"Should've Said No" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | ||||
Single by Taylor Swift | ||||
from the album Taylor Swift | ||||
Released | May 19, 2008 | |||
Studio | Dark Horse Recording (Franklin, Tennessee) | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 4:04 | |||
Label | Big Machine | |||
Songwriter(s) | Taylor Swift | |||
Producer(s) | Nathan Chapman | |||
Taylor Swift singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Music video | ||||
"Should've Said No" on YouTube |
"Should've Said No" is a song written and recorded by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift for her self-titled debut studio album (2006). The song was released to US country radio as the album's fifth and final single on May 19, 2008, by Big Machine Records. Produced by Nathan Chapman, "Should've Said No" combines country rock, pop rock, and post-grunge with banjo and distorted guitars. The lyrics are about Swift's contempt for a cheating ex-lover.
Music critics praised the song's production and Swift's songwriting. "Should've Said No" was Swift's second number-one single on the Hot Country Songs chart and peaked at number 33 on the Billboard Hot 100. The single was certified platinum, for exceeding one million digital copies sold, by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It entered the singles charts in Canada and New Zealand.
Swift performed "Should've Said No" live at the 43rd Academy of Country Music Awards; the performance was recorded and released as the official music video. The song was also included in the set list of her first headlining tour, the Fearless Tour (2009–2010). She also sang the song as a guest star on the Jonas Brothers' Burnin' Up Tour; the performance was featured in the concert film Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience. In 2018, she included a mashup of "Should've Said No" and "Bad Blood" in the set list of her Reputation Stadium Tour.
Background and writing
[edit]"Should've Said No" was a last-minute addition to Taylor Swift's 2006 self-titled debut studio album; she wrote it two days before the album was mastered and published and completed the track with producer Nathan Chapman overnight.[1][2] She said she wrote it as a reaction to something "dramatic and crazy" that happened to her, and she felt that she needed "to address it in the form of music".[1] The first line that came to her was the title, and she wrote the refrain in five minutes. Swift said that many of the lyrics were based on actual words that she used when confronting her ex-boyfriend.[2] The whole song took her 20 minutes to compose.[3] Swift commented that "Should've Said No" and "Picture to Burn" are the two songs on the album that depict a vengeful attitude towards those who wronged her;[2] whereas "Picture to Burn" has an angry attitude, "Should've Said No" is "more of a moral statement. It's an 'I love you, we were awesome and great together, but you messed this up and I would still be with you' kinda thing. You said yes, and you should've said no."[3]
Music and lyrics
[edit]"Should've Said No" is an uptempo country rock song[4][5][6] that incorporates a banjo and opens with a steel guitar riff.[7][8] It is written in the key of E minor. Swift's lead vocals range from G3 to C5. Roger Holland of PopMatters categorized the track as pop rock and said that the country-music arrangement was minimal.[9] Brittany Spanos from Rolling Stone remarked that "Should've Said No" stands out as a pop-rock-leaning tune in a country-music album.[10] In The Guardian, Alexis Petridis described it as a "post-grunge stadium rock anthem".[11] Musicologist James E. Perone commented that "Should've Said No" features a production incorporating textured guitars that resembles a rock power ballad, and includes elements of American folk music through the use of the pentatonic scale in the melody and the fiddles in unison with other instruments.[12]
In the lyrics, the narrator chastises a cheating ex-boyfriend and tells him that she would have forgiven him if he had said no to the girl with whom he cheated on the narrator.[13] She has no intention to get back with him, no matter how much he pleads.[14] Before ending their relationship, the narrator asks the ex-boyfriend, "Before you go, tell me this: Was it worth it? Was she worth this?" to which she answers herself, "No," repeatedly.[15] Some authors remarked that the song has an empowering message to young female listeners, who listen to Swift's music to find power to control their own lives.[14] In The New York Times, Jon Caramanica wrote that the song is "a little vicious ... animated by something sharper than traditional teenage angst".[16]
Release and commercial performance
[edit]"Should've Said No" was the fifth and final single from Swift's debut album.[7][17] It was released to US country radio on May 19, 2008, by Big Machine Records.[18] An alternate version of the song was released on her extended play Beautiful Eyes (2008).[19] A remix was included in the international edition of Swift's second studio album, Fearless, released in March 2009.[20] In October 2019, following the Taylor Swift masters dispute, Big Machine Records re-released "Should've Said No", along with other singles from Swift's debut album, on limited-edition vinyl.[21]
