Swift co-wrote "Bad Blood" about an undisclosed female musician. Swift says the artist attempted to sabotage one of her concert tours by hiring people who worked for her. Publications such as Billboard, Rolling Stone, Time, and The Washington Post have speculated that Katy Perry is the subject of the song.    Daniel D'Addario for Time and Emily Yahr for The Washington Post noted parallels between "Bad Blood"'s lyric "If you live like that, you live with ghosts" and "Ghost", a song from Perry's 2013 album Prism.  The album version of the song only contains Swift as the vocalist on verses, while the single version features a re-worked instrumental and guest vocals from rapper Kendrick Lamar on verses.
Jem Aswad of Billboard felt the song is "reminiscent of Gwen Stefani's "Hollaback Girl". The Guardian Kitty Empire wrote that the song "faintly recalls Charli XCX with its stark beats." It is written in the key of G major, following a chord progression of C–G–D–Em, and the tempo runs at 85 beats per minute. Swift's vocals in the song span from E3 to E5.
The album version received largely negative reviews from critics. Many described the song as "clichéd" while also criticizing its writing, chorus, and production.    Entertainment Weekly listed it as one of the best songs on the album.
In contrast, the remixed version of the song featuring guest vocals from Kendrick Lamar received acclaim from critics, with praise from music critics directed at Lamar's guest verses and the reworked instrumental.  George Seabrook of The Edge awarded the song four and half stars out of five, and called it "glorious" and "intoxicating". He praised the song for "Lamar's simple, brutally effective verses" and acknowledged the collaboration as "not just one more meaningless stunt collaboration, but a powerful new duo".
When her training is complete, Catastrophe and her friends strike out to exact their revenge on Arsyn and her masked henchwomen. The two teams approach each other in what seems to be slow motion while an enormous explosion goes off in the background, blotting out the London skyline, including 30 St Mary Axe, and the video ends with both of the women simultaneously striking each other in the face.
Rolling Stone described it as a "futuristic neo-noir" video. Daniel D'Addario of Time called it Swift's "most elaborate" music video yet, and compared its visuals to those of Sin City. Slate agreed and found other film inspirations: "Along the way, they pay homage to countless films. Besides the video's Robocop premise, there's its Sin City aesthetic, its nod to Tron's light cycles, and its Kill Bill-like fight in the snow." Billboard drew parallels between the video and the music videos for the Britney Spears songs "Toxic" and "Womanizer", which were both directed by Kahn. The video broke Vevo's 24-hour viewing record by accumulating 20.1 million views in its first day of release, beating the 19.6 million 24-hour record previously held by Nicki Minaj for the music video of her song "Anaconda" in 2014. It was later broken by Adele's "Hello" in October 2015, with 27.7 million views in the first 24 hours. As of May 2018, the video has amassed over 1.2 billion views and was Swift's third video to achieve this milestone. It is in the top 80 most viewed videos on YouTube.
A cover version of "Bad Blood" was released as the first promotional single from singer-songwriter Ryan Adams' interpretation of Swift's 1989 album, released in September 2015.
For their tenth anniversary, How It Should Have Ended released a cover parody video based on "Bad Blood", titled "Bat Blood". Performed by Batman, voiced by show creator Daniel Baxter, the video parodies the marketing of the then-upcoming film , and uses characters from HISHE's entire history. The lyrics were re-written by Baxter, and the music composed by Bryan English.
For more info on this version, see 1989 (Ryan Adams album).
Web site: Molanphy. Chris. Why Is Taylor Swift and Kendrick Lamar's "Bad Blood" No. 1?. Slate. The Slate Group. December 23, 2015.
Web site: Cover Story: The Reinvention of Taylor Swift. September 8, 2014. Eells. Josh. Rolling Stone. May 10, 2015.
Web site: Did Katy Perry Confirm Taylor Swift's 'Bad Blood' Song Is About Her?. Strecker. Erin. September 9, 2014. Billboard. May 11, 2015.
Web site: 12 Biggest Feuds of 2014: Taylor Swift vs. Katy Perry. Drell. Cady. December 31, 2014. Rolling Stone. May 11, 2015.
Web site: Is Taylor Swift's 'Bad Blood' About Katy Perry? A Textual Analysis. D'Addario. Daniel. October 27, 2014. Time. May 11, 2015.
Web site: Taylor Swift's 'Bad Blood': How we can tell she's singing about Katy Perry. Yahr. Emily. October 27, 2014. The Washington Post. May 11, 2015.
Web site: Aswad. Jem. Album Review: Taylor Swift's Pop Curveball Pays Off With '1989'. Billboard. May 20, 2015. October 24, 2014.
