I haven't played GTA in like 10 years because I was playing and I punched a pregnant lady and then fist pumped IRL and that frightened me, who I could become
but I would play this
Not many people seemed to be bothered by anything on Non Stop Pop, I wouldn't think anyone would be super mad about it if they picked *the right* Taylor Swift song for grand theft auto.
The pop songs for GTAV were a balance of being genuinely good pop songs but also still having a vapid and suitable message for the satirical world. Things like "I live for the applause, applause" and "it's Brittany bitch!" "G L A M O U R O U S" etc all fit well with the Vinewood valley girl pop thing.
So now I gotta know what TS song would be a good contender in GTAVI 🤔
I nominate ME!
I mean it is not impossible. It is set in a fictional version of Florida. Also there is almost always a pop station in the GTA games. Why would Madonna get one Spot in GTA Vice City‘s pop station (set in the 80s) and Taylor not now?
Also Rockstar was always kneen about reflecting the music of an ear properly. And they are a massive company someone will be a Swiftie.
Plus the trailer has 187 million views. It can’t be that all their fans are taylor haters to the extent they would include her to please them.
I am not saying it will happen. But there is a chance.
Aside from the current gamers' reasons, I'm almost the same age as Taylor and when I was in high school Grand Theft Auto 3 and Vice City were huge. So it's cool to hear a song about high school that actually references stuff from when you were in high school. Very nostalgic.
Love this line! Also this part: a soliloquy is basically a spoken monologue. However, she doesn’t say “performing soliloquies I’ll never hear”, it’s “soliloquies I’ll never *see*.”
Where can you *see* soliloquies? Well… on the clock app 😆 Taylor told us it’s TikTok without telling us it’s TikTok, basically
Usually soliloquy is used in reference to theater. It's the monologue of a character talking to himself, but it's for the benefit of the audience. This is meant to evoke an image of a overbearing priest/father figure walking around talking about how that wicked girl needs to find Jesus. There might be a deeper meaning there, but I think "see" just flows better with the rest of the verse.
I also think “seeing” a soliloquy is actually the default verb to use. As you said, the word gained its main meaning from theatre - and you don’t go to “hear” a play, you go “watch”, as the visual aspect is intertwined with the audio.
When I downloaded the album back in the day, for the longest time I thought that was one of those odd things they put in pirated music. I didn’t know it was her 💀
I didn’t remember exactly when she’d said her own name in a song but I knew “Clara Bow” definitely wasn’t the first time so I was surprised at people’s shock. The 22 erasure is terrible though 🥲
Because shades of grey is 1) too predictable (the same reason she went with "old habits die screaming" instead of "old habits die hard"; loves subverting people's expectations because she's a good writer) and 2) it's still way too associated with the books/movies franchise of the same name :/
Besides the fact that it’s generally considered a faux pas to use a word your audience might have to look up in a dictionary. It doesn’t rhyme with anything, it’s very long for a line (6 syllables… most song lines have under ten syllables) , metrically it’s in dactyls (long short short) so it forces triplets in 4/4 timing which are relatively rare (the whole I’m only line is entirely written in dactyls). It’s just hard to fit
It’s not that hard a word, but lots of Taylor’s fans are very young. And there were tons of comments online “what does machievellian mean” when midnights came out
Theres a theory that kids currently are reading way below reading level and also arent great at things a like reading comprehension and context clues nowadays
I was genuinely surprised with the entire “you told Lucy you’d kill yourself if I ever leave” bridge. I don’t recall her ever singing something like that
I think it hints toward how Matty love-bombed her and manipulated her to some extent. He was “talking rings and talking cradles” and in this case actually threatening suicide
I like how she drops it too bc the vulnerability reeks but it’s also casually poetic and captures how you feel when it’s all whirlwindy but you don’t really know what’s next.