In the United States, the single peaked at number 33 on the Billboard Hot 100.[22] It was Swift's second number-one single on the Hot Country Songs chart, following "Our Song"; both singles were solely written by Swift.[23] It spent two weeks at number one on the Hot Country Songs chart.[24] The song was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 2009 and, by November 2017, had sold 1.5 million digital copies in the United States.[25][26] "Should've Said No" also charted on the Canadian Hot 100 (peaking at number 67)[27] and the Official New Zealand Music Chart (peaking at number 18).[28]
Critical reception
[edit]Roger Holland of PopMatters lauded the song's production and felt that it proved Swift's potential success beyond her country-music identity.[9] Chris Neal of Country Weekly and Jon Caramanica of The New York Times both selected "Should've Said No" as one of the best songs on Swift's debut album.[16][29] Reviewing the international edition of Fearless, Fiona Chua of MTV Asia selected the track as a highlight, lauding its upbeat production and emotional sentiments that resonated with many tween females.[30] New Zealand magazine The Spinoff's Sam Brooke placed it at number five on a list of the best songs of 2009.[31] The song was one of the 50 award-winning songs at the 2009 BMI Country Awards.[32]
In retrospect, Ed Masley of The Arizona Republic considered "Should've Said No" one of the better songs in Swift's discography.[33] Spanos picked it as one of Swift's 10 best deep cuts, deeming it a precedent to Swift's experimentation beyond country music that would later turn her into a household name.[10] Jonathan Bradley from Billboard commented that the song's theme of anger set a precedent for some of Swift's later songs.[34] On a less positive side, Valerie Megan of Consequence praised the production but criticized the lyrics as clunky.[35]
Live performances
[edit]Swift included "Should've Said No" in the set list of a promotional tour for her debut album in 2008.[36] She sang the song as the opening act to Rascal Flatts' 2008 tour.[37] Swift performed the song live at the 43rd Academy of Country Music Awards in May 2008.[38][39] The performance was recorded and later released as the song's live music video. In the video, the performance begins with Swift playing the guitar in a hooded sweatshirt and jeans, and after an on-stage costume change, she is seen in a black dress. Swift sings the song and drapes her arm around the guitar player during a guitar solo. Towards the end, she performs the last lines of the song in the pouring rain onstage, and the crowd receives with a standing ovation.[14] She also performed the song with Jonas Brothers on the Burnin' Up Tour; the performance is included in the concert film Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience (2009).[40]
Swift included the song in the set list of her first headlining tour, the Fearless Tour (2009–2010).[41] She later performed the song on select dates of the Red Tour (St. Louis, March 2013,[42] East Rutherford, July 2013)[43] the 1989 World Tour (Santa Clara, August 2015),[44] and the Eras Tour (Foxborough, May 2023, Sydney, February 2024).[45] On her 2018 Reputation Stadium Tour, she included a mashup of the song and "Bad Blood" in the set list.[46]
Personnel
[edit]Credits are adapted from the liner notes of Taylor Swift (2006).[47]
- Taylor Swift – vocals, harmony vocals, songwriting
- Nathan Chapman – production, additional engineering, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, harmony vocals
- Chad Carlson – engineering, recording
- Jeremy Wheatley – additional recording engineering, additional mixing, additional programming
- Richard Edgeler – assistant engineering, assistant mixing
- Richard Adlam – additional programming
- Alexis Smith – additional programming
- Gordon Hammond – assistant engineering
- Jeff Balding – mixing
- John Wills – banjo
- Tim Marks – bass guitar
- Nick Buda – drums
- Rob Hajacos – fiddle
- Eric Darken – percussion
- Scotty Sanders – steel guitar
Charts
[edit]
Weekly charts[edit]
|
Year-end charts[edit]
|
Certifications
[edit]Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA)[52] | Gold | 35,000‡ |
United States (RIAA)[25] | Platinum | 1,000,000* |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
Release history
[edit]Region | Date | Format | Label | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
United States | May 19, 2008 | Country radio | Big Machine | [18] |
October 24, 2019 | 7-inch vinyl | [53][54] |
References
[edit]- ^ a b Scaggs, Austin (January 25, 2010). "Taylor's Time: Catching Up With Taylor Swift". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on August 15, 2012. Retrieved July 15, 2015.
