You need to calm down

Background and Composition

On April 26, 2019, the title of the song was teased in the intro for the music video for “ME!” when Brendon Urie shouted the title in French. Later, it was revealed an “old-timey, 1940s-sounding instrumental version” of the song played in the background in the scene. On June 13, 2019, Taylor announced on a livestream on Instagram that her upcoming album’s second single, entitled “You Need to Calm Down”, was to be released at midnight on June 14.

A lyric video for the song was released together with the song on YouTube. The video contained several easter eggs, including changing the word “glad” to GLAAD, and highlighting “EA” letters as a reference to the Equality Act. The references followed Taylor’s donation to GLAAD in support of Pride Month, and her Change.org petition for the United States Senate to pass the Equality Act. The petition has attracted more than 500,000 signatures, including from Democrats such as Cory Booker, Elizabeth Warren, Beto O’Rourke, and Kirsten Gillibrand. Following the release of the song, GLAAD reported an “influx” of donations in the amount of $13, a reference to Taylor’s favorite number. A vertical video premiered exclusively on Spotify on June 24, 2019.

Lyrics

[Verse 1]
You are somebody that I don’t know
But you’re taking shots at me like it’s Patrón
And I’m just like damn
It’s 7am
Say it in the street, that’s a knock out
But you say it in a tweet, that’s a cop out
And I’m just like hey
Are you ok?

[Pre-Chorus 1]
And I ain’t trying to mess with your self expression but
I’ve learned the lesson that stressin’ and obsessing ‘bout somebody else is no fun
And snakes and stones never broke my bones so

[Chorus]
Ohhhhh
You need to calm down
You’re being too loud
And I’m just like
Ohhhhh
You need to just stop
Like can you just not
Step on my gown
You need to calm down

[Verse 2]
You are somebody that we don’t know
But you’re coming at my friends like a missile
Why are you mad?
When you could be GLAAD? (When you could be GLAAD)
Sunshine on the street
At the parade
But you would rather be in the dark ages
Making that sign
Must’ve taken all night

[Pre-Chorus 2]
You just need to take several seats and then try to restore the peace
And control your urges to scream about the people you hate
‘Cause shade never made anybody less gay, so

[Chorus]
Ohhhhh
You need to calm down
You’re being too loud
And I’m just like
Ohhhhh
You need to just stop
Like can you just not
Step on his gown
You need to calm down

[Bridge]
And we see you over there
On the Internet
Comparing all the girls who are killing it
But we figured you out
We all know now
We all got crowns
You need to calm down

[Chorus]
Ohhhhh
You need to calm down (You need to calm down)
You’re being too loud (You’re being too loud)
And I’m just like
Ohhhhh (Yeah)
You need to just stop (Can you stop?)
Like can you just not
Step on our gowns
You need to calm down