"New Romantics" is the sixteenth track from the deluxe edition of American singer and songwriter Taylor Swift's fifth studio album, 1989, released on October 27, 2014, through Big Machine Records. The song became the seventh single from the album on February 26, 2016. It is also the sixteenth track from Swift's fourth re-recorded album, 1989 (Taylor's Version), released on October 27, 2023, through Republic Records.
Background[]
Taylor adopting a more mature mindset and approach towards love as she moves from the fairy tale romanticism of her first four albums to a more carefree outlook on matters of the heart. Taylor explained her attitude towards dating and relationships during an interview with Cosmopolitan. "People will say, let me set you up with someone, and I'm just sitting there saying, 'That's not what I'm doing. I'm not lonely; I'm not looking,'" she said. "They just don't get it. I've learnt that just because someone is cute and wants to date you, that's not a reason to sacrifice your independence and allow everyone to say whatever they want about you. I'm not doing that anymore."
"It'd take someone really special for me to undergo the circumstances I have to go through to experience a date," Taylor added. "I don't know how I would ever have another person in my world trying to have a relationship with me, or a family.
New Romanticism was a pop culture movement in the United Kingdom during the early '80s in which both men and women wore make-up and dressed in flamboyant clothes. Boy George, the androgynous frontman of Culture Club was typical of the genre. This song's sound resembles the new wave music that the New Romantic acts performed.
Taylor told Rolling Stone that she set out to make "blatant Pop music" for 1989 that was heavily influenced by the '80s. "It was a very experimental time in Pop music," Taylor said of the decade. "People realized songs didn't have to be this standard drums-guitar-bass-whatever. We can make a song with synths and a drum pad. We can do group vocals the entire song. We can do so many different things. And I think what you saw happening with music was also happening in our culture, where people were just wearing whatever crazy colors they wanted to, because why not? There just seemed to be this energy about endless opportunities, endless possibilities, endless ways you could live your life. And so with this record, I thought, 'There are no rules to this. I don't need to use the same musicians I've used, or the same band, or the same producers, or the same formula. I can make whatever record I want.'"
Lyrics[]
[Verse 1]
We're all bored, we're all so tired of everything
We wait for trains that just aren't coming
We show off our different scarlet letters
Trust me, mine is better
We're so young, but we're on the road to ruin
We play dumb, but we know exactly what we're doing
We cry tears of mascara in the bathroom
Honey, life is just a classroom
(Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah)
[Chorus]
'Cause, baby, I could build a castle
Out of all the bricks they threw at me
And every day is like a battle
But every night with us is like a dream
Baby, we're the new romantics
Come on, come along with me
Heart break is the national anthem
We sing it proudly
We are too busy dancing
To get knocked off our feet
Baby, we're the new romantics
The best people in life are free
[Verse 2]
We're all here, the lights and noise are blinding
We hang back, it's all in the timing
It's poker, he can't see it in my face
But I'm about to play my Ace (Ah)
We need love, but all we want is danger
We team up, then switch sides like a record changer
The rumors are terrible and cruel
But, honey, most of them are true
(Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah)
[Chorus]
'Cause, baby, I could build a castle
Out of all the bricks they threw at me
And every day is like a battle
But every night with us is like a dream
Baby, we're the new romantics
Come on, come along with me
Heart break is the national anthem
We sing it proudly
We are too busy dancing
To get knocked off our feet
Baby, we're the new romantics
The best people in life are free
[Post-Chorus]
So, come on, come along with me
The best people in life are free
[Bridge]
Please, take my hand and
Please take me dancing and
Please leave me stranded
It's so romantic
(Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah)
[Chorus]
'Cause, baby, I could build a castle (Oh, 'cause, baby, I could build a castle)
Out of all the bricks they threw at me (At me)
And every day is like a battle (Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)
But every night with us is like a dream (Like a dream)
'Cause, baby, I could build a castle (Castle)
Out of all the bricks they threw at me
'And every day is like a battle (And every day is like a battle)
But every night with us is like a dream
Baby, we're the new romantics (Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah)
Come on, come along with me
Heart break is the national anthem (Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah)
We sing it proudly
We are too busy dancing (Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah)
To get knocked off our feet
Baby, we're the new romantics (Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah)
The best people in life are free
Lyric video[]
Taymoji pack[]
 Cool in the shade!  The most expensive guitar sold for more than $2,700,000.  Handshakes started in 5th century BC.  Celebrate with sparkles!  My cats wished they had thumbs so bad. I see them staring at mine like all jealous.  Hands in the air!  Full health!  Party like it’s 1989.  Box |
Live performances[]
Swift performed "New Romantics" from May 5, 2015, in Tokyo, Japan, to December 12, 2015, in Melbourne, Australia, on The 1989 World Tour, as the second song on the setlist.[1] Swift performed "New Romantics" as an Eras Tour surprise song on guitar following the announcement of 1989 (Taylor's Version) in Los Angeles, California, on August 9, 2023. It was also performed as part of the "Max Martin medley", alongside "How You Get The Girl" and "Message In A Bottle", which was the guitar surprise performance for the Eras Tour show in Stockholm, Sweden, on May 19, 2024. It was also performed on the last night of the Eras Tour on December 8, 2024 in a guitar surprise song mash-up along with "A Place In This World".
References[]
| 1989 | ||
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| "Welcome To New York" • "Blank Space" • "Style" • "Out Of The Woods" • "All You Had To Do Was Stay" • "Shake It Off" • "I Wish You Would" • "Bad Blood" • "Wildest Dreams" • "How You Get The Girl" • "This Love" • "I Know Places" • "Clean" | ||
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