Web site: Empire. Kitty. Taylor Swift: 1989 review – a bold, gossipy confection. The Guardian. May 20, 2015. October 26, 2014.
Web site: Taylor Swift 1989 Track by Track Album Review. 27 July 2015. HitFix.com.
Web site: Track-by-Track Album Review: Taylor Swift - 1989. https://web.archive.org/web/20150528032432/http://www.cultnoise.com/album-review-taylor-swift-1989/. yes. 28 May 2015. Joe. McIndoe. 29 October 2014. CultNoise.com. 27 July 2015.
Web site: Taylor Swift - 1989. ClashMusic.com. Mike. Diver. 11 April 2014. 27 July 2015.
News: Taylor Swift's '1989': Album Review. Daily News. 23 October 2014.
Web site: 1989: Review. Markovitz. Adam. November 11, 2014. Entertainment Weekly. July 27, 2015.
Web site: Kendrick Lamar shines in Taylor Swift's "Bad Blood" remix. 17 May 2015. Alex. Young. 27 July 2015. Consequence of Sound.
Web site: Taylor Swift's 'Bad Blood' video has sound, fury and Kendrick Lamar. Los Angeles Times. May 18, 2015.
Web site: Review: Taylor Swift ft. Kendrick Lamar – Bad Blood. Seabrook. George. May 20, 2015. The Edge. May 21, 2015.
Web site: Wiz Khalifa Tops Hot 100, Taylor Swift Re-Enters Following BBMAs Video Premiere. Gary. Trust. Billboard. (Prometheus Global Media). May 21, 2015. May 22, 2015.
Web site: Taylor Swift's 'Bad Blood' Blasts to No. 1 on Hot 100. Gary. Trust. Billboard. (Prometheus Global Media). May 28, 2015. May 28, 2015.
News: Wiz Khalifa's 'See You Again' Replaces Taylor Swift at No. 1 on Hot 100. Billboard. Gary. Trust. June 3, 2015. June 3, 2015.
Web site: 2015 Nielsen Music U.S. Report. Nielsen. January 6, 2016. January 6, 2016.
Web site: Ask Billboard: Taylor Swift's Career Album & Song Sales. November 26, 2017. November 26, 2017. Gary. Trust.
Web site: Taylor Swift to Debut 'Bad Blood' Video During 2015 Billboard Music Awards. Billboard. May 7, 2015. May 12, 2015.
Web site: Watch Taylor Swift's Futuristic, Neo-Noir 'Bad Blood' Video. Rolling Stone. May 18, 2015. May 17, 2015.
Web site: D'Addario. Daniel. Watch Taylor Swift's Star-Studded Music Video for 'Bad Blood'. Time. May 18, 2015. May 18, 2015.
Web site: Shetty. Sharan. Taylor Swift's "Bad Blood" Video Has Enough Celebrities to Be an Actual Movie. Slate. May 17, 2015. May 18, 2015.
Web site: Strecker. Erin. Taylor Swift's 'Bad Blood' Video: 15 Things We Need To Talk About Right Now. Billboard. May 18, 2015. May 17, 2015.
Web site: Taylor Swift's 'Bad Blood' Video Breaks Vevo Record. Erin. Strecker. Billboard. (Prometheus Global Media). May 21, 2015. May 21, 2015.
. Twitter. 26 October 2015. 26 October 2015.
Web site: 2015 MTV Video Music Awards Nominees Revealed: Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar, Ed Sheeran & More. Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. July 21, 2015.
Web site: Winners of Teen Choice 2015 Announced. Teen Choice Awards. August 16, 2015. August 17, 2015.
Web site: MTV EMAs: Taylor Swift Leads With 9 Nominations. September 16, 2015. The Hollywood Reporter. Szalai. Georg.
Web site: Blistein. Jon. Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, the Weeknd Top AMA Nominations. Rolling Stone. May 23, 2017. October 13, 2015.
Web site: About us. UK Music Video Awards. July 5, 2015. no. https://web.archive.org/web/20150706172328/http://www.ukmva.com/content/about-us. July 6, 2015.
News: Premios Telehit 2015: lista de ganadores completa, ¿cuántos se llevaron One Direction y Taylor Swift?. December 16, 2015. no. https://web.archive.org/web/20151222093817/http://www.melty.mx/premios-telehit-2015-lista-de-ganadores-completa-cuantos-se-llevaron-one-direction-y-taylor-swift-a296415.html. December 22, 2015.
Web site: Artistes nominés NRJ Music Awards 2015. NRJ Music Awards. December 16, 2015. French. no. https://web.archive.org/web/20151201224751/http://nrjmusicawards.nrj.fr/nomines-nrj-music-awards-2015. December 1, 2015.
