Out of the Woods (song)

"Out of the Woods"
Single by Taylor Swift
from the album 1989
Released
Format Digital download
Recorded 2014;
MXM Studios
(Stockholm)
Genre
Length 3:55
Label Big Machine
Writer(s)
Producer(s)
  • Jack Antonoff
  • Taylor Swift
  • Max Martin
Taylor Swift singles chronology
"Wildest Dreams"
(2015)		 "Out of the Woods"
(2016)		 "New Romantics"
(2016)
Music video
"Out of the Woods" on YouTube

"Out of the Woods" is a song by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. The song was written by Swift and Jack Antonoff of fun. It was the second song to be officially released from her fifth studio album 1989, serving as the first promotional single on October 14, 2014.[1][2] It is the fourth track on the album, after "Style". "Out of the Woods" serves as the sixth official single with an accompanying music video that premiered on December 31, 2015, during Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve on ABC. It was released to radio on February 5, 2016.[3] The song went number one in Israel and has reached the top 10 in Belgium, Canada, and New Zealand as well as the top 20 in Australia and the United States.

Background and release

Swift premiered a 15-second clip of "Out of the Woods" on Good Morning America on October 13, 2014.[4] Swift called "Out of the Woods" one of her "favorite songs on this album because it best represents 1989."[1][5] She explained that the song is about "the fragility and breakable nature of some relationships. This was a relationship where I was kind of living day-to-day wondering where it was going, if it was going to go anywhere, if it was going to end the next day."[6] "Out of the Woods" was initially released as a promotional single on October 14, 2014,[7] with no plans for a music video or an official release.[8] On December 22, 2015, Good Morning America officially announced the release of a music video for the song to premiere during Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve. "Out of the Woods" also serves as the sixth official single from 1989,[9] and it was released to radio stations on February 5, 2016.[3]

Arrangement

"Out of the Woods" is a pop[10][11] and synthpop song.[12] The track was written by Swift and Antonoff and is the first song that Swift has written to an existing track. Antonoff sent an early version of the song without the vocals or lyrics to Swift, which she then added in just 30 minutes. Speculation as to whom the song is about is rampant.[8] The bridge section of the song references the snowmobile incident that Swift and her former boyfriend, One Direction's Harry Styles, were reported to be involved in during their relationship.[13] Max Martin produced Swift's vocals for the song.[14] It is written in the key of C Major with Swift's vocals spanning two octaves, between G3 and E5[15] and runs three minutes and fifty-five seconds (3:55).[16]

Featuring heavy synths and percussion, Antonoff described that the song is given an arrangement that combines both 1980s and modern elements. A Yamaha DX7 is used for the 1980s-tinged sounds apparent on most parts of the song, but they are countered with the Minimoog Voyager during the chorus sections, in which he explained, "That sounds extremely modern to me. It's that back-and-forth."[8] Antonoff also provided backing vocals. He said, "I just chopped this piece of my voice singing and started looping it over and over. Then I started banging on some drums I had in the room and stomping on the floor and sampling all these sounds to make this big bombastic looping beat with the sample on top of it."[8] In an October 2014 interview with NPR, Swift provided a detailed explanation of the lyrics:

That line is in there because it's not only the actual, literal narration of what happened in a particular relationship I was in, it's also a metaphor. "Hit the brakes too soon" could mean the literal sense of, we got in an accident and we had to deal with the aftermath. But also, the relationship ended sooner than it should've because there was a lot of fear involved. And that song touches on a huge sense of anxiety that was, kind of, coursing through that particular relationship, because we really felt the heat of every single person in the media thinking they could draw up the narrative of what we were going through and debate and speculate. I don't think it's ever going to be easy for me to find love and block out all those screaming voices.[17]

