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Background and Composition: Speak Now
Background and Composition: Speak Now
"Long Live" is a song written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift for her third
studio album Speak Now (2010). The original version of the song was written by Swift, and produced
by Nathan Chapman with Swift's assistance, and served as the closing track on Speak Now. On the
strength of digital downloads following the album's release, the song charted at No. 85 on the
U.S. Billboard Hot 100.[1]
In 2012, a new version of the song was released as a single from the Brazilian edition of Swift's live
album Speak Now World Tour – Live (2011),[2] featuring additional Portuguese verses written and
performed by Brazilian recording artist Paula Fernandes. This release was a local hit, breaking into
the top 5 on Billboard Brazil's Brasil Hot 100 Airplay chart.[3]
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Critical reception[edit]
"Long Live" received mixed to positive reviews from critics. Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone found the
song to be heavy-handed but effective: "Speak Now peaks with 'Long Live,' a ridiculously over-the-
top prom anthem with all the epic girl-group swoon of the Ronettes or the Shirelles, plus a guitar lick
from Def Leppard's 'Hysteria' ... Yet when Swift sings it, damn if you don't believe every
word."[7] In About.com's review of Speak Now, Bill Lamb referred to "Long Live" as "perhaps the most
powerful song [on the album]", noting its effectiveness as an album closer, and listed it as #5 on its
top five album tracks.[8] Comparing the song favorably to "Change" from Fearless, PopMatters editor
Dave Heaton felt the song was somewhat generic, but that the ambiguity of its subject matter
strengthens its appeal as an anthem. "It’s an anthem of defiance," he wrote, "where the defiant ones
are gaining their energy from memories and story-making."[4]
Others were less receptive to the song. In her review for HitFix, Melinda Newman labelled "Long
Live", along with "Enchanted", as "throwaways" compared to the sharper lyricism of other tracks, and
suggesting these two suffer the most from "going on a minute or two too long".[9]
Lohan
Lindsay Dee Lohan[2] (born July 2, 1986) is an American actress and singer. Lohan began her
career as a child fashion model when she was three, and was later featured on the soap
opera Another World for a year when she was 10. At age 11, Lohan made her motion picture debut
in Disney's commercially and critically successful 1998 remake of The Parent Trap. Her next major
motion picture, Disney's 2003 remake of Freaky Friday, was also a critical and commercial success.
With the release of Mean Girls (2004), another critical and commercial success, and
Disney's Herbie: Fully Loaded (2005), another commercial success, Lohan became a teen idol
sensation, a household name and a frequent focus of paparazzi and tabloids. However, Lohan's next
starring role in the romantic comedy Just My Luck (2006), received poor reviews and was only a
modest commercial success. Following Just My Luck, Lohan focused on smaller, more mature roles
in independent movies, receiving positive comments on her work, including A Prairie Home
Companion (2006), Bobby(2006) and Chapter 27 (2007).
After recording several songs for her movie soundtracks, Lohan signed with Casablanca Records.
Lohan's debut studio album, titled Speak, was released in December 2004 and became the first
high-seller from Casablanca in several years, selling 1 million copies in the United States alone and
peaking at number four on the Billboard 200.[3] Though the album received mostly lukewarm reviews,
it was certified platinum and sold over 4 million copies worldwide. Lohan's second album, titled A
Little More Personal (Raw), was released in December 2005 and featured darker material than her
debut had. That album received mixed reviews, and it was certified gold.
