Claim: Taylor Swift writes and sings.

`` We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together '' is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift for her fourth studio album , Red -LRB- 2012 -RRB- . Swift co-wrote the song with its producers , Max Martin and Shellback . The song was released as the lead single from Red on August 13 , 2012 , by Big Machine Records . Its lyrics depict Swift 's frustrations at an ex-lover who wants to re-kindle their relationship . Rolling Stone magazine named the song the second best song of 2012 while it took the fourth spot in Times end-of-year poll . It has received a Grammy Award nomination for Record of the Year . It also received a People 's Choice Awards nomination for Favorite Song of the Year .   The song was an instant commercial success , becoming Swift 's first number one on the Billboard Hot 100 as well as the first song to hold the top spot for more than one week after a huge leap , since Kelly Clarkson 's two-week run of `` My Life Would Suck Without You '' after the song rocketed from number 97 to the top spot . A music video for the song was released in August 2012 . It was the first music video to be presented in 4K resolution and received positive reviews from critics . A CD single was released in September 2012 by Swift 's official store , Amazon.com and US Walmart stores . The single has been certified Quintuple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America -LRB- RIAA -RRB- . The song is one of the best-selling singles worldwide , with worldwide sales reaching 7 million copies to date -LRB- according to the IFPI -RRB- .