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Mean (song)

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"Mean"
Song

"Mean" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. The song was written by Swift, and produced by Nathan Chapman, and Swift, for Swift's third studio album, Speak Now. The song was released as a promotional single on October 19, 2010 by Big Machine Records. The song contains heavy elements of fiddles and banjos, with critics saying the song was the most country song on Speak Now. According to Swift, she wrote the song to get back at her haters and the critics who constantly question her songs as well as her ability to sing.

Upon its release as a promotional single, the song garnered mixed to positive reviews from critics for its lyrical detail and profound country sound. "Mean" received commercial success in the United States and Canada, debuting at number eleven on the Billboard Hot 100 and number ten on the Canadian Hot 100 respectively. The song also appeared on the Australian Singles Chart at number forty-five.

Background

In an exclusive interview with E! News as part of an ongoing series leading up to the release of her third studio album, Speak Now, Swift expressed that "Mean" is a response to all the haters who constantly criticize whatever she does. She said, "there’s constructive criticism, there’s professional criticism, and then there’s just being mean. And there’s a line that you cross when you just start to attack everything about a person."[1][2] In another interview with Dose.ca, Swift revealed that she wrote the song to get back at her critics, saying "there's a song called 'Mean,' that I guess you could categorize it into feelings and or relationships but it’s actually about a critic."[3]

Swift also wished that the song would appeal to people of all ages in different situations. She continued, "this happens no matter what you do, no matter how old you are, no matter what your job is, no matter what your place is in life, there’s always gonna be someone who's just mean to you. And dealing with that is all that you can control, how you handle it. This song is about how I handle it."[4][5]

Composition

"Mean" (2010)
A 24 second sample of "Mean" by Taylor Swift. The song features heavy fiddle and banjo.
Problems playing this file? See media help.

"Mean" has a length of three minutes and fifty-eight seconds.[6] It is set in time signature of common time and has a moderate tempo of 82 beats per minute. According to Theon Weber of The Village Voice, the song is "made of handclaps, amiable banjo strums, and multi-tracked Taylor Swifts."[7] Bill Lamb from About.com expressed that ""Mean" is one of the most overtly country sounding of all of Taylor Swift's recordings with clear banjo leading the way",[8] and Matt Bjorke of Roughstock commented that the song is "the most ‘country’ with an extremely down-home, almost bluegrass sound."[9] The song is written in the key of E major, and Swift's vocals span two octaves, from G♯3 to C♯5.[10] Jon Caramanica from The New York Times noted the song for its "rootsy sound", where Swift sings "over a bluegrass-influenced acoustic track unlike anything else she’s yet recorded".[11] The chorus has sequence of C#m/G#—B/F#—A/E as its chord progression.[10]

Lyrically, the song talks about Swift addressing her haters and critics in particular who continuously question her ability to sing."[1] This is echoed by Jill Serjeant from Billboard, writing "[the song] appears to take aim at critics who slammed Swift's shaky vocal performance at the 2010 Grammy Awards and at other live shows last year."[12] Ann Powers of Los Angeles Times also agreed that "Mean" smacks down critics who say she can't sing (I stand accused) by declaring that someday she'll be "livin' in a great big city" and they'll be drunk in some dive bar, bloviating into the void."[13] Additionally, the song lyrics reflect the issue of bullying, which is transparent in a review by aforementioned Matt Bjorke of Roughstock, commenting ""Mean" is an interesting song in that it finds Taylor chewing out many people, particularly bullies. It’s a song that really could become part of the anti-bullying campaigns for schools everywhere."[9] Bill Lamb of About.com also wrote that "the song can also easily serve as a general purpose response to bullies in the world."[8]

The song's couplets, ("You with your switching sides and your wildfire lies and your humiliation / You have pointed out my flaws again, as if I don’t already see them"), were ranked at number five out of ten best couplets from Speak Now sheet by Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly.[14]

Critical reception

The song garnered mixed to positive reviews from music critics. Mandi Bierly of Entertainment Weekly praised the production of the song, writing "[the song] is a nice touch: It brings a sincerity to her pain and lets you focus on the words, which do, near the end, turn cheeky (proving she handles it with a sense of humor)."[1] Theon Weber from The Village Voice described the song as "huge and hugely compassionate, and fearless" and lauded it for being "chipper and funny because the narrator is predicting escape from someone she dislikes: "Some day, I'll be living in a big ol' city/And all you're ever gonna be is mean."[7] On the other hand, Jonathan Keefe from Slant Magazine lambasted the song for its lyrical content, writing "instead of actually doing something to improve on her inability to find or hold pitch consistently, Swift has simply written a song about how it's "mean" for people to point out that problem. He also wrote that Swift's lack of self-awareness came to a head on "Mean".[15]

