The 1: Difference between revisions

| artist = [[Taylor Swift]]

| album = [[Folklore (Taylor Swift album)|Folklore]]

| released = {{Start date|2020|10|9}}

| recorded =

"The 1" received generally positive reviews from critics, who discussed the song in regard to it being the album's opening track and praised the songwriting and production. Commercially, the song debuted and peaked at number four on the US [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]] and was [[Music recording certification|certified]] platinum by the [[Recording Industry Association of America]] (RIAA). It charted within the top 10 and received certifications in several countries. Swift included "The 1" as part of the concert documentary ''[[Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions]]'' (2020) and her [[the Eras Tour|Eras Tour]] (2023–2024).

 

The American singer-songwriter [[Taylor Swift]] began work on her eighth studio album, ''[[Folklore (Taylor Swift album)|Folklore]]'', during the [[COVID-19 lockdowns]] in early 2020. She conceived the record as figments of [[Mythopoeia|mythopoeic]] visuals in her mind, as a result of her imagination "running wild" while isolating herself during lockdown.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Suskind |first=Alex |date=December 8, 2020 |title=Taylor Swift Broke All Her Rules with ''Folklore'' — And Gave Herself a Much-Needed Escape |url=https://ew.com/music/taylor-swift-entertainers-of-the-year-2020/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210312063543/https://ew.com/music/taylor-swift-entertainers-of-the-year-2020/ |archive-date=March 12, 2021 |access-date=November 18, 2023 |magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last= |first= |date=July 24, 2020 |title='It Started With Imagery': Read Taylor Swift's Primer For ''Folklore'' |url=https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/read-taylor-swift-primer-folklore-9423740/ |access-date=November 18, 2023 |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |archive-date=July 24, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200724184421/https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/9423740/read-taylor-swift-primer-folklore |url-status=live }}</ref> For the album's sound, Swift recruited the first-time collaborator, [[Aaron Dessner]], as a producer on ''Folklore''.<ref name="Strauss-2020">{{Cite web |last1=Strauss |first1=Matthew |last2=Minsker |first2=Evan |date=July 24, 2020 |title=Taylor Swift Releases New Album ''Folklore'': Listen and Read the Full Credits |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/taylor-swift-releases-new-album-folklore-listen-and-read-the-full-credits/ |access-date=March 6, 2024 |website=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]] |archive-date=September 10, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200910132536/https://pitchfork.com/news/taylor-swift-releases-new-album-folklore-listen-and-read-the-full-credits/ |url-status=live }}</ref> "The 1" was one of the tracks written by both Swift and Dessner, who produced all of them.<ref name="Strauss-2020" /> Due to the lockdown, they were separated and had to send them via [[digital file]]s to create the album.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Blistein |first=Jon |date=November 24, 2020 |title=Taylor Swift to Release New ''Folklore'' Film, ''The Long Pond Studio Sessions'' |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/taylor-swift-folklore-movie-long-pond-studio-sessions-1094615/ |access-date=November 19, 2023 |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |archive-date=November 24, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201124135743/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/taylor-swift-folklore-movie-long-pond-studio-sessions-1094615/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

 

Although much of the songs they worked on started from Desnner's instrumental tracks,<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Doyle |first=Patrick |date=November 13, 2020 |title=Musicians on Musicians: Taylor Swift & Paul McCartney |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/paul-mccartney-taylor-swift-musicians-on-musicians-1089058/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201130060712/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/paul-mccartney-taylor-swift-musicians-on-musicians-1089058/ |archive-date=November 30, 2020 |access-date=November 19, 2023 |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]}}</ref> "The 1" was written first and then produced.<ref name="Gerber-2020">{{Cite web |last=Gerber |first=Brady |date=July 27, 2020 |title=The Story Behind Every Song on Taylor Swift's ''Folklore'' |url=https://www.vulture.com/2020/07/taylor-swift-folklore-aaron-dessner-breaks-down-every-song.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728234347/https://www.vulture.com/2020/07/taylor-swift-folklore-aaron-dessner-breaks-down-every-song.html |archive-date=July 28, 2020 |access-date=August 13, 2020 |website=[[Vulture (website)|Vulture]]}}</ref> It was one of the last two songs written for ''Folklore'', the other being "[[Hoax (song)|Hoax]]"; Dessner thought the album was finished before Swift sent a voice memo with lyrics of "The 1" days prior to the album's release. Dessner subsequently worked on some of its production and tracked Swift's vocals, and then his brother [[Bryce Dessner]] added [[orchestration]] to the song. Aaron Dessner described the song's development as "one of the very last things [they] did" for ''Folklore''.<ref name="Gerber-2020" />

 

== Music and lyrics ==

 

A few reviewers were more reserved in their praise. Spencer Kornhaber from ''[[The Atlantic]]'' said the track had a "suspicious whiff" from the English singer-songwriter [[Ed Sheeran]] and felt that its "solemnity [was] forced".<ref name="Kornhaber-2020" /> Jason Lipshutz of ''[[Billboard Hot 100|Billboard]]'' listed the song at number eleventh on his ranking of the tracks from ''Folklore'' and said that it stays "unadorned" for the majority of its length.<ref name="Lipshutz-2020" /> The ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''{{'}} Mikael Wood placed the song as the weakest track on his ranking of the album and believed it was "less emotionally daring" than the rest of the tracks.<ref name="Wood-2020" />

 

== Personnel ==