"Welcome to New York"
Song

"Welcome to New York" is a song by American singer and songwriter Taylor Swift. It was released as a promotional single on October 20, 2014 from Swift's upcoming fifth studio album, 1989.

Background and release

The song was released to digital download on iTunes on October 20, 2014.[3] The song is the first track on Swift's upcoming album.[3] Prior to the digital release Swift released a 30 second sampler of the song on YouTube.[4][5][6] When discussing the song with E! Online, Swift states that "The inspiration that I found in that city is kind of hard to describe and hard to compare to any other force of inspiration I've ever experienced in my life." She continued on by stating "I approached moving there with such wide-eyed optimism and sort of saw it as a place of endless potential and possibilities. You can kind of hear that reflected in this music and this first song especially."[7] When discussing the song's placement on the album Swift stated the reason she wanted the track to be the first song on the the album was "because New York has been an important landscape and location for the story of my life in the last couple of years. You know, I dreamed about living in New York, I obsessed moving to New York and then I did it. And the inspiration that I've found in that city is kind of, hard to describe and hard to compare to any other, force of inspiration that I've experienced in my life, it's like an electric city. And I approached moving there with such wide-eyed optimism and sort of a side as a place of endless potential and possibilities and you can kind of hear reflected in this music and in this first song, especially."[8] The lines "And you can want who you want/Boys and boys and girls and girls" has been viewed as Swift's way of supporting equality for the LGBT community.[2][9]

Composition

"Welcome to New York" is a synthpop[2] song written by Swift alongside Ryan Tedder[10] and produced by Swift, Tedder and Noel Zancanella.[4] It runs the length of three minutes and thirty-two seconds (3:32).[11]

Chart performance

On the Billboard Hot 100 chart the song debuted at number 18. It is Swift's 61st song the enter the Hot 100 and is only behind Aretha Franklin (73) to have to most songs in the Hot 100.[12]

The song debuted at number one on the Digital Songs chart selling 195,000 copies displacing Swift's "Shake It Off" from the top spot. In doing so, Swift became first lead artist to have back-to-back number song on the Digital Songs since the Glee Cast in November 10 with Teenage Dream and Forget You and is the fourth artist overall to achieve this feat.[13]

Critical reception

"Welcome to New York" has received mixed reviews, with critics polarized over the song's attempt at paying homage to New York.

Jim Farber of New York Daily News criticized the song saying "Unlike the classic odes to our city, Swift’s lacks the sophistication, or substance, of Gotham-themed hits by Sinatra, Billy Joel or Alicia Keys/Jay Z."[14] Jen Carlson of Gothamist called it "the worst NYC anthem of all time."[15] Writing for Headline Planet, Brian Cantor also slammed the song saying that Swift's "vapid, disconnected, impersonal songwriting... speaks only in empty cliches about big city life."[16] A "Music Times" review declared, "This song is too sunny and too optimistic, almost for no reason. Swift, once known for personal depth in her lyric writing, glosses over any sort of broken heart or struggle that led her to New York."[17] Writing for Mic Music, Tom Barnes said, "The lyrics are inane and the music is dull."[18] Julianne Escobedo Shepherd of "Jezebel", called the song, "A gentrification anthem so obtuse it makes one wonder if (Swift) is, in fact, trolling at this point."[19] Esther Zuckerman of Entertainment Weekly pointed out that "It honors the city... but only skims the surface."[3]

Still, some reviewers wrote favorably about the track. Forrest Wickman of Slant Magazine considered the song "a soaring synth-pop anthem of the kind you could imagine being sung by Katy Perry."[2] Daniel D’Addario of Time Magazine stated that it was a "new kind of equality anthem" and that while, "A full-throated cry for marriage equality or an end to bullying it isn't...its simple declarativeness fits the tenor of the times."[20] Nate Scott of USA Today praised the song and said it would be "the next New York anthem" and stated that the song "works. It works because Taylor Swift is the kind of artist that doesn’t care — at all — that the “I’m a young person who just moved to New York!” narrative is a tired cliché. She just lived it: She moved to New York, and she felt her life was changed by moving to the big city."[1]

Release history

Country Date Format Label
United States October 20, 2014[3] Digital download Big Machine Records