In 2007, two driving under the influence incidents led to Lohan being put on probation, and together
with three visits to rehabilitation facilities caused the loss of several movie deals. In 2008 and 2009,
Lohan worked as a fashion model and launched the clothing line 6126. She resumed her acting
career with TV work in 2008, and starred in the TV film Labor Pains (2009). She appeared in Robert
Rodriguez's feature film Machete (2010). Between 2010 and 2013, Lohan went into rehabilitation
three times, and spent much of her time entangled in legal problems stemming from misdemeanors
and probation violations. In 2012 and 2013, she did further television work, including starring
as Elizabeth Taylor in the biographical TV film Liz & Dick (2012). In 2013, she starred in Paul
Schrader's independent film The Canyons. In 2014, the docu-series Lindsayaired on the Oprah
Winfrey Network, and Lohan made her stage debut in the London West End production of Speed-
the-Plow
Witney
Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer,
actress, producer, and model. In 2009, Guinness World Records cited her as the most awarded
female act of all-time.[1] Houston is one of the best-selling music artists of all-time, with 200 million
records sold worldwide.[2][3] She released seven studio albums and two soundtrack albums, all of
which have diamond, multi-platinum, platinum, or gold certification. Houston's crossover appeal on
the popular music charts, as well as her prominence on MTV, starting with her video for "How Will I
Know",[4] influenced several African American women artists who follow in her footsteps.[5][6]
Houston is the only artist to chart seven consecutive No. 1 Billboard Hot 100songs. She is the
second artist behind Elton John and the only woman to have two number-one Billboard 200 Album
awards (formerly "Top Pop Albums") on the Billboard magazine year-end charts.[7] Houston's self-
titled debut album(1985) became the best-selling debut album by a woman in history.[8] Rolling
Stone named it the best album of 1986, and ranked it at number 254 on the magazine's list of
the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[8] Her second studio album, Whitney (1987), became the first
album by a woman to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 albums chart.[8]
Houston made her screen acting debut as Rachel Marron in the romantic thriller film The
Bodyguard (1992). She performed the lead single from the film's original soundtrack, "I Will Always
Love You", which received the Grammy Award for Record of the Year and became the best-selling
single by a woman in music history. With the soundtrack, which received the Grammy Award for
Album of the Year in 1994, Houston became the first act (solo or group, male or female) to sell more
than a million copies of an album within a single week period under Nielsen
SoundScan system.[8] The album makes her the top female act in the top 10 list of the best-selling
albums of all time, at number four. Houston made other high-profile film appearances and
contributed to their soundtracks, including Waiting to Exhale (1995) and The Preacher's
Wife(1996). The latter's soundtrack became the best-selling gospel album in history.[9]
On February 11, 2012, Houston was found dead in her guest room at the Beverly Hilton, in Beverly
Hills, California. The official coroner's report showed that she had accidentally drowned in the
bathtub, with heart disease and cocaine use listed as contributing factors.[10] News of her death
coincided with the 2012 Grammy Awards and featured prominently in American and international
media.[11]
Nicole
Nicole Richie (born Nicole Camille Escovedo; September 21, 1981) is an American fashion
designer, author, actress and television personality. Richie rose to prominence for her role in
the Fox reality television series, The Simple Life, alongside her childhood best friend and fellow
socialite Paris Hilton, which lasted five seasons. The Simple Life was a hit for the Fox network,
premiering with 13 million viewers.[2] Richie's personal life attracted significant media attention
during The Simple Life's five-year run, and she was a constant fixture of tabloid journalism before
and after her appearance.
Richie is married to musician Joel Madden and they have two children, Harlow and Sparrow. Richie
and Madden founded "The Richie Madden Children's Foundation" in 2010.[3] Richie has starred as
one of the three mentors on NBC's Fashion Star. In July 2014, Richie's reality show Candidly
Nicole premiered on VH1. The show was renewed for a second season which premiered in July
2015.[4]
Britany
Brittany Murphy-Monjack[3] (born Brittany Anne Bertolotti; November 10, 1977 – December 20,
2009), known professionally as Brittany Murphy, was an American actress and singer. A native of
Atlanta, Murphy moved to Los Angeles as a teenager and pursued a career in acting. Her
breakthrough role was as Tai Frasier in Clueless (1995), followed by supporting roles in independent
filmssuch as Freeway (1996) and Bongwater (1998). She made her stage debut in
a Broadway production of Arthur Miller's A View from the Bridge in 1997, before appearing as Daisy
Randone in Girl, Interrupted (1999) and as Lisa Swenson in Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999).
The 2000s saw Murphy with roles in Don't Say a Word (2001) alongside Michael Douglas, and
alongside Eminem in 8 Mile (2002), for which she gained critical recognition.[4] Her later roles
included Riding in Cars with Boys (2001), Spun(2002), Uptown Girls (2003), Sin City (2005),
and Happy Feet (2006). Murphy also voiced Luanne Platter on the animated television series King of
the Hill(1997–2009). Her final film, Something Wicked, was released in April 2014.
