Long Live (Taylor Swift song)
"Long Live" is a song written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift for her third studio album, "Speak Now" (2010). Produced by Swift and Nathan Chapman, "Long Live" is the closing track of the 14-track standard "Speak Now" edition. It is a heartland rock, pop rock and country rock song featuring girl group harmonies and chiming rock guitars, with lyrics about Swift's gratitude for her fans and bandmates, using high school imagery to describe the accomplishments in life. After "Speak Now" was released, "Long Live" entered and peaked at number 85  on the US "Billboard" Hot 100. A remix featuring Brazilian singer Paula Fernandes was released as a digital single in Brazil in March 2012. Swift included the song on the regular set lists of two of her world tours, the Speak Now World Tour (2011–2012) and Reputation Stadium Tour (2018), and performed it on select dates of two of her world tours, the Red Tour (2013–2014) and the 1989 World Tour (2015). Background and composition. The song's lyrics celebrate moments of triumph in the narrator's life, including collecting awards and being crowned (prom) kings and queens, and indirectly  bring into question what others will remember of those times later on. Dave Heaton of PopMatters described "Long Live" as an "anthem of defiance", similar to "Fearless" album-ender "Change". In an explanation of the song's meaning on her website, Swift called the song a "love song... written to my team". Its lyrics feature high school imagery describing the accomplishments in life such as the coronation of prom kings and queens. Musically, "Long Live" is a heartland rock song, featuring chiming rock guitars and girl group harmonies. Rob Sheffield in "Rolling Stone" compared the song's guitars to those  on "Hysteria" by Def Leppard. A repeating guitar riff carries the song, while the chorus features a strong drum beat. According to the digital sheet music published by Sony/ATV Music Publishing, "Long Live" was composed in the key of G Major and set in common time to a "moderate" tempo of 92 BPM. Lyrics of the song are included in one of Swift's journal entries from June 2010. Critical reception. "Long Live" received mixed to positive reviews from critics. Rob Sheffield of "Rolling Stone" found the song to be heavy-handed but effective: ""Speak Now" peaks with 'Long  Live,' a ridiculously over-the-top prom anthem with all the epic girl-group swoon of the Ronettes or the Shirelles, plus a guitar lick from Def Leppard's 'Hysteria' ... Yet when Swift sings it, damn if you don't believe every word." In About.com's review of "Speak Now", Bill Lamb referred to "Long Live" as "perhaps the most powerful song [on the album]", noting its effectiveness as an album closer, and listed it as #5 on its top five album tracks. Comparing the song favorably to "Change" from "Fearless", "PopMatters" editor Dave Heaton felt the song was somewhat  generic, but that the ambiguity of its subject matter strengthens its appeal as an anthem. "It’s an anthem of defiance," he wrote, "where the defiant ones are gaining their energy from memories and story-making." Others were less receptive to the song. In her review for "HitFix", Melinda Newman labelled "Long Live", along with "Enchanted", as "throwaways" compared to the sharper lyricism of other tracks, and suggesting these two suffer the most from "going on a minute or two too long". In 2021, Sheffield ranked it as the sixth best song of Swift's career. Live performances. Swift first  performed "Long Live" on a performance at the Royal Caribbean cruise ship Allure of the Sea in January, 2011. Swift also included the song as part of the regular setlist of the Speak Now World Tour, performing it on every tour date as the last song before the encore. "Long Live" was also performed on selected dates during The Red Tour, The 1989 World Tour and Reputation Stadium Tour. On the Red Tour, an acoustic version of the song was played by Swift while she sat on red stool with her guitar in an intimate moment with her fans. Swift  played the song also in an acoustic version on the last date of The 1989 World Tour, in Melbourne, Australia. On the Reputation Stadium Tour, Swift performed this song from the piano along with a mashup of "New Year's Day". Credits and personnel. Credits are adapted from Tidal. Paula Fernandes version. In 2012, a new version of the song was released as a single from the Brazilian edition of Swift's live album "Speak Now World Tour – Live" (2011), featuring additional Portuguese verses written and performed by Brazilian recording artist Paula Fernandes. This release was a local hit, breaking  into the top 5 on "Billboard" Brazil's Brasil Hot 100 Airplay chart. The song was included on the album "Meus Encantos" (2012) and the live album "Multishow Ao Vivo: Um Ser Amor" (2013), both by Fernandes. Music video. A music video for the single version of the song was filmed. The video is made to appear as if Swift and Fernandes are performing the song at the same time while connected via satellite, with Fernandes recording the song in Brazil while Swift performs the song during a show in the United States. Fernandes commented that "the idea for the  video is for it to look like I'm here in Brazil participating in a Taylor Swift show in the United States." For that, several big screens showing Swift performing in a concert were used in the studio where Fernandes' scenes were filmed. Fernandes' parts of the video were filmed in one hour. The video was directed by Eduardo Levy. Two days before the video's release, Fernandes stated that the video would debut in the Brazilian TV show "Fantastico" on Rede Globo.