Critical reception

Billboard gave the song four and half stars out of five.[18] Chris Willman Writing for Yahoo called the song "Pretty weird, and pretty wonderful".[19] Katie Hasty of HitFlix gave the song an A+ writing that the song "Is damned near perfect." [20] Writing for Vulture Lindsay Zoladz stated that "Swift revealed something even more promising: the cavernous, Antonoff-produced “Out of the Woods,” which seemed to herald an exciting, unexpected, and mature new direction in Swift’s sound"[21] Sam Lansky of Time praised the track stating, "It's the furious chant of that anthemic chorus, all breathless urgency, and the left-of-center production that help Swift perform the niftiest sleight of hand: Even with lyrics that include some of her most headline-grabbing autobiographical admissions to date, the most interesting thing here isn't who it's about, but rather, how different it sounds".[22] "Out of the Woods" ranked number 94 on Pitchfork Media's list of The 100 Best Tracks of 2014.[23]

Commercial performance

On the Billboard Hot 100 chart the song debuted and peaked at number 18. It became Swift's 61st song to enter the Hot 100, making her the female artist to have the second most charted songs on the Hot 100, behind Aretha Franklin (73).[24] The song debuted at number one on the Hot Digital Songs chart, selling 195,000 copies and displacing Swift's "Shake It Off" from the top spot. In doing so, Swift became the first lead artist to simultaneously occupy the top two positions twice since 2012, when her songs "Ronan" and "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" occupied the top two positions.[25] Swift stood at rank four as the artist with the most number-one Digital Songs and tied with Rihanna for the most number-one debuts.[24] "Out of the Woods" was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for selling over 1,000,000 copies.[26]

In New Zealand, it debuted at number six, the highest debut that week.[27] In Australia, it debuted at number twenty one on the Australian Singles Chart.[28] In its first week of release, the song sold 21,000 downloads in Canada.[29] The song entered the top 10 of the Canadian Hot 100, debuting and peaking at number 8 on the week of November 1, 2014, making it the week's highest debut. It dropped off the Hot 100 a week later.[30]

Music video

Bethells Beach, the beach displayed at the end of the video

The accompanying music video directed by Joseph Kahn premiered on Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest on ABC on December 31, 2015.[31] It marked Swift's and Kahn's fourth collaboration in 1989 following "Blank Space", "Bad Blood" and "Wildest Dreams".[32] The video was filmed on location in New Zealand in the mountains of Queenstown and on Bethells Beach.[33] During the filming, a severe storm struck, causing trees to fall around them. After evacuating, filming resumed a week later.[34]

The video starts with the caption "She lost him." Next, Swift is first seen on the beach barefoot and only wearing a blue dress. She runs through what appears to be enchanted woods that formed around her, chased by a pack of wolves who tear at her blue dress as she struggles to escape as some wooden roots constantly follow her. Then she finds herself in different locations representing the four basic elements of nature throughout the video like the snowy mountains, an ocean, a barren landscape, a muddy location, and a burning forest. At the end of the video, the "woods" she was crawling through disappear as she finds a beach, where another version of her is waiting by the shore as she reaches for her. The video ends with the caption "She lost him, but she found herself, and somehow that was everything.", which was part of the secret messages in her song, "Clean" in the lyric-booklet of her 1989 record.[35]

Sharan Shetty of Slate wrote the subject of the song, anxiety, "is literalized to an extreme degree in the song’s video".[36] Peter Sblendorio of the New York Daily News deemed it "perhaps her most stunning music video yet" and hailed the visuals as "eye-popping".[37] People also called it "an eye-popper of a video",[38] while Billboard agreed on the stunningness of the clip.[39] Writing for Spin, Harley Brown described the video as "fantastically cinematic".[40] The Huffington Post's Dominique Mosbergen called the music video "haunting".[41]

Live performances and covers

Swift first performed the song as part of her "1989 Secret Sessions" for IHeart Radio in New York City, the day 1989 was released in October 2014. She then performed it in New York City for Good Morning America, on October 30, 2014, when she also performed "Welcome to New York" and "Shake It Off."[42] On December 3, 2015, Swift performed the song on a piano at Australia's Hamilton Island, where radio channel Nova 96.9 hosted a small performance featuring the singer and a few of her fans.[43] She also played a piano rendition of "Out of the Woods" at The Grammy Museum, where she did an acoustic performance to celebrate her attendance record breaking exhibit, on September 30, 2015.[44] Swift also performed the song as the opening act to the 58th Annual Grammy Awards on February 15, 2016.[45] The song was also a regular part of her setlist for the 1989 World Tour and was the penultimate song sung on the show each night.

