I see your face in my mind as I drive away
'Cause none of us thought it was gonna end that way
People are people and sometimes we change our minds
But it's killin' me to see you go after all this time
[Break: Taylor Swift]
Mm, mmm
Mm, mmm
[Verse 2: Taylor Swift, Taylor Swift & Colbie Caillat]
The music starts playin' like the end of a sad movie
It's the kind of endin' you don't really wanna see
'Cause it's tragedy and it'll only bring you down
Now I don't know what to be without you around
[Pre-Chorus: Taylor Swift & Colbie Caillat, Taylor Swift]
And we know it's never simple, never easy
Never a clean break, no one here to save me
You're the only thing I know like the back of my hand
[Chorus: Taylor Swift & Colbie Caillat, Taylor Swift]
And I can't breathe without you, but I have to
Breathe without you, but I have to
[Verse 3: Taylor Swift, Taylor Swift & Colbie Caillat]
Never wanted this, never wanna see you hurt
Every little bump in the road, I tried to swerve
But people are people and sometimes it doesn't work out
And nothin' we say is gonna save us from the fallout
And we know it's never simple, never easy
Never a clean break, no one here to save me
You're the only thing I know like the back of my hand
[Chorus: Taylor Swift & Colbie Caillat, Taylor Swift]
And I can't breathe without you, but I have to
Breathe without you, but I have to
[Bridge: Taylor Swift & Colbie Caillat, Taylor Swift]
It's 2 AM, feelin' like I just lost a friend
Hope you know it's not easy, easy for me
It's 2 AM, feelin' like I just lost a friend
Hope you know this ain't easy, easy for me
[Pre-Chorus: Taylor Swift & Colbie Caillat, Taylor Swift]
And we know it's never simple, never easy
Never a clean break, no one here to save me
Woah
[Chorus: Taylor Swift & Colbie Caillat, Taylor Swift]
I can't breathe without you, but I have to
Breathe without you, but I have to
Breathe without you, but I have to
[Outro: Taylor Swift & Colbie Caillat, Taylor Swift]
I'm sorry, I'm sorry (Mmm), I'm sorry (Yeah, yeah), I'm sorry
I'm sorry, I'm sorry (Ooh), I'm sorry
About
“Breathe (Taylor’s Version)” is the seventh track from Fearless (Taylor’s Version) and features country artist, Colbie Caillat.
Lyrically, this song finds both artists singing about the loss of a friendship, what can present more difficulties to move on, since once someone that means a lot to you goes away, it gets much tougher to accept it — It’s believed Swift wrote it for her friend, Emily Poe, who used to be a part of Taylor’s band, but left in 2007 to focus on law school.
On April 8th, a snippet of this song’s version was released on Tumblr, a day before the album release.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
On an interview with iHeart Radio, Swift explained:
The song ‘Breathe’ is a song about having to let go of someone in your life who you care about, and you don’t want to hurt, but you’ve outgrown the friendship or the relationship. And I wrote the idea for it, and Colbie Caillat was in town who’s just one of my favorite artists, I absolutely love her music and I love her voice. And she was in town playing a show and I brought her this idea and she really liked it, and we wrote it together. We sat there and wrote the song right before her show. I mean, it was the afternoon, she was about to play that night. And she sang backup vocals on it that are just so haunting. And I’m so lucky because she agreed to do the same backup vocals on my version of ‘Breathe.’ So, it absolutely would not have been the same without her. I’m really, really grateful that she decided to return to the project.
Colbie Caillat on re-recording her vocals for the song:
She knows a lot about every person she’s in the room with and genuinely has an interest. She makes you feel like she loves your work and she has known you forever. I just remember she was so young, and the song she came in with, it was just beautiful. I had so much respect for her. I think the song that we did, it was a really special thing. She was writing about something she was going through with a band member at the time, and she was pouring her heart out about it.
–via People (April 8, 2021)
The song debuted at #34 on the US Billboard Hot Country Songs chart on the week ending April 15, 2021.
- 7.Breathe (Taylor’s Version)