- ^ a b c Horner, Marianne (October 20, 2008). "Story Behind the Song: Don't Cheat on a Songwriter". Country Weekly. 15 (21): 14.
- ^ a b "Taylor Swift Says Yes To 'No'". Great American Country. May 19, 2008. Archived from the original on November 22, 2008.
- ^ Murphy 2013, p. 197.
- ^ Mylrea, Hannah (September 8, 2020). "Every Taylor Swift song ranked in order of greatness". NME. Archived from the original on September 17, 2020. Retrieved November 26, 2020.
- ^ Cristiano, Nick (November 12, 2006). "New Recordings". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. H12. Archived from the original on April 19, 2021. Retrieved April 8, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b Armstrong, Jennifer Keishin (October 24, 2016). "Taylor Swift's Debut Album Turns 10: A Track-by-Track Retrospective of Taylor Swift". Billboard. Archived from the original on August 16, 2022. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
- ^ Song, Jane (February 11, 2020). "All 158 Taylor Swift Songs, Ranked". Paste. Archived from the original on April 13, 2020. Retrieved December 9, 2020.
- ^ a b Holland, Roger (November 9, 2006). "Taylor Swift: Taylor Swift". PopMatters. Archived from the original on August 17, 2022. Retrieved January 2, 2011.
- ^ a b Spanos, Brittany (June 9, 2017). "Taylor Swift: 10 Great Deep Cuts You Can Stream Now". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on September 21, 2022. Retrieved September 10, 2022.
- ^ Petridis, Alexis (April 26, 2019). "Taylor Swift's Singles – Ranked". The Guardian. Archived from the original on April 27, 2019. Retrieved April 26, 2019.
- ^ Perone 2017, p. 14.
- ^ Perone 2017, p. 13.
- ^ a b c Luther, Lepre & Clark 2017, p. 268.
- ^ Hight, Jewly (November 10, 2017). "On Her Self-Titled Debut, Taylor Swift Captured the Drama of Young Love". Vulture. Archived from the original on August 17, 2022. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
- ^ a b Caramanica, Jon (September 5, 2008). "A Young Outsider's Life Turned Inside Out". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 8, 2014. Retrieved August 1, 2016.
- ^ "Should've Said No (Single)". Big Machine Label Group. Archived from the original on July 15, 2015. Retrieved July 15, 2015.
- ^ a b "Aircheck Add Dates" (PDF). Country Aircheck. May 12, 2008. p. 14. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 23, 2022. Retrieved May 22, 2022.
- ^ Spencer 2013, p. 2.
- ^ "Fearless [International Version]". AllMusic. Archived from the original on August 24, 2021. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
- ^ Reuter, Annie (October 7, 2019). "Big Machine Releasing Taylor Swift's Early Singles on Limited-Edition Vinyl". Billboard. Archived from the original on August 30, 2019. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
- ^ "Taylor Swift's 40 Biggest Hot 100 Hits". Billboard. March 23, 2022. Archived from the original on August 16, 2022. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
- ^ Malec, Jim (May 2, 2011). "Taylor Swift: The Garden in the Machine". American Songwriter. p. 4. Archived from the original on July 26, 2020. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
- ^ a b "Taylor Swift Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved November 7, 2017.
- ^ a b "American single certifications – Taylor Swift – Should've Said No". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved June 6, 2011.
- ^ Trust, Gary (November 26, 2017). "Ask Billboard: Taylor Swift's Career Album & Song Sales". Billboard. Archived from the original on November 26, 2017. Retrieved November 26, 2017.
- ^ a b "Taylor Swift Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved January 12, 2012.
- ^ a b "Taylor Swift – Should've Said No". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved January 12, 2012.
- ^ Neal, Chris (December 4, 2006). "Taylor Swift Review". Country Weekly. Archived from the original on July 22, 2012. Retrieved March 31, 2010.
- ^ Chua, Fiona (March 25, 2009). "Taylor Swift – Fearless (Asian Version)". MTV Asia. Archived from the original on May 4, 2011. Retrieved June 29, 2010.
- ^ Brooks, Sam (January 4, 2010). "Now that's what we called the monster hits of 2009". The Spinoff. Archived from the original on September 7, 2022. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
- ^ "Kris Kristofferson, Taylor Swift, Bobby Pinson, and More Honored at 2009 BMI Country Awards". Bmi.com. Broadcast Music, Inc. November 11, 2009. Archived from the original on June 29, 2015. Retrieved June 16, 2015.
