Message in a Bottle (Taylor Swift song)

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2021 single by Taylor Swift

“Message in a Bottle“[b] is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. Released by Republic Records, it is the twenty-fifth track on Swift’s second re-recorded album, Red (Taylor’s Version) (2021). The song was written by Swift, Max Martin, and Shellback, the latter of whom also produced the song with Elvira Anderfjärd. It impacted US pop and adult pop radio stations as a single in November 2021.

“Message in a Bottle” is a 1980s-influenced dance-pop and electropop song with synthesizers and a pulsating bass. In reviews of Red (Taylor’s Version), some critics praised the song’s production and likened it to the sound of Swift’s 2014 album, 1989, but a few others found the song underwhelming in comparison to other pop tracks on the album. The song reached the top 40 of charts in Australia and Canada. It peaked at number 45 on the Billboard Hot 100, and entered the top twenty of the Adult Top 40 and Mainstream Top 40 airplay charts.

Background and release[edit]

On August 5, 2021, Taylor Swift released a 30-second teaser on social media featuring jumbled letters that, when decoded, revealed the song titles and collaborators from the nine previously unreleased songs to be included on Red (Taylor’s Version) (2021), her re-recorded version of her 2012 album Red. One of the nine tracks was “Message in a Bottle”, announced shortly afterwards as the twenty-fifth song from the album.[3][4] It was serviced to US radio as a single on November 12, 2021, coinciding with the album’s release.[5]Billboard reported that the track was being pushed on US radio stations as a single as soon as November 2021.[1] A remix by Fat Max G was released to digital and streaming services on January 21, 2022.[6]

Composition[edit]

A sample of the song’s chorus, showing the uptempo synthesizers and programmed beats.

“Message in a Bottle” is the only one of the nine “From the Vault” songs on Red (Taylor’s Version) to have been co-written by Martin and Shellback, who worked with Swift on Red singles such as “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together”, “I Knew You Were Trouble”, and “22”.[7] It was the first song Swift wrote with them.[8] Shellback and Elvira Anderfjärd jointly produced the song, with Shellback playing guitar on the track, while Anderfjärd performs on bass and drums. Both also contributed keyboards to the song. “Message in a Bottle” is set in the key of G major with a tempo of 116 beats per minute.[9] It is a dance, dance-pop, and electropop song[10][11][12] with synthesizers and a pulsating bass,[8] with Swift’s voice ranging between G3 and D5.[13]

Critical reception[edit]

Music critics received “Message in a Bottle” with generally positive reviews. Writing for NME, Hannah Mylrea called the song a “effervescent nugget of pure-pop”, saying it was “reminiscent of Carly Rae Jepsen’s ’80s-influenced record Emotion.”[14] Paul Bridgewater of The Line of Best Fit labeled the track “A-grade Swift”, saying that it “would fit easily on Red’s follow-up 1989“.[15]Clash also noted the “electronic soundscape and pulsing beat” as similar to 1989, writing that “Message in a Bottle” was a “Carly Rae Jepsen-esque offering” from Swift.[16]

In iHeartRadio, Ariel King opined that “while the track maintains the theme of Red, where Swift worked through intense heartache, the upbeat instrumentals within the single just may be the song that bridged her into 1989.”[17] Ranking “Message in a Bottle” third among the nine Red (Taylor’s Version) that were previously unreleased, Billboard writer Jason Lipshutz called the song a “compact, propulsive dance track that carries the same energy (and crackling charm) as the hits that pushed Swift’s sound toward mainstream pop leading into 2014’s 1989“.[7]

Jonathan Keefe of Slant Magazine compared the track’s hook to “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” and “Shake It Off”, also noting that it did not have “the self-conscious repetitions of those hits”.[18] For Variety, Chris Willman gave the song a 4/5 rating, expressing surprise that the track was initially excluded from Red, calling it “a strong shot for hit single status” and “thoroughly infectious”. However, Willman also stated that “as good as it is, you can imagine almost anyone in pop singing it”, calling it “slightly impersonal in a way few of her released songs do”.[19]

Pitchfork‘s Olivia Horn gave a lukewarm review, complimenting the glossy production but criticized the track for its “dearth of personality”.[8] Laura Snapes from The Guardian deemed “Message in a Bottle” generic and inferior compared to “22”, another pop song that was included in the original 2012 album.[20]

Commercial performance[edit]

With three days of tracking, “Message in a Bottle” debuted at number 36 on Billboard‘s Adult Top 40 airplay chart dated November 20, 2021, marking Swift’s thirty-sixth entry on that chart.[21] It was the most requested song from Red (Taylor’s Version) across iHeartRadio stations within the album’s first release week.[22] It peaked at number 11 on the Adult Top 40,[23] 17 on the Mainstream Top 40,[24] and 45 on the Billboard Hot 100.[25] In Canada, “Message in a Bottle” was the most added song on pop radio for the week of November 27, 2021; it has since peaked at number 16.[26]

Track listing[edit]

All tracks are noted as “Taylor’s Version”.

