"Everything Has Changed" is a song by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, featuring English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran. It is from Swift's fourth studio album, Red (2012). Big Machine Records released it as the sixth single from the album on July 14, 2013. The music video, directed by Philip Andelman, was released on June 6, 2013. Produced by Butch Walker, the song is a guitar-based folk-pop track and an emotional ballad. Its lyrics describe a desire to learn more about a new romantic partner.
Some music critics praised Swift and Sheeran's singing, while others thought the song was not very special. The track reached the top ten on the national charts of Ireland, Scotland, and the United Kingdom. It also received multi-platinum awards in Australia and the United States. Swift performed the song with Sheeran during her Red Tour (2013–2014). A re-recorded version, "Everything Has Changed (Taylor's Version)," was released as part of Swift's second re-recorded album, Red (Taylor's Version), on November 12, 2021. The track reached number 59 on the Billboard Global 200 and appeared on charts in Canada, Singapore, and the United States.
Production and composition
Taylor Swift released her third studio album, Speak Now, in October 2010. She wrote the album herself and worked with Nathan Chapman to produce it. Speak Now had a similar country pop style to her earlier album, Fearless (2008). For her fourth album, Red (2012), Swift wanted to try new musical styles. She worked with different producers outside of her usual team in Nashville, Tennessee.
Swift wrote the song "Everything Has Changed" with Ed Sheeran while they were on a trampoline in her backyard. The song was produced by Butch Walker, a well-known producer. Swift first worked with Walker and Sheeran on separate songs. She later shared "Everything Has Changed" with Walker because she believed he would create music that felt natural, like Sheeran's style. She chose Walker for Red because she admired his music, which expresses strong emotions.
"Everything Has Changed" is a song with a moderate pace and is played on a guitar. Critics called it a folk-pop song. The track uses a special rhythm pattern, which musicologist James E. Perone noted as a common feature in Swift's music and similar to her first album (2006). Perone also said the song includes hip-hop influences, such as deep bass drum beats. The lyrics describe two people who are new to a relationship and want to learn more about each other. Both Swift and Sheeran sing the song, taking turns in the verses.
Release and live performances
"Everything Has Changed" is the fourteenth song on the album Red, which was released on October 22, 2012, by Big Machine Records. In April 2013, Swift announced that "Everything Has Changed" would be released as a single in the United Kingdom. The song was released as a single in the United Kingdom on July 14, and in the United States two days later. On June 8, 2013, Swift and Sheeran performed the song during the season finale of the seventh season of Britain's Got Talent. They also performed the track during Swift's third concert tour, the Red Tour (2013–2014). Swift performed "Everything Has Changed" at the Eras Tour on July 22, 2023. She later performed it as part of a mashup with her song "Glitch" on June 3, 2024, and with Sheeran as part of a mashup with "End Game" and "Thinking Out Loud" on August 15, 2024.
Critical reception
Some music critics praised the song "Everything Has Changed" from Taylor Swift's album Red, as well as Swift and Ed Sheeran's singing. Perone gave the song a positive review, calling it a nice song that "should not be overlooked." Mesfin Fekadu of the Associated Press said the song was one of the best parts of Red, praising Swift and Sheeran's high-pitched singing. In the Los Angeles Times, Randall Roberts called the song a "powerful collaboration" and chose it as one of the album's "well-made pop songs designed for singing together in private." Phil Gallo from Billboard described the song as showing Swift at her most emotional. Another Billboard article reviewing Red gave the song a mixed review, saying the lyrics were overused but praising Sheeran's harmony vocals.
Other reviews were less positive. Jon Caramanica from The New York Times said Swift's writing on the track was not as strong as her earlier songs but still noted her ability to capture the uncertain feelings of falling in love. Robert Cospey of Digital Spy gave the song three stars out of five, calling the music style "cutesy" but saying the singers' interaction created a warm and comforting feeling that is rare. Sian Rowe from NME said the song was not as good as the other works of Swift and Sheeran and called it "disappointing in every way." Bernard Perusse from the Edmonton Journal called it a weak song. Tony Clayton-Lea from The Irish Times said "Everything Has Changed" was Swift's "desperate attempt" to reach new listeners. Also from The Irish Times, Eoin Butler gave the song a two-out-of-five rating, calling it a "typically sentimental ballad."
Commercial performance
In the United States, "Everything Has Changed" reached number 32 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. On Billboard's airplay charts, the song reached number 8 on Adult Pop Songs, number 11 on Adult Contemporary, and number 14 on Mainstream Top 40. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) gave it a double platinum award for selling more than two million copies through sales and streaming. The track also appeared on charts in Ireland (5), Scotland (7), the United Kingdom (7), New Zealand (22), Australia (28), and Canada (28). It received a triple platinum certification in Australia and a platinum certification in Brazil, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. According to the Official Charts Company (OCC), "Everything Has Changed" is Taylor Swift's most downloaded collaborative single in the United Kingdom, with 373,400 downloads as of July 2021.
Music video
The music video for "Everything Has Changed" was released on June 6, 2013. Philip Andelman directed the video, and it was filmed in Los Angeles and San Antonio. The video starts with two children who look like Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran when they were young. They meet on a bus heading to elementary school. During the video, the children do many activities together at school, such as drawing with crayons, playing pretend as a princess and knight, and dancing in an empty gym. At the end, Swift and Sheeran appear and are shown to be the parents of the children, arriving to pick them up and take them home.
Jason Lipshutz from Billboard called the video "very cute," and Ray Rahman from Entertainment Weekly said the video's story reminded him of the movie Forrest Gump (1994), but described it as "much gentler." The actors who appeared in the "Everything Has Changed" video later took part in the music video for "The Joker and the Queen" (2022), a song by Sheeran featuring Swift. Some media outlets considered "The Joker and the Queen" a follow-up to the "Everything Has Changed" video.
"Everything Has Changed (Taylor's Version)"
In November 2018, Taylor Swift left Big Machine Records and signed with Republic Records. In November 2020, she began re-recording her first six studio albums. This decision happened after a public disagreement in 2019 between Swift and Scooter Braun, who had bought Big Machine Records and owned the masters of her albums. By re-recording the albums, Swift gained full ownership of the new masters, allowing her to control how her songs were used for commercial purposes and replace the masters owned by Big Machine. The re-recorded version of "Everything Has Changed," titled "Taylor's Version," was released as part of her second re-recorded album, Red (Taylor's Version), on November 12, 2021.
On August 23, 2021, Ed Sheeran shared a video showing him in the studio working on the re-recorded version of "Everything Has Changed" and recording "Run," another song from Red (Taylor's Version). "Everything Has Changed (Taylor's Version)" reached number 59 on the Billboard Global 200 chart and appeared on charts in Singapore (24), Canada (51), and the United States (63).
Credits are adapted from the liner notes of the album Red (Taylor's Version).
- Taylor Swift – songwriter, lead vocals, background vocals
- Ed Sheeran – songwriter, lead vocals, background vocals, acoustic guitar
- Butch Walker – producer, engineer, background vocals, bass, drums, guitar, keyboard, percussion
- Christopher Rowe – vocals engineer
- Robert Sellens – vocals engineer
- Bryce Bordone – engineer
- Serban Ghenea – mixer
- Gary Lightbody – background vocals