Cardigan (song)
| "Cardigan" | ||||
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| Single by Taylor Swift | ||||
| from the album Folklore | ||||
| Written | 2020 | |||
| Released | July 24, 2020 | |||
| Recorded | 2020 | |||
| Studio |
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| Genre | ||||
| Length | 4:00 | |||
| Label | Republic | |||
| Songwriters |
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| Producer | Aaron Dessner | |||
| Taylor Swift singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "Cardigan" on YouTube | ||||
"Cardigan" (stylized in all lowercase) is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift and the lead single from her eighth studio album, Folklore (2020). Republic Records released the song on July 24, 2020. Written by Swift and its producer, Aaron Dessner, "Cardigan" is a soft rock, folk, and indie rock ballad, with a stripped-down arrangement of a piano, drums, and violins.
The song's lyrics discuss a romance lost in memories, from the perspective of a female narrator named Betty, one of the several fictitious characters narrated in Folklore. An accompanying music video, written, directed, and styled by Swift, was released alongside the album launch. The video has been described as following a cottagecore aesthetic, featuring Swift in three different settings: a "cozy cabin" in the woods, a moss-covered forest, and a dark stormy sea, which represents the concept of the different phases in relationships. "Cardigan" was praised by music critics for its poetic songwriting and laid-back sound. It received nominations for Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards. An acoustic version of the song, subtitled "Cabin in Candlelight", was also released.
Commercially, "Cardigan" debuted atop the global Spotify songs chart with over 7.742 million streams, which was, at that time, the biggest opening day for a song on the platform in 2020. With the song's debut at the number-one spot of the Billboard Hot 100 as well, Swift scored the sixth U.S. number-one single of her career. Along with Folklore's debut atop the Billboard 200 the same week, she became the first artist ever to simultaneously debut atop the Hot 100 and Billboard 200. "Cardigan" further topped the Hot Alternative Songs, Hot Rock & Alternative Songs, Streaming Songs, and Digital Song Sales charts, making Swift the first act in history to garner twenty chart-toppers on the latter. It reached number one in Australia, the top ten in Canada, Ireland, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, and the United Kingdom, and the top 20 in Denmark, Estonia, Lithuania and Scotland.
Production and release
[edit]Taylor Swift began work on her eighth studio album, Folklore, during the COVID-19 lockdowns in early 2020. She conceived the record as figments of mythopoeic visuals in her mind, as a result of her imagination "running wild" while isolating herself during lockdown.[1][2] For the album's sound, Swift recruited Aaron Dessner and Jack Antonoff as producers on Folklore. Dessner produced or co-produced 11 tracks for the album and co-wrote nine with Swift.[3] Much of the songs they worked on were originally Dessner's instrumental tracks that Swift would write the melody and lyrics over.[4] Due to the lockdown, they were separated and had to send their work to each other via digital files to create the album.[5]
"Cardigan" was the first song Swift and Dessner wrote in their collaboration for Folklore. It was based on one of Dessner's instrumentals called "Maple".[6][7] On April 27, 2020, Aaron Dessner sent a folder of instrumentals to Swift that included it. After hearing "Maple", she sent a voice memo to him and they wrote the song in five hours. Dessner's brother Bryce added orchestration in the instrumental.[7] "Cardigan" was recorded by Aaron Dessner and Jonathan Low at Long Pond in Hudson Valley. The vocals were recorded by Laura Sisk at Swift's home studio (Kitty Committee) in Los Angeles. The track was mixed by Low at Long Pond and mastered by Randy Merrill at Sterling Sound in New York.[8]
On July 23, 2020, Swift announced Folklore and its release date at midnight. Out of the album's 16 songs, "Cardigan" is placed at number two. The song was released on July 24, alongside an accompanied music video posted on YouTube.[9] "Cardigan" serves as the lead single for Folklore;[10] Universal Music Group sent the track to Italian radio on July 27,[11] and Republic Records serviced it on US pop[12] and adult pop radio formats the next day.[13] A demo version of the song subtitled "Cabin in Candlelight" was also released on July 30; it was an exclusive that lasted for a day.[14]
Music and lyrics
[edit]"Cardigan" is a wistful, slow-burning, soft rock, folk[15] and indie rock[16] song driven by a stripped-down arrangement of a tender piano and a clopping drum sample, over a moody atmosphere.[17][18] It is written in the key of E♭ major and has a moderately fast tempo of 130 beats per minute.[19] Swift's vocal range in the song spans from E♭3 to A♭4.[20] The lyrics display confidence, but are also "slightly embittered".[21] Swift told her fans that "Cardigan" is about "a lost romance and why young love is often fixed so permanently within our memories".[22] It is one of the three of the tracks on the album that depict the same love triangle from three different perspectives at different times in their lives, the other two being "August" and "Betty".[23]
In the song, Swift sings from the perspective of a fictional character named Betty, who recalls the separation and enduring optimism of a relationship with someone named James.[24] While promoting the limited-edition version of the single, Swift told fans that she sent the original songwriting voice memo to Aaron Dessner on April 27, 2020, after hearing the instrumental tracks he created.[25] Roisin O'Connor of The Independent compared the song to "Call It What You Want" from Swift's sixth studio album, Reputation (2017),[26] while Spin's Bobby Olivier compared it to "Wildest Dreams" from her fifth studio album, 1989 (2014).[17]
Critical reception
[edit]Upon release, the song received universal acclaim from critics. Callie Ahlgrim of Insider Inc. dubbed the lyrics of "Cardigan" as an "effective way to evoke young love and innocence lost", describing them as simple, sharp and extremely poignant.[27] Pitchfork's Jillian Mapes wrote that the song's "overlapping details and central framing device—of a cardigan forgotten and found without a second thought—are pure Swift".[28] Courteney Larocca of Insider Inc. opined that the song has cues of Lana Del Rey.[27] Laura Snapes of The Guardian described the song as "cavernous and shimmering as a rock pool in a cave".[29] Jill Gutowitz of Vulture.com characterized "Cardigan" as "adorable, and yet, again, hurtful".[30]
Hannah Mylrea of