Digital download and streaming[27]

  1. “Message in a Bottle” (Fat Max G Remix) – 3:45
  2. “Message in a Bottle” (From the Vault) – 3:47

Digital download and streaming[28]

  1. “Message in a Bottle” (Fat Max G Remix) – 3:45
  2. “Message in a Bottle” (From the Vault) – 3:46
  3. “Message in a Bottle” (From the Vault) (lyric video) – 3:46

Credits and personnel[edit]

Credits adapted from Red (Taylor’s Version) album liner notes[29]

  • Taylor Swift – lead vocals, songwriting
  • Shellback – songwriting, production, programming, keyboards, guitars
  • Max Martin – songwriting
  • Elvira Anderfjärd – production, programming, keyboards, drums, bass, backing vocals
  • Randy Merrill – mastering
  • Serban Ghenea – mixing
  • John Hanes – engineering
  • Christopher Rowe – vocal engineering

Fat Max G Remix[30]

  • Taylor Swift – lead vocals, songwriting
  • Shellback – songwriting
  • Max Martin – songwriting
  • Fat Max Gsus – production, remixing, bass, drums, percussion, programming, synthesizer, vocal production
  • Randy Merrill – masters engineering
  • Serban Ghenea – mixing
  • John Hanes – immersive mix engineering
  • Christopher Rowe – vocal engineering

Release history[edit]

