My Tears Ricochet
| "My Tears Ricochet" | |
|---|---|
| Song by Taylor Swift | |
| from the album Folklore | |
| Studio |
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| Genre | |
| Length | 4:15 |
| Label | Republic |
| Songwriter(s) | Taylor Swift |
| Producer(s) |
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| Lyric video | |
| "My Tears Ricochet" on YouTube | |
Listen to the song My Tears Ricochet or Buy it on amazon
"My Tears Ricochet" is a song written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. It is the fifth track on Swift's eighth studio album, Folklore (2020), which was released on July 24, 2020, through Republic Records. The track was produced by Swift, Jack Antonoff and Joe Alwyn.
Incorporating choir-inflected layered vocals, mellow synths and shuddering drums, "My Tears Ricochet" has been described as a "haunting" tune that blends rock, goth, arena rock and gospel music. Its lyrics are a narration by the ghost of a dead woman, which finds its murderer, who she once loved dearly, at its own funeral. This dynamic is a metaphor for Swift's feelings of resentment and betrayal towards her former record label's founder, Scott Borchetta, who sold the masters of her back catalog to Scooter Braun.
Critics received "My Tears Ricochet" with rave reviews, praising the song's concept, imagery, emotion, vocals and production. Upon Folklore's release, "My Tears Ricochet" debuted inside the top 10 of the singles charts in Australia, Malaysia and Singapore, and in the top 20 of the Canadian Hot 100 and the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.
Background and release[edit]
"My Tears Ricochet" was the first track written for the album, penned by Swift alone.[1] Album co-producer Aaron Dessner regarded the song as a "beacon" for the record.[2] In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Swift said that, following the sale of her master recordings to Scooter Braun, narratives around divorce had been triggering her, and she incorporated imagery of the end of marriage into "My Tears Ricochet", writing the first lines of the song after watching the 2019 film Marriage Story, which tells the story of a divorce.[1][3]
I found myself being very triggered by any stories, movies, or narratives revolving around divorce, which felt weird because I haven't experienced it directly. There's no reason it should cause me so much pain, but all of a sudden it felt like something I had been through. I think that happens any time you've been in a 15-year relationship and it ends in a messy, upsetting way. So I wrote "My Tears Ricochet" and I was using a lot of imagery that I had conjured up while comparing a relationship ending to when people end an actual marriage. All of a sudden this person that you trusted more than anyone in the world is the person that can hurt you the worst. Then all of a sudden the things that you have been through together, hurt. All of a sudden, the person who was your best friend is now your biggest nemesis, etc. etc. etc. I think I wrote some of the first lyrics to that song after watching Marriage Story and hearing about when marriages go wrong and end in such a catastrophic way.
— Swift's on how "My Tears Ricochet" stemmed from her dispute with Scott Borchetta, Entertainment Weekly[4]
Swift announced her eighth studio album, Folklore, on July 23, 2020. She revealed the track-list, where "My Tears Ricochet" placed fifth. In the primer that preceded the release, Swift described "My Tears Ricochet" as imageries of "an embittered tormentor showing up at the funeral of his fallen object of obsession" and "battleships sinking down into the ocean, down, down, down".[5]
Composition and lyrics[edit]
"My Tears Ricochet" is an icy arena-goth,[6] album-oriented rock,[7] and gospel ballad[8] with hints of synth-pop,[9] about the specter of a dead woman haunting her murderer.[10][8] The track subsequently utilized funereal symbolism to depict the effect of total betrayal.[1] The song sees Swift's vocals range from C3 to F5, and was written in a C major key with a moderate tempo of 130 beats per minute.[11][12] It encompasses a twinkling music box, backing choir, reverbed ad-libs in the bridge, and reaches a tumultuous climax over shuddering drums.[13][14] Backing vocals on the track are provided by producer Jack Antonoff.[15]
Lyrically, "My Tears Ricochet" sees the narrator question their deservation of their mistreatment, and admit that she chose not to "go with grace" by haunting the memorial.[17] The song enquires why the former lover chose to attend her funeral despite "cursing [her] name" and compares their deorientated relationship to sunken battleships in the sea.[18][17] Details describe her tormentor wearing the deceased's jewels, and mentionning "stolen lullabies".[17] The song's lyrics and symbolisms reference Swift's masters controversy, and the bitter ending of her ties with the founder of Big Machine, Scott Borchetta.[17][3]
Critical reception[edit]
Writing for NME, Hannah Mylrea drew comparisons between "My Tears Ricochet" and "Clean" from Swift's record 1989, remarking that "a megawatt pop song is encased in layered vocals and twinkling music box instrumentals".[19] Jody Rosen of the Los Angeles Times said in a review that the track built up to "a tumultuous climax", and that the track was "goth, like Chartres Cathedral is goth".[20] Billboard's Jason Lipshutz wrote that the song "builds into a sorrowful anthem", and that "a bitter parting becomes a literal death".[15] In a piece for Slant Magazine, Eric Mason named this track "one of Folklore’s most straightforwardly resentful stories", saying that "the sharp beats of strings on the chorus recall the bridges of early-2010s Swift songs", comparing it with "Mad Woman" and "Cruel Summer".[21] Ann Powers of NPR deemed the song "more sophisticated" than Swift's previous writing while remaining "classic Taylor Swift", and stated that the singer takes an event "specific almost only to her, and opens it up into something universal ... because we have all experienced a sense of betrayal and loss of self-ownership."[22]
Commercial performance[edit]
Driven by Folklore's release, "My Tears Ricochet" opened at number 16 on the US Billboard Hot 100, amongst the album's 10 tracks to chart inside the top 40 and five to enter the top 20; it charted for two weeks before its exit. The song further reached number 3 on the Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart.[23] It also reached number 7 on the Singaporean and Malayasian singles charts, number 8 on Australia's ARIA Singles Chart, and number 14 on the Canadian Hot 100.