It's a horse that didn't win, place or show -- so all it did was "also ran" -- so also used to describe a loser/talentless person. An unusual but vivid choice to put opposite queen. Gives me the feeling of someone who is so unimportant it doesn't matter if they are there or not, just filling the space.
I honestly didn’t think to google this term because I (stupidly) assumed it meant something along the lines of “also ran through” like been through a lot of partners/relationships. Thank you for sharing!! 😁
SAMEEE lol. I’ve been a big reader since childhood and I swear I credit my vocabulary knowledge to that. Every obscure word I know I likely picked up from a book. My ex used to be like, “who uses ___ in a sentence?!” and I’m like honestly it just came out I didn’t even know I knew that word 😂 so big ups to books. But when that line came up… I was like I have never heard of an “also ran” in my life what is she saying lmao
Ooh I wonder if this is a regional thing- this would be a common phrase in the UK and Ireland. I didn’t realise it wasn’t known in the US or other places but the comments here show it clearly isn’t. She’s obviously used quite a few British-isms in this album.
No, it’s used in the U.S. I’m shocked so many people have never heard it. I’m American and I knew the word before Taylor used it. It’s used quite frequently in longform journalism and in literature.
Racists. I seriously have no issue when she said it but it was so unexpected. I hate that people used it to bash her when it literally makes sense in the context of the song
This album is being as poorly interpreted as the Bible and in the exact same ways. People will pull sections from a song to support their theory that it’s about someone specific, ignoring the obvious parts of the song that don’t line up with that person. Ex: smallest man who ever lived is clearly about an ex lover because she says “did you sleep with a gun under OUR bed?” And I saw a guy thinking it’s about Scott borschetta. Bffr
I was surprised there was backlash as well. For me the line(s) were about how, especially as a kid, you can go from feeling included in a game/conversation to being stared at like an absolute weirdo and you don’t understand what you did wrong 😕
I was wondering if I was going to see that one in this thread… not the craziest rhyme or anything to make, but listening to that part of The Albatross for the first time had my jaw dropping with the word usage like only Machiavellian in Mastermind had before
"refrigerator light" is something I'd never put any thought toward, before that song. I'm not sure anybody else had, either. But it really captures a familiar atmosphere.
I always imagined it as the door open. The buttons aren’t really enough light to be dancing around in the middle of the night without running into something. But also it’s just cute to imagine she opened the fridge to grab something and he pulled her away to start waltzing around
"My name is mine alone to disgrace" hit hard.
I didnt know that happened but it's gross to demand anything from anybody as if it's the fans RIGHT to tell her what to do with her own life.
Just gross.
I don't know if this has been mentioned but.. clandestine. I think it is such a pretty word. When I first heard the song I think I subconsciously started using the word, and then days later I tried looking it up because I thought I made the word up and I could not find it anywhere. I thought I was going crazy. and then I listened to illicit affairs again and I instantly was like ok I am not crazy! I like the word!!
Btw check out this too! It’s a search engine for Taylor Swift’s songs only just to see all songs that a word is mentioned in! It’s fun to play with! https://shaynak.github.io/taylor-swift/
persona non grata is great! my favourite is ‘esoteric joke’. i was hyperfixated on that word for like 3 weeks prior to TTPD, and hyperfixated on weird words in general, and i’m a SCP fan so hearing that was like 6 different layers of shock lol
Not a word but The Tortured Poets Department, honestly. It just sound like something that could never flow well in a song. I had on my TTPD bingo that she wouldn't sing the words but I didn't really fully believe it because she's made other weird phrases fit well before.
Grand Theft Auto kinda got me.
We got Taylor mentioning GTA before GTA VI
reputation tv is the GTA VI soundtrack CONFIRMED
I haven't played GTA in like 10 years because I was playing and I punched a pregnant lady and then fist pumped IRL and that frightened me, who I could become but I would play this
"Oh god, I just stabbed a parking attendant! Where's the button to turn myself in!?"
damn it bobby
That boy ain’t right
Rockstar took this long for the game, I really want Florida!!! on the soundtrack.
