You're Losing Me

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"You're Losing Me (From the Vault)"
File:Taylor Swift - You're Losing Me.png
Promotional single by Taylor Swift
from the album Midnights[Note 1]
Written December 5, 2021
Released November 29, 2023
Recorded December 5, 2021
Genre Downtempo
Length 4:38
Label Republic
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Taylor Swift
  • Jack Antonoff
Music video
"You're Losing Me" on YouTube

"You're Losing Me"[Note 2] is a song by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. It first appeared as a bonus track on The Late Night Edition of Swift's 2022 studio album Midnights, released via Republic Records, in May 2023. The CD-only Late Night Edition was only available for in-person purchase at certain venues of the Eras Tour for a limited time, following which it was widely pirated on social media. The song was released to music streaming services on November 29, 2023.

Written and produced by Swift and Jack Antonoff, "You're Losing Me" is a downtempo ballad with a production driven by beats sampling Swift's heart pulse. The lyrics describe the imminent dissolution of a long-term romantic relationship due to a diminished understanding between the partners. Music critics praised the track for the emotional nuance they perceived in its composition and storytelling. The song was also the subject of widespread tabloid news coverage.

Background and release

Taylor Swift released her tenth studio album, Midnights, on October 21, 2022, to wide critical and commercial success.[2][3] Upon release, the album was available as a standard edition of 13 songs, a CD-exclusive deluxe edition containing the bonus track "Hits Different", and a digital-exclusive 3am Edition with seven additional songs.[4] On May 24, 2023, during her sixth headlining concert tour, the Eras Tour (2023), Swift announced two more editions of Midnights: the digital-exclusive Til Dawn Edition and the CD-exclusive Late Night Edition containing the new bonus track "You're Losing Me (From the Vault)", only purchasable in-person at merchandise stands of the Eras Tour in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on May 26–28, 2023.[5][6]

"You're Losing Me" became a "ravenously anticipated" track according to Variety, which reported that "fans were so eager to get their hands" on the CD, causing lines at the stadium a day before the opening of the merchandise store at 12:30 PM EDT on May 26. Some concert attendees, after purchasing the CD, went back to their cars and uploaded the track online, which was widely shared on social media.[7] The Late Night Edition including "You're Losing Me" was subsequently sold as a digital album for limited-time download on Swift's webstore.[8][9] The pirated versions of the song on the internet were taken down by Universal Music on the basis of copyright violations.[10]

Swift's fans, the Swifties, had demanded that she grant "You're Losing Me" a wide release, including making it available on streaming platforms. After Midnights (The Late Night Edition), Swift went on to release Speak Now (Taylor's Version) in July 2023 and 1989 (Taylor's Version) in October 2023.[11][12] On November 29, Swift released the song to streaming services as a token of gratitude to her fans after Spotify revealed her as the "Global Top Artist"—the most streamed artist on Spotify in a year—of 2023.[13]

Composition and lyrics

"You're Losing Me" is a song conceived by Swift for Midnights, but did not make it on the album's standard or deluxe track list, and hence subtitled as a song "From the Vault".[7] Swift wrote the track with Jack Antonoff[14] on December 5, 2021, and recorded it in the same day.[15] Also produced by them,[14] "You're Losing Me" is an "airy" downtempo ballad with twinkling synthesizers, driven by sparse but steady beats,[16][17][18] sampling Swift's heartbeat.[19] The production incorporates drums, percussion, piano, cello, violin, Wurlitzer, and Mellotron.[14] The track was mixed by Serban Ghenea with the assistance of Bryce Bordone and mastered by Randy Merrill.[14]

