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Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince

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"Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince"
Song by Taylor Swift
from the album Lover
ReleasedAugust 23, 2019 (2019-08-23)
Studio
  • Golden Age (Los Angeles)
  • Golden Age West (Auckland)
GenreSynth-pop
Length3:53
LabelRepublic
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Taylor Swift
  • Joel Little
Audio video
"Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince" on YouTube

"Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift from her seventh studio album Lover (2019). She wrote the song a few months after the 2018 U.S. midterm elections to capture her disillusionment with the American political climate. Written and produced by Swift and Joel Little, "Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince" is a synth-pop tune with marching band-styled percussion and background cheerleading shouts. It is a protest song that makes use of high-school imagery lyrically to depict the struggles navigating through a flawed system, with allusions to a troubled love story.

Music critics deemed the production gloomy and mostly praised the lyricism as poetic and meaningful, but a few were unimpressed with Swift's efforts to write a political song. Some journalists deemed "Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince" a representation of Swift's social engagement, departing from her previous apolitical stance. After Lover was released, "Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince" charted in Australia, Canada, Scotland, Singapore, and the United States. It received certifications in Australia, Brazil, and the United Kingdom. The song is the namesake to Swift's 2020 documentary film, Miss Americana, and is the opening number of her sixth headlining concert tour, the Eras Tour (2023–2024).

Background and production

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Taylor Swift's seventh studio album, Lover, was released through Republic Records on August 23, 2019; it was her first album after she ended her 12-year contract with Big Machine Records.[1] Recorded after Swift finished her Reputation Stadium Tour in November 2018, Lover was inspired by her recalibrated personal life after the controversies leading up to her sixth studio album, Reputation (2017).[2][3][note 1] The love she received from fans despite her tarnished "America's Sweetheart" reputation in the press, which "[assigned] humanity to her life", inspired her to embrace positivity and vulnerability.[3][5] Lover predominantly consists of open-hearted love songs celebrating the ups and downs of love and represents her mature understanding of a sustainable relationship,[6][7] with a bright and atmospheric sound incorporating 1980s-influenced pop rock and electropop.[8][9]

A few Lover songs reflected Swift's evolved perception of contemporary American politics. She had been warned against getting involved in politics by her record label since she started out as a country music singer in 2006,[note 2] and did not publicly endorse any candidate for the 2016 U.S. presidential election. After witnessing the political events affecting the rights of certain people,[note 3] she became disillusioned with the contemporary American political climate and decided to abandon her previous apolitical stance. In the 2018 U.S. midterm elections, she endorsed Democratic candidates for her home state of Tennessee—her first time publicly voicing her political opinion.[10][11] The most explicitly political song on the album is "Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince", which she wrote a few months after the midterm elections.[10][12] Swift wrote and produced the track with New Zealand producer Joel Little, who recorded it at Golden Age Studio in Los Angeles and Golden Age West Studio in Auckland. The song was mixed by Serban Ghenea, assisted by John Hanes, at MixStar Studios in Virginia Beach.[13]

Music and lyrical interpretation

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"Miss Americana" is an atmospheric, gloomy synth-pop song.[14][15] It features a slow-burning production with a refrain backed by marching band-styled percussion, dreamy synthesizers, and syncopated piano tunes.[16][17] Reflecting Swift's political disillusionment, "Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince" is a protest song[18][19][20] that uses high-school imagery to critique the contemporary American political climate; it likens the political scene to a high-school setting.[8][18][21] Rolling Stone's Nick Catucci described the narrative as a parable.[8] In the September 2019 cover issue for Rolling Stone, Swift said she thought high school was an appropriate metaphor because she found the social events of a traditional American high school could alienate certain people, similar to "our political landscape ... like we need to huddle up under the bleachers and figure out a plan to make things better".[12]

In the melancholic, ambient opening, Swift sings about her disenchantment, imagining herself with her "pageant smile" on a homecoming: "American glory faded before me / Now I'm feeling hopeless, ripped up my prom dress / Running through rose thorns, I saw the scoreboard / And ran for my life."[16][21][22] As the song progresses, she sings about how depressed she is witnessing "my team is losing / Battered and bruising / I see the high fives / Between the bad guys."[18] The refrain is more upbeat and alludes to a troubled love story, with Swift singing "It's you and me, there's nothing like this / Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince / We're so sad, we paint the town blue / Voted most likely to run away with you," over cheerleading-styled background vocals shouting "Go! Fight! Win!"[16][18][23]

