Taylor Swift officially pivoted entirely into the pop realm with her stellar 2014 record 1989, which spawned some of the singer/songwriter’s most recognizable hits. She followed the success of the record’s first two singles, “Shake It Off” and “Blank Space,” with the groovy and flirtatious “Style.”
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[RELATED: Every Song on Taylor Swift’s 1989 Ranked]
The track’s polished, mature production and gossip-stirring lyrics quickly catapulted “Style” to No. 1 on Billboard’s Mainstream Top 40, Adult Top 40, and Adult Contemporary charts. In October, loyal Swift fans will enjoy the re-recorded version of “Style,” along with the rest of the tracks from 1989. In the meantime, let’s take a deep dive into the history of this sassy fan favorite.
The Writers
According to the album credits of 1989, “Style” was co-written by Swift with award-winning producers and songwriters Max Martin, Shellback, and Ali Payami. But its origins are more complex than they seem. Payami had initially crafted a version of the song with guitarist Niklas Ljungfelt with the intent to release it themselves.
In an interview with the Recording Academy, Ljungfelt explained that their version of “Style” was an instrumental piece, which eventually made its way to Swift after he played it for Martin. The bold, electronic sound that Payami and Ljungfelt created stood out to Swift, leading her to make it her own.
The Lyrics
Swift and Martin worked together on the song’s lyrics, which find the then-24-year-old leaning into her sexuality more than ever before. Although it was an apparent departure from the primarily family-friendly content of her past releases, the pair relayed the song’s sensual thematic aspects through lyrical imagery and suggestive dialogue.
You got that James Dean daydream look in your eye / And I got that red lip classic thing that you like / And when we go crashing down, we come back every time / ‘Cause we never go out of style, we never go out of style
Although Swift has never directly confirmed who or what inspired the song’s lyrics, fans widely believe “Style” is a not-so-subtle nod to her relationship with former One Direction member Harry Styles. The pair shared a brief but high-profile romance around a year before the creation of 1989, and many of the descriptive lyrics (long hair, slicked back, white T-shirt) correspond with Styles’, well, style at the time.
“Style” is also one of the first songs that finds Swift addressing the messier aspects of love, alluding to an on-and-off relationship with implied infidelity from both sides.
The lights are off, he’s taking off his coat, mm, yeah
I say, “I heard, oh
That you’ve been out and about with some other girl, some other girl”
He says, “What you heard is true, but I
Can’t stop thinkin’ ’bout you and I”
I said, “I’ve been there too a few times”
The Legacy
Like many tracks from 1989, “Style” became a chart-topping hit in multiple countries and is still cited as one of her best tracks. Swift chose it for inclusion on the first leg of her record-breaking Eras Tour, sparking rumors of a possible guest appearance by Harry Styles on the upcoming 1989 (Taylor’s Version) album.
So far, there’s no hard evidence to support the theory, but its emergence on social media relays just how popular and pivotal the song “Style” remains within Swift’s landmark career.
(Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images)
