Teardrops on My Guitar
"Teardrops on My Guitar" | ||||
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Single by Taylor Swift | ||||
from the album Taylor Swift | ||||
Released | February 19, 2007 | |||
Studio | Sound Cottage (Nashville) | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 3:35 | |||
Label | Big Machine | |||
Songwriter(s) |
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Producer(s) | Nathan Chapman | |||
Taylor Swift singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Teardrops on My Guitar" on YouTube |
"Teardrops on My Guitar" is a song by the American singer-songwriter
Swift was inspired to write "Teardrops on My Guitar" by her unrequited love for a high-school classmate. Musically, the track is a gentle
The song's music video was directed by Trey Fanjoy and features Swift as she sees her love interest develop a relationship with another female. The video received a nomination for MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist, but lost to Tokio Hotel's music video for "Ready, Set, Go!". Swift performed the song live while supporting as the opening act for other country-music artists' concert tours, and included it on the set list of her first headlining tour, the Fearless Tour (2009–10).
Background and release
Swift was inspired to write "Teardrops on My Guitar" about her experience with a boy named Drew Hardwick, a classmate of hers whom she had feelings for. Hardwick later went on to join the
Two years after the album's release, as she was leaving her house to attend a Nashville Predators hockey game with Kellie Pickler and Carrie Underwood, Hardwick appeared at her driveway. A car parked and Hardwick and a friend of his came out of it.[5] After two and a half years of not speaking, the two conversed: "He was like, 'Hey, how's it going?' And I'm like, 'Wow, you're late. Good to see you.' But we were civilized."[5] Swift conjectured multiple theories as to why Hardwick appeared at her house. One of them was that he was attempting to prove to his friend that he was indeed the subject of "Teardrops on My Guitar". Other possibilities was that he wanted to rebuild their friendship or believed Swift was still pining away from him.[5] Swift said it would have been poetic if he approached her upon the album's release and she would have accepted but that she had already moved on.[6] Swift cited "Teardrops on My Guitar" as an example of how she expresses her sentiments in songs and sometimes in no other manner. She was not afraid of using Hardwick's first name on the track and, therefore, believed it was very honest and susceptible, something she adored.[3]
"Teardrops on My Guitar" was released to US country radio on February 20, 2007, by Big Machine Records as the second single from Swift's debut album.[7] Big Machine and Republic Records released the song to US contemporary hit radio in November 2007.[8] The track was included on the non-US editions of Swift's second album, Fearless, released in March 2009.[9][10] In the United Kingdom, "Teardrops on My Guitar" was released as a single on May 18, 2009, by Mercury Records.[11]
Composition
"Teardrops on My Guitar" is a
The lyrics of "Teardrops on My Guitar" speak of heartbreak and are direct, referring to the subject by his first name, Drew.[18][21] The song describes fancying someone who is already interested in someone else and, therefore, maintaining the sentiments a secret. To him, Swift acted as though she was happy about his relationship,[23] while crying and lamenting at home.[18] Dave Heaton of PopMatters interpreted the lines "And there he goes, so perfectly / The kind of flawless I wish I could be" to address Swift's ideal of perfection and her attempting to meet it, but not succeeding, a predominant theme on Fearless.[24]
Critical reception
"Teardrops on My Guitar" has received acclaim from contemporary critics. Perone cited the song as Swift's songwriting ability to draw on diverse musical styles and regarded the "teardrops on my guitar" image one of the album's most memorable lyrical detail.