Web site: Nominees & Winners. People's Choice Awards. November 3, 2015.
Web site: Final Nomination List : 58th Grammy Awards. PDF. Grammy Award. December 7, 2015.
Web site: Here Are The Nominees For The 2016 Kids' Choice Awards. MTV News. February 2, 2016. February 3, 2016.
Web site: iHeartRadio Music Awards Announce 2016 Nominees, Performers & New Categories. Prometheus Global Media. Billboard. February 9, 2016. February 9, 2016.
Web site: 2016 ASCAP Pop Music Awards. ASCAP. April 28, 2016. April 28, 2016.
News: Taylor Swift & Justin Bieber Lead Radio Disney Music Awards Nominations. March 5, 2016. Billboard. March 4, 2016. no. https://web.archive.org/web/20160306120825/http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/awards/6898271/radio-disney-music-awards-2016-nominations. March 6, 2016.
Web site: MYXMusicAwards 2016 Winners List. MYX. August 6, 2016. no. https://web.archive.org/web/20160810043228/http://myxph.com/myxmusicawards/news/25757/myxmusicawards-2016-winners-list/. August 10, 2016.
Web site: Taylor Swift to Receive First-Ever Taylor Swift Award From BMI. Billboard. April 5, 2016. April 5, 2016. no. https://web.archive.org/web/20160406044221/http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/7325271/bmi-pop-awards-taylor-swift-award-barry-mann-cynthia-weil. April 6, 2016.
1989. Taylor Swift. 2014. Compact disc liner notes. Big Machine Records. BMRBD0500A.
Web site: Apple Music TV Commercial, 'Drake vs. Bench Press' Song by Taylor Swift. iSpot.tv. 2016-11-26.
Web site: The Cubs playoff roster ranked according to walk-up songs. Terry. Josh. October 16, 2015. www.chicagotribune.com. The Chicago Tribune. September 5, 2017.
Web site: The Chicago Cubs roasted a guy who made fun of Anthony Rizzo's walk up music. Kerr-Dineen. Luke. May 15, 2016. www.usatoday.com. USA Today. September 5, 2017.
Web site: Top 100 Billboard Brasil - weekly. Billboard Brasil. 6 July 2015. 12 July 2015. yes. https://web.archive.org/web/20150713142942/http://www.billboard.com.br/tipo_lista/top-100/20150706/. July 13, 2015.
Web site: Top Digital - Classifica settimanale WK 21 (dal 2015-05-18 al 2015-05-24). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. September 25, 2015.
Web site: מדיה פורסט - לדעת שאתה באוויר. Mediaforest.biz. 25 July 2015.
Web site: The official lebanese Top 20 - Taylor Swift. The official lebanese Top 20.
Web site: Radio Disney - Year End Charts - Top 50 Songs of 2015. Disney. January 2, 2016.
Web site: ARIA Charts - End of Year Charts - Top 100 Singles 2015. Australian Recording Industry Association. January 6, 2016. yes. https://web.archive.org/web/20160124201045/http://www.aria.com.au/aria-charts-end-of-year-charts-top-100-singles-2015.htm. January 24, 2016. mdy.
Web site: Canadian Hot 100 Year End 2015. Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. December 9, 2015.
Web site: End of Year Singles Chart Top 100 - 2015. January 5, 2016.
Web site: Hot 100: Year End 2015. Billboard. billboard.com. December 9, 2015.
Web site: Adult Contemporary Songs Year End 2015. Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. December 9, 2015.
Web site: Adult Pop Songs Year End 2015. Billboard. Prometheus Media Group. December 9, 2015.
Web site: Dance/Mix Show Songs Year End 2015. Billboard. August 25, 2016.
Web site: Pop Songs Year End 2015. Billboard. Prometheus Media Group. December 9, 2015.
Web site: Rhythmic Songs Year End 2015. Billboard. August 25, 2016.
Web site: As 100 Mais Tocadas nas Rádios Jovens em 2016. Billboard Brasil. January 4, 2017. September 7, 2017. Portuguese.
Web site: Bad Blood (feat. Kendrick Lamar) – Single. iTunes Store (US). May 18, 2015.
Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/20150518134641/http://www.allaccess.com/top40-mainstream/future-releases. Top 40/M Future Releases. All Access. May 18, 2015.
Web site: Taylor Swift - Bad Blood (Radio Date: 12-06-2015). EarOne.
Web site: TAYLOR SWIFT "Bad Blood (feat. Kendrick Lamar)" - (Radio Date: 12/06/2015). radioairplay.fm.
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Bad Blood (Taylor Swift song)".