Taylor Swift has been more into pop music in recent years (and in even more recent years, folk), but she began her music career firmly in the country lane. Red, though, was a transitional effort for Swift, as it saw her experimenting in other genres, and with its follow-up, 1989, Swift went full-blown pop. So, it’s not surprising that Swift hasn’t been a major player on the country charts since Red, but now Red (Taylor’s Version) is making her one again.
As Billboard notes, on the new Country Airplay chart dated November 20, the Chris Stapleton-featuring “I Bet You Think About Me (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault)” debuts at No. 23. That’s Swift’s highest placement on the chart since Red in 2013 and her second-highest debut among her 39 songs on the chart, after “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” which started at its peak at No. 13 in September 2012.
.@taylorswift13‘s “I Bet You Think About Me (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault),” featuring @ChrisStapleton, debuts at No. 23 on this week’s #CountryAirplay chart.
It’s her highest-charting song at the format in a lead role since “Red” in 2013.
— billboard charts (@billboardcharts) November 16, 2021
Swift recently said of the song, “[Co-writer Lori McKenna and I] wanted this song to be like a comedic, tongue-in-cheek, funny, not caring what anyone thinks about you sort of break-up song, because there are a lot of different types of heartbreak songs on Red. Some of them are very sincere, some of them are very stoic and heartbreaking and sad. We wanted this to be the moment where I was like, ‘I don’t care about anything.’ And we wanted to make people laugh with it, and we wanted it to be sort of a drinking song, and I think that that’s what it ended up being.”
Red (Taylor’s Version) is out now via Republic. Get it here.