Dorothea (song)

"Dorothea" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift from her ninth studio album, Evermore (2020). Swift wrote the song with its producer, Aaron Dessner. The lyrics are from the perspective of an unnamed character reminiscing an old friendship with the titular fictional character, when they were in their adolescence. It tells the story of how the two reconcile when Dorothea returns from Hollywood to their hometown Tupelo for the holiday season. The narrator confesses to Dorothea that they still love her despite the change and hope to reconcile the long lost friendship. The narrator later convinces her to abandon an acting career for a simplistic life in their hometown.

Musically, "Dorothea" is an Americana and country folk song driven by a honky-tonk piano, guitars, and drums. In reviews of Evermore, music critics complimented Swift's songwriting in "Dorothea" for its character study with rich lyrical details. Commercially, the song charted in Australia, Canada, Portugal, and the United States. It peaked at number 47 on the Billboard Global 200.

Background and release
Taylor Swift conceived her eighth studio album, Folklore, as a set of mythopoeic visuals in her mind, a result of her imagination "running wild" while isolating herself during the COVID-19 pandemic. She surprised with the album's announcement on July 23, 2020, and released it the next day. To satiate her craving to explore more of the "folklorian woods" she visualized in her mind, Swift immediately developed another album as a conclusive counterpart to Folklore, titled Evermore. "Dorothea" was one of the two songs Swift had written for Big Red Machine, a band consisting of her Folklore personnel Aaron Dessner and Justin Vernon, the other being "Closure"; however, the two songs were eventually included on Evermore track-listing, where "Dorothea" placed eighth. Identical to Folklore launch, Swift made a surprise announcement of Evermore on December 10, 2020, and released it the next day.

After Evermore release, Swift performed "Dorothea" as a "surprise song" at the July 8, 2023, show in Kansas City, Missouri, as part of the Eras Tour. She sang it again as part of a mashup with "It's Nice to Have a Friend" (2019) at the tour's Edinburgh stop on June 9, 2024.

Composition and lyrics


"Dorothea" is a country folk song built around honky-tonk piano, tambourine jingles, and guitars, accompanied by "whirling" acoustics. Claire Shaffer of Rolling Stone described it as a "rollicking, Americana piano tune". It features characteristic notes of Swift's lower register in its hook. Her vocal range in the song spans from D#3 to B4. The song is written in the key of E major and has a moderately fast tempo of 120 beats per minute.

"Dorothea, a girl who left her small town to chase down Hollywood dreams — and what happens when she comes back for the holidays and rediscovers an old flame."

- Swift on the storyline of "Dorothea" and "'Tis the Damn Season"

Lyrically, "Dorothea" and another track from Evermore, "'Tis the Damn Season", together revolve around a fictional story set in Tupelo, Mississippi. The story consists of two characters, Dorothea and an unnamed subject, who were high-school lovers until Dorothea decided to move to Los Angeles to pursue a Hollywood career, subsequently breaking up with her partner who never wanted to leave the town. The track represents the ex’s reminiscing of their past relationship after Dorothea becomes famous, singing about how they are happy for her and wondering if she still thinks of them like they do her. The narrator sings about memories with her, such as a skipped prom and feelings of separation, and attempts to convince Dorothea to return to the simplicity of rural life. "'Tis the Damn Season" is narrated by Dorothea, who expresses her thoughts about the ex when she returns to Tupelo for winter vacation and reconnects with them. In a Q&A session, Swift answered that Dorothea went to the same school as Betty, James, and Inez, the three characters named in "Betty", even though the two storylines do not intersect.

Reception
Brodie Lancaster of The Sydney Morning Herald called "Dorothea" a "masterwork of a character study". NME critic Hannah Mylrea opined that "Dorothea", over "dancing piano lines", portrays the story of a lovelorn man "whose high-school sweetheart left to try and make it in Hollywood", incorporating vocal melodies reminiscent of Swift's self-titled debut studio album, Taylor Swift (2006). Annie Zaleski of The A.V. Club wrote that the song is for those "who struggle with feeling left behind by glamorous old friends". Writing for The Guardian, Alexis Petridis called the song "a particularly luminous tune" that eschews "the old country cliche in which a star tells you their life of fame and luxury is nothing compared to the warm comfort of their old small-town life", instead has a protagonist look at a now-famous friend and attempt to convince their return to the simpler life. The Independent writer Helen Brown said that "Dorothea" has Swift slip "into the mind of a celebrity's hometown pal. Variety critic Chris Willman described the song's narrator as "a honey in Tupelo who is telling a childhood friend who moved away and became famous that she's always welcome back in her hometown", and praised Swift's "empathic wondering"–"how it feels to be at the other end of the telescope".

Commercial performance
Upon Evermore release, all of the album's tracks debuted on both the US Billboard Hot Rock & Alternative Songs and the all-genre Hot 100 charts; "Dorothea" entered at number 13 on the former, and at number 67 on the latter. Elsewhere, it further reached number 47 on Australia's ARIA Singles Chart and number 34 on the Canadian Hot 100. The song debuted at number 47 on the Billboard Global 200 chart.

Credits and personnel
Credits adapted from the album's liner notes and Pitchfork. 


 * Taylor Swift – vocals, songwriter
 * Aaron Dessner – producer, songwriter, recording engineer, bass guitar, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, piano, tambourine
 * JT Bates – drum kit, percussion, recording
 * Thomas Bartlett – piano, keyboards, synthesizers, recording
 * Josh Kaufman – electric guitar and acoustic guitar
 * Benjamin Lanz – modular synth
 * Laura Sisk – recording engineer
 * Jonathan Low – mixing, recording engineer
 * Greg Calbi – mastering
 * Steve Fallone – mastering