The lyrics are autobiographical in nature,[7] describing the "hopeless" and tragic dissolution of a relationship.[20] The overarching message of the song is that the narrator "has put her everything into fighting for the relationship, but she doesn't feel that effort is returned."[21] The main lyrical motif is a word play on the phrase "we're losing him/her", generally used in emergency departments depicted in medical drama shows.[7] Swift makes various references to injury and ailment throughout the song to convey the heartache. A deep sigh begins the song.[18] The first verse portrays two people who have grown apart in their romantic relationship due to their growing lack of mutual understanding. In the chorus, the narrator cautions their partner about the imminent end of their relationship, over beats mimicking "a quietly pulsing heartbeat". The second verse reveals how the couple grew apart; the pre-chorus depicts indecision, while the bridge examines the issues within the fading romance,[20] such as how the subject—who insists on pretending that the relationship is healthy—"will not make the tough decisions" to stay with the narrator, who feels coerced into deciding "against continuing in the relationship" as there is a difference of opinions within the couple over the state of the relationship.[21]

Critics have interpreted the lyrics to be about the end of Swift's six-year romantic relationship with English actor Joe Alwyn, which was a subject of widespread media coverage in April 2023.[7][20] In the song's bridge, Swift suggests that the relationship could have led to marriage, possibly referencing "Lavender Haze" (2022), the opening track of Midnights, whose lyrics mention avoiding discussion of marriage in order to enjoy "the honeymoon phase". Swift also describes herself as a "pathological people pleaser", which is considered a reference to "Anti-Hero" (2022), a song that discusses Swift's insecurities.[21] Parallels and contrasts have been noted between the music and lyrics of "You're Losing Me" and those of Swift's 2019 track "Cornelia Street".[18][22]

Critical reception

In a rave review of the song, Steffanee Wang of Nylon praised the portrayal of heartbreak and sorrow without involving "mic drop moments" or "accusations", the frank tone of its confessional lyrics, the song structure, and Swift's "palpable" restraint in details. Wang commented that "You're Losing Me" could be Swift's "most devastating" song, eclipsing "All Too Well" (2012).[20] Writing for Bustle, Stephanie Topacio Long opined that the song is "about a relationship going from critically wounded to fatally damaged."[23] Billboard journalist Ashley Iasimone called "You're Losing Me" an "emotionally-charged" ballad that illustrates the "painful, slow ending of a longterm relationship."[17] Variety critic Chris Willman appreciated Swift's decision to release the song as a bonus track, arguing it would have barely fit with the upbeat, sensual production of the standard Midnights.[7] Callie Ahlgrim of Business Insider christened "You're Losing Me" as the true closing track of Midnights, recontextualizing the album as a body of work "about agonizing and dissociating, not just reminiscing."[18] In a list by Rolling Stone ranking the best songs of 2023, "You're Losing Me" placed at number 86.[19]

Personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal[14]

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  • Taylor Swift – vocals, songwriting, production
  • Jack Antonoff – songwriting, production, engineering, recording, programming, drums, percussion, piano, synthesizer, Wurlitzer, Mellotron, cello
  • Bobby Hawk – violin
  • Laura Sisk – engineering, recording
  • Oli Jacobs – engineering, recording
  • Megan Searl – assistant engineering
  • John Sher – assistant engineering
  • Daniel Cayotte – assistant engineering
  • Jack Manning – assistant engineering
  • Joey Miller – assistant engineering
  • Jozeph Caldwell – assistant engineering
  • Rémy Dumelz – assistant engineering
  • Serban Ghenea – mixing
  • Bryce Bordone – assistant mixing
  • Randy Merrill – mastering

Charts

Chart performance for "You're Losing Me"
Chart (2023) Peak
position
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[24] 43
33
New Zealand Hot Singles (RMNZ)[25] 2
Philippines (Billboard)[26] 17
UK Download (Official Charts Company)[27] 2
UK Singles Sales (OCC)[28] 6
US Billboard Hot 100[29] 46

Notes

References

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  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 20.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ "Taylor Swift – Chart history" Canadian Hot 100 for Taylor Swift.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ "Archive Chart: 20231201" UK Download Chart.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ "Taylor Swift – Chart history" Billboard Hot 100 for Taylor Swift.


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