Speak Now (song)

After the release of her second studio album Fearless in 2008, Taylor Swift wrote her next one, Speak Now, alone for two years. According to her, the album comprises tracks about the things she had wanted to say but was unable to do with the people she had met. She co-produced it with Nathan Chapman, There were as many as 40 songs Swift wrote for the album, and "Speak Now" was among the 14 tracks that made it into the final track listing. Her inspiration for it originated from a conversation with a friend, where she found out that her friend's former lover is going to marry someone else. According to Swift, the person whom he was engaged to allegedly was a "horrible, controlling, mean girl", convincing him to depart from his family and friends. This made Swift say, "Are you going to speak now, rush the church and say, 'Don't do it,' ". Later that night, Swift dreamed that one of her former lovers marrying was someone else and wrote "Speak Now" after waking up. The latter, during its development, was named after the track when Swift concluded that it had the one title that featured a "recurring theme throughout the entire record." == Lyrics and interpretation ==

The lyrics of "Speak Now" unfold at a wedding, wherein Swift's character sneaks in and plans to interrupt it. The song starts by Swift admitting that while it is unusual for her to ruin someone's wedding ("I am not the kind of girl who should be rudely barging in on a white affair occasion"), she ensures that he will not marry the woman. Aspects and actions of the bride are also mentioned, including her wedding gown described as "pastry"-shaped, and how she shouts at her bridesmaids. Some critics found "Speak Now" to be an evolution of Swift's songwriting. According to the music writers Damien Somville and Marine Benoit, the lyrical approach Swift took for it that was "often direct and diary-like" allowed for a "natural" progression of her style and helped her develop the album's concept. In the Morning Call, John J. Moser opined that the exaggerated and pretentious lyrics were new for her. On the contrary, Jonathan Keefe from Slant Magazine said that how "Speak Now" among other tracks from the album is limited to being about men and Swift's relationships with them showed that she was uninterested in writing songs outside those subjects. == Music ==

"Speak Now" is a country rock and pop song, Maura Johnston from Vulture labeled it a "chunky rock-and-Nashville hybrid", while Moser regarded the chorus as "jaunty lilt, '50s-rock". Writing for the Hollywood Reporter, Willman commented that the track could be the "bubblegummiest thing" Swift did to date when the album was released. Throughout the song, Swift's singing is at the highest point of her vocal range. Her vocals contain twang and pop intonations which, as said by Benoit and Somville, was uncommon for her to do. A pitch correction software was used for Swift's vocals, such as in the end of a number of phrases. According to GQ Lucy Ford, "Speak Now" was among the album's tracks where her "saccharine pop vocals" were particularly evident. There were certain musical elements that critics deem to evoke those from other songs and artists. Benoit and Somville said that the track recalls late 1950s doo-wop songs, attributing this to its binary rhythm, backing vocals, harmonic progression, and musical arrangement. Contributing to Our Country, Willman remarked that Swift's "uncharacteristic vocal style" for it was closer to that of the singer Feist than the more conversational one he believed she typically does. The music journalist Annie Zaleski wrote that the "lush, layered" chorus reminded her of the band Eisley. Some critics thought specific melodies of the song were similar to those of "You Belong with Me", such as the former's "twangy, up-and-down hooks" and the latter's "she wears short skirts" one. The musicologist James E. Perone said that the last melody is called a "brief melodic motive" that could be observed on multiple phrases in the verses. Besides that, he found the chorus's drum style to be the same as that associated with the Beatles' early works and later used by some 1980s new wave rock bands. == Release and commercial performance ==

Speak Now was released on October 25, 2010, with the title track as fourth on the tracklist. Prior to that, Swift would preview a song from the album in each of the last three weeks before the week of the album's release, and it would be issued on the iTunes Store the day after; "Speak Now" was planned as the first one for release. Big Machine Records made the song available on the platform on October 5, following the previous day Swift previewed it. In its first day, "Speak Now" sold more than 85,600 downloads in the United States, and had reached 217,000 by the end of its first week, resulting in a number-two debut on the Digital Songs chart. On the Billboard Hot 100, the track entered at number eight and became Swift's sixth top-ten debut, which was a new record for most top-ten debuts among acts on the chart, surpassing that of Mariah Carey. It peaked at number 58 on Country Airplay as well. On November 29, 2011, the Recording Industry Association of America awarded the song with a gold certification. Elsewhere, "Speak Now" reached charts in Canada (peaking at 8), New Zealand (34), and South Korea (89). In Australia, the track debuted and peaked at number 20 on the ARIA Singles Chart, issued on the week of October 20, 2010. It earned a platinum certification from the country's Australian Recording Industry Association in 2024. ==Critical reception==

