2017 song by Taylor Swift
"Call It What You Want" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift from her sixth studio album, Reputation (2017). Big Machine Records released the song for download and streaming on November 3, 2017. Swift wrote and produced "Call It What You Want" with Jack Antonoff, and the track is a mid-tempo electropop and synth-pop song with R&B-trap crossover elements. Its lyrics are about the transformative power of a romantic relationship that helps Swift cope with the tumultuous outer world.
Music critics received "Call It What You Want" with positive reviews; they praised its vulnerability and intimacy in its songwriting and production. The song peaked at number 27 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and reached the top 50 on singles charts in Austria, Hungary, Ireland, Malaysia, New Zealand, and the Philippines. Swift included the track in the set list of her Reputation Stadium Tour in 2018.
Background
The American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift released her fifth studio album, 1989, in October 2014. It was a synth-pop record that transformed her image from a country artist to a pop star.[1][2] The album received wide commercial success, reaching one million copies within one year and producing three Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles.[3] During its promotion, Swift was targeted by the tabloid media; her image as "America's Sweetheart", a result of her being wholesome and innocent, disappeared from publicized short-lived relationships and disputes with other celebrities.[4][5][6] Swift therefore became increasingly silent on social media and avoided the press during tumultuous affairs.[7] Her sixth studio album, Reputation (2017), was conceived as a message to the media commotion surrounding her as a celebrity.[8]
Composition
"Call It What You Want" was engineered by Laura Sisk at Rough Customer Studio in Brooklyn Heights. It was mixed by Serban Ghenea at MixStar Studios in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and mastered by Randy Merrill at Sterling Sound Studios in New York.[9] "Call It What You Want" is an atmospheric, mid-tempo electropop[10] and synth-pop song[11] with a crossover R&B-trap inclination.[12] Jack Antonoff revealed on Twitter that "Call It What You Want" was "made with an MPC, live kick, dx7 strings and samples of Taylor's voice as the intro and throughout. Making her voice into an instrument." He also added that he was "honored to have 'Call It What You Want' out in the world. That song means a great deal to me", and recommend fans to "listen on headphones at night on a walk".[13] "Call It What You Want" also features Swift rapping.[14] It follows a chord progression of D – A – E – D/F♯ – F♯m7, and Swift's vocals span from E3 to C♯5.[15]
Release and commercial performance
"Call It What You Want" was released on November 3, 2017.[16] The song debuted at number 27 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Billboard Digital Song Sales chart with 68,000 digital copies. Swift became the first artist to have 15 entries reach the latter's summit and extended her record with most debuts at number one on the chart with 14. It is also the fourth Reputation track to top the chart after "Look What You Made Me Do", "...Ready for It?", and "Gorgeous".[17] In March 2018, the song received a gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).[18]
"Call It What You Want" peaked at number 16 in Australia and was certified gold.[19][18] It reached number 29 in the United Kingdom and received a silver certification.[20][21] Elsewhere, "Call It What You Want" debuted on the charts of several countries: it peaked within the top 50 of Hungary (5),[22] Malaysia (13),[23] the Philippines (27),[24] New Zealand (34),[25] Austria (43),[26] and Ireland (44),[27] and further reached Portugal, France, Switzerland, and Germany.[note 1]
Critical reception
The song received critical acclaim. The song was named the 20th best song of 2017 by Rolling Stone.[11] According to Entertainment Weekly, the song, in which Swift says she is "doing better than [she] ever was" and details her romantic life, was well received by her fan base.[28] Frank Guan of Vulture stated that the song "deals in gossamer and light; its spare, airy production evokes, or attempts to evoke, a sense of radiant, protective romance in the wake of a devastating social debacle; listeners ready to view that loss as the one she suffered last year at the hands of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West will meet no resistance."[29] USA Today gave it a positive review, saying it was more subdued than her other recent singles, and "the most perceptive and unabashedly romantic song of the singer's new era", and "surprisingly effective and grown-up".[30] Complex Magazine had the opinion that the song was the first single pre-released from her album that was not "distressing", as "Call It What You Want" is "actually good," and also dropped the "revenge narrative to great effect."
[31] Spin Magazine gave it a similar review, saying it was much better than her other recent material.[32]
Credits and personnel
Credits are adapted from the liner notes of Reputation.[9]
