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.

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 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.

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."

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.