In December 2009, Murphy died of pneumonia at the age of 32. When her widower Simon
Monjack died from the same illness six months later, the Los Angeles County Department of Health
Services considered toxic mold in their home as a possible cause for their deaths, but this was
dismissed by the Coroner's Office. In 2011, Murphy's mother Sharon filed a lawsuit against the
attorneys who represented her in an earlier suit against the builders of the home where her daughter
and son-in-law died.
Logan Wade Lerman (born January 19, 1992) is an American actor, known for playing the title
role in the fantasy-adventure Percy Jackson films. He appeared in commercials in the mid-1990s,
before starring in the series Jack & Bobby(2004–2005) and the movies The Butterfly Effect (2004)
and Hoot (2006). Lerman gained further recognition for his roles in the western 3:10 to Yuma, the
thriller The Number 23, the comedy Meet Bill, and 2009's Gamer and My One and Only. He
subsequently played d'Artagnan in 2011's The Three Musketeers, starred in the coming-of-age
dramas The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012), Indignation (2016) and Sidney Hall (2017), and had
major roles in the 2014 films Noah and Fury.
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Acting career
Early work
Lerman had a passion for movies from a young age, though he started acting "just for fun" and "to
do something to get out of school".[23] He began auditioning for roles in the late 1990s, and first
appeared in commercials.[27][28] He made his film debut in 2000's The Patriot, playing William Martin,
one of the children of Mel Gibson's character. The same year, he appeared in another Mel Gibson
film, What Women Want, playing Gibson's character as a child. In 2001's Riding in Cars with Boys,
he played the son of Drew Barrymore's character. Lerman has stated that while appearing in his
earliest roles as a child, he did not have "any conscious awareness of what I was doing or what was
going on"[23] and "didn’t have a good experience".[7]
Lerman at the premiere of Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief in New York, February 2010.
In 2003, Lerman played nine-year-old Luke Chandler in the CBS made-for-television film A Painted
House, based on the early life of author John Grisham and set in Black Oak, Arkansas in the early
1950s. A Painted House was filmed in Lepanto and Clarksdale, Mississippi, in 2002.[29][30] A review in
the Boston Globe described Lerman as a "promising newcomer",[31] with the Telegraph-
Herald commenting on the character having been "quietly and effectively played".[32] For the role, he
was nominated for the Young Artist Award for Best Performance by a Leading Young Actor in a
television production, and tied with Calum Worthy for the win.[33] He next appeared in the 2004 thriller
film The Butterfly Effect, portraying a seven-year-old version of Ashton Kutcher's character, Evan
Treborn.[34] digitallyOBSESSED's reviewer described Lerman as "definitely a child actor to watch".[35]
Lerman had quit acting for a "year or so" in the early 2000s, when he was ten.[7] He made a
"conscious decision" to embrace acting as a profession when he was twelve, having developed an
interest in the film making process.[23] In 2004, he was cast in the television series Jack & Bobby,
playing one of the title roles, Robert "Bobby" McCallister, a 12-year-old "extremely bright social
misfit"[36] in Missouri who was destined to become President of the United States as an adult. The
show ran on The WB Television Network during the 2004–2005 season, receiving some positive
reviews but low ratings,[37][38] and was subsequently canceled. Lerman was nominated for
another Young Artist Award for his performance, tying with Jack DeSena for the win.[39][40] Lerman has
stated that he "started taking things seriously" about his career after appearing on the
show.[41] The Boston Herald's reviewer mentioned that Lerman's performance had a "blend of
vulnerability and strength,"[42] while Entertainment Weekly's reviewer had noted that "Lerman lends
Bobby a bedraggled optimism".[43]Continuing his film work, Lerman had his first starring role in a
motion picture, playing Roy Eberhardt in the children's adventure Hoot; his character moves to
Florida from Montana and attempts to save endangered burrowing owls. Lerman stated that the
film's message is "that you can be any age and make a difference".[39] Hoot began filming in July
2005 in South Florida, opened on May 5, 2006, and won him a third Young Artist Award, this time for
Best Performance in a Feature Film - Leading Young Actor (2007).[44] The Washington Post's
reviewer commented that "Lerman shows some life as Roy", though his role was "an anomaly in a
sea of insipidity",[45] while the San Francisco Chronicle's reviewer disliked Lerman's performance.[46]
In 2007, Lerman appeared in the thriller The Number 23, in which he played the son of Walter
