"Two Is Better Than One" is a song by the Americanrock bandBoys Like Girls from their second studio albumLove Drunk (2009). The song features American singer-songwriterTaylor Swift. It was written byMartin Johnson and Swift. It was released fordigital download on September 8, 2009,[4] and was sent to mainstream radio in the United States on October 19, as the band's second official single from the album.[5] On some advanced copies of the album sent to reviewers and members of the press, the song does not feature Swift, rather, Johnson handles all vocals.
The track was a commercial success. By December 2011, "Two Is Better Than One" had sold 1,508,000 copies in the United States alone.[6] It additionally received significant international airplay, reaching number 18 on both theBillboard Hot 100 andCanadian Hot 100.[7]
The music video directed byMeiert Avis and Jeremy Alter, was released on December 10, 2009.[9] The video features Erik Huffman fromSurvivor: China and Mika Combs fromThe Amazing Race 15. Swift does not appear in the video, but her vocals are still heard. It shows the story of a couple's relationship (the couple being played by Huffman and Combs). The band are shown performing in an empty hall, starting with Johnson playing guitar alone before the rest of the band members walk in and join.[10]
A music video e-Card was also released for the song.[11]
"Two Is Better Than One" was met with mixed reviews from music critics. A positive response came from Michael Menachem ofBillboard who stated, "Martin Johnson's falsetto complements Swift's sweet tone, and producer Brian Howes builds an orchestral arrangement around their vocals that would be well-suited to a climactic movie moment."[12] However, a negative review came from Tim Sendra ofAllMusic, which he described the track as "terrible" and "somethingDiane Warren would have shelved for being too trite and formulaic."[13] Another negative response came from Gregory Robson ofAbsolutePunk.net who felt that Swift's "contributions aren't as promising as one would expect."[14] Rob Sheffield ofRolling Stone remarked, "For some reason, they decided to delay her entrance until a minute into the song, arguably the worst decision in the history of decisions."[15]
"Two Is Better Than One" debuted at number 92 on theBillboard Hot 100.[17] It fell off the following week but re-entered at number 79 and rose the following week to number 64. For the week of January 9, 2010, the song then reached its peak at number 18 on the chart.[18] It became Boys Like Girls' first top 20 single on theBillboard Hot 100, becoming their biggest hit single to date, and Swift's eleventh top 20 single.[19]
By December 2011, "Two Is Better Than One" had sold 1,508,000 copies in the U.S. alone, outselling other big Taylor Swift hits such as "Tim McGraw" and "Fifteen".[6] As of November 2017, the song has sold 1.7 million copies in the United States.[20]
^Taylor, Swift; Martin, Johnson; Swift, Boys Like Girls featuring Taylor; Girls, Boys Like; Taylor, Swift (2009-12-31)."Two Is Better Than One".Musicnotes.com.Archived from the original on 2021-10-28. Retrieved2021-10-28.
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