Ryan Adams recorded a soft rock cover of "Out of the Woods" for his album 1989. Yahoo! writer Oscar Gracey said that Adams' cover "makes us want to hike through a forest, find a clearing, and mourn the relationships that didn't quite work out."[46]

Credits and personnel

Credits are adapted from liner notes of 1989.[47]

Charts

Chart (2014–16) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[28] 19
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[48] 64
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[49] 50
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[30] 8
Canada AC (Billboard)[50] 13
Canada CHR/Top 40 (Billboard)[51] 13
Canada Hot AC (Billboard)[52] 9
Denmark (Tracklisten)[53] 23
France (SNEP)[54] 70
Hungary (Single Top 40)[55] 37
Israel (Media Forest TV Airplay)[56] 1
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[27] 6
Poland (Polish Airplay Top 100)[57] 43
Scotland (Official Charts Company)[58] 48
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[59] 22
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[60] 136
US Billboard Hot 100[61] 18
US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[62] 20
US Adult Top 40 (Billboard)[63] 11
US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)[64] 12

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/Sales
Australia (ARIA)[65] Gold 35,000^
Canada (Music Canada)[66] Gold 40,000^
United States (RIAA)[26] Platinum 1,000,000^

^shipments figures based on certification alone

Release history

Country Date Format Label
United States October 14, 2014[1][2] Digital download Big Machine
Italy February 5, 2016[3] Contemporary hit radio Universal