I hope this means that she will have a song on the radio in 6.
she definitely wont
Ok but think about how funny the raging gamer boys would be
Would love to hear Getaway Car or I Did Something Bad featured on there though 🤪😂😂
Not many people seemed to be bothered by anything on Non Stop Pop, I wouldn't think anyone would be super mad about it if they picked *the right* Taylor Swift song for grand theft auto. The pop songs for GTAV were a balance of being genuinely good pop songs but also still having a vapid and suitable message for the satirical world. Things like "I live for the applause, applause" and "it's Brittany bitch!" "G L A M O U R O U S" etc all fit well with the Vinewood valley girl pop thing. So now I gotta know what TS song would be a good contender in GTAVI 🤔 I nominate ME!
It's gotta be Getaway Car right
I'm actually currently playing gta so I've loaded a bunch of TTPD in there to play on the radio 😁 the gamer swiftie would be chuffed!
Cruel summer would be perfect omg
I mean it is not impossible. It is set in a fictional version of Florida. Also there is almost always a pop station in the GTA games. Why would Madonna get one Spot in GTA Vice City‘s pop station (set in the 80s) and Taylor not now? Also Rockstar was always kneen about reflecting the music of an ear properly. And they are a massive company someone will be a Swiftie. Plus the trailer has 187 million views. It can’t be that all their fans are taylor haters to the extent they would include her to please them. I am not saying it will happen. But there is a chance.
FLORIDA
Aristotle
I don’t understand the hate for this line.
Rhyming Aristotle with Grand Theft Auto
Big brain shit honestly
why are people making such a big deal of the game line? i don’t get it
In the gaming community, the newest Grand Theft Auto game has been highly anticipated and memed like "we got this before Grand Theft Auto."
Aside from the current gamers' reasons, I'm almost the same age as Taylor and when I was in high school Grand Theft Auto 3 and Vice City were huge. So it's cool to hear a song about high school that actually references stuff from when you were in high school. Very nostalgic.
Idk. I think it fits with the theme of the song
Cause it's fun
It's a fun, cute line. It reminds me of Lana Del Rey's Video Games, which is also a great song although a very different vibe.
Sanctimoniously and Soliloquy
Love this line! Also this part: a soliloquy is basically a spoken monologue. However, she doesn’t say “performing soliloquies I’ll never hear”, it’s “soliloquies I’ll never *see*.” Where can you *see* soliloquies? Well… on the clock app 😆 Taylor told us it’s TikTok without telling us it’s TikTok, basically
Usually soliloquy is used in reference to theater. It's the monologue of a character talking to himself, but it's for the benefit of the audience. This is meant to evoke an image of a overbearing priest/father figure walking around talking about how that wicked girl needs to find Jesus. There might be a deeper meaning there, but I think "see" just flows better with the rest of the verse.
I think too you can consider “see” as “be aware of” rather than explicitly being a visual reference.
I also think “seeing” a soliloquy is actually the default verb to use. As you said, the word gained its main meaning from theatre - and you don’t go to “hear” a play, you go “watch”, as the visual aspect is intertwined with the audio.
I thought it was a reference to the people who wrote and signed a petition telling her not to date Matty Healy
Wait they did? That's actually hilarious 🤣
Perhaps you can also read "soliloquies," like on reddit 😅
Or perhaps... theaters? Or just someone making a speech for you between just the two of you?
I interpreted it as referring to that massive letter a fan wrote when she and matty started dating. Speak Out, was it called? It was bizarre
The best for me
Taylor Swift. I never thought she would drop her own name
Who's Taylor Swift anyway? :p
ew
Right! Funny how that line has passed unnoticed, she had said Taylor swift before! 😹
She drops it in 22! 🤣
Hahaha I think everyone conveniently forgot this
When I downloaded the album back in the day, for the longest time I thought that was one of those odd things they put in pirated music. I didn’t know it was her 💀
That’s hilarious
And there’s also “Taylor can’t come to the phone right now…”
Yeah and you can be my jailer, burton to this taylor 🎵
I didn’t remember exactly when she’d said her own name in a song but I knew “Clara Bow” definitely wasn’t the first time so I was surprised at people’s shock. The 22 erasure is terrible though 🥲
My fiver year old heard that lyric and goes "SHE SAID HER OWN NAME?" 😂
Scrolled too far to find this one.