  1. ^ On November 29, 2021, Billboard reported that “Message in a Bottle” is the “current radio single” in the US from Swift, but did not mention an exact date on which the song officially impacted the radio stations.[1]
  2. ^ Subtitled “(Taylor’s Version) (from the Vault)”.[2]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Trust, Gary (November 29, 2021). “Adele’s ‘Easy on Me’ Rebounds for Fifth Week Atop Billboard Hot 100, ‘Oh My God’ Debuts at No. 5”. Billboard. Retrieved January 20, 2022.
  2. ^ “Red (Taylor’s Version) (+ A Message from Taylor) by Taylor Swift”. Apple Music. November 12, 2021. Retrieved November 18, 2021.
  3. ^ Mamo, Heran (August 5, 2021). “Here Are All the Decoded ‘Red (Taylor’s Version)’ Bonus Tracks”. Billboard. Archived from the original on November 17, 2021. Retrieved November 18, 2021.
  4. ^ “Taylor Swift Announces Collaborators for Next Album Via Coded Puzzle”. Heavy. August 6, 2021. Archived from the original on November 18, 2021. Retrieved November 18, 2021.
  5. ^ a b “Hot/Modern/AC Cool New Music”. All Access Music Group. Retrieved March 24, 2022. Type “Taylor Swift” in the Search field.
  6. ^ a b Swift, Taylor (January 21, 2022). “Message In A Bottle (Fat Max G Remix) (Taylor’s Version) – Single”. Apple Music (US). Retrieved January 21, 2022.
  7. ^ a b Lipshutz, Jason (November 12, 2021). “Every ‘From The Vault’ Song Ranked on Taylor Swift’s ‘Red (Taylor’s Version)’: Critic’s Picks”. Billboard. Archived from the original on November 18, 2021. Retrieved November 18, 2021.
  8. ^ a b c Horn, Olivia (November 15, 2021). “Taylor Swift: Red (Taylor’s Version) Album Review”. Pitchfork. Archived from the original on November 18, 2021. Retrieved November 18, 2021.
  9. ^ “Message in a Bottle”. Musicnotes.com. November 12, 2021. Archived from the original on November 18, 2021. Retrieved November 18, 2021.
  10. ^ Lipshutz, Jason (November 12, 2021). “Every ‘From The Vault’ Song Ranked on Taylor Swift’s ‘Red (Taylor’s Version)’: Critic’s Picks”. Billboard. Archived from the original on November 12, 2021. Retrieved November 12, 2021.
  11. ^ Sheffield, Rob (November 12, 2021). “‘Red (Taylor’s Version)’ Makes a Classic Even Better”. Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on November 12, 2021. Retrieved July 24, 2022.
  12. ^ Kaplan, Ilana (November 15, 2021). “Taylor Swift’s Red Rerelease Proves What Fans Always Knew”. Slate. Retrieved November 19, 2021.
  13. ^ “Taylor Swift | The Range Planet”. therangeplanet.proboards.com. Retrieved December 22, 2021.[better source needed]
  14. ^ Mylrea, Hannah (November 12, 2021). “Taylor Swift – ‘Red (Taylor’s Version)’ review: a retread of heartbreak”. NME. Archived from the original on November 18, 2021. Retrieved November 18, 2021.
  15. ^ Bridgewater, Paul (November 12, 2021). “Taylor Swift’s reworking of Red finds even more magic in her pop blueprint”. The Line of Best Fit. Archived from the original on November 18, 2021. Retrieved November 18, 2021.
  16. ^ “Taylor Swift – Red (Taylor’s Version)”. Clash. November 12, 2021. Archived from the original on November 18, 2021. Retrieved November 18, 2021.
  17. ^ King, Ariel (November 12, 2021). “Taylor Swift Bridges Between ‘Red’ & ‘1989’ With ‘Message In A Bottle’“. iHeartRadio. Archived from the original on November 18, 2021. Retrieved November 18, 2021.
  18. ^ Keefe, Jonathan (November 17, 2021). “Review: Taylor Swift’s Red Redux Flaunts the Singer’s Refined Pop Instincts”. Slant Magazine. Archived from the original on November 18, 2021. Retrieved November 18, 2021.
  19. ^ Willman, Chris (November 11, 2021). “On ‘Red (Taylor’s Version),’ Taylor Swift’s Vault Tracks Are All Too Swell: Album Review”. Variety. Archived from the original on November 18, 2021. Retrieved November 18, 2021.
  20. ^ Snapes, Laura (November 12, 2021). “Taylor Swift: Red (Taylor’s Version) review – getting back together with a classic”. The Guardian. Archived from the original on November 18, 2021. Retrieved November 18, 2021.
  21. ^ Asker, Jim; Trust, Gary (November 16, 2021). “Taylor Swift Debuts These Two Songs From Red (Taylor’s Version) on Airplay Charts”. Billboard. Archived from the original on November 17, 2021. Retrieved November 18, 2021.
  22. ^ Mastrogiannis, Nicole (November 17, 2021). “You’ll Only Hear Taylor Swift’s Taylor’s Version Albums on iHeartRadio”. American Top 40. Retrieved November 29, 2021.
  23. ^ a b “Taylor Swift Chart History (Adult Pop Songs)”. Billboard. Retrieved January 25, 2022.
  24. ^ a b “Taylor Swift Chart History (Pop Songs)”. Billboard. Retrieved January 25, 2022.
  25. ^ a b “Taylor Swift Chart History (Hot 100)”. Billboard. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
  26. ^ “Canada CHR/Top 40 National Airplay Chart”. Broadcast Data Systems. Retrieved November 29, 2021.
  27. ^ “Message In A Bottle (Fat Max G Remix) (Taylor’s Version)”. Tidal. January 21, 2022. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
  28. ^ “Message In A Bottle (Fat Max G Remix) (Taylor’s Version)”. Tidal. January 21, 2022. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
  29. ^ Red (Taylor’s Version) (digital media liner notes). Taylor Swift. Taylor Swift / Republic Records. 2021.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  30. ^ “‘Message in a Bottle’ (Fat Max G Remix) (Taylor’s Version)”. Tidal. January 21, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2022.
  31. ^ “ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart”. Australian Recording Industry Association. November 22, 2021. Retrieved November 19, 2021.
  32. ^ “Taylor Swift Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)”. Billboard. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
  33. ^ “Taylor Swift Chart History (Canada AC)”. Billboard. Retrieved February 2, 2022.
  34. ^ “Taylor Swift Chart History (Canada CHR/Top 40)”. Billboard. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
  35. ^ “Taylor Swift Chart History (Canada Hot AC)”. Billboard. Retrieved February 2, 2022.
  36. ^ “Taylor Swift Chart History (Global 200)”. Billboard. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
  37. ^ “Billboard Japan Hot Overseas [2022/02/02 公開]”. Billboard Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved February 2, 2022.
  38. ^ “NZ Hot Singles Chart”. Recorded Music NZ. January 31, 2022. Retrieved January 29, 2022.
  39. ^ “Official Audio Streaming Chart Top 100”. Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 19, 2021.
  40. ^ “Taylor Swift Chart History (Adult Contemporary)”. Billboard. Retrieved February 8, 2022.
  41. ^ “Adult Contemporary Songs – Year-End 2022”. Billboard. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
  42. ^ “Adult Pop Airplay Songs – Year-End 2022”. Billboard. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
  43. ^ “Taylor Swift ‘Message in a Bottle’ | (Radio Date: 21/01/2022)”. radiodate.it (in Italian). Retrieved January 19, 2022.