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Inocencio, Marc (October 15, 2014). "Taylor Swift Unveils New Song 'Out Of The Woods' off '1989' Album: Listen". On Air with Ryan Seacrest. Retrieved January 7, 2016.
  2. 1 2 Linder, Emilee (February 3, 2016). "Taylor Swift's Next Single 'Out Of The Woods' Is On Its Way: Get The Deets". MTV. Retrieved October 15, 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 "Taylor Swift - Out of the Woods Radiodate". radioairplay.fm. February 5, 2016. Retrieved February 4, 2016.
  4. ↑ Lindner, Emilee (October 13, 2015). "Listen To Taylor Swift's 'Out Of The Woods' Clip As She Explains The 'Frantic Anxiety' Of A Relationship". MTV. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
  5. ↑ "Taylor Swift's 'Out Of The Woods' Has Arrived... with Lyrics: Listen". Billboard. October 14, 2015. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
  6. ↑ "Taylor Swift's 'Out Of The Woods' Song Confirmed A Break Up Song: 'This song is about the fragility and breakable nature of some relationships.". International Business Times. Retrieved January 7, 2016.
  7. ↑ "Taylor Swift Previews 'Out Of The Woods,' New Track Out Tuesday: Listen". Billboard. October 13, 2014. Retrieved October 13, 2014.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "How Taylor Swift created 'Out of the Woods'". USA Today. October 13, 2014. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
  9. ↑ "Taylor Swift releases Out of the Woods music video on New Year's Eve". The Guardian. January 1, 2016. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
  10. ↑ "Taylor Swift Wears Catsuit to Perform 'Out of the Woods' at Grammys 2016". Us Weekly. Retrieved May 6, 2016.
  11. ↑ "Listen To Taylor Swift's 'Out Of The Woods' Clip As She Explains The 'Frantic Anxiety' Of A Relationship". MTV News. Retrieved May 6, 2016.
  12. ↑ "Song of the week: Taylor Swift gets frantic in 'Woods'". USA TODAY. October 14, 2014. Retrieved January 18, 2016.
  13. ↑ Anna Silman (October 14, 2014). "Listen to Taylor Swift's 'Out of the Woods'". Vulture. Retrieved October 15, 2014.
  14. ↑ "Taylor Swift Unveils Synth-Heavy 'Out of the Woods'". Rolling Stone.
  15. ↑ "Digital sheet music – Taylor Swift – Out of the Woods". Musicnotes.com. Retrieved October 29, 2014.
  16. ↑ "iTunes - Music - 1989 by Taylor Swift". iTunes Store. Retrieved October 29, 2014.
  17. ↑ Melissa Block (31 October 2014). "'Anything That Connects': A Conversation With Taylor Swift" (Audio upload and transcript). NPR. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
  18. ↑ "Taylor Swift Sprints Forward on 'Out Of The Woods': Song Review". Billboard. October 14, 2014. Retrieved October 16, 2014.
  19. ↑ "Roughly 1,989 Words About Taylor Swift's '1989'! A Track-by-Track Guide". October 24, 2014. Retrieved January 18, 2016.
  20. ↑ "Taylor Swift, 1989: Track-by-track album review". HitFix. Retrieved January 18, 2016.
  21. ↑ "Album Review: Taylor Swift's 1989 -". Vulture. Retrieved January 18, 2016.
  22. ↑ "Listen to Taylor Swift's Hypnotic New Song 'Out of the Woods'". Time. October 13, 2014. Retrieved December 24, 2015.
  23. ↑ Goble, Corban. "The 100 Best Tracks of 2014". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved February 5, 2015.
  24. 1 2 Gary Trust (October 22, 2014). "Meghan Trainor Rules Hot 100, Ed Sheeran Hits Top 10, Glen Campbell Returns". Billboard. Retrieved October 23, 2014.
  25. ↑ Paul Grein (October 23, 2014). "Chart Watch: Women Overpower Men, Week 7". Yahoo!. Retrieved October 23, 2014.
  26. 1 2 "American single certifications – Taylor Swift – Out of the Woods". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved May 13, 2016. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH
  27. 1 2 "Charts.org.nz – Taylor Swift – Out Of The Woods". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved October 17, 2014.
  28. 1 2 "Australian-charts.com – Taylor Swift – Out Of The Woods". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
  29. ↑ "A Journal of Musical ThingsWeekly Music Sales Report and Analysis: 22 October 2014". A Journal of Musical Things.
  30. 1 2 "Taylor Swift – Chart history" Canadian Hot 100 for Taylor Swift. Retrieved October 23, 2014.
  31. ↑ Erin Strecker (December 22, 2015). "Taylor Swift's Video for 'Out of the Woods' Will Premiere on 'New Year's Rockin' Eve'". Billboard. Retrieved December 23, 2015.
  32. ↑ Allison Takeda (December 31, 2015). "Taylor Swift Premieres 'Out of the Woods' Music Video on New Year's Rockin' Eve: Watch!". Us Weekly. Retrieved January 1, 2016.
  33. ↑ "Taylor Swift's new music video 'Out Of The Woods' showcases New Zealand video". Stuff.co.nz. January 1, 2016. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
