"I Can See You" is a song written and recorded by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift from her third re-recorded album, Speak Now (Taylor's Version) (2023). It is one of the album's "From The Vault" tracks that was intended for but excluded from her third studio album, Speak Now (2010). Produced by Swift and Jack Antonoff, "I Can See You" features a guitar riff. The lyrics are sexually suggestive and contain flirtatious innuendos, describing Swift's attraction to a person she comes across often.

Music critics gave the song positive reviews, and praised its rhythmic production, sensual lyrics, and catchiness; some picked it as a highlight amongst the album's vault tracks. Critics have ranked it among her best "From the Vault" tracks. Commercially, "I Can See You" peaked at number four on the Billboard Global 200 and the top ten on singles charts in Australia, Canada, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States. It received certifications in Australia and the United Kingdom.

An accompanying music video, written and directed by Swift, was released on July 7, 2023, premiering the day before at the first Eras Tour show in Kansas City, Missouri. Starring American actors Joey King, Taylor Lautner and Presley Cash, alongside Swift herself, the video depicts a heist by King, Lautner and Cash to free the Speak Now-era Swift from a highly guarded vault in a museum. It is a metaphor for the support from Swift's fans following the dispute over the sale of the masters for her first six albums, including Speak Now. The Grammy Museum at L.A. Live hosted a pop-up exhibit containing costumes and props from the video, in honor of Swift's record six sold-out shows at the SoFi Stadium as part of the Eras Tour.

Background and release

The American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift released her third studio album, Speak Now, on October 25, 2010, under Big Machine Records. She released three more studio albums under Big Machine, as per her recording contract, which expired in November 2018. Swift subsequently withdrew from Big Machine and signed a new deal with Republic Records, which secured her the rights to own the masters of any new music she would release. In 2019, the American music executive Scooter Braun acquired Big Machine; the ownership of the masters to Swift's first six studio albums, including Speak Now, transferred to him. In August 2019, Swift denounced Braun's purchase and announced that she would re-record her first six studio albums so as to own their masters herself. She began the re-recording process in November 2020.

On May 5, 2023, at the first Nashville date of her sixth concert tour, the Eras Tour, Swift announced Speak Now (Taylor's Version) and its release date of July 7. She subsequently said in social media posts, "I love this album because it tells a tale of growing up, flailing, flying and crashing ... and living to speak about it". Swift emphasized the hardships she faced in her life during the time she wrote the record, among them "brutal honesty, unfiltered diaristic confessions and wild wistfulness". On June 5, 2023, Swift announced the track-list of the album, which consists of 22 songs. Among them are six "From the Vault" songs that were written for the 2010 album but did not make the final track-list, including "I Can See You". Speak Now (Taylor's Version) was released by Republic on July 7, 2023. On August 3, Swift performed the track as a "surprise song" at an Eras Tour show in Los Angeles. She sang it again as part of a mashup with her song "Mine" (2010) at an Eras Tour show in Liverpool.

Music and lyrics

"I Can See You" has a duration of four minutes and thirty-three seconds. It is driven by a surf rock guitar riff, which critics described as "choppy" and "edgy". The midtempo production incorporates distorted guitars, meandering bass, and synthesizers. Mike DeWald from Riff Magazine characterized "I Can See You" as an indie rock song, and Annabel Nugent from The Independent thought it evokes an "indie-rock mood" that differs from its immediate predecessors. Jason Lipshutz of Billboard and Chris Willman of Variety said the song has elements of funk. For Pitchfork, editor Vrinda Jagota wrote that it "sounds more like the inky, lilting trap-pop" on Reputation (2017) than the music on Speak Now (Taylor's Version). The lyrics and style have been called sultry, flirtatious, and sexually suggestive. Swift's use of innuendos while describing a "cataclysmic" crush has drawn comparisons to Swift's song "Dress" from Reputation.

Critical reception

In reviews of Speak Now (Taylor's Version), a number of critics picked "I Can See You" as the album's best "From the Vault" track. Nugent and DeWald commended the "danceable" production, and the latter considered the song "a fun change of pace" to the album. Lipshutz lauded the lyrics and composition and said that the song "would have been an excellent addition" to the 2010 album. Kate Solomon of the i dubbed it as a "classic". Spin writer Bobby Olivier opined that the theme of lust adds a new aspect to Swift's songwriting. Sputnikmusic's staff Sowing said the song has the "most addicting" guitar line and rhythm of any Swift song since "Style" (2015). In a less positive review, The Guardian's Laura Snapes noted the "intriguingly sexual" lyrics, but criticized the production as "actively bad Maroon 5-core".

