"Castles Crumbling" is a song written by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift featuring guest vocals from American singer-songwriter Hayley Williams. It was included as one of the six previously unreleased tracks on the 2023 re-recording of Swift's third studio album Speak Now (2010). Produced by Swift and Jack Antonoff, the song is an indie folk-influenced and piano-led emo ballad about a person under the spotlight. Similarly to another Speak Now track, "Innocent", it was interpreted to be influenced by the incident that occurred during the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards between Swift and Kanye West.
Music critics gave mostly positive reviews to "Castles Crumbling", noting its delicate nature. Lyrically, it was compared to similarly themed "Nothing New", and contrasting "Long Live". Sonicwise, it was likened to Williams' solo work and Swift's Folklore and Evermore (both 2020). In other reviews, the track was called a prequel to Reputation (2017). The song peaked in the top 40 on the Billboard Global 200 and on the national charts in Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. Swift performed the track as one of the "surprise songs" on the Santa Clara stop of her Eras Tour (2023–2024).
Background and release
Taylor Swift released her third studio album, Speak Now, on October 25, 2010, under Big Machine Records. Swift released three more studio albums under Big Machine, as per her recording contract, which expired in November 2018. She hence withdrew from Big Machine and signed a new deal with Republic Records, which secured her the rights to own the masters of any new music she would release. In 2019, American businessman Scooter Braun acquired Big Machine; the ownership of the masters to Swift's first six studio albums, including Speak Now, transferred to him. In August 2019, Swift denounced Braun's purchase and announced that she would re-record her first six studio albums so as to own their masters herself. Swift began the re-recording process in November 2020. On May 5, 2023, at the first Nashville date of the Eras Tour (2023–2024), Swift announced Speak Now (Taylor's Version) and its release date on July 7. She subsequently revealed in social media posts, "I love this album because it tells a tale of growing up, flailing, flying and crashing ... and living to speak about it". Swift emphasized the hardships she faced in her life during the time she wrote the record, among them "brutal honesty, unfiltered diaristic confessions and wild wistfulness". On June 5, 2023, Swift announced the track-list of Speak Now (Taylor's Version). It contains twenty-two tracks, including six new "From the Vault" songs that were written for the 2010 album but never included.
American singer-songwriter and frontwoman of rock band Paramore Hayley Williams has been friends with Swift for years, and before the latter unveiled the track listing of her third re-recording, the former hinted possible collaboration during Ulta Beauty meet and greet event. Both singers have supported each other, and even performed "That's What You Get" together during a Nashville show on the Speak Now World Tour in 2011. In the following years, Williams made a cameo in Swift's "Bad Blood" music video (2015), and her band opened for Swift during the Eras Tour. Both singers talked about the song; Swift released a statement on her social media that she decided to choose collaborators for Speak Now (Taylor's Version) based on their influence over her songwriting, while Williams expressed her gratitude and enjoyment of the track in an interview with Coup de Main magazine. Following the release of "Castles Crumbling", the media outlets reported that Swift referenced its title in the opening line of "Call It What You Want" from Reputation (2017), and drew connections to the "Bejeweled" music video (2022), which had a scene of a breaking down castle during which an orchestral version of Speak Now closer "Long Live" was playing.