According to some music critics, compared to the bright-eyed high-school imagery on Swift's earlier songs about teenage experiences like "Love Story" (2008) or "You Belong with Me" (2008), the high school in "Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince" is darker and represents the parallel between the flawed high school and the flawed political system.[16][18][24] In Variety, Chris Willman wrote that the line "The damsels are depressed" depicts how women are at a disadvantage in this political climate, and the line "They whisper in the hallway, 'She's a bad, bad girl'" alludes to Swift's hesitation to endorse Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election for fears of being seen as "another Hillary-loving Hollywood witch".[18][note 4] The troubled love story, in the views of Alexis Petridis from The Guardian, was similar to Bruce Springsteen's songwriting tropes; it reflects not only Swift's familiar trope of two young lovers vowing to leave their small town together, but also the political climate under the presidency of Donald Trump.[25] As noted by Lindsay Zoladz from The New York Times, the track also refers to sexual violence through the lyric, "Boys will be boys then, where are the wise men?"[26]

Release and commercial performance

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Taylor Swift in a sparkling bodysuit
Swift on the Eras Tour (2023), where she included "Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince" as the opening number

Upon the release of its parent album, "Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince" debuted and peaked at number 49 on the US Billboard Hot 100, simultaneously charting with the other seventeen tracks of Lover.[27] It also entered the Rolling Stone Top 100 at number 16.[28] Elsewhere, the song reached the singles charts of Singapore (19),[29] Canada (47),[30] and Scotland (92).[31] In Australia, it peaked at number 32 on the ARIA Singles Chart[32] and was certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA).[33] In the United Kingdom, the track reached number 63 on the OCC's Audio Streaming Chart[34] and received a silver certification from the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).[35] A shortened version of "Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince" is the opening number to the set list of Swift's ongoing tour, the Eras Tour (2023–2024).[36]

Reception and commentary

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In Lover album reviews, critics praised the lyrics of "Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince". Some were impressed by Swift's effort in creating a political song,[8][37] with Alexis Petridis from The Guardian lauding the track as being superior to other pop stars' "woke" attempts.[25] Time's Dana Schwartz remarked that the song contains some of Swift's most poetic lyricism[23] and the Los Angeles Times critic Mikael Wood selected it as one of the album tracks that demonstrated her emotional maturity.[38] On a less positive side, Anna Gaca of Pitchfork complained that the production, which she compared to the music of Lana Del Rey, was unoriginal.[39] A few critics were unimpressed with Swift's political motivation.[40][17][41]

"Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince" received extensive commentary on its own. Will Gottsegen from Spin considered "Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince" to be a song that encapsulates both the cheerful, bright tones of Swift's releases in her early career, and the dark tones on Lover's preceding studio album Reputation (2017). Gottsegen wrote that the song exemplifies the "ecstatic and free" attitude of Lover overall, but is still affected by the media drama surrounding Swift's personal life around the Reputation era, praising it as the album's highlight for being a "conceptual evolution, and a love story for increasingly precarious times."[16] In an op-ed for Teen Vogue, Claire Dodson wrote that "Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince" successfully captures the disappointment at American politics, and likened the song's theme to the content of Euphoria, a contemporaneous drama series dealing with issues in contemporary America such as body insecurity, transphobia, and drug addiction.[42] Writing for Variety, Chris William felt that "Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince" would be a great "protest song" because, in his opinion, the song effectively conveys Swift's deep sorrow and disappointment towards American politics, which is rare among other protest songs where "anger feels like a lifetime condition, not something that's been arrived at as the culmination of a long character arc." William added that "songs about the United States as a creeping dystopia tend not to be very interesting, or listenable; a song about the U.S. of 2019 as a homecoming-game horror movie is something else".[18]

Slant Magazine named it the nineteenth-best track of 2019.[43] In a 2022 retrospective, The New York Times critic Lindsy Zoladz felt the high-school imagery of "Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince" might undermine adult listeners on a superficial listen, but asserted the song has a "dark vision" that addresses cruelty, depression, and sexual violence ("Boys will be boys then, where are the wise men?") under a high-school camouflage, and addresses those topics more directly than any of the songs Swift wrote as a teenager. Zoladz added that the song's title "alludes to a larger world outside the high school walls, and the greater systemic forces that keep such patterns repeating well into adulthood."[26]

Miss Americana

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"Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince" inspired the title of Swift's 2020 Netflix documentary, Miss Americana, directed by Lana Wilson, that follows Swift's life and career over several years.[44] The song was used in the documentary's trailer.[45]

Credits and personnel

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Credits adapted from Tidal[13]

  • Taylor Swift – vocals, songwriting, production
  • Joel Little – production, songwriting, drum programming, keyboards, recording engineer
  • John Hanes – mix engineering
  • Serban Ghenea – mixing

