White Horse (Taylor Swift song)

"**White Horse**" is a song by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift and the second single from her second studio album, *Fearless* (2008). Big Machine Records released the track to US country radio on December 8, 2008. Swift wrote "White Horse" with Liz Rose and produced it with Nathan Chapman. An understated country pop ballad, the song is driven by a finger-picked guitar and includes piano and cello accents. The lyrics incorporate fairy-tale imagery of princesses and white horses: a narrator is heartbroken on realizing that her boyfriend is not an ideal figure like she thought, and in the end she leaves her town with hopes of finding somebody more worthy.

Music critics lauded "White Horse" for what they deemed a somber production and a portrayal of universal feelings arising from heartbreak, but some found the lyrics uncreative. At the 2010 Grammy Awards, the track won Best Country Song and Best Female Country Vocal Performance. In the United States, the single peaked at number 13 on the *Billboard* Hot 100 and number two on the Hot Country Songs chart, and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified it double platinum. The song also charted in Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom; it received certifications in the first two countries.

Trey Fanjoy directed the song's music video, which depicts Swift reliving memories with her ex-boyfriend and her discovery of his infidelity after having ended their relationship through a phone call. The video premiered on February 7, 2009, on CMT, and it became the first video to debut at number one on the network's countdown. Swift performed "White Horse" live at the 2008 American Music Awards, on her Fearless Tour (2009–2010), and on select dates of her later tours. Following the 2019 dispute regarding the ownership of Swift's back catalog, she re-recorded the song as "**White Horse (Taylor's Version)**" for her 2021 re-recorded album *Fearless (Taylor's Version)*.

## Background and writing

Taylor Swift wrote songs for her second studio album, *Fearless*, while touring as an opening act for other country musicians to promote her self-titled debut studio album during 2007–2008, when she was 17–18 years old. Continuing the romantic themes of her first album, Swift wrote songs about love and personal experiences from the perspective of a teenage girl to ensure her fans could relate to *Fearless*. She said that nearly every album track had a "face" that she associated with it. The end product is a collection of songs about the challenges of love with prominent high-school and fairy-tale lyrical imagery. Swift and producer Nathan Chapman recorded more than 50 songs for *Fearless*, and "White Horse" was one of the 13 tracks that made the final cut. Recorded by audio engineer Chad Carlson, the track was produced by Swift and Chapman. Justin Niebank, assisted by Steve Blackmon, mixed it at Blackbird Studios in Nashville.

According to a note published in the liner notes of Swift's 2019 album *Lover*, part of the lyrics to "White Horse" dated from December 2006. She wrote the first verse by herself; co-writer Liz Rose helped her complete the song in 45 minutes. Swift completed writing "White Horse" weeks after she finished the lead single "Love Story", almost one year before the release of *Fearless*. Swift said she was inspired to write "White Horse" by the moment she realized all the fantasies she had about a boy turned out completely false. The subject was also the inspiration for "Love Story"—Swift never dated him and, although initially infatuated with him, realized he was not an ideal Prince Charming like she thought. She told *The Daily Telegraph* that she kept his identity anonymous so as to "not glorify his inspirational qualities". Whereas both "Love Story" and "White Horse" feature prominent fairy-tale lyrical imagery, Swift said it was important to regard fairy tales with "both sides"; the former song represented her optimistic and idealistic viewpoint on romance, and the latter her disillusionment with the said notion.

## Release

Swift intended to leave "White Horse" off *Fearless* because she felt the album already had a fair share of sad songs. She changed the decision when the producers of *Grey's Anatomy* wanted to feature the song in the series. Swift recalled that at a meeting set up by her agency with the show's executive producers Shonda Rhimes and Betsy Beers, she played "White Horse" alone on guitar and they "freaked out". The song appeared on the premiere of season five, broadcast on September 25, 2008. Swift was elated by the feature and said it was her "life goal" to have her song on *Grey's Anatomy*, one of her favorite series.

"White Horse" was released as an album cut on *Fearless*, on November 11, 2008, by Big Machine Records. On December 8, Big Machine released the song to US country radio as the second single from the album. In the United States, "White Horse" debuted and peaked at number 13 on the *Billboard* Hot 100 chart week ending November 29, 2008. It gave Swift her sixth top-20 debut in 2008, which broke the record for the most top-20 debuts in a calendar year by an artist. On Hot Country Songs, the single peaked at number two on the chart week ending April 4, 2009. It was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 2014 and had sold two million digital copies in the United States by 2017. The single also charted in Australia (41), Canada (43), and the United Kingdom (60). It was certified gold in the first two countries.

### White Horse (Taylor's Version)

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 "White Horse (Taylor's Version)" on YouTube

After signing a new contract with Republic Records, Swift began re-recording her first six studio albums in November 2020. The decision followed a public 2019 dispute between Swift and talent manager Scooter Braun, who acquired Big Machine Records, including the masters of Swift's albums which the label had released. By re-recording the albums, Swift had full ownership of the new masters, which enabled her to control the licensing of her songs for commercial use and therefore substituted the Big Machine–owned masters.