References

  1. ^ a b Scott, Nate (October 20, 2014). "Taylor Swift's 'Welcome to New York' is the next New York anthem". USA Today. Gannett Company. Retrieved October 22, 2014.
  2. ^ a b c d Wickman, Forrest (October 20, 2014). "Taylor Swift "Welcome to New York": New song from 1989 is a pro-gay, synth-pop anthem". Slate Magazine. Retrieved October 21, 2014.
  3. ^ a b c d Zuckerman, Esther (October 20, 2014). "Here is Taylor Swift's 'Welcome to New York'". Entertainment Weekly. Time Inc. Retrieved October 21, 2014.
  4. ^ a b Strecker, Eric (October 20, 2014). "Taylor Swift's 'Welcome To New York' Coming Tuesday: Listen to a Preview Now". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved October 21, 2014.
  5. ^ Goodman, Jessica (October 20, 2014). "Taylor Swift's 'Welcome To New York' Is A Love Letter To A City". The Huffington Post. Retrieved October 21, 2014.
  6. ^ Steiner, Amanda Michelle (October 20, 2014). "Taylor Swift's 'Welcome To New York': Hear The First Track On '1989'". Hollywood Life. Retrieved October 21, 2014.
  7. ^ Toomey, Alyssa (October 20, 2014). "Taylor Swift Talks New Single Welcome to New York, Says It's Very Sexist to Claim She Only Writes About Exes". E! Online. E! Entertainment Television, LLC. A Division of NBCUniversal. Retrieved October 21, 2014. ((cite web)): Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  8. ^ Swift, Taylor (October 20, 2014). "Taylor Announces NEW SONG from 1989!". taylorswift.com. Retrieved October 20, 2014. ((cite web)): Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |website= (help)
  9. ^ Kirk, Alexander (October 21, 2014). "TAYLOR SWIFT SUPPORTS EQUALITY IN NEW TRACK 'WELCOME TO NEW YORK'". Gay.net. Here Media Inc. Retrieved October 21, 2014. ((cite web)): Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  10. ^ Walker, John (October 20, 2014). "Taylor Swift's Finally 'Living In A Big Ol' City' In 'Welcome To New York'". MTV News. Viacom International Inc. Retrieved October 21, 2014. ((cite web)): Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  11. ^ "iTunes - Music - 1989 by Taylor Swift". iTunes Stores. Apple, Inc. Retrieved October 21, 2014. ((cite web)): Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  12. ^ Gary Trust (October 22, 2014). "Meghan Trainor Rules Hot 100, Ed Sheeran Hits Top 10, Glen Campbell Returns". Billboard. Retrieved October 23, 2014.
  13. ^ Paul Grein (October 23, 2014). "Chart Watch: Women Overpower Men, Week 7". Yahoo!. Retrieved October 23, 2014.
  14. ^ Farber, Jim (October 20, 2014). "'Welcome to New York,' music review". New York Daily News. Retrieved October 21, 2014.
  15. ^ Carlson, Jen (October 21, 2014). "'Welcome to New York,' music review". Gothamist. Retrieved October 21, 2014.
  16. ^ Cantor, Brian (October 21, 2014). "Taylor Swift 'Taylor Swift Disappoints on Hollow "Welcome To New York;" Review". HeadlinePlanet.com. Retrieved October 21, 2014.
  17. ^ "Taylor Swift 'Welcome to New York' Review: New Song from '1989' Leaks, Is Annoyingly Optimistic". Music Times. October 20, 2014. Retrieved October 21, 2014. ((cite web)): Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  18. ^ Barnes, Tom (October 21, 2014). "Taylor Swift's New Song Sounds Nothing Like Taylor Swift". Mic Music. Mic Network Inc. Retrieved October 21, 2014. ((cite web)): Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  19. ^ Escobedo Shepherd, Julianne (October 20, 2014). "Taylor Swift's New Song Is the Gentrification Anthem NYC Didn't Need". Jezebel. Retrieved October 21, 2014.
  20. ^ D'Addario, Daniel (October 21, 2014). "Taylor Swift's 'Welcome to New York' Is a New Kind of Equality Anthem". Time. Time Inc. Network. Retrieved October 21, 2014.

External links

Taylor Swift songs
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