--- description: It's out with the guitars and in with the drums on the singer's new '1989' track title: Taylor Swift's 'Out of the Woods' Breaks New Ground image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2c88f259908140de/69876091428a9e074ecc4845/rtr46zvi.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Listen to Taylor Swift's Hypnotic New Song 'Out of the Woods'  by [Sam Lansky](/author/sam-lansky/)  ## Sam Lansky Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 14, 2014 3:43 AM CUT  Singer Taylor Swift performs during the 2014 iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas, Nevada Sept. 19, 2014. Singer Taylor Swift performs during the 2014 iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas, Nevada Sept. 19, 2014.Steve Marcus—Reuters  by [Sam Lansky](/author/sam-lansky/)  ## Sam Lansky Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 14, 2014 3:43 AM CUT Taylor Swift rang in her most recent album era with “Shake It Off,” a cheerfully flip pop confection that reads as an act of defiance to everyone from the haters to country-radio programmers. For “Out of the Woods,” the second offering from her upcoming LP _1989_ (out Oct. 27), Swift’s rebellion takes a slyer shape, and a darker one. Swift wrote the song with fun.’s Jack Antonoff, and the sounds of his ’80s-inspired solo project Bleachers reverberate here: a distorted vocal sample, crunchy drums, echoing harmonies. Lyrically, though, it’s still classic Swift, capturing the anxiety of a volatile romance with poignant little details — there are paper airplanes flying, and Swift and her would-be-beau have to move the furniture so they can dance; and, of course, there’s [that much-discussed bridge](http://www.eonline.com/news/586928/taylor-swift-is-releasing-a-harry-styles-inspired-single-next-week-and-fans-are-going-bananas "undefined") about an accident that landed the unlucky couple in the hospital. But it’s the furious chant of that anthemic chorus, all breathless urgency, and the left-of-center production that help Swift perform the niftiest sleight of hand: Even with lyrics that include some of her most headline-grabbing autobiographical admissions to date, the most interesting thing here isn’t who it’s about, but rather, how different it sounds. Listen [here](http://www.justjared.com/2014/10/13/taylor-swift-out-of-the-woods-full-song-lyrics-listen-now/ "undefined"). _Read next:_ [_Taylor Swift Finally Explains Why She’s a Feminist and How Lena Dunham Helped_](http://time.com/3165825/taylor-swift-feminist-lena-dunham/?xid=time%5Freadnext "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3502753/taylor-swift-out-of-the-woods/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3502753/taylor-swift-out-of-the-woods/"},"headline":"Listen to Taylor Swift's Hypnotic New Song 'Out of the Woods'","datePublished":"2014-10-14T03:43:19.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T10:45:15.971Z","description":"It's out with the guitars and in with the drums on the singer's new 1989 track","url":"https://time.com/3502753/taylor-swift-out-of-the-woods/","keywords":["Music","Taylor Swift","1989 topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2c88f259908140de/69876091428a9e074ecc4845/rtr46zvi.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sam Lansky","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sam-lansky/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2c88f259908140de/69876091428a9e074ecc4845/rtr46zvi.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Singer Taylor Swift performs during the 2014 iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas","caption":"Singer Taylor Swift performs during the 2014 iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas","creditText":"Steve Marcus—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3502753/taylor-swift-out-of-the-woods/","name":"Listen to Taylor Swift's Hypnotic New Song 'Out of the Woods'"}}]}] ```