We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together

Released August 13, 2012 as the lead single from her fourth album Red, this song marked Taylor Swift's first Billboard Hot 100 number one and signaled her deliberate pivot from country to mainstream pop. Co-written and produced with Max Martin and Shellback, the track layers synthesizers, processed guitar riffs, and a driving bass drum over Swift's signature conversational lyrics. The spoken-word bridge, where she deadpans "So he calls me up and he's like, 'I still love you,' and I'm like, I'm just, I mean this is exhausting, you know? Like, we are never getting back together. Like, ever," became instantly iconic.

The song's narrator delivers a playful, exasperated kiss-off to an ex who keeps trying to reconcile. Lines like "You would hide away and find your peace of mind / With some indie record that's much cooler than mine" showcase Swift's ability to blend vulnerability with biting sarcasm. Critics were split: Billboard rated it 85/100 and called it "the funniest song the country superstar has thus far recorded," while the Chicago Tribune dismissed it as a "single girls' anthem written for only the 15-and-under set" but admitted its catchiness.

Commercially, the song shattered expectations. It jumped from number 72 to number one on the Hot 100 in its second week, one of the largest single-week leaps in chart history. It also spent nine consecutive weeks atop Hot Country Songs and hit number one in Canada. The music video, directed by Declan Whitebloom and released September 1, 2012, features Swift in a forest, a recording studio, and an apartment, interacting with her band and an ex-boyfriend character. It has amassed over 839 million views on YouTube. The song earned Swift Grammy nominations for Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, and won a Billboard Music Award for Top Streaming Song (Video). [edit]