Dear John (Taylor Swift song)

"Dear John" is a song written and recorded by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift for her third studio album, Speak Now (2010).

"[9][10] At the June 24, 2023, show in Minneapolis, as part of the Eras Tour (2023–2024), Swift performed "Dear John" as a "surprise song".

[20][22] In the Los Angeles Times, Ann Powers wrote that Swift's vocals in "Dear John" expand considerably compared to those on her previous songs: "she opens up her throat so wide that she almost yells.

[24] Rob Sheffield from Rolling Stone summarized the lyrics as a "dissection of a failed quasi-relationship, with no happy ending, no moral, no solution, not even a lesson learned – just a bad memory filed away".

"),[25] recalls their tumultuous relationship ("You are an expert at sorry / And keeping lines blurry / And never impressed by me acing your tests / All the girls that you've run dry / Have tired, lifeless eyes / 'Cause you burned them out"),[26] and blames herself for their problems ("I should've known").

[13][29] Eric R. Danton from the Hartford Courant considered the lyrics both a continuation of the "wistful teenage puppy-love mindset" of Swift's previous albums and an exploration of more grown-up perspectives.

wrote that not since the Lennon–McCartney affair "has a major pop singer-songwriter so publicly and unguardedly taken on another in song", and he argued that "Dear John" was "braver... and more cutting" because of its "vulnerability and woundedness".

[27] Perone and Taffy Brodesser-Akner from The Paris Review commented that the song alludes to many of Mayer's supposedly egoistical and controversial traits; to this extent, the latter considered it a "master class in passive-aggression".

Such critics include Jon Caramanica in The New York Times (lauding the blues production for expanding beyond Swift's country-music comfort zone),[16] Mikael Wood in Spin (saying it was "epic pop-country poetry"),[18] and Willman in The Hollywood Reporter (underscoring the "chills-inducing climax").

[36][37] Several critics also praised the vivid and detail-heavy lyrics[18][20][35]—Dan DeLuca of The Philadelphia Inquirer said "Dear John" was a sign of Swift's "growing confidence" in songwriting.

[14] Hogan wrote that this quality, alongside the song's deliberate pace, made "Dear John" a "devastating takedown for the ages".

[22] Billboard ranked "Dear John" at number 18 on its list of the "100 Best Deep Cuts by 21st Century Pop Stars", and its editor Jason Lipshutz lauded how "each bruised syllable is essential, every seething accusation methodically rolled out".

[13] Clash (2021) included "Dear John" among Swift's top 15 songs—writer Lauren DeHollogne cited how the narrator's naivete makes the song simultaneously excruciating and beautiful to listen to.