  34. ↑ Brittany Spanos (December 31, 2015). "Watch Taylor Swift Battle Nature in 'Out of the Woods' Video". Rolling Stone. Retrieved January 1, 2016.
  35. ↑ "Here Are The Secret Messages Taylor Swift Hid On Her '1989' Album". MTV News. October 27, 2014. Retrieved January 2, 2016.
  36. ↑ Shetty, Sharan (January 2, 2016). "Taylor Swift Takes on Wolves, Forest Fires, Mud Pits in the "Out of the Woods" Music Video". Slate. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
  37. ↑ Sblendorio, Peter (January 1, 2016). "Taylor Swift debuts stunning 'Out of the Woods' music video". Daily News. New York. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
  38. ↑ Chiu, Melody (December 31, 2015). "Taylor Swift Debuts 'Out of the Woods' Music Video". People. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
  39. ↑ "Taylor Swift Releases 'Out of the Woods' Video". Billboard. December 31, 2015. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
  40. ↑ Brown, Harley (January 1, 2016). "Taylor Swift Flees Wolves in 'Out of the Woods' Video". Spin. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
  41. ↑ Mosbergen, Dominique (January 1, 2016). "Watch Taylor Swift's Haunting 'Out Of The Woods' Music Video". The Huffington Post. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
  42. ↑ Lee, Ashley (October 30, 2014). "Taylor Swift Teases '1989' Tour During 'Good Morning America' Concert". Billboard. Retrieved January 8, 2016.
  43. ↑ "Watch Taylor Swift Perform Acoustic Versions Of 1989 Hits For 100 Super Fans". MTV News.
  44. ↑ Wass, Mike (October 27, 2015). "Taylor Swift Performs An Acoustic Version Of 'Out Of The Woods' At The GRAMMY Museum". Idolator. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
  45. ↑ Feeney, Nolan (February 15, 2016). "Taylor Swift Opened the Grammy Awards With 'Out of the Woods'". Time.com. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
  46. ↑ Gracey, Oscar (September 21, 2015). "Ryan Adams' '1989': Track By Track". Yahoo!. Retrieved January 7, 2016.
  47. ↑ 1989 (Compact disc liner notes). Taylor Swift. Big Machine Records. 2014. BMRBD0500A.
  48. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Taylor Swift – Out Of The Woods" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved October 23, 2014.
  49. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Taylor Swift – Out of the Woods" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved March 19, 2016.
  50. ↑ "Taylor Swift – Chart history" Billboard Canada AC for Taylor Swift. Retrieved August 26, 2016.
  51. ↑ "Taylor Swift – Chart history" Billboard Canada CHR/Top 40 for Taylor Swift. Retrieved August 26, 2016.
  52. ↑ "Taylor Swift – Chart history" Billboard Canada Hot AC for Taylor Swift. Retrieved August 26, 2016.
  53. ↑ "Danishcharts.com – Taylor Swift – Out Of The Woods". Tracklisten. Retrieved October 23, 2014.
  54. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Taylor Swift – Out Of The Woods" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved October 29, 2014.
  55. ↑ "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Single (track) Top 40 lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége. Retrieved October 24, 2014.
  56. ↑ "מדיה פורסט - לדעת שאתה באוויר". Mediaforest.biz. Retrieved January 23, 2016.
  57. ↑ "Listy bestsellerów, wyróżnienia :: Związek Producentów Audio-Video". Polish Airplay Top 100. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
  58. ↑ "Archive Chart: 2016-02-25". Scottish Singles Top 40. Retrieved February 19, 2016.
  59. ↑ "Spanishcharts.com – Taylor Swift – Out Of The Woods" Canciones Top 50. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
  60. ↑ "CHART: CLUK Update 8.11.2014 (wk44)". zobbel.de. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  61. ↑ "Taylor Swift – Chart history" Billboard Hot 100 for Taylor Swift. Retrieved October 22, 2014.
  62. ↑ "Taylor Swift – Chart history" Billboard Adult Contemporary for Taylor Swift. Retrieved October 12, 2016.
  63. ↑ "Taylor Swift – Chart history" Billboard Adult Pop Songs for Taylor Swift. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
  64. ↑ "Taylor Swift – Chart history" Billboard Pop Songs for Taylor Swift. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
  65. ↑ Ryan, Gavin (January 16, 2016). "ARIA Singles: Justin Bieber 'Love Yourself' Spends 6th Week at No 1". Noise11. Retrieved January 16, 2016.
  66. ↑ "Canadian single certifications – Taylor Swift – Out of the Woods". Music Canada. Retrieved February 6, 2016.
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