"Down Bad"
Song by Taylor Swift
from the album The Tortured Poets Department
ReleasedApril 19, 2024 (2024-04-19)
Genre
Length4:21
LabelRepublic
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Taylor Swift
  • Jack Antonoff

"Down Bad" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift from her eleventh studio album, The Tortured Poets Department (2024). She wrote and produced the track with Jack Antonoff, who also contributed much of the song's instrumentation along with several members of American rock band Bleachers. Upon the release of The Tortured Poets Department, the song debuted within the top of five in several countries, including Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Critical reception and analysis

Jason Lipschultz of Billboard ranked "Down Bad" as the sixth best song on The Tortured Poets Department, describing the song as "one of the album’s purest pop pleasures."[1] Writing for the BBC, Mark Savage said that the "melancholic" and "delicately percolating" instrumentation on "Down Bad" reflected the same sonic aesthetic as her previous album, Midnights.[2] Pitchfork's Olivia Horn thought that the song worked "because of the juxtaposition between its banal hook and its description of 'cosmic love'".[3] Finn McRedmond from The Irish Times highlighted the song's blunt lyrics, drawing comparisons to some of her previous work from both 1989 and Folklore.[4]

Josh Kurp from Uproxx was more critical of the song, stating that its verbosity and genre-less music were a source of discomfort.[5] Writing for Vogue Australia, Nina Miyashita posited that the lyrics on "Down Bad" documented the dissolution of Swift's relationship with Matt Healy of The 1975[6]

Personnel

Charts

Chart performance for "Down Bad"
Chart (2024) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[7] 2
Brazil (Brasil Hot 100)[8] 45
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[9] 2
Croatia (Billboard)[10] 22
Denmark (Tracklisten)[11] 16
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[12] 46
France (SNEP)[13] 53
Global 200 (Billboard)[14] 2
Hong Kong (Billboard)[15] 11
India (IMI)[16] 4
Indonesia (Billboard)[17] 17
Italy (FIMI)[18] 79
Luxembourg (Billboard)[19] 9
Malaysia (Billboard)[20] 8
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[21] 2
Norway (VG-lista)[22] 26
Philippines (Billboard)[23] 3
Portugal (Billboard)[24] 11
Singapore (RIAS)[25] 3
South Africa (Billboard)[26] 14
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[27] 19
UK Singles (OCC)[28] 4
US Billboard Hot 100[29] 2

References

  1. ^ Lipshutz, Jason (April 19, 2024). "Taylor Swift's The Tortured Poets Department: All 18 Tracks Ranked". Billboard. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
  2. ^ Savage, Mark (April 19, 2024). "Review: Taylor Swift's Tortured Poets Department Finds the Star Vulnerable But Vicious". BBC. Archived from the original on April 19, 2024. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
  3. ^ Horn, Olivia (April 22, 2024). "Taylor Swift: The Tortured Poets Department / The Anthology Album Review". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on April 25, 2024. Retrieved April 22, 2024.
  4. ^ McRedmond, Finn (April 19, 2024). "Taylor Swift: The Tortured Poets Department track by track – a manifesto for all the believers who will try at love one more time". The Irish Times. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
  5. ^ Kurp, Josh (April 19, 2024). "Taylor Swift's 'The Tortured Poets Department' Isn't The Breakup Album You Were Expecting — It's Better". Uproxx. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
  6. ^ Miyashita, Nina; Waterhouse, Jonah (April 19, 2024). "All the hidden meanings in Taylor Swift's "The Tortured Poets Department" album". Vogue Australia. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
  7. ^ "ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart". Australian Recording Industry Association. April 29, 2024. Retrieved April 26, 2024.
  8. ^ "Billboard Brasil Hot 100 - Semana de 29 de abril, 2024" [Billboard Brasil Hot 100 - Week of April 29, 2024]. Billboard Brasil (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved April 30, 2024.
  9. ^ "Taylor Swift Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
  10. ^ "Taylor Swift Chart History (Croatia Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
  11. ^ "Track Top-40 Uge 17, 2024". Hitlisten. Retrieved May 1, 2024.
  12. ^ "Taylor Swift: Down Bad" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
  13. ^ "Top Singles (Week 16, 2024)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
  14. ^ "Taylor Swift Chart History (Global 200)". Billboard. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
  15. ^ "Taylor Swift Chart History (Hong Kong Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
  16. ^ "IMI International Top 20 Singles for week ending 29th April 2024 | Week 17 of 52". IMIcharts. Archived from the original on April 29, 2024.
  17. ^ "Taylor Swift Chart History (Indonesia Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
  18. ^ "Top Singoli – Classifica settimanale WK 17" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
  19. ^ "Taylor Swift Chart History (Luxembourg Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
  20. ^ "Taylor Swift Chart History (Malaysia Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
  21. ^ "NZ Top 40 Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. April 30, 2024. Retrieved April 26, 2024.
  22. ^ "Singel 2024 uke 17". VG-lista. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
  23. ^ "Taylor Swift Chart History (Philippines Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
  24. ^ "Taylor Swift Chart History (Portugal Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
  25. ^ "RIAS Top Charts Week 17 (19 - 25 Apr 2024)". RIAS. Archived from the original on April 30, 2024. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
  26. ^ "Taylor Swift Chart History (South Africa Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
  27. ^ "Veckolista Singlar, vecka 17". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
  28. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
  29. ^ "Taylor Swift Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
Categories