Taylor Swift’s lead single from 1989, “Shake It Off,” is still going strong at No. 2 on the Hot 100 chart as the album heads toward a million-plus sales debut. Now that everyone has heard the full album, though, we can collectively speculate: what will the official follow-up single to “Shake It Off” be?
On Thursday, Swift’s label Big Machine/Republic gave us the answer: “Blank Space” is the second single from 1989. The song will officially impact Top 40/mainstream, Top 40/rhythm and Hot AC radio on Nov. 10.
Read Our Taylor Swift ‘1989’ Album Review
“Blank Space” is the second song on the 1989 track list, a Max Martin/Shellback collaboration (just like “Shake It Off”) that finds the pop superstar owning up to her dating record and talking candidly to her potential new beau. “Got a long list of ex-lovers/They’ll tell you I’m insane,” Swift shrugs on the chorus, “but I got a blank space baby/And I’ll write your name.”
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1989 is now surging toward a 1.2 million sales debut, which would rival the 1.21 million bow of her last album, 2012’s Red. According to sources, 1989 moved more than 600,000 albums in its first day on sale on Monday (Oct. 27), mostly due to Target and iTunes Store purchases.
“Shake It Off” became Swift’s second No. 1 single on the Hot 100 chart when it was released in August and debuted atop the chart. Prior to the release of 1989, she previewed her fifth full-length with the non-radio singles “Out Of The Woods” and “Welcome To New York.”