The friendship between Swift and Malone dates back to 2018, when they first met backstage at the 2018 Billboard Music Awards and shared their admiration for each other, with Swift praising Malone's song "Better Now" (2018) in particular.[3] On October 27, 2023, Malone revealed that they had previously hung out together and went on to commend her as a person as well as her songwriting abilities.[4] Ahead of its release, their collaboration was widely seen as a natural fit, with Malone "pivoting into a country music career" at the time and Swift having roots in the genre.[5]
Following the announcement of The Tortured Poets Department during Swift's Grammy speech on February 5, she revealed "Fortnight" as the opening track of the tracklist shortly thereafter. Malone turned out to be one of only two guest appearances on the album.[6] The following day, he took to his Instagram to share his excitement about the release and the collaboration.[7] During an interview with Zane Lowe for Apple Music 1, the singer complimented Swift and described her as "amazing" and "talented". According to him, Swift initiated the collaboration by simply "hitting him up". He then "rolled in the studio" and hung out with her, having a "good day" together.[8] At of the time of the interview, Malone revealed that he had not heard the full song yet.[9]
Composition
"Fortnight" is an 1980s-influenced downtempoelectropop track.[10] The lyrics are about a woman's account of how she becomes a neighbor of an ex-lover, who is now married to another woman ("Your wife waters the flowers/ I want to kill her").[10]
Music video
Four hours prior to the album's release, Swift posted a teaser for the music video for "Fortnight" onto social media, which featured both artists "typing furiously away at a dystopic, snow-white office, before cutting to a clip of Swift strapped onto a strange contraption. Also spliced in is a snippet of Malone and Swift hugging in the middle of a highway with Swift draped in a black dress surrounded by burning pieces of paper."[11]
