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"Half of My Heart" is a song by American alternative rock singer John Mayer and American country pop singer Taylor Swift. It is the third single from Mayer's 2009 album, Battle Studies.

Music and lyrics[]

"Half of My Heart" features more of a pop rock sound than Mayer's previous music. His previous albums explored blues and acoustic rock, especially in his 2006 album Continuum. It also has a carefree, sing-along sound to it.

The lyrics of the song are sung by both Mayer and Swift; Swift sings with Mayer in the chorus and in the song's bridge. The lyrics are about the duo, with half of their hearts saying they should continue to love each other, although the other half says they are not each other's true love, and cannot keep loving each other.

Mayer "tweeted" about wanting to record the song with Swift in March 2009: "Waking up to this song idea that won't leave my head. 3 days straight now. That means it's good enough to finish," he wrote. "It's called 'Half of My Heart' and I want to sing it with Taylor Swift. She would make a killer Stevie Nicks in contrast to my Tom Petty of a song."[2]

In an interview shown on television called John Mayer: On the Record with Fuse (which only aired on the Fuse channel), Mayer's interviewer asked why the singer chose Swift to duet with, since she was only nineteen years old, and Mayer was 32. He responded by saying that he was not putting her on the album just to sell more copies for die-hard fans of Taylor Swift that might just get the album for that song.

Chart performance[]

"Half of My Heart" debuted at twenty-nine on the Billboard Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks chart on the issue date of May 8, 2010. This makes John Mayer's fourteenth appearance on that chart.

Chart (2009–2010) Peak
position
Australian ARIA Singles Chart

[3]

95
Canadian Hot 100 53
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[4] 19 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[3] 19 ​ Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[3] 19 ​
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 25
U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks 29
U.S. Billboard Rock Songs 49

Lyrics[]

[Verse 1: John Mayer]
I was born in the arms of imaginary friends
Free to roam, made a home out of everywhere I've been
Then you come crashing in, like the realest thing
Trying my best to understand all that your love can bring

[Chorus 1: John Mayer & Taylor Swift]
Oh half of my heart's got a grip on the situation
Half of my heart takes time
Half of my heart's got a right mind to tell you
That I can't keep loving you (can't keep loving you)
Oh, with half of my heart

[Verse 2: John Mayer]
I was made to believe I'd never love somebody else
Made a plan, stay the man who can only love himself
Lonely was the song I sang, until the day you came
Showing me another way and all that my love can bring

[Chorus 1: John Mayer & Taylor Swift]
Oh half of my heart's got a grip on the situation
Half of my heart takes time
Half of my heart's got a right mind to tell you
That I can't keep loving you (can't keep loving you)
Oh, with half of my heart

[Verse 3: John Mayer]
Your faith is strong
But I can only fall short for so long
Down the road, later on
You will hate that I never gave more to you than half of my heart
But I can't stop loving you

[Backup vocals: Taylor Swift]
I can't stop loving you

But I can't stop loving you with half of my
Half of my heart
Half of my heart

[Chorus 2: John Mayer & Taylor Swift]
Half of my heart’s got a real cool imagination
Half of my heart’s got you
Half of my heart’s got the right mind to tell you
Half of my heart won’t do

[Outro: John Mayer]
Half of my heart is a shotgun wedding to a bride with a paper ring
And half of my heart is the part of a man who's never truly loved anything
Half of my heart
Half of my heart
Half of my heart
Half of my heart
Half of my heart
Half of my heart

References[]

Collaborations
Taylor Swift songs featuring other artists
"Anti-Hero" (Bleachers) • "Bad Blood" (Kendrick Lamar) • "Breathe" (Colbie Caillat) • "Castles Crumbling" (Hayley Williams) • "coney island" (The National) • "Electric Touch" (Fall Out Boy) "End Game" (Ed Sheeran, Future) • "evermore" (Bon Iver) • "Everything Has Changed" (Ed Sheeran) • "exile" (Bon Iver) • "Florida!!!" (Florence + The Machine) • "Fortnight" (Post Malone) • "I Bet You Think About Me" (Chris Stapleton) • "I Don't Wanna Live Forever" (ZAYN)• "Karma" (Ice Spice) • "Lover" (Shawn Mendes) • "ME!" (Brendon Urie) • "no body, no crime" (HAIM) • "Nothing New" (Phoebe Bridgers) • "Run" (Ed Sheeran) • "Safe & Sound (The Civil Wars) • "Snow On the Beach" (Lana Del Rey) • "Soon You'll Get Better" (The Chicks) • "That's When" (Keith Urban) • "The Last Time" (Gary Lightbody) • "You All Over Me" (Maren Morris)
Songs featuring Taylor Swift
"Babe" (Sugarland) • "Best Days of Your Life" (Kellie Pickler) • "Birch" (Big Red Machine) • "Both of Us" (B.o.B) • "Gasoline" (HAIM) • "Half of My Heart" (John Mayer)
"Highway Don't Care" (Tim McGraw ft. Keith Urban) • "Renegade" (Big Red Machine) • "The Alcott" (The National) • "The Joker and the Queen" (Ed Sheeran) • "This Is What You Came For" (Calvin Harris) • "Thug Story" (T-Pain) • "Two Is Better Than One" (Boys Like Girls)
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