"Maroon" is a song by the American singer-songwriterTaylor Swift from her tenth original studio album,Midnights (2022). Swift wrote and produced the song withJack Antonoff. The lyrics use different shades of red such as maroon, burgundy, and scarlet to describe the haunting memories of a long-gone romance inNew York. Musically, "Maroon" is aballad combiningdream pop,synth-pop,electropop, andtrip hop. It has anambient production consisting ofreverbed layered vocals,trap beats, and an oscillatingelectric guitar that creates a sustained note throughout the track.
Several music critics who picked "Maroon" as a highlight onMidnights complimented the production and deemed the lyrics evocative, but some others found both the theme and sound derivative. "Maroon" peaked at number four on theBillboard Global 200 and charted within the top 10 on the charts in Australia, Canada, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, and the US. The song receivedcertifications in Australia, Brazil, Canada, and the UK. Swift occasionally performed "Maroon" on her sixth headlining tour,the Eras Tour, in 2023 and 2024.
On August 28, 2022, during her acceptance speech forVideo of the Year forAll Too Well: The Short Film at the2022 MTV Video Music Awards, the American singer-songwriterTaylor Swift announced her tenth studio album and its impending release date on October 21.[1] Soon after, Swift revealed the album's title—Midnights—and its cover on her social media, but she did not immediately release the track list.[2] On September 21, about a month before the album's release, Swift announced a thirteen-episode series calledMidnights Mayhem with Me on the social media platformTikTok. In each episode of the series, Swift revealed the title of one album track.[3] In the fifth episode on September 30, Swift revealed "Maroon" as the title of track two.[4]Republic Records releasedMidnights forstreaming,download, and physical formats on October 21, 2022.[5]
Swift performed "Maroon" as a "surprise song" outside the regular setlist at ten stops of herEras Tour. She performed it as a full song inEast Rutherford (May 26, 2023),Inglewood (August 3, 2023),Mexico City (August 27, 2023) andParis (May 11, 2024). Additionally, Swift sang "Maroon" as part ofmashups six times: inSydney (February 26, 2024) with "Forever & Always" (2008); inLiverpool (June 13, 2024) with "Cornelia Street" (2019); inLondon (June 21, 2024) with "The Black Dog" (2024) and "Come Back... Be Here" (2012); inWarsaw (August 2, 2024) with "Red" (2012), inIndianapolis (November 2, 2024) with "Cowboy Like Me" (2020), and in Vancouver (December 7, 2024) with "The Tortured Poets Department" (2024).[6]
"Maroon" is 3 minutes and 38 seconds long.[7] It is a recollection of the memories of a long-gone romance.[8] Swift's character reminisces an ex-lover—"the one [she] was dancing with in New York".[9][10] The lyrics use imagery of red shades to recall specific items: the pink of a cheaprosé, the burgundy on her T-shirt from a splash of red wine, the scarlet of the blood that "rushed to [her] cheeks".[9][10] In therefrain, the word "maroon" is used to describe the remnants that the decayed relationship evokes: "the mark they saw on [her] collarbone", "the rust that grew between telephones", "the lips [she] used to call home", and the funeral carnations.[11][12][13]American Songwriter's Alli Patton wrote that the line "the rust that grew between telephones" implied that the relationship in question was a long-distance one.[14] After detailing how the relationship derails in the secondverse, the narrator contemplates how the relationship still leaves a mark on her in thebridge ("And I wake with your memory over me / That's a real fucking legacy, legacy").[12][15]
Music critics found connections between "Maroon" and Swift's past songs.Billboard's Jason Lipshutz wrote that many of the lyrical motifs on "Maroon" were hallmarks in Swift's songwriting: memories in rich detail, vulnerability, missed romance, and the resultant feelings.[16] Some reviewers noted a probable reference to Swift's 2012 albumRed,[17][14][18] withCarl Wilson fromSlate saying that "Maroon" was a "more melancholy and experienced version" with similar themes about heartbreak.[8] John Wohlmacher ofBeats Per Minute wrote that in addition toRed, "Maroon" references the "flushed cheeks" imagery on "Illicit Affairs" (2020). He added that the New York setting was similar to the sentiments of "Cornelia Street" (2019) and "Hoax" (2020), which represented "a secret affair and emotionally crushing loss".[11] Sharing the same idea, Powers andRob Sheffield fromRolling Stone commented that "Maroon" was a sequel to "Cornelia Street", a track about a haunting romance set in New York.[13][19] Sheffield added that "Maroon" recalled the New York romance of "Holy Ground" fromRed.[20]
