Holy Ground

Album: Red (2012)
Charted: 76
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This country-rock stomper finds Swift reminiscing about a relationship that ran on "New York time" where for a short period, "everywhere we stood is holy ground." Regarding whom she is singing about, as far as we're aware, two of Taylor's exes were based in New York - Joe Jonas whom she had a relationship with in 2008 and Brokeback Mountain star Jake Gyllenhaal whom the songstress dated for about three months in late 2010.
  • Jeff Bhasker, the man behind much of Kanye West's, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy album, produced this song. It is one of several tracks on Red that finds Swift collaborating with a variety of different writers and producers. She told CMT News: "This album was such an amazing experience because, for my last album, I just wrote it by myself. And so this one, I wanted to approach it differently because I never want to make the same album twice. So I would just call my songwriting and producing heroes and say, 'Hey, you want to work together?' And I got to work with some of my heroes, and I feel like I learned so much about other people's processes and other people's ways of doing things. It's so healthy as an artist to consistently put yourself in a room with people who are so different, style-wise, and so different in the way that they approach music than you are because it teaches you things. It teaches you new tricks."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Producer Ron Nevison

Producer Ron NevisonSong Writing

Ron Nevison explains in very clear terms the Quadrophenia concept and how Heart staged their resurgence after being dropped by their record company.

Dennis DeYoung

Dennis DeYoungSongwriter Interviews

Dennis DeYoung explains why "Mr. Roboto" is the defining Styx song, and what the "gathering of angels" represents in "Come Sail Away."

Marc Campbell - "88 Lines About 44 Women"

Marc Campbell - "88 Lines About 44 Women"They're Playing My Song

The Nails lead singer Marc Campbell talks about those 44 women he sings about over a stock Casio keyboard track. He's married to one of them now - you might be surprised which.

James Williamson of Iggy & the Stooges

James Williamson of Iggy & the StoogesSongwriter Interviews

The Stooges guitarist (and producer of the Kill City album) talks about those early recordings and what really happened with David Bowie.

Loudon Wainwright III

Loudon Wainwright IIISongwriter Interviews

"Dead Skunk" became a stinker for Loudon when he felt pressure to make another hit - his latest songs deal with mortality, his son Rufus, and picking up poop.

Edwin McCain

Edwin McCainSongwriter Interviews

"I'll Be" was what Edwin called his "Hail Mary" song. He says it proves "intention of the songwriter is 180 degrees from potential interpretation by an audience."