Somehow with every album Taylor Swift puts out, she proves time and again that she truly is one of the most talented musicians of her generation. Naysayers may have felt disgruntled when the young country starlet opted to pursue the pop world, but if her re-recordings of country albums Fearless and Red have shown us anything, it's that she just keeps getting better. The release of Red (Taylor's Version) was one of the best parts of 2021, thanks to updates to old classics and the new songs she released 'from the vault.' As much as we loved her 10-minute version of "All Too Well" bringing her brief romance with Jake Gyllenhaal back into the limelight, one of the most unexpected gems was her collab with Chris Stapleton, "I Bet You Think About Me." You probably didn't realize it was meant to be a cheeky drinking song.
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Who Wrote 'I Bet You Think About Me'?
That might be surprising considering the lyrics of the country tune don't actually reference any alcohol. According to Billboard, Boston radio station, Country 102.5, posted an audio clip on social media of Swift discussing "I Bet You Think About Me" and her inspiration behind writing it with Lori McKenna. After its debut in Nov. 2021, the catchy song peaked at number 3 on country radio, an entire decade after it was written.
"This is a song I wrote with Lori McKenna, who's one of my favorite sing-songwriters ever. I'd always wanted to work with her ... I wrote this with her at her house when I was playing Foxboro [Gillette Stadium] on the Speak Now Tour," Swift said in the clip.
"We wanted this song to be like a comedic, tongue-in-cheek, funny, not caring what anyone thinks about you sort of breakup song because there are a lot of different types of heartbreak songs on Red — some of them are very sincere, some of them very stoic and heartbreaking and sad — we wanted this to be the moment where you're like, 'I don't care about anything...we wanted to kind of make people laugh with it, and we wanted it to be sort of a drinking song. I think that that's what it ended up being."
Who is 'I Bet You Think About Me' About?
Like many of Swift's vault tracks, it's confusing how this song didn't make the original Red album. From the playful harmonica to the breezy harmonies where Stapleton joins in, it's easily one of the standouts of her latest album. Many have speculated that similar to most of Red, the many playful jabs throughout the song are directed at Gyllenhaal -- "silver-spoon gated community," "bright Beverly Hills," "organic shoes," "upper-crust circles," "cool indie music concerts." You get the idea. The singer-songwriter had no issues getting specific in this fun breakup song.
Swift tapped her celebrity pal Blake Lively to direct the music video which marked a directorial debut for the actress known for her role on the TV series Gossip Girl. The 6-minute video stars actor Miles Teller on his wedding day (to his real wife Keleigh Sperry Teller), looking back on his failed past relationship with Swift. Since the song is on the album Red there is plenty of that color throughout (even inside the wedding cake Swift tears apart) as well as a few easter eggs nodding to her other music videos as well as the All Too Well: The Short Film.
"The reddest video EVER is out now. Directed by @blakelively who SMASHED it just like I smashed this cake," Swift wrote on Twitter when the video debuted.
Co-producer Aaron Dessner cameos as a member of the wedding band and Swift's brother Austin is also credited as a producer. You can tell the superstar is genuinely having fun filming the video as she goofs off with the kids at the children's table during the reception, chugs wine, and more around her ex's wedding. For the first time since 2018, Swift landed an ACM Award nomination for Video of the Year, a first for Blake Lively. Swift happily issued her excitement and congratulations to her collaborators after the nomination on social media.
"AHHHHHHH CONGRATS @blakelively, MILES AND @keleighteller!!!! BIG GROUP HUG!" Swift said in Instagram Stories. "I loved making this video and it's so cool to see the @acmawards nominate it for video of the year."
Blake Lively was also shocked and excited by the recognition, telling Entertainment Tonight, "Academy of Country Music was not on my vision board. Who knew I was gonna be a music gal?"