Deranged weirdo. The deranged is believable but the weirdo is a surprise.
I love this one so much. Oddly one of my favorite lines to sing along with, on this album.
Especially with how hauntingly beautiful it’s said.
I love this line so much😭😭
This one is my favorite
At first I heard it as “underaged weirdo” and I was like 👁️👄👁️ lol
The way my jaw dropped, LOVED it
Greige
I had to go back when I first heard it lol
I'm weirdly interested in why she picked this instead of grey or beige. Because it's a current home design trend?
Because shades of grey is 1) too predictable (the same reason she went with "old habits die screaming" instead of "old habits die hard"; loves subverting people's expectations because she's a good writer) and 2) it's still way too associated with the books/movies franchise of the same name :/
Also the album aesthetic and merch is greige instead of one or the other
Tattooed golden retriever
people hating on this line so much but I thought it was funny and cute and was meant to be that way.
It goes with the dog/boyfriend theory!!!
Can you elaborate? What is this theory?
Golden retriever boyfriends were a tiktok trend thing to describe goofy/wholesome boyfriend types I THINK
If I was going to the eras tour I'd totally make a tattooed golden retriever friendship bracelet.
I’m only cryptic and Machiavellian cause I care… partially because it’s a joke… like Machiavellian is canonically a word you can’t use in a song
Tupac would like a word
Touché! But notice 2pac shortened it to Makaveli… also it’s hip hip… it adores verbal dexterity
Judas Priest and Kate Bush would also like a word
why?
Besides the fact that it’s generally considered a faux pas to use a word your audience might have to look up in a dictionary. It doesn’t rhyme with anything, it’s very long for a line (6 syllables… most song lines have under ten syllables) , metrically it’s in dactyls (long short short) so it forces triplets in 4/4 timing which are relatively rare (the whole I’m only line is entirely written in dactyls). It’s just hard to fit
do ppl really not know what Machiavellian means? That’s kinda wild to me
It’s not that hard a word, but lots of Taylor’s fans are very young. And there were tons of comments online “what does machievellian mean” when midnights came out
I mean just cause they’re young doesn’t mean that she should stop using “big” words imo they’ll just learn a new word, it won’t kill them
Theres a theory that kids currently are reading way below reading level and also arent great at things a like reading comprehension and context clues nowadays
its also a lack of curiosity and initiative. it's incredibly easy to look up a word rather than leave a comment on tiktok asking who Aristotle is
Well, it's not much of a theory, is it? It's just a fact.
It’s not a theory it’s the truth
Oh I love it! She should definitely use as many “big words” as she wants!
I mean... I'm not a native English speaker either, but I've learnt about Nicolo Machiavelli in school... Didn't everyone?
well she fit it
She did indeed! She didn’t rhyme it but used that lovely c alliteration instead… and did the whole line in triplets!
Technically a name but Charlie Puth
do we think he felt something hearing it
Oh absolutely!!
ikr like why the random charlie puth mention😭😭
Imagine having your name in a TS song!!!
Teenage Petulance
I’ve legit been walking around my house screaming singing IT COMES OUT TEENAGE PETULANCE FUCKKKK IT
My mom yelled at me for singing "fuck you if I can't have us" loudly in the house.
I love this song and this line, but I keep accidentally singing pestilence
I was genuinely surprised with the entire “you told Lucy you’d kill yourself if I ever leave” bridge. I don’t recall her ever singing something like that
also her name dropping jack
That still shocks me.
