Wonderland (Taylor Swift song)

Taylor Swift had identified as a country musician until her fourth studio album, Red, released on October 22, 2012. It incorporates eclectic pop and rock styles beyond the country stylings of her past albums, which led to critics questioning her country-music identity. Swift began writing songs for her fifth studio album in mid-2013 while touring on the Red Tour (2013–2014). Inspired by 1980s synth-pop, she named the album 1989 after her birth year to signify an artistic reinvention, describing it as her first "official pop album". Max Martin and Shellback produced seven out of 13 tracks for 1989 standard edition, and two out of the three bonus tracks in the deluxe edition, including "Wonderland". == Music and lyrics ==

Both the original and re-recorded versions of "Wonderland" are four minutes and five seconds long. The line "flash your green eyes" is also a reference to a character in the book, the Cheshire Cat. The song is about a woman, mad in love, who follows a lover into what is supposedly a safe place, referred to in-song as "Wonderland". Both lovers rush into the relationship without thinking twice, consumed by erotic desire. The first draft for the song contained more references to Alice in Wonderland, with the male lover proclaiming them king and queen. == Releases and live performances ==

in 2015. "Wonderland" was officially released on October 27, 2014, under Big Machine Records, on the deluxe version of 1989; it is the fourteenth track and the first of three deluxe tracks on the album's track listing. It was originally only available on a CD variant, which was available exclusively in Target stores in the United States. On February 17, 2015, Swift announced on Twitter that "Wonderland" would be available for digital download on the iTunes Store on the same day, and that the other two tracks exclusive to the deluxe edition of 1989—"You Are in Love" and "New Romantics"—would be available on iTunes soon. "Wonderland" became available for streaming on Apple Music and Spotify on June 30, 2015, and June 9, 2017, respectively. After signing a new contract with Republic Records, Swift began re-recording her first six studio albums in November 2020. The decision came after a 2019 public dispute between Swift and the talent manager Scooter Braun, who acquired Big Machine Records, including the masters of Swift's albums the label had released. By re-recording them, Swift had full ownership of the new masters, including the copyright licensing of her songs, devaluing the Big Machine-owned masters. The re-recording of "Wonderland", subtitled "Taylor's Version", was released as part of Swift's fourth re-recorded album, ''1989 (Taylor's Version)'', on October 27, 2023. Swift produced the new version with Christopher Rowe, who recorded her vocals at the Kitty Committee Studio in New York City. Swift performed "Wonderland" on some dates of the 1989 World Tour (2015). She played it during the Houston stops of the Reputation Stadium Tour (2018) and the Eras Tour (2023–2024). She performed it during the Eras Tour in a mashup with "The 1" (2020) in Milan, and with "Haunted" (2011) in Vancouver. == Critical reception ==

Rose Androwich of The Observer commended Swift's ability to "make connections to popular culture while crafting a distinct narrative of her life", applauding the lyrics of "Wonderland" as "witty". In a retrospective ranking of Swift's discography in 2024, Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone ranked the track 128th out of 274. Saloni Gajjar and Mary Kate Carr of The A.V. Club, as well as Callie Ahlgrim and Kim Renfro of Business Insider, listed "Wonderland" as one of Swift's 22 most underrated songs. Gajjar said that although "on first listen, it's sonically jarring", the track "doesn't get the adulation it demands". She picked "We found Wonderland/ You and I got lost in it/ And life was never worse but never better" as the song's "most striking lyric". Ahlgrim thought that the track had the potential to be a single due to its "booming synths and sticky melodies that were emblematic of Swift's biggest pop era." Rachel Martin of Notion commended the "cleaner" vocals of the re-recorded "Wonderland (Taylor's Version)". == Commercial performance ==

"Wonderland" peaked at number 51 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on the US Billboard Hot 100, number 59 on the Canadian Hot 100, and number 171 on the UK singles chart. The track received a platinum certification in Australia and a silver certification in the United Kingdom. The re-recorded song, "Wonderland (Taylor's Version)", charted in the United States (33), Canada (37), New Zealand (36), and on the Billboard Global 200 (32). The re-recorded version received a gold certification in Brazil. == Personnel ==

"Wonderland" (2014) • Taylor Swift – lead vocals, background vocals, songwriter, producer • Jack Antonoff – songwriter, producer, keyboards, drums, electric guitar, bass guitar • Max Martin – vocal producer • Serban Ghenea – mixing • John Hanes – engineered for mix • Peter Carlsson – Pro Tools engineer • Tom Coyne – mastering '''"Wonderland (Taylor's Version)" (2023)''' • Taylor Swift – vocals, background vocals, producer • Mike Meadows – synthesizer, acoustic guitar • Amos Heller – bass guitar • Dan Burns – drum programming, synth bass, synthesizer • Matt Billingslea – drum programming, drums, percussion • Max Bernstein – electric guitar, synthesizer, acoustic guitar • Derek Garten – programming • Brian Pruitt – drum programming, drums • Christopher Rowe – producer, engineering, vocal engineering • Randy Merrill – mastering • Ryan Smith – mastering • Serban Ghenea – mixing • Derek Garten – engineering, editing • Dan Burns – additional engineering == Charts ==

"Wonderland" "Wonderland (Taylor's Version)" == Certifications ==