Commercial performance

"Mean" was released as a promotional single from Speak Now on October 19, 2010 as part of Countdown to Speak Now, an exclusive campaign by the iTunes Store.[16][17] Upon its release as a promotional single, "Mean" debuted at number two on the Billboard's Hot Digital Songs with approximately 163,000 downloads, which led to its appearance on the Billboard Hot 100 on the week ending October 30, 2010. "Mean" debuted and peaked at number eleven on the Billboard Hot 100, making Swift as the first act to claim the chart's top debut (Hot Shot Debut) in three successive weeks.[18] The following week, the song fell off the chart.[19] It also debuted on Hot Country Songs at number fifty-five on the week ending November 6, 2010.[2] As the song was not officially released to radio as a single, digital sales also accounted for "Mean"'s appearance on international charts. In Canada, the song entered the Canadian Hot 100 and peaked at number ten.[20] It also made an appearance on the Australian Singles Chart at number forty-five on the week ending November 7, 2010.[21]

Track listing

  • Digital Download[22]
  1. "Mean" – 3:58

Charts

Chart (2010) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[23] 45
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[24] 10
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[25] 11
U.S. Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[2] 55

Release history

Country Date Format
Canada[26] October 19, 2010 Digital download
United States[27]

References

  1. ^ a b c Bierly, Mandi (2010-10-19). "Taylor Swift takes on a bully (and John Mayer?) on new album". EW.com. Retrieved 2010-11-22.
  2. ^ a b c Morris, Edward (November 6, 2010). "Taylor Swift's Speak Now Speaks Loud as Week's Best-Selling CD". CMT.com. Retrieved December 19, 2010.
  3. ^ "Taylor Swift Gets 'Mean' With Her Critics; Listen to Her New Single". Dose.ca. 2010-11-1. Retrieved 2010-12-19. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ Azis, Farhan (2010-10-19). "Taylor Swift Talk About Her New Single 'Mean'". Dailytopnews. Retrieved 2010-12-19.
  5. ^ "First Listen: Taylor Swift Takes the High Road With "Mean"". E!. 2010-10-18. Retrieved 2010-12-19.
  6. ^ "allmusic {{{Taylor Swift Speak Now > Review}}}". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved December 19, 2010. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  7. ^ a b Theon Weber (2010-11-03). "The Iceberg Songs of Taylor Swift". The Village Voice. Retrieved 2010-12-19.
  8. ^ a b Bill Lamb (2010-10-19). "Taylor Swift Calls Out the Haters On "Mean"". About.com. Retrieved 2010-12-19.
  9. ^ a b Bjork, Matt (2010-10-26). "Taylor Swift - Speak Now". EW.com. Retrieved 2010-12-19.
  10. ^ a b "Digital sheet music - Taylor Swift - Mean". Musicnotes.com. Alfred Publishing. {{cite web}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help); Missing or empty |url= (help)
  11. ^ Jon Caramanica (2010-10-20). "Taylor Swift Is Angry, Darn It". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-12-19.
  12. ^ Jill Serjeant (2010-10-20). "Taylor Swift Sings Revenge; John Mayer Among Targets?". Billboard. Retrieved 2010-12-19.
  13. ^ Ann Powers (2010-10-22). "Taylor Swift: What it means to be 'Mean'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-12-19.
  14. ^ Leah Greenblett (2010-10-25). "Taylor Swift's 'Speak Now': The 10 best lines from her new album". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2010-12-19.
  15. ^ Keefe, Jonathan (2010-10-25). "Taylor Swift - Speak Now". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 2010-12-19. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  16. ^ "Taylor Swift Countdown to Speak Now". iTunes Store. Apple, Inc. Retrieved December 19, 2010. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  17. ^ "SPEAK NOW 3-WEEK ITUNES COUNTDOWN!". Taylorswift.com. September 27, 2010. Retrieved December 19, 2010.
  18. ^ Pietroluongo, Silvio (October 28, 2010). "Far*East Holds on Hot 100, Swift Makes Another Top Debut". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved December 19, 2010.
  19. ^ "Taylor Swift - Mean - Music Charts". aCharts.us. Retrieved December 19, 2010.
  20. ^ "Canadian Hot 100: Week of November 6, 2010 (Biggest Jump)". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. November 6, 2010. Retrieved November 1, 2010.
  21. ^ "Australian-charts.com - Taylor Swift - Mean"". Hung Medien. Retrieved December 19, 2010.
  22. ^ "Mean - Single". iTunes Store. Retrieved December 19, 2010.
  23. ^ "Australian-charts.com - Taylor Swift - Mean"". Hung Medien. Retrieved December 19, 2010.
  24. ^ "Canadian Hot 100: Week of November 6, 2010 (Biggest Jump)". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. November 6, 2010. Retrieved November 1, 2010.
  25. ^ Caulfield, Keith; Pietroluongo, Silvio (October 28, 2010). "Chart Moves: Susan Boyle, Willow Smith, Taylor Swift, Bo Burnham, Cee Lo". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved October 28, 2010.
  26. ^ "Taylor Swift - Mean - Single". iTunes Store. Apple Inc. Retrieved 2010-12-19.
  27. ^ "Taylor Swift - Mean - Single". iTunes Store. Apple Inc. Retrieved 2010-12-15.
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