Charts

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2019 chart performance for "Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince"
Chart (2019) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[32] 32
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[30] 47
Scotland (OCC)[31] 92
Singapore (RIAS)[29] 19
UK Audio Streaming (OCC)[34] 63
US Billboard Hot 100[46] 49
US Rolling Stone Top 100[28] 16
2024 chart performance for "Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince"
Chart (2024) Peak
position
Portugal (AFP)[47] 154
Singapore (RIAS)[48] 11
Sweden Heatseeker (Sverigetopplistan)[49] 7

Certifications

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Certifications for "Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince"
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[33] Platinum 70,000‡
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[50] Platinum 40,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[35] Silver 200,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Notes

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  1. ^ Most notably, Swift's dispute with rapper Kanye West and media personality Kim Kardashian in summer 2016, after West released the single "Famous", led to an internet cancel movement denouncing her as a "snake".[4]
  2. ^ Swift contended this was a consequence of the Dixie Chicks controversy in 2003, when the Dixie Chicks was ostracized by the country music audience after publicly criticizing President George W. Bush.[10]
  3. ^ Among the events that influenced Swift's political outlook included a sexual assault trial that she won in 2017, the MeToo movement, the restrictions on LGBT rights, the rise of American nationalism, and white privilege.[10]
  4. ^ Swift also said one of the reasons she remained silent on public matters was that she needed to protect her mental health after her dispute with West.[10]