Credits and personnel[edit]
Credits adapted from Tidal.[24]
- Taylor Swift – vocals, songwriting, production
- Jack Antonoff – backing vocals, production, recording, live drums, percussion, programming, electric guitars, keyboards, piano, bass
- Joe Alwyn – production
- Laura Sisk – recording
- John Rooney – assistant engineering
- Jon Sher – assistant engineering
- Serban Ghenea – mixing
- Randy Merrill – mastering
- Evan Smith – saxophones, keyboard, programming
- Bobby Hawk – strings
Charts[edit]
Weekly charts[edit]
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Year-end charts[edit]
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References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Suskind, Alex (December 9, 2020). "Taylor Swift broke all her rules with 'Folklore' — and gave herself a much-needed escape". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
- ↑ Gerber, Brady. "As Told to July 27, 2020 The Story Behind Every Song on Taylor Swift's folklore". Vulture. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Gallagher, Alex (9 December 2020). "Taylor Swift wrote early 'My Tears Ricochet' lyrics after watching 'Marriage Story'". NME. Archived from the original on January 22, 2021. Retrieved 30 March 2021. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Suskind, Alex (December 2020). "Taylor Swift broke all her rules with Folklore — and gave herself a much-needed escape". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved June 12, 2021.
- ↑ "'It Started With Imagery': Read Taylor Swift's Primer For 'Folklore'". Billboard. July 24, 2020. Archived from the original on July 24, 2020. Retrieved July 25, 2020. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Wood, Mikael (26 June 2020). "Taylor Swift's 'Folklore': All 16 songs, ranked". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 29, 2021. Retrieved 30 March 2021. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Harrison, Quentin (July 25, 2020). "Taylor Swift Conjures Stories Destined to Endear and Endure for Generations to Come on 'folklore' Album Review". Albumism. Retrieved July 24, 2021.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Johnson, Chole (July 24, 2020). "Taylor Swift – Folklore". MusicOMH. Retrieved July 24, 2020. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Magan, Valerie (July 28, 2020). "Taylor Swift – folklore". Clash. Retrieved July 28, 2020. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Sheffield, Rob (24 November 2020). "All 173 of Taylor Swift's Songs, Ranked". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
- ↑ "Taylor Swift "my tears ricochet" Sheet Music". Musicnotes.com. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
- ↑ "Key & BPM for "my tears ricochet"". tunebat. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
- ↑ Mylrea, Hannah (July 24, 2020). "Taylor Swift – 'Folklore' review: pop superstar undergoes an extraordinary indie-folk makeover". NME. Archived from the original on August 28, 2020. Retrieved July 24, 2020. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Rosen, Jody (July 24, 2020). "Review: Taylor Swift's radically intimate 'Folklore' is the perfect quar album". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on August 11, 2020. Retrieved August 13, 2020. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 15.0 15.1 Lipshutz, Jason (24 July 2020). "Every Song Ranked on Taylor Swift's 'Folklore': Critic's Picks". Billboard. Archived from the original on March 6, 2021. Retrieved 30 March 2021. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Lauren, Huff (July 28, 2021). "The best lyrics off Taylor Swift's Folklore". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved June 12, 2021.
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 Gibson, Kelsie. "Taylor Swift's Heartbreaking "My Tears Ricochet" Song Might Not Be About Romance at All". PopSugar. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
- ↑ Recchio, Thomas. "Review of Taylor Swift's 'folklore'". the Eagle. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
- ↑ Mylrea, Hannah (24 July 2020). "Taylor Swift – 'Folklore' review: pop superstar undergoes an extraordinary indie-folk makeover". NME. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
- ↑ Rosen, Jody (24 July 2020). "Review: Taylor Swift's radically intimate 'Folklore' is the perfect quar album". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on August 11, 2020. Retrieved 30 March 2021. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Mason, Eric (12 September 2020). "Every Song on Taylor Swift's Folklore Ranked". Slant Magazine. Archived from the original on January 29, 2021. Retrieved 30 March 2021. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Stephen Thopmson, Ann Powers, Lyndsey McKenna. "Let's Talk About Taylor Swift's 'Folklore'". NPR. Retrieved 20 May 2021.CS1 maint: Multiple names: authors list (link)
- ↑ "Taylor Swift — Billboard Hot 100 History". Billboard. Retrieved June 7, 2021. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Folklore by Taylor Swift". Tidal. Archived from the original on April 24, 2021. Retrieved 2021-04-24. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Australian-charts.com – Taylor Swift – My Tears Ricochet". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
- ↑ "Taylor Swift Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard.
- ↑ "Top 20 Most Streamed International & Domestic Singles in Malaysia". Recording Industry Association of Malaysia. Recording Industry Association of Malaysia. Archived from the original on August 10, 2020. Retrieved September 10, 2020. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Portuguesecharts.com – Taylor Swift – My Tears Ricochet". AFP Top 100 Singles.
- ↑ "RIAS International Top Charts Week 31". Recording Industry Association (Singapore). Archived from the original on September 10, 2020.
- ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Taylor Swift – My Tears Ricochet". Singles Top 100.
- ↑ "Official Audio Streaming Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
- ↑ "Taylor Swift Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
- ↑ "Taylor Swift Chart History (Hot Rock Songs)". Billboard.
- ↑ "Top 100 Songs, July 24, 2020 - July 30, 2020". Rolling Stone. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
- ↑ "Hot Rock & Alternative Songs – Year-End 2020". Billboard. Archived from the original on January 11, 2021. Retrieved December 4, 2020. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help)
External links[edit]
- Audio on YouTube
- Lyric video on YouTube
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