| "Willow" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single by Taylor Swift | ||||
| from the album Evermore | ||||
| Written | August 2020 | |||
| Released | December 11, 2020 | |||
| Recorded | September 2020 | |||
| Studio | Long Pond (Hudson Valley, NY) | |||
| Genre | Chamber folk | |||
| Length | 3:34 | |||
| Label | Republic | |||
| Songwriter(s) |
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| Producer(s) | Aaron Dessner | |||
| Taylor Swift singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "Willow" on YouTube | ||||
"Willow" (stylized in all lowercase) is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift from her ninth studio album, Evermore (2020). It was released on December 11, 2020, by Republic Records as the lead single from the album. "Willow" is a chamber folk love song making use of several metaphors to convey the singer's romantic state of mind, such as portraying her life as a willow tree, over picked guitars, glockenspiel, flute, strings, and percussion.
Swift penned the song's lyrics upon hearing an instrumental composition by the song's producer Aaron Dessner. She compared the song's overarching motif to casting a love spell. An accompanying music video, directed by Swift, premiered the same day as the song's release. The video is a continuation of the storyline from her preceding video for "Cardigan" (2020), showing a golden thread that guides the singer through a mystical saga and leads her to her fated lover. It received widespread critical acclaim from music critics and audiences alike, with particular praise for its romantic lyricism and guitar-centric sound.
"Willow" debuted atop the Billboard Hot 100, scoring Swift her seventh number-one song in the United States, third number-one debut,[note 1] and second chart-topper in 2020 after "Cardigan"; simultaneously, Evermore opened at number-one on the Billboard 200, making Swift the first act in history to debut atop both the charts in the same week on two occasions, following Folklore and "Cardigan". "Willow" further topped Billboard's Hot Alternative Songs, Hot Rock & Alternative Songs, Digital Song Sales, and Adult Pop Songs charts. The song also reached number one in Australia, Canada, and Singapore, and the top 10 in Belgium, Croatia, Hungary, Ireland, Malaysia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. Swift performed "Willow" live for the first time at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards, which was described by Rolling Stone as one of the greatest Grammy performances of all time. The music video of "Willow" earned three nominations at the 2021 MTV Video Music Awards.
- ^ Taylor Swift’s ‘Willow’ Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard Hot 100, Billboard, December 21, 2020
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