Songwriting Teacher Reacts: New Romantics (Taylor Swift)

Added: 2026-05-05

[00:00:00]Well, we could talk about Action 8, but let's  talk song. Before we start, let me quickly thank Andrew Morgan, QMSSE, My Unfinished Ideas,  Jonathan Riberro, JC, Prince of Wales, Amy May, Jennifer Grinder, Lena, and Bloody Mary 26 for  their active financial support here on YouTube or over on Patreon. If the rest of you also  want to help with this, please check the links in descriptions. It can give you early access to  the videos, plus exclusive material, so it's worth a while. Today I'm going to analyze a suggestion  by Patreon members Angie Whitikin and Jennifer Grinder. The song is called New Romantics. It's  by Taylor Swift. And I really want to continue learning about this amazing songwriter.  So without further ado, let's get going.

[00:00:48]Step one, find the tonal center.

[00:00:57]I feel like it's F major. Step two,  find the chord progression in the intro.

[00:01:03][music] [music] I don't know.

[00:01:23][music] I believe it's F major, D minor, C, G minor,  which would make it 1 6 minor, 52 minor. But there are juicy additional notes that make  it quite interesting and difficult to spot.

[00:01:41]There is this uh melody hook as well that  I'm going to analyze melody wise. [music] I think is what we hear, right? [singing] [music] [music] Interesting. So, um maybe the song doesn't  even start on the F major. I don't really know.

[00:02:20]Might also be B flat.

[00:02:27]I think it's B flat to D minor to C [music]  sus4 maybe and then G minor. Really interesting.

[00:02:36]really uh Lydian [music] that makes  it magical and juicy verse. [music] Okay. I I still [music] think that this is the progression. B  flat, [music] D minor, C, and G minor.

[00:03:05]Melody. Not really melody.  We're all [music] bored.

[00:03:10]We're all bored. We're all  [music] tired of everything.

[00:03:18]All so tired of everything.

[00:03:22]Wait for Repeat the motif. Trains  [music] that just aren't coming.

[00:03:28]Trains that just aren't coming. Really cool.  So, we've got two melodic motifs taking turn a two note motif and then  followed by and then it's lyrics. We all bored. We're all so  tired of everything. We wait for beautiful rhyme. Also leaving this open.  Trains that just aren't coming. [music] New melody in that second verse hung off.

[00:04:09]So in a variation of that it's  now [music] this is what we know and then Leaving this open and unresolved.  We really want to continue. [music] We are still in the verse. We build this  dancy disco cool thing. We're so young, but we're on the road to ruin. We play dumb,  but we know exactly what we're doing. Cry tears.

[00:04:51]We cry tears. A mascara [music] in the  bathroom. Honey, life is just a classroom, [music] right? Uh, speeding things up. At the end, we cry tears of mascara in the bathroom.  Honey, life is just a classroom. [music] I I didn't know that this type of Taylor  Swift existed. Really, really cool.

[00:05:18]What is that? I'm getting uh what are those  bands from the maybe late naughties? Um Twodoor Cinema Club. This this empire thing. I  don't know. Really really beautiful dance music.

[00:05:42][music] I think it's the melody. [music] [music] Quartz. [music] What's the first one?

[00:06:07][music] [music] G minor, B flat, F and [music] C. So 2  minor 415. Ah, this we are the people that rule the world. What's that band? I don't  remember the name. Something with with empire.

[00:06:32]Empire of the sun, I believe.  Right. Very very dable.

[00:06:41][music] very very simple melody cuz baby  I could build a castle [music] variation but still the same idea [music] and then the A line gets repeated  and every day is like a battle.

[00:07:08]Even when the sky is falling down,  I know that we were safe and sound, right? This this band is that Empire of the Sun.

[00:07:22]You're safe and sound, [music] right? So this was the first chorus half  maybe cuz baby I could build a castle out of all the bricks they threw at  me and every day is like a battle but every night with us is like a dream. Okay,  so very very clear ab rhyming pattern. [music] Okay. Second chorus half  or post chorus. You choose with the title of the song. Certainly. [music] I think is the motif. Baby romantics. [music]  Come along with me. Come along with me.

[00:08:17]National [music] making it unresolved. Really beautiful.  And again with an abab rhyming pattern.

[00:08:26]Baby with a new romantics. Come on. Come along  with me. Heartbreak is the national anthem.

[00:08:32]We sing it proudly. Romantics. The  best people in life [music] are free.

[00:08:38]Oh well. Interesting. The best people in life  are free, not the best things in life are free.

[00:08:43]Um, we are too busy dancing to get knocked  off our feet. Baby, where the neur romantics, the best people in life are free. Really  interesting that they keep the rhyming pattern.

[00:08:53]They also keep the melodic motifs and what  they started with the baby weather romantics also becomes the end forming a beautiful  bracket with in that second chorus half is the resolution [music] this is the verse okay with the variation [music] Let's look at lyrics.