Swift and Christopher Rowe produced the re-recorded track, which was recorded by David Payne at Black Bird and Prime Recording Studios in Nashville. Rowe recorded Swift's lead vocals at her home studio in London, and Serban Ghenea mixed the track at MixStar Studios in Virginia Beach, Virginia. John Hanes engineered the track, and Derek Garten and Lowell Reynolds were credited as additional engineers. Instruments and their corresponding musicians on the re-recording include acoustic guitar (Mike Meadows), bass guitar (Amos Heller), drums (Matt Billingslea), piano (Paul Sidoti), and string (Jonathan Yudkin).

The re-recording of "White Horse", subtitled "Taylor's Version", was released as part of *Fearless*'s re-recording, *Fearless (Taylor's Version)*. Swift contacted singer-songwriters Olivia Rodrigo and Conan Gray to preview a snippet of "White Horse (Taylor's Version)" on their social media on April 8, 2021, one day before Republic Records released *Fearless (Taylor's Version)*. "White Horse (Taylor's Version)" charted in Canada (72) and Australia (99), and it peaked at number 111 on the *Billboard* Global 200. In the United States, the re-recorded song peaked at number two on Bubbling Under Hot 100 and number 29 on Hot Country Songs.

"White Horse" runs for three minutes and 54 seconds. It is a country pop ballad; *Slant Magazine* critic Jonathan Keefe wrote that it has a pop hook. The song has an understated production driven by a finger-picked acoustic guitar alongside piano notes and cello accents. The sparse production highlights Swift's vocals that some critics found tender and breathy. For certain critics, the track's sound is melancholy and poignant—Jim Abott from the *Orlando Sentinel* picked it as a track that represents the album's sad songs. *The Arizona Republic* critic Ed Masley attributed this quality to the "haunting" piano and "dark, dramatic" cello. Swift said the sparse production made "White Horse" a *Fearless* track she was very proud of. The re-recorded "White Horse (Taylor's Version)" has the same arrangement, but the cello in the introduction is more resonant and the outro is a little longer.

Co-writer Liz Rose said the song is "every teenage girl's dream song of everything she ever wished from a boy". In the lyrics, a narrator is heartbroken that the boyfriend whom she used to love turns out contrary to the ideal figure she had hoped for. The narrator and the boyfriend reside in a small town. In the refrain, she compares her romance to a fairy tale fallen apart: "I'm not a princess, this ain't a fairytale/ I'm not the one you'll sweep off her feet/ Lead her up the stairwell." She then tells him that "it's too late for [him] and [his] white horse" to return to her and rekindle the relationship. In the final refrain, the narrator says she will move on from him and escape her town for a bigger world outside, to find somebody else who is more worthy, "This is a big world, that was a small town/ There in my rearview mirror disappearing now."

Some lyrical motifs on "White Horse" reprise those on the preceding *Fearless* tracks: the narrator dreams of being a "princess" ("Love Story") and compares the subject to an "angel" ("Hey Stephen"). Some critics said "White Horse" is a *Fearless* track that explores the disconnect between fantasy and real life and an antithesis of the optimist lead single "Love Story", which explores a fairy-tale–inspired romance that has a happy ending. Josh Love in *The Village Voice* found the lyrics to be from the perspective of a "reborn realist". According to *Gigwise* journalist Kelsey Barnes, Swift's vocals in the re-recording no longer display the naivete and shame of feeling sad and instead express the narrator's loss of innocence from a more reflective point-of-view.

## Critical reception

When "White Horse" was first released, some critics praised the song for what they deemed a portrayal of heartbreak that, although told from a teenager's perspective, appeals to a broad audience and not just Swift's target audience of teenagers. Love said its lyrics showcase "preternatural wisdom and inclusiveness", and *USA Today*'s Elysa Gardner complimented the "guileless urgency and unmannered precociousness". Other critics praised the production. Reviewing the single for *Billboard*, Deborah Evan Price wrote it appeals to many people because its production highlights Swift's lyrics and "heart-on-the-sleeve" vocals that "[make] the pain and disillusionment palpable". *The Guardian'*s Alex Macpherson lauded the "breathtaking" final refrain, and Keefe, who picked the track as *Fearless*'s best, complimented how "strongly the hooks stand out". *Newsday*'s Glenn Gamboa ranked "White Horse" ninth on a list of the 10 best songs of 2008. At the 2010 Grammy Awards, the single won Best Country Song and Best Female Country Vocal Performance.

Reviewing the re-recorded "White Horse (Taylor's Version)", some critics positively remarked how it retained the original's earnest emotion. In *The New York Times*, Joe Coscarelli found the re-recording's production fresh and refined, which elevated the original's songwriting. Keefe, who initially criticized Swift's vocals as weak and restrained, wrote that they improved on "White Horse (Taylor's Version)", which consolidated it as the album's best track. Allison Stewart of *The Washington Post* felt the re-recorded song, though a compelling track, "drags a little". "White Horse" featured highly on some retrospective rankings of Swift's songs, such as those by Masley, who highlighted the "aching" refrain, and *The Guardian*'s Alexis Petridis, who praised its "impressive subtlety".

Some critics were not as complementary and said the lyrics were uncreative—Roisin O'Connor of *The Independent* said the fairy-tale–indebted narrative was not as effective as that of the previous single, "Love Story". Keefe deemed the lyrical imagery "well worn, clichéd", and *NME*'s Lucy Harbron said it "comes at the expense of emotional heft". Musicologist James E. Perone deemed the lyrics familiar and generic, but contended that the track was effective because of Swift's performance and the "engaging music and musical arrangement".