Style marker
The "T-Drop" (4̂-3̂-6̂)
Swift has her own melodic signature [...]: a three-note melodic motif [usually descending from 4̂ to 3̂ and then to 6̂] that we've termed the "T Drop."
— Nate Sloan & Charlie Harding, Switched On Pop (2020), p. 22
It first appears in You Belong With Me (2008) and is a consistent feature of her writing since then.
5
4
3
2
1
7
6
so
2
why
3
can't
2
you
1
see
4
e
3
e
6
5
4
3
2
1
7
6
drunk
2
and
3
grum
2
blin'
3
o
2
on
1
a
1
bout
2
how
3
I
4
I
3
can't
3
sing
6
5
4
3
2
1
7
6
al
1
ways
2
a
3
bi
3
ig
4
ger
3
bed
6
5
4
3
2
1
7
6
bus
3
y
3
stree
3
eets
2
and
1
bus
2
y
3
lives
3
and
1
all
4
we
3
know
6
6
5
4
3
2
1
7
6
fine
5
at
4
a
4
a
3
all
6
5
4
3
2
1
7
6
but
3
I
4
I
3
do
6
5
4
3
2
1
7
6
just
7
to
1
learn
1
that
1
you
3
nev
4
er
3
cared
6
5
4
3
2
1
7
6
the
1
who
4
ole
3
time
6
5
4
3
2
1
7
6
4
3
6
5
4
3
2
1
7
6
I
3
scratch
3
your
2
head
2
you
1
fall
4
a
3
sleep
6
5
4
3
2
1
7
6
u
3
u
4
used
3
to
6
Style marker
3̂-7̂-1̂ cadence
Taylor Swift often ends vocal phrases by singing 3̂, dropping to 7̂, then rising to 1̂.
Connection
The choruses of these songs
- Start their first two measures on a high 5̂
- Share identical rhythmes for the first measure and a half
- End their first phrase with a high melisma on 3̂-6̂-5̂, sung on "whoa"
Taylor Swift and Hayley Williams sang That's What You Get together at a concert in September 2011.
Connection
These lines have identical lyrics, an identical rhythm, and share four of their seven pitches.
Connection
These songs share
- The first and third measure of their intro guitar riffs (shown)
- A lyrical theme and some similar phrases ("I got him where I want him now" vs "I had him right there where I wanted him")
Connection
we
do
what
ev
er
we
want
go
wher
ev
er
we
want
love
how
ev
er
we
want
and
they
should
have
what
they
want
they
de
serve
what
they
want
hope
they
get
what
they
want
Similarities
These songs share a repeating series of six intervals in similar metric positions, each ending on the word "want."
Connection
Points of connection
- These lines are sung on a similar lyric in the same bar position: starting on the "and" of 3 and ending on the following measure's third beat. The word "a" appears in the same position, and both lines end with "of us."
- The same melodic contour
- Supercut contains an additional melodic reference to another Taylor Swift song (Stay Stay Stay)
Connection
Points of connection
- A seven-note sequence, sung on the same rhythm, in the same part of the bar, and in the same key (C)
- Supercut contains an additional melodic reference to another Taylor Swift song (Out of the Woods)