[00:09:32]We're all here. The lights and noise are blinding.  We hang back. It's all in the timing. [music] Right. It's it's all in the timing. Uh and they  break the rhythmical pattern there, creating a beautiful prootic element where she says it's  all in the timing. And um she changes rhythm a little bit and then it's poker. He can't see it  in my face, but I'm about to play my ice. [music] [music] Are true.

[00:10:10]Okay, second verse half of verse number two. We  need love, but all we want is danger. We team up and switch sides like a record changer. Switch  sides like a record changer. Okay, this is a very, very outdated reference. The rumors are terrible  and cruel, but honey, most of them are true.

[00:10:39][music] Beautiful transitionary hook.

[00:10:42][music] Every day [music] I think about [music] what a beautiful contrast between those two halves right of the chorus  with that beautiful [screaming] very melodic very let's say um  rhythmically settled and on the grit and then we've got this rushed and cool  baby with the neuromantics as the second idea. here in the chorus. Really,  really beautifully written. [music] [music] And we stay there and vamp on this and maybe  turn this into a primary bridge [music] with a new hook. [music] Right.

[00:11:55][music] So come on, come along with me. Is the best people  in life are free [music] people in life. The melodic variation best people in life  are free. No, I think it's best for free.

[00:12:18]No free resolving.

[00:12:26]I think this is primary bridge on the  verse chords. [music] Sorry. [singing] [music] Yes. [music] B flat, D minor, C sus, and G minor. New melody.

[00:13:03][music] Please take my hand and which was the newly  established ah ah hook I think. So theh in this um post chorus was  a foreshadowing element.

[00:13:19][music] Now gets lyrics down.

[00:13:27]Please take me dancing and stranded. It's so romantic. [music] Right. And it's a romantic neurom romantic  reference to the title of the song. So this um primary bridge was please take  my hand and please take me dancing and please leave me stranded. It's so romantic.

[00:13:59]It's a very very subtle and underestimated  transitional hook. [singing] I think without it, the song  wouldn't be as powerful. [music] And every [music] day is like a bad.

[00:14:25]Okay, they repeat the first  chorus half now and then don't go back to the new romantics just yet.  Hopefully it will come back later. [music] [music] Thank you for bringing it back.

[00:14:45][music] the best people for free.

[00:14:58]No resolving chord, but the melody and the lyrics  are the things that bring the song to an end.

[00:15:06]Best people in life are free, right? Best people  in life are free. Certainly resolving not with the chords, but with the melody. And now I see why  the song is so powerful because it's co-written by Max Martin and Shelbeck who certainly  know their way around pop music. So this was Taylor Swift new romantics and I'm sure we  can take away valuable songwriting learnings.

[00:15:32]Songwriting area number one is something  that I've just spotted with I know places as well because this is the video I just did  and that you probably saw a couple of days ago which is the line arrangement in the verses three  times you are allowed to repeat your idea but for the fourth time please think of something else  to avoid boredom right we're all bored we're all so tired of everything this is the core idea this  gets repeated twice we wait for trains that just aren't coming. We show off our different Scarlet  Letters. And then the fourth line is trust me, mine is better. Right? Recycling that idea from  scarlet letters, but certainly not offering this because I think this would have definitely  made the good verse idea boring. So, make sure to offer variation maybe in the third  time, maybe in the fourth line of your verses.

[00:16:28]Songwriting learning number two is about  the chorus bracket of the title, right?

[00:16:34]Where at the beginning of the second  chorus half, we have got this here. [music] [music] people in life are free.

[00:16:51]So it's a very very good idea especially if your  title is so strong to kind of form a bracket with your title presented at the beginning  and presented at the end. So it's certainly prominent in every way and direction. And  songwriting number three, I could certainly have listed a couple more because it's impressive.  Um I want to choose something unexpected which is this uh transitionary hook that leads us to  the chorus. And I think this defines the song, right? With u stuff or with a function that  normally a drum fill would have or something like this, right? Really lifting us toward that very  very powerful chorus. So this is something that makes the song strong without being the center of  attention, right? Especially in this chorus with Cuz Baby I could build a castle as chorus number  one and Baby Weather Neurom Romantics as hook number two. This h is almost a bit uh underrated,  right? But it's so important and I think this is the tiny details that we have to pay attention  to if transitioning from one section to the other and really making this uh chorus kick in. And this  was my live reaction on the fly analysis of Taylor Swift's New Romantics. Thank you to the people  who suggested it. If you like the video, please make sure to give me the thumbs up, to subscribe  to the Let's Talk Song channel if you haven't yet, or to leave and or to leave friendly comments,  maybe suggesting other songs you would like me to analyze. Let me especially thank Andrew Morgan,  HMS, My Unfinished Ideas, Jonathan Ribero, JC, Prince of Wales, Amy May, Jennifer Grinder, Lena,  and Bloody Mary 26 for their active financial support here on YouTube or over on Patreon. If  the rest of you also want to contribute, please check the links in description. I guess we've  talked. You can talk about action 8 now. Bye-bye.

[00:18:46][music] [music]