References

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  1. ^ Huff, Lauren (August 23, 2019). "Taylor Swift's Album Lover Is Officially Here – Listen Now". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on June 9, 2022. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
  2. ^ Lipshutz, Jason (December 11, 2019). "Billboard Woman of the Decade Taylor Swift: 'I Do Want My Music to Live On'". Billboard. Archived from the original on June 14, 2022. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
  3. ^ a b Suskind, Alex (May 9, 2019). "New Reputation: Taylor Swift Shares Intel on TS7, Fan Theories, and Her Next Era". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on August 12, 2019. Retrieved August 17, 2019.
  4. ^ Aguirre, Abby (August 8, 2019). "Taylor Swift on Sexism, Scrutiny, and Standing Up for Herself". Vogue. Archived from the original on August 10, 2019. Retrieved August 16, 2019.
  5. ^ Parker, Maggie (August 9, 2019). "Taylor Swift Is Totally Fine No Longer Being 'America's Sweetheart,' and Here's Why". Parade. Archived from the original on April 12, 2021. Retrieved June 12, 2022.
  6. ^ Levine, Nick (August 23, 2019). "Taylor Swift – Lover Review". NME. Archived from the original on August 23, 2019. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
  7. ^ Wilson, Carl (August 23, 2019). "Taylor Swift's Lover Is a More Mature (Mostly) Successor to Red". Slate. Archived from the original on November 21, 2019. Retrieved April 30, 2020.
  8. ^ a b c d Catucci, Nick (August 23, 2019). "Taylor Swift Reaches For New Heights of Personal and Musical Liberation on Lover". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on August 23, 2019. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
  9. ^ McCormick, Neil (August 23, 2019). "Taylor Swift, Lover, Review: Zippy, Feminist Electropop About Young Love – and Watching Rugby Down the Pub". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on August 23, 2019. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
  10. ^ a b c d e Snapes, Laura (August 24, 2019). "Taylor Swift: 'I Was Literally About to Break'". The Guardian. Archived from the original on August 24, 2019. Retrieved June 8, 2022.
  11. ^ Kinbbs, Kate (August 21, 2019). "Ten Years of Taylor Swift: How the Pop Star Went From Sweetheart to Snake (and Back Again?)". The Ringer. Archived from the original on May 25, 2022. Retrieved June 8, 2022.
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  13. ^ a b "Lover by Taylor Swift". Tidal. August 23, 2019. Archived from the original on August 23, 2019. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
  14. ^ Zaleski, Annie (August 26, 2019). "Taylor Swift Is Done Proving Herself on the Resonant Lover". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on August 26, 2019. Retrieved September 15, 2019.
  15. ^ Lipshutz, Jason (April 17, 2024). "5 Taylor Swift Songs I Ranked Too Low Upon Release (Critic's Take)". Billboard. Retrieved August 16, 2024.
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  17. ^ a b Wood, Mikael (August 25, 2019). "Taylor Swift's Lover: All 18 Songs, Ranked". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on September 14, 2019. Retrieved June 14, 2022.
  18. ^ a b c d e f g Willman, Chris (August 28, 2019). "Taylor Swift's 'Miss Americana' May Be the Great Protest Song of Our Time (Column)". Variety. Archived from the original on August 29, 2019. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
  19. ^ "If You Think Taylor Swift Is the Only Artist Making Protest Songs, You're Just Not Listening". Teen Vogue. September 10, 2019. Archived from the original on April 13, 2023. Retrieved April 13, 2023.
  20. ^ Willman, Chris (September 7, 2019). "Is Taylor Swift America's newest protest singer?". The Canberra Times. Archived from the original on April 13, 2023. Retrieved April 13, 2023.
  21. ^ a b Princiotti, Nora (August 23, 2019). "On Lover, Taylor Swift Shuns Drama for Satisfying Pop". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on August 29, 2019. Retrieved July 8, 2019.
  22. ^ Empire, Kitty (August 24, 2019). "Taylor Swift: Lover review – A Return to Past Glories". The Observer. Archived from the original on August 26, 2019. Retrieved August 26, 2019.
  23. ^ a b Schwartz, Dana (August 23, 2019). "Review: On Lover, Taylor Swift Lays Down Her Armor". Time. Archived from the original on December 14, 2020. Retrieved April 30, 2020.
  24. ^ Bruner, Raisa (August 24, 2019). "Let's Analyze the Lyrics to Every Song on Taylor Swift's Lover". Time. Archived from the original on June 9, 2020. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
  25. ^ a b Petridis, Alexis (August 23, 2019). "Taylor Swift: Lover Review – Pop Dominator Wears Her Heart on Her Sleeve". The Guardian. Archived from the original on August 23, 2019. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
  26. ^ a b Zoladz, Lindsay (March 9, 2021). "Taylor Swift and the Wisdom of Youth". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 5, 2023. Retrieved March 31, 2022.
  27. ^ Trust, Gary (September 3, 2019). "All 18 Songs From Taylor Swift's New Album 'Lover' Chart On the Billboard Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved February 25, 2020.
  28. ^ a b "Top 100 Songs". Rolling Stone. August 29, 2019. Archived from the original on August 29, 2019. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
  29. ^ a b "RIAS International Top Charts Week 35". Recording Industry Association Singapore. Archived from the original on September 5, 2019.
  30. ^ a b "Taylor Swift Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved September 16, 2019.
  31. ^ a b "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 16, 2019.
  32. ^ a b "Taylor Swift – Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved September 16, 2019.
  33. ^ a b "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2024 Singles" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
  34. ^ a b "Official Audio Streaming Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
  35. ^ a b "British single certifications – Taylor Swift – Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  36. ^ Shafer, Ellise (March 18, 2023). "Taylor Swift Eras Tour: The Full Setlist From Opening Night". Variety. Archived from the original on March 18, 2023. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
  37. ^ Sutherland, Mark (September 2, 2019). "Easy, Lover: Why Taylor Swift's new album shows the benefits of artists being in control". Music Week. Archived from the original on February 1, 2023. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
  38. ^ Wood, Mikael (August 23, 2019). "Review: Taylor Swift's Lover Courts – Gasp! – Adults with Grown-Up Emotional Complexity". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on August 24, 2019. Retrieved August 25, 2019.
  39. ^ Gaca, Anna (August 26, 2019). "Taylor Swift: Lover Album Review". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on August 26, 2019. Retrieved August 26, 2019.
  40. ^ Lipshutz, Jason (August 23, 2019). "Every Song Ranked on Taylor Swift's Lover: Critic's Picks". Billboard. Archived from the original on August 29, 2019. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
  41. ^ Jones, Nate (January 11, 2021). "Taylor Swift Songs, Ranked From Worst to Best". Vulture. Archived from the original on September 13, 2019. Retrieved December 6, 2021.
  42. ^ Dodson, Claire (August 23, 2019). "Taylor Swift's 'Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince' Is a Euphoria-Esque Discussion of Political Life in 2019". Teen Vogue. Archived from the original on October 17, 2020. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
  43. ^ "The 50 Best Songs of 2019". Slant Magazine. December 11, 2019. Retrieved December 12, 2019.
  44. ^ Willman, Chris (January 21, 2020). "Taylor Swift: No Longer 'Polite at All Costs'". Variety. Retrieved January 21, 2020.
  45. ^ Schaffstall, Katherine (January 22, 2020). "Taylor Swift Explains How She Embraced Her Platform in Trailer for Netflix Doc". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
  46. ^ "Taylor Swift Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved September 16, 2019.
  47. ^ "Taylor Swift – Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince". AFP Top 100 Singles. Retrieved June 12, 2024.
  48. ^ "RIAS Top Charts Week 10 (1 - 7 Mar 2024)". RIAS. Archived from the original on March 12, 2024. Retrieved March 12, 2024.
  49. ^ "Veckolista Heatseeker, vecka 21". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved May 24, 2024.
  50. ^ "Brazilian single certifications – Taylor Swift – Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince" (in Portuguese). Pro-Música Brasil. Retrieved July 25, 2024.
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