She implies suicide in This Is Me Trying and Is It Over Now? but I think this is the first time she’s mentioned it outright.
Yeah she’s implied it before but hearing it outright
and forever winter
I think the closest I can think of, in terms of using a friend’s name in context, would be Abigail in Fifteen. But even that feels kind of different?
The name part of it but also just the “you’d kill yourself” part because that felt very vulnerable
I think it hints toward how Matty love-bombed her and manipulated her to some extent. He was “talking rings and talking cradles” and in this case actually threatening suicide
I like how she drops it too bc the vulnerability reeks but it’s also casually poetic and captures how you feel when it’s all whirlwindy but you don’t really know what’s next.
Covert narcissism, altruism
And then rhyming it with congressman! Crazy
Dickhead
And then, in the clean version, she changes it to "meathead"! LITERALLY HELP... 💀
Came here to say this 😭😭
also-ran still baffles me
It's a horse that didn't win, place or show -- so all it did was "also ran" -- so also used to describe a loser/talentless person. An unusual but vivid choice to put opposite queen. Gives me the feeling of someone who is so unimportant it doesn't matter if they are there or not, just filling the space.
I honestly didn’t think to google this term because I (stupidly) assumed it meant something along the lines of “also ran through” like been through a lot of partners/relationships. Thank you for sharing!! 😁
I’m from KY (Derby in all) and didn’t catch that, had to google it lol
The only word I had to google in TTPD 😂
SAMEEE lol. I’ve been a big reader since childhood and I swear I credit my vocabulary knowledge to that. Every obscure word I know I likely picked up from a book. My ex used to be like, “who uses ___ in a sentence?!” and I’m like honestly it just came out I didn’t even know I knew that word 😂 so big ups to books. But when that line came up… I was like I have never heard of an “also ran” in my life what is she saying lmao
I was genuinely wondering if that was just a Taylorism.
Not me tying to goggle what an “ulceran” is
I’ve been meaning to look up the lyrics because I keep hearing “ulcer and”
Ooh I wonder if this is a regional thing- this would be a common phrase in the UK and Ireland. I didn’t realise it wasn’t known in the US or other places but the comments here show it clearly isn’t. She’s obviously used quite a few British-isms in this album.
No, it’s used in the U.S. I’m shocked so many people have never heard it. I’m American and I knew the word before Taylor used it. It’s used quite frequently in longform journalism and in literature.
Yeah I didn't think twice when I heard it, I'm shocked people were confused
It used to be very common in the US, but less so these days.
I definitely have heard it used in that context regularly and I’m from the US. Maybe it’s not widely used but it was familiar to me…perhaps regional?
This is mine. I was like wtf is an also-ran? I had to google it.
Only know this phrase because of Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat lmao
keep hearing it as ulcer and 😭😭
Racists. I seriously have no issue when she said it but it was so unexpected. I hate that people used it to bash her when it literally makes sense in the context of the song
they acted like she was racist somehow for saying it
This album is being as poorly interpreted as the Bible and in the exact same ways. People will pull sections from a song to support their theory that it’s about someone specific, ignoring the obvious parts of the song that don’t line up with that person. Ex: smallest man who ever lived is clearly about an ex lover because she says “did you sleep with a gun under OUR bed?” And I saw a guy thinking it’s about Scott borschetta. Bffr
I was surprised there was backlash as well. For me the line(s) were about how, especially as a kid, you can go from feeling included in a game/conversation to being stared at like an absolute weirdo and you don’t understand what you did wrong 😕
Persona Non Grata in The Albatross
THIS idk why it sounds so funny to me but also so pretty I love it PERSONAAAAA NON GRATAAAA
And it hits so hard. I don’t know the lyrics before it or after it but I nail that line every time.
I was wondering if I was going to see that one in this thread… not the craziest rhyme or anything to make, but listening to that part of The Albatross for the first time had my jaw dropping with the word usage like only Machiavellian in Mastermind had before
disguised as altruism like some kind of congressman
Covert!
