"Down Bad" is a song by the American singer-songwriterTaylor Swift from her eleventh studio album,The Tortured Poets Department (2024). She wrote and produced the track withJack Antonoff, who played the song's instruments with members of his bandBleachers. "Down Bad" is about a momentary infatuation: the narrator compares falling in love withbeing abducted by an extraterrestrial being and is then suddenly deserted by her love interest. Musically, "Down Bad" is asynth-pop song withR&B elements in itsgroove and vocalcadence.
In publications' reviews, some critics favorably deemed "Down Bad" a catchy song with simple lyrics. The track charted within the top 10 in Australia, Canada, Luxembourg, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States. It wascertified double platinum in Australia, and gold in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Swift included the song in the revamped set list ofthe Eras Tour starting from May 2024.
Swift started working onThe Tortured Poets Department immediately after she submitted her tenth studio album,Midnights, toRepublic Records for release in 2022. She continued working on it in secrecy throughout the US leg ofthe Eras Tour in 2023.[1] The album's conception took place when Swift's personal life continued to be a widely covered topic in the press.[2] She describedThe Tortured Poets Department as her "lifeline" album which she "really needed" to make.[3] Republic Records released it on April 19, 2024; "Down Bad" is fourth on the track list.[4]
Starting from the May 2024 shows in Paris, Swift included "Down Bad" in the set list of the Eras Tour.[5] She performed the song while sitting on a rotating metal block that moved around the stage[6] as an image of anUFO appeared above her.[7][8]
"Down Bad" is about a momentary infatuation.[9] In a track-by-track commentary forAmazon Music, Swift said that she wrote the song comparing "the idea of being love bombed, where someone rocks your world and dazzles you and then just kind of abandons you as an alien abduction where you were abducted by aliens".[10] In the lyrics, Swift's character encounters a fleeting sensation that she describes as "cosmic love" and deeming her love interest "my twin",[10] longing to be abducted by aliens.[11] Mary Siroky ofConsequence found the lyrics to contain an "air of death": "Fuck it, if I can't have him/ I might just die/ It would make no difference."[12]
Musically, "Down Bad" is asynth-pop song[13] withR&B inflections, showcased via its dynamic shifts andcadences.[14][15] Swift sings using syllabicsyncopation[16] over a subduedelectronic production with a synthbassline.[17][18] Chris Willman ofVariety compared the production of "Down Bad" to Swift's 2022 albumMidnights, pointing out the "sinuous groove, topped by a kind of distorted-electronic voice effect as its own instrumental track".[19] Mark Savage of theBBC also compared the track toMidnights, highlighting the "delicately percolating" production with "pillowy synths and muted drums".[20] The song is written in the key ofB major incommon time with atempo of 80 beats per minute. The song follows a chord progression ofB – F♯ – B/D♯ – E, and Swift's vocals span from E3 to C♯5.[21] It is notable for containing the most usages of swearing in any song by Swift, due to the repeated use of the word "fuck" in its chorus.[22]
Jason Lipshutz ofBillboard ranked "Down Bad" as the sixth-best song out of 31 tracks onThe Tortured Poets Department, describing the song as "one of the album's purest pop pleasures".[23]Pitchfork's Olivia Horn thought that the song worked "because of the juxtaposition between its banal hook and its description of 'cosmic love'".[24] Finn McRedmond fromThe Irish Times highlighted the song's blunt lyrics, drawing comparisons to some of her previous work from both1989 andFolklore.[25] Bobby Olivier ofNJ.com picked the track as the album's catchiest.[26]
InThe New Yorker,Amanda Petrusich appreciated the simple lyricism of "Down Bad" and summed it up as "a woozy song about feeling like shit".[27] Willman ranked "Down Bad" 16th on his April 2024 updated list of the best 75 songs by Swift, saying that while it is not one of the most poetic tracks from the album, it has "one of the best grooves, perfect for any workout queen's most depressed cooldown".[28]SLUG Magazine's Palak Jayswal dubbed "Down Bad" an "anthem that Swifties always crave", adding that it captures the essence oflove bombing and falling for another person.[29] Josh Kurp fromUproxx felt that the track was a representation of the album's verbose and genre-less quality but opined that it was "extremely personal [...] to the point of discomfort".[30]
In less enthusiastic reviews, John Wohlmacher ofBeats Per Minute criticized Swift's excessive use of "metaphor-chains" in her lyricism which dilutes the emotional sentiment she wants to communicate,[31] and Laura Molloy ofNME said that the track contains some "cringe-inducing lines".[32] Maria Sherman of theAssociated Press described the song as "mawkish" that blemished the album's otherwise "meditative" mood.[33]
When the album was released, nine of its tracks occupied the top 10 of theBillboard Global 200; "Down Bad" opened and peaked at number two on the chart, behind Swift's own "Fortnight". It extended her top-10 entries to 33 on the chart.[34][35] In the United States, the track debuted at its peak of number two on theBillboard Hot 100, behind "Fortnight". The song alongside 13 tracks from the album made Swift the first artist to monopolize the top 14 of the Hot 100.[36][37] In Australia, "Down Bad" reached number two on theARIA Singles Chart and made her the artist with the most entries in a single week with 29.[38][39] In the United Kingdom, it reached number four on theUK singles chart and extended her top 10 chart entries to 28.[40][41]
Elsewhere, "Down Bad" charted within the top 10 in Canada (2),[42] New Zealand (2),[43] the Philippines (3),[44] Singapore (3),[45] Malaysia (8),[46] and Luxembourg (9).[47] The song also reached the top 20 in several territories: number 11 in Hong Kong,[48] Ireland,[49] and Portugal,[50] number 13 in Latvia,[51] number 14 in South Africa,[52] number 16 in Denmark,[53] number 17 in Indonesia,[54] number 18 in Belgium,[55] and number 19 in Sweden.[56] It received a double-platinumcertification from theAustralian Recording Industry Association (ARIA).[57]
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Digital Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic.Note: Select 17. týden 2024 in the date selector. Retrieved May 1, 2024.
^"Top Singles (Week 16, 2024)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique.Archived from the original on May 31, 2021. RetrievedApril 30, 2024.
^"IFPI Charts".www.ifpi.gr.Archived from the original on May 1, 2024. RetrievedMay 1, 2024.
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Singles Digital Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic.Note: Select 17. týden 2024 in the date selector. Retrieved May 1, 2024.
