Taylor Swift and Post Malone release acoustic version of “Fortnight”

The halls of The “Tortured Poets” section are quieter than usual as Taylor Swift and Post Malone strip down their collaborative single “Fortnight” for an acoustic version.

The updated recording replaces the original’s droning percussion sounds with hollow piano melodies and the plucking of an acoustic guitar. It also better blends Swift and Malone’s haunting vocals, running together as they sing, “I love you, it’s ruining my life.”

“Fortnight” was the first collaboration between the two musicians after years of mutual admiration. As the first official single from The department for tortured poets, As Swift’s 11th studio album, the record debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed there for two weeks.

“I’m such a huge fan of Post because he’s such an amazing writer, because he experiments musically, and because he creates melodies that stay with you forever,” Swift wrote on X (formerly Twitter) earlier this year. “I got to witness that magic firsthand when we worked together on Fortnight.”

In a separate post on Instagram, Malone wrote: “It only happens once in a lifetime that someone like @taylorswift comes into the world. I am overwhelmed by your heart and mind and am beyond honored to have been asked to help you on your journey.”

Malone and Swift also starred together in the music video for “Fortnight,” unfolding a visual narrative of fatalism written and directed by Swift. ‘Dead Poets Society’Co-stars Ethan Hawke and Josh Charles also made cameo appearances in the video.

“When I was writing the music video for Fortnight, I wanted to show you the worlds I saw in my head that served as the backdrop for this music,” Swift shared on Instagram. “Pretty much everything in it is a metaphor or a reference to one corner of the album or another. For me, this video turned out to be the perfect visual representation of this record and the stories I tell in it.”

She added: “@postmalone blew me away on set as our tortured tragic hero and I am so grateful for everything he put into this collaboration.”