift wanted to go back to basics and keep the song's integrity by filming the video in Nashville, Tennessee.[30] American singer and actor Tyler Hilton portrayed Drew. He was cast because of prior interactions with Swift. They had a mutual fondness for each other's music. Taking into account his acting on the television series One Tree Hill and the film Walk the Line (2005), Swift asked him to participate in the video after he attended and performed at one of her concerts.[29] Swift chose Hilton primarily because he accurately represented Drew, a cute guy that is oblivious to the fact someone has feelings for him.[31] The video was filmed in one day in March 2007 at Hume-Fogg High School; the drama room was transformed to simulate a bedroom for the performance scenes.[32]
The video commences with Drew asking Swift, "Hey, are you gonna go to the game on Friday?" Swift responds, "Well, I don't know. I was thinking about it. Why?" He then admits it was just curiosity, informs Swift about a girl he met, and walks away. The video then transcends to Swift, wearing a long aquamarine evening gown, lying beside an acoustic guitar on a mattress in a bedroom. She performs the song until the scene transitions to Swift and Drew at the library, where he parodies a novel and she chuckles. The librarian requests for the two to maintain silence, so they converse quietly. Afterwards, Swift is in a chemistry laboratory, where she is mixing substances. Distracted by Drew approaching her, she accidentally pours too much of one substance and causes it to spill. They both rapidly attempt to clean the mess generated. As the song approaches its bridge, Swift and Drew walk towards each other, both smiling, but Drew then kisses his girlfriend, as Swift watches in agony. The video again transcends to the performance scene, where it concludes. Cut-scenes feature Swift lying on the mattress, crying, and standing beside a fireplace in the bedroom. The video received a nomination for "Number One Streamed Music Video" at the web-hosted 2007 CMT Online Awards, but lost to Sugarland's "Stay" (2007).[33] The video received a nomination for MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards, but lost to Tokio Hotel's video for "Ready, Set, Go!" (2007).[34]
She performed "Teardrops on My Guitar" as she opened for Rascal Flatts on several dates, from October 19 to November 3, 2006, included on the Me and My Gang Tour (2006–07).[35] Swift opened the concert with the song and dressed in a black, knee-length dress and red cowboy boots with a design of a scull and cross bones across it, playing an acoustic guitar.[36] She also performed the song when she served as opening act on twenty dates for George Strait's 2007 United States tour,[37] and selected dates for Brad Paisley's Bonfires & Amplifiers Tour in 2007.[38][39] During mid-2007, Swift engaged as the opening act on several dates for Tim McGraw's and Faith Hill's joint tour, Soul2Soul II Tour (2006–07), where she again performed "Teardrops on My Guitar".[40] Swift performed the song while she was again opening for Rascal Flatts for their Still Feels Good Tour in 2008.[41]
When promoting the single, Swift performed it on numerous venues, including Total Request Live (TRL),[42] The Engine Room,[43] on the Studio 330 Sessions,[44] and a concert at the Apple Store in SoHo, New York, which was recorded and released as a live extended play (EP), iTunes Live from SoHo, exclusively sold through the iTunes Store.[45] In the United Kingdom, the song was performed at an exclusive performance, hosted by 95.8 Capital FM and on The Paul O'Grady Show.[46] Since completing promotion for Taylor Swift and its corresponding singles, Swift has performed "Teardrops on My Guitar" as a duet with English rock band Def Leppard on CMT Crossroads, the episode was released as a DVD exclusively through Wal-Mart stores in the United States,[47] Clear Channel Communications's Stripped,[48] at the 2009 CMA Music Festival,[49] at the 2009 V Festival,[50] and at the Australian charity concert Sydney Sound Relief.[51]
Swift performed the song on all venues of her first headlining concert tour, the Fearless Tour, which extended from April 2009 to June 2010. During each performance, she donned a sparkly cocktail dress and black, leather boots.[52] The performance initiated with Swift sitting in a desk, next to a backup dancer who portrayed Swift's love interest, at the upper level of the stage,[52] which a library was projected onto.[53] The backup dancers then stood up to slow dance with a female backup dancer as Swift sang from above. Swift then appeared at the main stage to conclude the performance.[54] Jim Abbot of The Orlando Sentinel attended the March 5, 2010 concert at the Amway Arena in Orlando, Florida. He stated, "Taking a cue from her pal Miley Cyrus, Swift embellishes hits such as 'Teardrops On My Guitar' and 'Love Story' with a lot of flashy production in concert."[55] Brandy McDonnell of The Oklahoman, who attended the March 31, 2010 concert at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City, believed "Teardrops on My Guitar"'s music video heavily influenced the setting and role she enacted in the performance.[52]
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