Fiona Chua of
Commercial performance
In the United States, "Teardrops on My Guitar" peaked at number 13 on the
In Canada, "Teardrops on My Guitar" peaked at number 45 on the
Music video
Trey Fanjoy directed the music video for "Teardrops on My Guitar". Swift worked again with Fanjoy, who had directed the video for Swift's debut single "Tim McGraw", because of positive experiences, "You have to remember the people who were good to you in the beginning".[41] For "Teardrops on My Guitar", Swift said the theme was unrequited love.[41] Despite recommendation from label personnel that the video should have been set in a prior era and filmed at a larger city, Swift kept it simple and filmed it in Nashville.[42] American singer and actor Tyler Hilton portrayed the male lead. Swift had been fond of Hilton's music as well as acting on the television series One Tree Hill and the film Walk the Line (2005).[41] She chose Hilton particularly because she thought he resembled the subject behind the song, Drew Hardwick, whom she had a crush on during high school.[43] Swift invited other high-school friends, her cousin, and her brother Austin to portray fellow high-school students in the halls.[44]
In the video, Swift and Hilton portray two high school students. Swift's character is in love with Hilton's, but he is in love with another girl. Scenes of the two characters studying together are intertwined with scenes of Swift's character in a long aquamarine evening gown, lying beside an acoustic guitar on a mattress in a bedroom. By the song's bridge, Swift's character witnesses the male lead kissing his girlfriend as she watches despondently. The video ends with Swift in the bedroom, crying on the mattress. The video received a nomination for "Number One Streamed Music Video" at the web-hosted 2007 CMT Online Awards, but lost to Sugarland's "Stay" (2007).[45] The video received a nomination for MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards, but lost to Tokio Hotel's video for "Ready, Set, Go!" (2007).[46]
Accolades
Year | Organization | Award | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
2008 | MTV Video Music Awards | Best New Artist | Nominated | [47] |
BMI Country Awards
|
Song of the Year | Won | [48] | |
SESAC Nashville Music Awards | Recurrent Country Performance Activity Awards | Won | [49] | |
2009 | BMI Pop Awards
|
Award-Winning Songs | Won | [50] |
Live performances
She performed "Teardrops on My Guitar" as she opened for Rascal Flatts on several dates, from October 19 to November 3, 2006, included on the Me and My Gang Tour (2006–07).[51] Swift opened the concert with the song and dressed in a black, knee-length dress and red cowboy boots with a design of a skull and crossbones across it, playing an acoustic guitar.[52] She also performed the song when she served as opening act on twenty dates for George Strait's 2007 United States tour,[53] and selected dates for Brad Paisley's Bonfires & Amplifiers Tour in 2007.[54][55] Throughout mid-2007, Swift engaged as the opening act on several dates for Tim McGraw's and Faith Hill's joint tour, Soul2Soul II Tour (2006–07), where she again performed "Teardrops on My Guitar".[56] During that period, she also performed the song at a set for Longwood University's Spring Weekend.[57] Swift performed the song while she was again opening for Rascal Flatts for their Still Feels Good Tour in 2008.[58]
When promoting the single, Swift performed it on numerous venues, including Total Request Live (TRL),[59]
The Engine Room,
Swift performed the song on all venues of her first headlining concert tour, the
Credits and personnel
Credits are adapted from the liner notes of Taylor Swift (2006).[75]
- Taylor Swift – vocals, songwriter, guitar, harmony vocals
- Liz Rose – songwriter
- bass, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, harmony vocals
- Eric Darken – percussion
- Dan Dugmore – steel guitar
- Rob Hajacos – fiddle
- John Willis – acoustic guitar (high string)
Charts
Weekly charts
|
Year-end charts
|
Certifications
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA)[89] | Platinum | 70,000‡ |
Canada (Music Canada)[38] | Platinum | 80,000* |
United Kingdom (BPI)[40] | Silver | 200,000‡ |
United States (RIAA)[35] | 3× Platinum | 3,000,000[36] |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
Release history
Region | Date | Format | Label | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
United States | February 20, 2007 | Country radio | Big Machine | [7] |
November 9, 2007 | Contemporary hit radio |
|
[8] | |
August 30, 2019 | 7-inch vinyl
|
Big Machine | [90][91][92] |
Notes
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{{cite AV media notes}}
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Sources
- Perone, James E. (2017). The Words and Music of Taylor Swift. ISBN 978-1440852947.
- Spencer, Liv (June 1, 2013). Taylor Swift: The Platinum Edition. ISBN 978-1-77090-406-4.