Simon Vozick-Levinson of Entertainment Weekly deemed "Speak Now" a catchy song and opined that Swift's lyrical delivery makes up for her shortcomings as a vocalist. Ken Tucker, in a radio episode for NPR, commended the track for appealing to casual listeners for its "meticulously detailed" production. Moser said that "Speak Now" was one of the album's most interesting songs because it features "a jaunty lilt, '50s-rock chorus and over-the-top snotty lyrics that are interesting precisely because they’re new for Swift". == Live performances ==

|alt=Swift performing dressed in a purple halter dress and white gloves Swift debuted "Speak Now" live during a party celebrating the album's release, which took place at the Metropolitan Pavilion in Manhattan and was webcast by CMT, MTV, and VH1 on October 25, 2010. In the next two days, Swift reprised her performance on the television shows The Today Show and Late Show with David Letterman on October 26, and she sang it as part of her show at the John F. Kennedy International Airport on October 27. On November 14, the song was featured as part of her set list for the 2010 ceremony of BBC Radio 1's Teen Awards. She performed it on NBC's Taylor Swift: Speak Now, which was a Thanksgiving television special that premiered on November 25. "Speak Now" was part of the set list of the North American leg of Swift's Speak Now World Tour. The song's number is staged as a church in the setting of a wedding ceremony, featuring church pews, a preacher, a bride, a groom, and Swift wearing a halter dress and white gloves. She performs a choreography alongside two dancers to emphasize the song. At the end, Swift flees from the wedding with the groom and goes to a different place in the venue, meeting the audience along the way. New Zealand, the Philippines, and Singapore. One of the song's performances was also included in the tour's associated live visual album. On the Eras Tour, Swift performed the track at a Tampa show on April 13, 2023, and again as a mashup with her song "Hey Stephen" (2008) at a Gelsenkirchen show on July 18, 2024. == Charts ==

== "Speak Now (Taylor's Version)" ==

After signing a new contract with Republic Records, Swift began re-recording her first six studio albums in November 2020. The decision came after the public 2019 dispute between her and the talent manager Scooter Braun, who acquired Big Machine, including the masters of her albums the label had released. By re-recording her catalog, Swift had full ownership of the new masters, including the copyright licensing of her songs, devaluing the Big Machine-owned masters. With Speak Now, all 14 original tracks were re-recorded for ''Speak Now (Taylor's Version)'', which was released as Swift's third re-recorded album on July 7, 2023, through Republic. The song's re-recording, subtitled "Taylor's Version", was produced by Swift and Christopher Rowe and is four minutes and two seconds in length. As with the rest of the album's re-recorded songs, its arrangement is accurate to that of the original recording. Writing for the I Paper, Kate Solomon remarked that the re-recording made her once more admire the track's "soap operatics". Mark Sutherland of Rolling Stone UK said that its "snarky gown-shaming" continued being marvelously genuine with the re-recording, picking it as an example for his claim that the re-recorded album retained the original's qualities that made it so exceptional. In a ranking of the ten best tracks from the album where the re-recording placed eighth, American Songwriter Alex Hopper believed that it maintained the song's feature and Swift's early storytelling skill of depicting sharp imagery. Others commended Swift's vocals. Ilana Kaplan of the Daily Beast wrote that a newfound "crispness" within her voice made the song further a "massive-sounding anthem". The Daily Telegraph Poppie Platt remarked that while her older vocals may be initially unsettling, "her grasp on tone and melody has much improved" that the re-recording is still effective when viewed as a re-imagining. Commercial performance "Speak Now (Taylor's Version)" reached the top 40 of the Billboard Global 200 chart (peaking at 24), The re-recording also debuted and peaked at number 14 on Hot Country Songs. • Taylor Swift – lead vocals, background vocals, songwriter, producer • Christopher Rowe – producer, vocal engineer • David Payne – recording engineer • Lowell Reynolds – assistant recording engineer, additional digital editor • Derek Garten – additional engineer, digital editor, programming • Serban Ghenea – mixing • Bryce Bordone – mix engineer • Randy Merrill – mastering • Matt Billingslea – drums, percussion, clapping • Amos Heller – bass guitar, clapping • Paul Sidoti – electric guitar • Mike Meadows – acoustic guitar, clapping, organ • Max Bernstein – electric guitar • Liz Huett – background vocals Charts Certification == Note ==