Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift

Style marker

3̂-7̂-1̂ cadence

Taylor Swift often ends vocal phrases by singing 3̂, dropping to 7̂, then rising to 1̂.

Transcript of a line from Taylor Swift's 2008 song Change.
Transcript of a line from Taylor Swift's 2010 song Back to December.
Transcript of a line from Taylor Swift's 2012 song All Too Well.
Transcript of a line from Taylor Swift's 2012 song The Last Time.
Transcript of a line from Taylor Swift's 2014 song Blank Space.
Transcript of a line from Taylor Swift's 2014 song Clean.
Transcript of a line from Taylor Swift's 2019 song Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince.
Transcript of a line from Taylor Swift's 2019 song The Man.
Transcript of a line from Taylor Swift's 2020 song Exile.
Transcript of a line from Taylor Swift's 2020 song Seven.
Transcript of a line from Taylor Swift's 2020 song This Is Me Trying.
Transcript of a line from Taylor Swift's 2020 song 'tis the damn season.
Transcript of a line from Taylor Swift's 2020 song Champagne Problems.
Transcript of a line from Taylor Swift's 2020 song Ivy.
Transcript of a line from Taylor Swift's 2020 song Long Story Short.
Transcript of a line from Taylor Swift's 2022 song Maroon.
Transcript of a line from Taylor Swift's 2022 song Midnight Rain.
Transcript of a line from Taylor Swift's 2022 song Bejeweled.
Transcript of a line from Taylor Swift's 2022 song Karma.
Transcript of a line from Taylor Swift's 2022 song Labyrinth.
Transcript of a line from Taylor Swift's 2022 song Mastermind.
Transcript of a line from Taylor Swift's 2024 song But Daddy I Love Him.
Transcript of a line from Taylor Swift's 2024 song I Can Do It With a Broken Heart.
Transcript of a line from Taylor Swift's 2024 song The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived.
Transcript of a line from Taylor Swift's 2024 song imgonnagetyouback.
Transcript of a line from Taylor Swift's 2024 song So High School.
Transcript of a line from Taylor Swift's 2025 song Elizabeth Taylor.
Transcript of a line from Taylor Swift's 2025 song Ruin The Friendship.
Transcript of a line from Taylor Swift's 2025 song Wi$h Li$t.
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.

Transcript of a line from Taylor Swift's 2008 song You Belong With Me.
Transcript of a line from Taylor Swift's 2010 song Mean.
Transcript of a line from Taylor Swift's 2010 song Innocent.
Transcript of a line from Taylor Swift's 2012 song State of Grace.
Transcript of a line from Taylor Swift's 2012 song All Too Well.
Transcript of a line from Taylor Swift's 2012 song Begin Again.
Transcript of a line from Taylor Swift's 2022 song You're On Your Own, Kid.
Transcript of a line from Taylor Swift's 2022 song Labyrinth.
Transcript of a line from Taylor Swift's 2024 song The Tortured Poets Department.
Transcript of a line from Taylor Swift's 2025 song Father Figure.
Transcript of a line from Paramore's 2007 song Misery Business.
Transcript of a line from Taylor Swift's 2010 song Better Than Revenge.
Transposed from D.

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")
Transcript of a line from Paramore's 2007 song When It Rains.
Transcript of a line from Taylor Swift's 2010 song Better Than Revenge.

These lines have identical lyrics, an identical rhythm, and share four of their seven pitches.

Transcript of a line from Paramore's 2007 song That's What You Get.
Transcript of a line from Taylor Swift's 2010 song Better Than Revenge.
Transposed from D.

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.

Transcript of a line from SZA's 2017 song Love Galore.
Transcript of a line from Taylor Swift's 2025 song Wi$h Li$t.
Transposed from C.

Similarities

These songs share a repeating series of six intervals in similar metric positions, each ending on the word "want."

Transcript of a line from Taylor Swift's 2012 song Stay Stay Stay.
Transcript of a line from Lorde's 2017 song Supercut.

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)
Transcript of a line from Taylor Swift's 2014 song Out of the Woods.
Transcript of a line from Lorde's 2017 song Supercut.

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)

Something to add?

Email songpatterns@gmail.com with any additions or corrections.