The Line of Best Fit's Paul Bridgewater described the production as "brooding",[32] andSpin's Bobby Olivier regarded the track as a "slow burner".[15] InPaste, Ellen Johnson compared the trap-tinged production and "light rapping" on "Maroon" to the music of "Dress", a track off Swift's 2017 albumReputation.[27]Ann Powers fromNPR said "Maroon" evoked themusic of the drama seriesTwin Peaks,[19] whilePitchfork's Vrinda Jagota said the "droning synths" resembledLorde's 2017 albumMelodrama.[33] Wohlmacher found the single-note electric guitar to complement the "lingering pain" expressed in the lyrics, resulting in a "borderline traumatic" listening experience.[11] Quinn Moreland fromPitchfork wrote that whereas the lyrics were intensely personal, the production had a "consistently austere" atmosphere that made the track "oddly impersonal, bordering on numb".[34]
Some critics praised the lyrics of "Maroon". Courteney Larossa and Callie Ahlgrim fromBusiness Insider hailed "Maroon" as a standout track fromMidnights; Lacrossa called the song a "brilliant" play on Swift's color theory about love, while Ahlgrim stated that it was a "shimmering" nostalgic rush of her past songs.[35] Kenneth Partridge, in an article forGenius, found it to contain some of the most poetic lyrics Swift had written.[12] Melissa Ruggieri fromUSA Today described the lyrical imagery as "striking" and "classically vivid".[10]
Some others were fond of the production. Sheffield praised the song as a "gorgeous ballad",[20] andEsquire'sAlex Bilmes said it had "a killer vocal and lyrics worthy of aRyan Murphy soap opera".[28] Lipshutz said that although "Maroon" contained many of Swift's songwriting details that had been familiar, "their impact hasn't dulled one bit".[16] Wohlmacher labeled it as an "immediate masterpiece" and said it was "maybe the pop song of the year",[11] and Moreland said that it was a track that "may be the one that keeps [her] awake at night".[23] Petridis called the song "superb" and deemed it to represent the album's subdued, atmospheric production,[22] and Bridgewater remarked that it was one of the album's "minor flashes of brilliance".[32][36] Mark Richardson ofThe Wall Street Journal deemed "Maroon" the best track onMidnights because it "unfolds gradually and hits an exciting peak where words and tune are precisely matched".[37]
In a less enthusiastic review,Jon Caramanica ofThe New York Times was not impressed by the production and said that Swift's vocals were "stacked together to the point of suffocation".[38] Similarly, Paul Attard fromSlant Magazine found the production somewhat redundant.[26] Wilson considered "Maroon" a decent song on its own but thought that it made the album drag. He added that its songwriting was "a bit generic and fan-servicey".[8]Exclaim!'s Megan LaPierre appreciated the first verse and the bridge but found that the rest of the song "stumbles in comparison".[39]
"Maroon" debuted and peaked at number three on the USBillboard Hot 100; its first-week figures included 37.6 million streams, 2,900 downloads, and 471,000 airplay impressions.[40][41] The song along with nine fellowMidnights tracks made Swift the first act to concurrently occupy the top 10 of the Hot 100 and surpassedMadonna as the woman with the most top-10 entries.[42] It peaked at number four on the Canada and wascertified platinum.[43][44] The song reached number six on the United Kingdom'sAudio Streaming Chart and received a gold certification.[45][46]
Elsewhere, "Maroon" appeared on many territories worldwide: it peaked within the top 10 onsingles charts in Australia (4),[47] the Philippines (4),[48] Malaysia (5),[49] New Zealand (5)[50] and the top 30 in Portugal (11),[51] Vietnam (11),[52] Iceland (12),[53] South Africa (12),[54] Croatia (19),[55] Luxembourg (20),[56] Hong Kong (22),[57] Sweden (26),[58] and Norway (30).[59] The song peaked at number four on theBillboard Global 200.[60]
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Digital Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic.Note: Select 43. týden 2022 in the date selector. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic.Note: Select 1. týden 2023 in the date selector. Retrieved January 9, 2023.
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