- ^ Masley, Ed (August 12, 2015). "30 Best Taylor Swift singles ever (so far)". The Arizona Republic. Archived from the original on October 25, 2021. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
- ^ Bradley, Jonathan (November 7, 2017). "Why Taylor Swift's Self-Titled Debut Is Her Best Album". Billboard. Archived from the original on November 11, 2017. Retrieved November 7, 2017.
- ^ Siroky, Mary (November 9, 2021). "Taylor Swift Albums Ranked from Worst to Best". Consequence. Archived from the original on July 10, 2022. Retrieved July 10, 2022.
- ^ Bonaguro, Alison (February 4, 2008). "Taylor Swift a prodigy who's coming of age". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on October 6, 2012. Retrieved August 15, 2011.
- ^ Tucker, Ken (October 25, 2008). "Taylor Swift Goes Global". Billboard. Vol. 120, no. 43. pp. 22–25.
- ^ Spencer 2010, p. 42.
- ^ McGrath, Justine (July 3, 2016). "Taylor Swift's Best Country Music Moments". Teen Vogue. Archived from the original on August 17, 2022. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
- ^ du Lac, J. Freedom (February 28, 2009). "Movie Review: Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on July 16, 2015. Retrieved July 15, 2015.
- ^ Frehsee, Nicole (August 28, 2009). "Taylor Swift Performs a Fearless Set at Madison Square Garden". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on June 28, 2011. Retrieved July 16, 2015.
- ^ Johnson, Kevin C. (March 19, 2013). "Taylor Swift throws everything into splashy Scottrade Center show". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Archived from the original on August 17, 2022. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
- ^ McCall, Tris (July 15, 2013). "Taylor Swift paints the summer Red at Metlife Stadium". NJ.com. Archived from the original on April 18, 2016. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
- ^ Gokhman, Roman (August 16, 2015). "Taylor Swift draws diverse crowd at Levi's Stadium 1989 World Tour stop". Riff Magazine. Archived from the original on January 6, 2021. Retrieved August 16, 2015.
- ^ Iasimone, Ashley (May 20, 2023). "All the Surprise Songs Taylor Swift Has Performed on The Eras Tour (So Far)". Billboard. Archived from the original on March 19, 2023. Retrieved May 20, 2023.
- ^ Warner, Denise (May 9, 2018). "Here Are All the Songs Taylor Swift Played on the Opening Night of the Reputation Tour". Billboard. Archived from the original on May 22, 2018. Retrieved June 9, 2018.
- ^ Taylor Swift (CD album liner notes). Taylor Swift. Nashville: Big Machine Records. 2006.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - ^ "Taylor Swift Chart History (Canada Country)". Billboard. Retrieved November 7, 2017.
- ^ "Taylor Swift Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved January 12, 2012.
- ^ "Taylor Swift – Billboard Singles". AllMusic. Archived from the original on December 28, 2010. Retrieved December 28, 2010.
- ^ "Best of 2008: Country Songs". Billboard. 2008. Archived from the original on January 6, 2009. Retrieved December 13, 2008.
- ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2024 Singles" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
- ^ "Taylor Swift's Early Singles Released on Limited-Edition Vinyl by Big Machine". The Hollywood Reporter. July 10, 2019. Archived from the original on May 19, 2022. Retrieved May 22, 2022.
- ^ "Should've Said No". Amazon.com. Archived from the original on August 17, 2022. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
Sources
[edit]- Luther, Catherine A.; Lepre, Carolyn Ringer; Clark, Naeemah (2017). Diversity in U.S. Mass Media. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-1119234050.
- Perone, James E. (2017). The Words and Music of Taylor Swift. The Praeger Singer-Songwriter Collection. ABC-Clio. ISBN 978-1440852947.
- Murphy, Ralph (April 1, 2013). Murphy's Laws of Songwriting. Murphy's Laws of Songwriting. ISBN 978-0-615-41659-5.
- Spencer, Liv (2010). Taylor Swift: Every Day Is a Fairytale – The Unofficial Story. ECW Press. ISBN 978-1-55022-931-8.
- Spencer, Liv (June 1, 2013). Taylor Swift: The Platinum Edition. ECW Press. ISBN 978-1-77090-406-4.