Sparrow (Jim Carrey), a man who becomes obsessed with numerology. That year, he also appeared
in the critically acclaimed western remake 3:10 to Yuma, playing William Evans, a teenager who
looks up to criminal Ben Wade (Russell Crowe) while shunning his father (Christian Bale's
character); Lerman's character did not exist in the original version of the story. Lerman received
positive reviews for his work,[47] and was again nominated for the Young Artist Award - Best
Performance in a Feature Film - Leading Young Actor (2008). It was the second consecutive year he
received a nomination in that category, although this time he did not win.[48][49] USA Today stated that
he was among the film's "best supporting players",[50] while Rolling Stone gave Lerman a "shout-
out"[51] and Newsday stated that he delivers a "credibly explicit note".[52]
In 2008, Lerman co-starred in the comedy Meet Bill, as a teenager mentored by Bill (Aaron
Eckhart). Meet Bill was filmed in 2006, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2007,
and received a theatrical release on April 4, 2008. Hollywood.com stated that, though the film was
uneven, Lerman "displays a supreme confidence".[53] In 2009, he appeared in the science fiction
film Gamer, as Simon, a teenage gamer who controls one of the characters in a video game played
with live human subjects[54] (Gamer was filmed in November 2007). Also that year, Lerman had a
leading role in the Renée Zellweger comedy feature My One and Only, playing a teenage character
based on actor George Hamilton – depicted as an aspiring writer who, after his parents split,
accompanies his mother and brother on a cross-country trip, eventually arriving in
Hollywood.[20][55] Bloomberg's reviewer described Lerman as appealing,[56] with the Los Angeles
Times' Betsy Sharkey stating that the character "captures the ease with which an angry teen will use
a growing vocabulary to wound a parent".[57]
Percy Jackson–present
In spring 2009, Lerman was cast in the lead role as Percy Jackson in Percy Jackson & the
Olympians: The Lightning Thief.[58]The movie was filmed in 2009 in Vancouver, British Columbia, and
was released in February 2010. Lerman has stated that he was not familiar with the book series
when he received the script.[19] During his teenage years, Lerman and his family had viewed his
acting work as just a "hobby" before college; his parents had only become more comfortable with
acting as a career in 2010, the year of Percy Jackson's release.[7] In August 2010, Lerman appeared
in "Change the Odds", a public service announcement video for the Stand Up to Cancer charity; the
video also featured Dakota Fanning, Zac Efron, Andrew Garfield and other actors.[59]
Lerman on the set of Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters in Vancouver, May 2012.
Lerman's next role was d'Artagnan, in director Paul W. S. Anderson's 3D film version of The Three
Musketeers, which was released in the U.S. on October 21, 2011.[60] Lerman was cast in the role
without having to audition.[61] He took the role because The Three Musketeers was one of the only
books his paternal grandfather had taken with him when he "had to leave his home... as a young
kid", in the 1930s.[62] Lerman trained in sword fighting for three months and wore hair extensions to
portray d'Artagnan, whom he has described as "the most different character to me that I've ever
played".[23][63] The film received negative reviews, with Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune writing
that "Lerman already has done solid work... but he's a blank slate here".[64][65]
Lerman starred in a film adaptation of Stephen Chbosky's novel The Perks of Being a Wallflower,
playing the lead role, Charlie; filming took place in 2011, and the movie was released in September
2012.[66] Lerman has described the film as a "life epic", and stated that he had been "torturing
[himself] for... a few months in order to get inside Charlie's head".[23] The movie received positive
reviews, as did Lerman's performance. Leonard Maltin wrote that Lerman and his co-stars are
"soulful", and "lift this film above the norm for coming-of-age stories",[67][68] while Christy Lemire of the
Associated Press wrote that, by the film's end, Lerman "bust[s] out, show[s] some range and
reveal[s] he can really, truly act".[69] For his performance, Lerman was nominated for several awards,
including Best Young Actor/Actress by the Broadcast Film Critics Association, and won a Teen
Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor: Drama.[70]
Lerman played Lou in the independent drama film Stuck in Love, starring alongside Lily Collins; the
film received a limited U.S. release in 2013.[71][72] Lerman had initially been signed to appear in
three Percy Jackson films.[19][73] The second film in the series, subtitled Sea of Monsters, was filmed
in 2012 and 2013, and released in August 2013.[74][75]
Lerman at the world premiere of Fury at the Newseum in Washington D.C..
