Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince

"Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince" is a song by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift from her seventh studio album Lover, released on August 23, 2019, through Republic Records. Written and produced by Swift and Joel Little, the track is a gloomy synth-pop song about Swift's disillusionment with the state of US politics.

"Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince"
Song by Taylor Swift
from the album Lover
ReleasedAugust 23, 2019 (2019-08-23)
Format
GenreSynth-pop
Length3:53
LabelRepublic
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Joel Little
  • Taylor Swift
Lover track listing
20 tracks
  1. "I Forgot That You Existed"
  2. "Cruel Summer"
  3. "Lover"
  4. "The Man"
  5. "The Archer
  6. "I Think He Knows"
  7. "Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince
  8. "Paper Rings"
  9. "Cornelia Street"
  10. "Death by a Thousand Cuts"
  11. "London Boy"
  12. "Soon You'll Get Better" (featuring Dixie Chicks)
  13. "False God"
  14. "You Need to Calm Down
  15. "Afterglow"
  16. "Me!" (featuring Brendon Urie of Panic! At The Disco)
  17. "It's Nice to Have a Friend"
  18. "Daylight"
Target and Japan deluxe edition bonus tracks (voice memos)
  1. "I Forgot That You Existed" (piano/vocal)
  2. "Lover" (piano/vocal)
Audio video
"Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince" on YouTube

"Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince" received critical acclaim for its atmospheric and melancholic production, and for its poetic lyricism effectively conveying Swift's disappointment and sorrow. Music critics called the song a standout on Lover, and compared the song to works by Bruce Springsteen, Lana Del Rey and Halsey. The song charted in Australia, Canada, Scotland, and the United States upon the release of its parent album. It debuted and peaked at number 49 and 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Rolling Stone Top 100, respectively.

Background and composition
"Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince" has been compared to works by (from left to right) Bruce Springsteen, Lana Del Rey and Halsey.

Swift wrote the synth-pop song "a couple of months" after the 2018 United States elections.[1][2] In the song, she expresses her disillusionment with the state of US politics and inequality.[3] "Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince" has been described as "a dreamy ode to love, in a fashion that Lana Del Rey might be proud of." The song has been called a "callback" to Halsey's "New Americana", and has been compared to Del Rey's "Video Games" and "National Anthem", and Swift's songs "You Belong with Me" (2008) and "Long Live" (2010). It "mixes prom vibes with old school Americana vibes with a new age love story."[4]

After an interview with Swift, Variety's Chris Willman opined that the lyrics of "Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince" are a metaphor for "how Swift grew up as an unblinking patriot and has had to reluctantly leave behind her naiveté in the age of Trump".[5]

Critical reception

"Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince" received acclaim from music critics, who called it a standout on the album and praised the political undertones of its lyrics.

Will Gottsegen from Spin considered "Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince" to be a song that encapsulates both the cheerful, bright tones of Swift's releases in her early career, and the dark tones on Lover's preceding studio album Reputation (2017). Gottsegen wrote that the song exemplifies the "ecstatic and free" attitude of Lover overall, but is still affected by the media drama surrounding Swift's personal life around the Reputation era, praising it as the album's highlight for being a "conceptual evolution, and a love story for increasingly precarious times."[6] Time's Dana Schwartz said that the song contains Swift's "most poetic lyricism",[7] while Alexis Petridis from The Guardian lauded the track for effectively conveying Swift's political message, compared to other pop artists' desperate attempt at being "woke".[8]

In an op-ed for Teen Vogue, Claire Dodson wrote that "Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince" successfully captures the disappointment at American politics, and likened the song's theme to the content of Euphoria, a contemporaneous drama series dealing with issues in contemporary America such as body insecurity, transphobia, and drug addiction.[9] Writing for Variety, Chris William felt that "Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince" would be a great "protest song" because, in his opinion, the song effectively conveys Swift's deep sorrow and disappointment towards American politics, which is rare among other protest songs where "anger feels like a lifetime condition, not something that's been arrived at as the culmination of a long character arc."[10] The song's atmospheric, melancholic production received comparisons to works by Halsey and Lana Del Rey.[8][11][12][13] Slant Magazine named it the nineteenth-best track of 2019.[14]

