Picture to Burn (song)

"**Picture to Burn**" is a song by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, taken from her self-titled debut studio album (2006). Swift and Liz Rose wrote the track, which was produced by Nathan Chapman. The song was released as the album's fourth single on February 4, 2008, by Big Machine Records. For the lyrics, which narrate a protagonist's contempt and vengeance against an ex-lover, Swift was inspired by the narcissistic and cocky nature of a high-school classmate. Musically, the track is an incorporation of country rock and alternative rock, and it features prominent plunking banjo and distorted guitars.

The original album version of "Picture to Burn" contained the lyric, "That's fine; I'll tell mine you're gay", which was modified to "That's fine; You won't mind if I say", on the radio edit and subsequent versions. Music critics praised the song's production and lyrics for earnestly depicting teenage feelings. In the United States, the single peaked at number 28 on the *Billboard* Hot 100 and number three on Hot Country Songs, and was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It peaked within the top 50 in Canada, where it was certified gold.

The music video for "Picture to Burn" was directed by Trey Fanjoy and features Swift fantasizing about taking revenge on her ex-boyfriend after she discovers him with another woman. The video has Swift and her band performing with pyrotechnics as a backdrop. Swift performed "Picture to Burn" live as an opening act to other country-music artists' tours, and included it in the set list of her first headlining tour, the Fearless Tour (2009–10).

## Background and release

Swift was inspired to write "Picture to Burn" by an informal boyfriend from high school; both Swift and the boy were classmates at Hendersonville High School in Tennessee. She found him narcissistic and cocky, which frustrated her, and channeled this feeling through her after-school songwriting. Liz Rose co-wrote the song on guitar, and Swift gave it a comedic edge, exclaiming to herself, "I hate his stupid truck that he doesn't let me drive. He's such a redneck! Oh my God!", a line that was ultimately developed into the chorus. Speaking of "Picture to Burn", Swift described it as brutally honest and cited it as an example of how she expressed her feelings towards those who wronged her. She said it was the only song driven by anger on her self-titled debut album (2006) and that it was a topic she felt most teenage females could relate to. After Swift performed "Picture to Burn" at concerts throughout 2006–2007, she decided to pick it as a single because the crowd seemed to be the most enthusiastic with most screaming it "at the top of their lungs".

In retrospect, Swift stated that the song was something typical of her to say in her teenage years and that it exemplified how she processed emotion at the time, "I didn't know anything then." She explained, "I had this song called 'Picture to Burn,' that's talking about how 'I hate your truck,' and 'I hate that you ignored me,' 'I hate you.' Now, the way that I would say that and the way that I would feel that kind of pain is a lot different." Despite her evolving on a personal level and as a songwriter, she claimed not to be regretful of "Picture to Burn", rather happy she was able to demonstrate "those emotions that when you're so angry, you hate everything. It's like recording your diary over the years, and that's a gift", she said. "Picture to Burn" was released to US country radio as the fourth single from *Taylor Swift* on February 3, 2008, by Big Machine Records. It was released to US contemporary hit radio on July 15, 2008, by Big Machine and Republic Records.

### Composition

"Picture to Burn" is 2 minutes and 55 seconds long. It is an uptempo number that music critics described as country rock. Written in the key of G major, the song is set in common time and has a tempo of 106 beats per minute with a strong beat. Swift's boasts with "big vocals" that span two octaves, from the note of G3 to C5. It follows the chord progression G–Am7–C–D. The verses are driven by banjos and drums, meanwhile the refrains' instrumentation is marked by distorted guitars. Musicologist James E. Perone commented that "Picture to Burn" is an amalgam of mainstream country-rock, country (the use of banjo), and alternative rock (the distorted guitars, "abrupt" dynamic shift, and melodic syncopation at the 16th-note level).

Lyrically, "Picture to Burn" is an evisceration of a no-good adolescent male, and is directed towards an ex-boyfriend. The narrator ridicules the ex-boyfriend's love for pickup trucks and threatens to date all of his friends. About the song's theme, Sean Dooley of About.com commented, "Swift takes no prisoners in her quest to make a former flame feel her wrath for doing her wrong." In the first verse, Swift introduces relationship by stating she acknowledged the fact that her former boyfriend was more in love with himself than with her. The second verse has Swift plotting retaliation: "There's no time for tears / I'm just sitting here planning my revenge / There's nothing stopping me / From goin' out with all of your best friends." For the refrains, she speaks of setting fire to photographs of her ex-boyfriend, concluding them with a musical punch line, "As far as I'm concerned / You're just another picture to burn". About.com found the song's theme to be feminism.

## Live performances

"Picture to Burn" was part of Swift's set lists as the opening act to Brad Paisley's 2007 tour and Rascal Flatts's 2008 tour. While promoting her debut album, Swift sang "Picture to Burn" on October 10, 2007, on *Regis & Kelly*. She then performed the song at a concert at the Apple Store in SoHo, New York, which was recorded and released as a live extended play (EP), *iTunes Live from SoHo*, exclusively sold through the iTunes Store. Commencing promotion for it in early and mid-2008, Swift performed "Picture to Burn" on Studio 330 Sessions, *Good Morning America*, the 2008 CMT Music Awards, and *Nashville Star*. Since completing promotion for *Taylor Swift* and its corresponding singles, the singer has performed the song on Clear Channel Communications's Stripped, at the 2009 CMA Music Festival, at the 2009 V Festival, and at the Australian charity concert Sydney Sound Relief.

Swift performed "Picture to Burn" to close the main set, before commencing the encore on all venues of her first headlining concert tour, the Fearless Tour (2009–10). During 2009 performances, Swift donned a black cocktail dress with sparkly ornaments along the stomach, as she roamed throughout the stage, which was projected with images of searing flames, singing the song. In the 2010 extension, Swift bared a spangly, violet mini-dress. Jim Harrington of the *San Jose Mercury News* believed "Picture to Burn"'s performance on April 11, 2010 at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California demonstrated how versatile Swift was as a performer, feeling equally at gusto with tender ballads and uptempo rockers. Of the performance at the tour's final concert on June 5, 2010, at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, Jay N. Miller of *The Patriot Ledger* said, "She strutted down the catwalk chastising another hapless ex-boyfriend". Attending the same concert, Molly Trust of *Billboard* deemed the performance one of the most energized moments of the night, while Susan McDonald of *The Sun Chronicle* deemed it simple, yet the most powerful. On July 14, 2023, at the Empower Field Stadium in Denver, Swift performed "Picture to Burn" as a "surprise song", as part of the Eras Tour (2023–2024).