
Using behind-the-scenes footage from the Folklore cover shoot, the clip features Swift sauntering through fields, leaning against trees and sitting on a swing. The alternate version doesn’t contain the full instrumentation of the studio version, isolating Swift’s shimmering vocals: “Sequin smile, black lipstick/Sensual politics/When you are young, they assume you know nothing.”
The “Cabin in Candlelight” version of “Cardigan” is available as a 12-inch single pressed on white vinyl, on sale for only for 24 hours.
“Cardigan” was co-written by the National’s Aaaron Dessner, who worked on several of the songs off Folklore. “I just sent her a folder of things I’d done recently and was excited about,” Dessner recently told Rolling Stone. “Hours after, she sent back a fully written version of ‘Cardigan.’ It was like a lightning bolt struck the house.”