Lerman played Ham, the son of prophet Noah, in the Biblical epic Noah, directed by Darren
Aronofsky.[76] Filming took place in 2012, in New York and Iceland, and Noah was released on March
28, 2014, to positive reviews.[77][78] Lerman next co-starred with Brad Pitt and Shia LaBeouf in David
Ayer's World War II-set film, Fury; in the film, Lerman's character is an American soldier fighting Nazi
forces.[79] Filming began in September 2013, and the movie received an October 2014
release.[80][81] Reviews for Fury were positive;[82] Matt Stieb of the San Antonio Current wrote that
Lerman "manages to hold his own" opposite Pitt,[83] and Lerman's performance was described as a
"great turn" by Oliver Lyttelton of Indiewire.[84]
Lerman played the lead, Marcus Messner, in Indignation, an adaptation of Philip Roth's 2008
novel of the same name, directed by James Schamus; his character is a student who
faces antisemitism and sexual repression while coming of age at a 1950s Ohio college.[85] Filming
began in June 2015. Indignation premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, and was theatrically
released in July 2016. It received positive reviews for both the film itself and Lerman's performance,
with Tim Grierson of ScreenDaily writing that Lerman's work "seethes with his character’s
burgeoning arrogance and cynicism", and David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter stating that
Lerman gives "a performance of tremendous focus, maturity and depth of feeling, with exciting
flashes of the umbrage that gives the film its title".[86][87] Lerman also served as one of the film's
executive producers, receiving his first such credit.[86][88]
Lerman played the titular role in Shawn Christensen's feature drama, Sidney Hall (2017).[89] He was
also an executive producer for the film, which began production in New York City in April
2016,[90] and premiered on January 25, at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival.[91]
Lerman will voice Robert Conroy, a real-life soldier who worked with World War I hero war
dog Sergeant Stubby, in Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero, an animated film scheduled for release on
April 13, 2018.[92] He will also star opposite John Hawkes and Sarah Bolger in the film End of
Sentence, in which he will play the son of Hawkes' character, as the two travel to Ireland. Filming
began on location in May 2017.[93] Lerman has also signed to star opposite Olivia Cooke in the spy
drama The Tracking of a Russian Spy, in which Lerman will play American journalist Mitch
Swenson.[94]
Lerman is represented by the Creative Artists Agency.[95]
Other work
Lerman is a friend of actor Dean Collins,[96] who played his best friend on Jack & Bobby; they
remained close after the series' cancellation, and worked together again on Hoot, where Collins had
a supporting role. In their spare time, the two collaborated on comedic short films. As well as acting,
they wrote, directed, and shot the videos, often enlisting the help of family and friends. The shorts
were uploaded to YouTube under the joint account name of "monkeynuts1069".[97]
In 2006, Dean Collins and Lerman formed a band, Indigo, along with musician Daniel Pashman;
Collins sang lead vocals, Lerman played keyboard and guitar, and Pashman played the drums.[5] In
2011, Lerman stated that Indigo is "not a serious band right now",[98][dead link] and that music is his
biggest passion after film.[7] He plays the piano[41] and is a fan of movie music
compositions.[23] Lerman also writes and creates loglines for stories.[7]
BlackBook magazine wrote that Lerman "aspires to be the head of a [film] studio one day".[99]
Zac
Zachary David Alexander Efron (born October 18, 1987)[2] is an Americanactor and singer. He
began acting professionally in the early 2000s, and rose to prominence in the late 2000s for his
leading role in the High School Musicalfranchise (2006–2008). During this time, he also starred in
the musical film Hairspray (2007) and the comedy film 17 Again (2009). He has since appeared in
films like New Year's Eve (2011), The Lucky One (2012), Neighbors (2014), Dirty Grandpa (2016),
and Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising (2016).