Commercial performance

Upon the release of its parent album, "Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince" debuted and peaked at number 49 on the US Billboard Hot 100, simultaneously charting with the other seventeen tracks of Lover. It also entered the official charts in Australia, Canada and Scotland.[15]

Miss Americana


"Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince" inspired the title of Swift's 2020 Netflix documentary, Miss Americana, directed by Lana Wilson, that follows Swift's life and career over several years.[5] The song was used in the documentary's trailer.[16]

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal.[17]

  • Taylor Swift – vocals, songwriter, producer
  • Joel Little – producer, songwriter, drum programmer, keyboards, recording engineer, studio personnel
  • John Hanes – mix engineer, studio personnel
  • Serban Ghenea – mixer, studio personnel

Charts
Chart (2019) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[18] 32
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[19] 47
Scotland (Official Charts Company)[20] 92
US Billboard Hot 100[21] 49
US Rolling Stone Top 100[22] 16

Release history
Country Date Format Label Ref.
Various August 23, 2019
Republic [17]

References
  1. Zaleski, Annie (August 26, 2019). "Taylor Swift is done proving herself on the resonant Lover". The A.V. Club. Retrieved September 15, 2019.
  2. Hiatt, Brian (September 18, 2019). "Taylor Swift: The Rolling Stone Interview". Rolling Stone. Retrieved September 19, 2019.
  3. Emmanuele, Julia (August 24, 2019). "Taylor Swift's "Miss Americana" Lyrics Prove 'Lover' Really Is Her Most Political Album Yet". Bustle. Retrieved September 19, 2019.
  4. Burke, Caroline (August 23, 2019). "Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince: Song Meaning & Easter Eggs". Heavy. Retrieved September 15, 2019.
  5. Willman, Chris (January 21, 2020). "Taylor Swift: No Longer 'Polite at All Costs'". Variety. Retrieved January 21, 2020.
  6. Gottsegen, Will (August 23, 2019). "Taylor Swift 'Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince' Review". Spin. Retrieved September 15, 2019.
  7. Schwartz, Dana (August 23, 2019). "Review: On Lover, Taylor Swift Lays Down Her Armor". Time. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
  8. Petridis, Alexis (August 23, 2019). "Lover review – pop dominator wears her heart on her sleeve". The Guardian. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
  9. Dodson, Claire (August 23, 2019). "Taylor Swift's 'Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince' Is a 'Euphoria'-Esque Discussion of Political Life in 2019". Teen Vogue. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
  10. Willman, Chris (August 28, 2019). "Is Taylor Swift's 'Miss Americana' the Great Protest Song of Our Time?". Variety. Retrieved September 15, 2019.
  11. Burner, Raisa (August 24, 2018). "Let's Discuss the Lyrics to Every Song on Taylor Swift's Lover". Time. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
  12. Gaca, Anna (August 26, 2019). "Taylor Swift: Lover Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved August 26, 2019.
  13. D'Souza, Shaad (August 26, 2019). "Lover proves that Taylor Swift has nothing to prove". The Fader. Retrieved August 26, 2019.
  14. "The 50 Best Songs of 2019". Slant Magazine. December 11, 2019. Retrieved December 12, 2019.
  15. Trust, Gary (September 3, 2019). "All 18 Songs From Taylor Swift's New Album 'Lover' Chart On the Billboard Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved February 25, 2020.
  16. Schaffstall, Katherine (January 22, 2020). "Taylor Swift Explains How She Embraced Her Platform in Trailer for Netflix Doc". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
  17. "Lover by Taylor Swift". Tidal. United States. August 23, 2019. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
  18. "Australian-charts.com – Taylor Swift – Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved September 16, 2019.
  19. "Taylor Swift Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved September 16, 2019.
  20. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 16, 2019.
  21. "Taylor Swift Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved September 16, 2019.
  22. "Top 100 Songs". Rolling Stone. August 29, 2019. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
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