Ask anyone to name a pop superstar in the 2010s, and into the 2020s, and they’ll likely choose Taylor Swift. Ask them to name an ever-present pop hit, there’s a good chance “Bad Blood” will come up, but what was Swift’s intended meaning behind the song?
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The 33-year-old, Pennsylvania-born singer-songwriter has redefined pop stardom in the 21st century, remolding her image with each release and finding major success. Between the country-infused roots—which are also beloved by fans—that launched her mainstream career in the early 2000s, and the recent popularity of songs like “Anti-Hero,” which spent eight weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100 in 2022, Taylor Swift has not only contributed to modern hitmaking but shaped it.
Her career in the early-to-mid 2010s seemed to signal a shift in her target audience, as she entered more anthemic pop territory and abandoned the quaint, “girl with a guitar” persona found on her first three albums. Red, originally released in 2012 and rerecorded in 2021 as Red (Taylor’s Version), emboldened the artist’s image and introduced more pop elements into her songwriting. Songs like “I Knew You Were Trouble” and “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” still highly regarded to this day, topped the charts, with the latter hitting No. 1. Still, the sudden change shocked listeners, but soon became a welcomed one.
“Bad Blood” came around in 2014, situated in the middle of her album 1989. The single continued on the path she paved in 2012, affording her fans more shout-able, catchy pop. The song hit No. 1 on the Hot 100, boosted by her remix in collaboration with Kendrick Lamar, and sees Swift attacking her relationship disparities in a new light.
Background
Swift is at the helm of “Bad Blood,” but wrote the song in collaboration with Max Martin and Shellback. Martin is intrinsic to much of modern pop, working with artists such as The Weeknd and Ariana Grande, with a hand in now-classic pop songs such as “I Want It That Way” by Backstreet Boys and “…Baby One More Time” by Britney Spears. He’s written multiple chart-topping hits in the past three decades, “Bad Blood” among one of them. Shellback, a producer from Sweden, has roots in heavy metal and is known for his frequent collaborations with Swift and Martin. Martin met Shellback in the early 2000s, when Martin convinced him to start making pop music after hearing his metal demos. He’s since co-written songs like “DJ Got Us Fallin’ In Love” by Usher and “Eyes Closed” by Ed Sheeran. Both Martin and Shellback rejoined Swift for Red (Taylor’s Version).
Swift declares her stance off the bat, embodying the bold image the artist had been building up in the 2010s.
‘Cause baby, now we’ve got bad blood You know it used to be mad love
So take a look what you’ve done ‘Cause baby, now we’ve got bad blood, hey!
Now we’ve got problems
And I don’t think we can solve ’em You made a really deep cut
And baby, now we’ve got bad blood, hey!
Who’s the “Bad Blood”?
Contrary to the shortsighted belief that all of Taylor Swift’s songs are about breakups, “Bad Blood” is not about an ex-boyfriend—and she made a valiant effort not to drop names when confronted about the song. According to an interview with GQ Magazine in 2015, she wanted to avoid speculation that “Bad Blood” was about a recent ex and rather claimed ‘It was about … loss of friendship’ while remaining vague. She did, however, let on about what caused the famed “deep cut”—alleging career sabotage from someone she trusted.
Many still theorized about who inspired “Bad Blood,” especially after the subject’s attempt to derail an arena tour Swift was planning, and ‘hir[ing] a bunch of people out from under me.’ Evidence suggested that fellow pop star Katy Perry was the perpetrator, in part due to a no-holds-barred response to Taylor’s allegations, which she shared on Twitter: “Watch out for the Regina George in sheep’s clothing…” and later stating, “If somebody is trying to defame my character, you’re going to hear about it.” While Swift has never directly confirmed the song was about Perry, one can assume “Bad Blood” was responding to the betrayal Swift felt from Perry due to explicit hints from both sides. The two have since made amends and began rekindling their friendship in 2018.
Impact
While we may never know for sure who Taylor Swift was writing about, it is certain that “Bad Blood” is one of her most defining moments as a pop artist. It is one of Taylor Swift’s biggest hits to date, and comes from one of her most adored albums. During her “Eras Tour,” the song had a firm place on her setlist. Swifties screamed along in the stadium as Swift sang, with her pausing and allowing them time to include Kenderick Lamar’s line from the remix, ‘You forgive, you forget, but you never let it go.’
Several musicians have covered “Bad Blood” over the years, often altering the composition to fit a different tone. Alessia Cara performed her own rendition of the song in 2015 during her BBC Radio 1 Piano Session. She takes on both Swift and Lamar’s verses, blending them together elegantly. Rather than the upbeat instrumentation of the original, Cara is accompanied by a piano and an acoustic guitar, giving the song a somber timbre.
Swift announced that 1989 (Taylor’s Version) was on the way in August 2023, slating it for an October 27th, 2023 release. These rerecordings see Swift claiming ownership over her past releases, after her previous label sold her masters in 2020. With this rerelease will come a new version of “Bad Blood,” allowing Swift to revisit her beef, or let the song take on a new meaning all together.
Photo by Gotham/GC Images
