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Innocent (Taylor Swift song)
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Wikipedia article
{{Infobox song
| name = Innocent
| artist = Taylor Swift
| album = Speak Now
| released =
| genre =
| length =
| label = Big Machine
| writer = Taylor Swift
| producer =
* Nathan Chapman
* Taylor Swift
| misc =
}}
"'Innocent'" is a song written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift for her third studio album, 'Speak Now' (2010). It was produced by Swift and Nathan Chapman. Written by Swift in response to Kanye West's interruption of her acceptance speech at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, the song is Swift's confession to West, claiming that he was "innocent" despite the public outrage after the controversy. Swift premiered the song at the following year's MTV Video Music Awards on September 12, 2010, a month prior to the release of 'Speak Now', as a means of putting the controversy behind them.
Following the release of 'Speak Now', "Innocent" debuted at number 53 and 27 on the Canadian Hot 100 and 'Billboard' Hot 100, respectively. The song received mixed reviews from criticssome complimented the sparse instrumentation, but others found the lyrics patronizing, fueling debates over Swift's public image as an innocent sweetheart.
Background and writing
's interruption of her acceptance speech at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards.
In the liner notes for 'Speak Now', Swift explained that every song on the album is an "open letter" to someone in her life, "telling them what I meant to tell them in person." She also noted that one song in particular is addressed to "someone I forgive for what he said in front of the whole world". At the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, during Swift's acceptance speech for winning Best Female Video, rapper-producer Kanye West interrupted her, protesting that Beyonc had "one of the best videos of all time". Public opinion after the incident turned against West, with him saying on Twitter that he "bled hard" because of his actions.
After the incident, Swift told 'New York' magazine that while she knew people "expected me to write a song about [West]," she felt it was important to "write a song 'to' him". She wrote the song between February and June 2010. Swift recalled that the incident made her stay silent for a long time, because it was "a huge, intense thing in my life that resonated for a long time". When she wrote "Innocent", she had come to a piece of mind where she could openly talk about it. She reflected that writing the song "taught [her] a lot about being able to step back from a situation you don't know what to do with, and put [herself] into somebody else's shoes". As a result, "Innocent" is her expression of sympathy to West, after the public outrage he received.
Music and lyrics
"Innocent" is a gentle ballad. According to biographer Liv Spencer, "Innocent" is a continuation of the theme on "Never Grow Up", a 'Speak Now' track about leaving childhood behind. In the lyrics, the narrator assures that even if one's "firefly catchin' days" are long behind them, they still carry a little bit of that innocence with them. It mourns the loss of innocence, but offers a hopeful perspective that one could be "brand new" again. Critics have noted influences of that event in the lyrics to "Innocent", particularly in the reference to September, as the award show took place on September 13, 2009, and the line "32 and still growing up now" (that being West's age at the time).
Release and live performance
Swift performed "Innocent" live at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards. Addressing the Kanye West controversy at the past year's MTV Video Music Awards, Swift sang the song as the background featured clips from the incident. She said the performance was to put behind the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards controversy.
Critical reception
The song garnered mixed reception from music critics. After Swift's 2010 MTV performance, some viewed it as sympathetic toward West, but others deemed it patronizing and Swift self-righteous. Chris Willman in 'New York' said that in "Innocent", Swift casts herself in a mature, maternal light: "she really plays mother to a baby." Maura Johnston in an 'Esquire' article said that it "wasn't the most gracious act of forgiveness in history". Johnston took issue with the lyrics detailing "a 20-year-old telling a 32-year-old that he's still growing up", which she deemed a sign of Swift feeling "a sense of satisfaction at being 'the better person' ". The public debate started to affect Swift's public image as an innocent "America's Sweetheart".
Allison Stewart of 'The Washington Post' described "Innocent" as a "small masterpiece of passive-aggressiveness" in her review of the album. In a more mixed review of the song's debut performance, Melinda Newman of 'HitFix' praised the song for balancing personal details and universal appeal with its "beautiful" lyrics, but was also critical of Swift's vocal delivery. She ultimately rated the performance a B.
Jonathan Keefe of 'Slant Magazine' was more critical of the song, describing it as a "patronizing, condescending sermon" and somewhat hypocritical given her reputation for writing songs that "[go] for the jugular". Country-music journalist and CMT editorial director Chet Flippo said he was not at all surprised by the way Swift handled herself at the show. "Everyone was waiting to see how she would do it, and thats what she does: She writes songs based on whats going on in her life," Flippo said of the ballad, which mixed forgiveness and pathos with a touch of pity. "It's not unique. Some of the best country music writers do that, but typically those songs are self-directed and not about someone else."
Credits and personnel
Credits adapted from Tidal.
* Taylor Swift vocals, songwriter, producer, acoustic guitar
* Nathan Chapman producer, acoustic guitar, piano, digital piano, banjo, bass guitar, electric guitar, mandolin, organ, synthesizer
* Bryan Sutton acoustic guitar
* Amos Heller bass guitar
* Tim Marks bass guitar
* Tommy Sims bass guitar
* John Gardner drums
* Nick Buda drums
* Shannon Forrest drums
* Grant Mickelson electric guitar
* Mike Meadows electric guitar
* Paul Sidoti electric guitar
* Rob Hajacos fiddle
* Tim Lauer piano, Hammond B3
* Al Wilson percussion
* Eric Darken percussion
* Smith Curry steel guitar
Chart performance
References
Sources
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Category:2010s ballads
Category:2010 songs
Category:Cultural depictions of Kanye West
Category:Taylor Swift songs
Category:Songs written by Taylor Swift
Category:Song recordings produced by Nathan Chapman (record producer)
Category:Song recordings produced by Taylor Swift
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