Swift wrote and produced "Call It What You Want" with Jack Antonoff, and the track is a mid-tempo electropop and synth-pop song with R&B-trap crossover elements.

The song peaked at number 27 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and reached the top 50 on singles charts in Austria, Hungary, Ireland, Malaysia, New Zealand, and the Philippines.

[1][2] The album received wide commercial success, reaching one million copies within one year and producing three Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles.

[3] During its promotion, Swift was targeted by the tabloid media; her image as "America's Sweetheart", a result of her being wholesome and innocent, disappeared from publicized short-lived relationships and disputes with other celebrities.

[13] Jack Antonoff revealed on Twitter that "Call It What You Want" was "made with an MPC, live kick, dx7 strings and samples of Taylor's voice as the intro and throughout.

[22][23] Elsewhere, "Call It What You Want" debuted on the charts of several countries: it peaked within the top 50 of Hungary (5),[24] Malaysia (13),[25] the Philippines (27),[26] New Zealand (34),[27] Austria (43),[28] and Ireland (44),[29] and further reached Portugal, France, Switzerland, and Germany.

"[31] USA Today gave it a positive review, saying it was more subdued than her other recent singles, and "the most perceptive and unabashedly romantic song of the singer's new era", and "surprisingly effective and grown-up".

[32] Complex Magazine had the opinion that the song was the first single pre-released from her album that was not "distressing", as "Call It What You Want" is "actually good," and also dropped the "revenge narrative to great effect."