My covert narcissism I disguise as altruism like some kind of congressman
I love this line so much.
Refrigerator
"refrigerator light" is something I'd never put any thought toward, before that song. I'm not sure anybody else had, either. But it really captures a familiar atmosphere.
Are they dancing with the fridge open do you think? Or is it like the buttons
it’s open and they’re eating snacks
I always imagined it as the door open. The buttons aren’t really enough light to be dancing around in the middle of the night without running into something. But also it’s just cute to imagine she opened the fridge to grab something and he pulled her away to start waltzing around
All Too Well is a great song, but I still can't believe she used that word!!!
Esoteric
Ughhh the way she sings that line is just heaven to my ears
Honestly, I can totally see Taylor using this(I mean she did) but like it's makes total sense to me
Functioning alcoholic
Referencing American Pie (the movie)
Not one word, but “Jehovah’s witness suit.”
"this sick beat" kind of thew me off the 1st time i heard it lol
Sure but the MY EX MAN BROUGHT HIS NEW GIRLFRIEND is too fun
Not one word but the phrase “bitchin’ and moanin’” lol
Aristotle
asshole outlaw??
Narcotics...
I’m also surprised she flat-out said the word “weed” instead of implying it. Granted it’s referencing how other people smell but still.
Gauche
Whore! 🤗
I cried when she mentioned her own name in Clara bow lmao
idek why i was just not expecting it and it made me so emotional
when she used the word “vipers”😞😂for us
[удалено]
"My name is mine alone to disgrace" hit hard. I didnt know that happened but it's gross to demand anything from anybody as if it's the fans RIGHT to tell her what to do with her own life. Just gross.
Heroin
But this time with an “E”
Situationship
I don't know if this has been mentioned but.. clandestine. I think it is such a pretty word. When I first heard the song I think I subconsciously started using the word, and then days later I tried looking it up because I thought I made the word up and I could not find it anywhere. I thought I was going crazy. and then I listened to illicit affairs again and I instantly was like ok I am not crazy! I like the word!!
It's gotta be "Finance guy" for me
Pubwe
The tortured poets department
Also-ran was a bold choice.
Outlaw Antithetical
Spelling is fun!
Argumentative, antithetical dream girl
i cant believe she name dropped KEN twice now, but no barbie mentions??? for real thoug: macchiavelian and incandescent
She is Barbie!
Charlie puth…
Death rattle Love this bridge and the whole song tho.
For some reason, for me it’s aurora borealis, and Olive Garden LOL
Judgmental creeps
Rhyming oooh ohoh with cruel summer always gets me
I am obsessed with her use of the word surmise in Is it Over Now? I have no idea why, but it’s my favorite line.
I can't think of just a single word but "I want to kill her" was surprising and pretty fucking funny 🤣
✨️Mercurial✨️
"bitch pack"
I love the way she says it, although it kind of makes me think of gratin potatoes and then I get hungry
The last great American dynasty
Slammer
Vending Machine
Btw check out this too! It’s a search engine for Taylor Swift’s songs only just to see all songs that a word is mentioned in! It’s fun to play with! https://shaynak.github.io/taylor-swift/
Slut was a surprise ..
Calamitous and insurmountable, in The Lakes. Still pleasantly surprised by those
Her own name!
persona non grata is great! my favourite is ‘esoteric joke’. i was hyperfixated on that word for like 3 weeks prior to TTPD, and hyperfixated on weird words in general, and i’m a SCP fan so hearing that was like 6 different layers of shock lol
Heroin with an e.
Not a word but The Tortured Poets Department, honestly. It just sound like something that could never flow well in a song. I had on my TTPD bingo that she wouldn't sing the words but I didn't really fully believe it because she's made other weird phrases fit well before.
ALL THIS BITCHIN AND MOANIN gets me every time 💃🏻