"I Can See You" was placed within the top five in rankings of Swift's "From the Vault" tracks by Lipshutz, Jake Viswanath of Bustle, Nylon, Time, and Josh Kurp of Uproxx. Variety's Chris Willman listed the song at seventh on a ranking of her bonus tracks, praising Antonoff's production and dubbing it one of the "slinky bops" of 2023 and of Swift's discography. Viswanath opined that the track "wouldn't have sounded this way in 2010" if it was not for Antonoff's "hypnotic guitar riff" complementing the "suggestive pick-up lines". In Nylon, Lauren McCarthy deemed the song the catchiest of the "From the Vault" tracks as well as the sexiest, believing that Swift was so engaged with her lust that "she somehow forgot she was recording a song". Time's Moises Mendez II said that the production brought forth a mysterious atmosphere and thought Swift "perfectly captured" the emotions of a "forbidden love". For Kurp, the song was the one from the album that sounded the most like the band Fall Out Boy and felt that Swift's voice featured an "determined, reserved quality" that was uncommon on the original album.

Commercial performance

"I Can See You" peaked within the top ten in Ireland (4), New Zealand (4), Singapore (7), Canada (8), and Japan (8). On the Billboard Global 200, the song entered at its peak of number four with 52.9 million streams and 6,000 sales worldwide. "I Can See You" and "Back to December (Taylor's Version)" simultaneously marked Swift's 16th and 17th top-ten entries on the Global 200.

In the United States, the song debuted and peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100, with 24.7 million streams, 4,000 sales, and 361,000 airplay audiences; it made Swift the first artist since the Beatles in 1964 to chart songs from three different albums in the top ten at the same time. The song is also her 26th top-five entry and the second "Taylor's Version" track to chart within the top 10, after "All Too Well (Taylor's Version)" (2021). In Australia, the song reached number five on the ARIA Singles Chart and received a gold certification from the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). In the United Kingdom, it reached number six on the UK Singles Chart and was certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).

Music video

At the Eras Tour show in Kansas City, Missouri on July 7, 2023, Swift premiered the music video for "I Can See You", with co-stars Joey King, Taylor Lautner, and Presley Cash appearing onstage with Swift; the video was released via YouTube on July 8. Cash and King previously starred in Swift's 2011 video for "Mean", while Lautner and Swift briefly dated and starred in the 2010 film Valentine's Day prior to the release of the original Speak Now album. At the show, Swift revealed that she had come up with the concept for the video over a year and a half before its eventual release. Filming occurred in April 2023 in Liverpool, England, at locations such as the Cunard Building, the Tobacco Warehouse and the National Westminster Bank. She stated that she wanted to create a visual story that depicted how her fans helped her reclaim her music.

The video depicts a heist, carried out by Cash, King and Lautner, to rescue Swift, who is imprisoned in a vault. The video is a metaphor for Swift's fans helping reclaim her music following the 2019 public dispute over her masters. Swift directed the video, and Jonathan Sela served as director of photography.

The video received positive comments from journalists. Alexa Camp of Slant Magazine said, the "action-packed" music video saw Swift "take control" of her artistry. Lauren Huff of Entertainment Weekly praised the action theme of the "jam-packed" video. The A.V. Club's William Hughes called it a "barely-a-metaphor" video with outfits and memorabilia from Swift's Speak Now era. To honor Swift's record-setting six sold-out shows of the Eras Tour at SoFi Stadium, the Recording Academy hosted a special pop-up exhibit, titled I Can See You (Taylor's Version), at the Grammy Museum, Los Angeles, from August 2 to September 18, 2023. The exhibit is an immersive experience into the "I Can See You" music video, displaying 11 costumes—all of which were worn by Swift during the Speak Now era—and two music instruments from the video.

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.

Charts

Certifications

Certifications for "I Can See You"

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)	Platinum	70,000
United Kingdom (BPI)	Silver	200,000
Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.