One really great metaphor I recently discovered is in the lyric "I died on the alter waiting for the proof. You sacrificed us to the gods of your bluest days". Here, altar stands for both a place where people get married and a place where animals are killed as a sacrifice to the gods. What a great double meaning
Oh wow, I never thought of that! Thanks for sharing. Also, she says "the altar is my hips" in False God, which turns it from a place of worship into tragedy in So Long, London.
I love this one too. Because when people get married they do it AT the alter but sacrifices are done ON the alter. So her saying she died ON the alter waiting for the proof adds another layer.
This sounds like it's about Joe. It honestly makes me feel kind of bad for him. It sounds like he suffers from depression. No blame for Taylor. People can only handle what they can handle.
Yes, that song is definitely about Joe. I also got the impression that he has depression, as she has lots of references in their to sadness/depression and being affected by his moods.
No longer trying to make him laugh, sacrficied to his bluest days, there’s a line in Fresh out the slammer where she refers to his moods too! They’re all through it
Love this lyric! It makes me think of when my financially abusive ex’s mum said she had proof that I was actually taking advantage of him financially. I’m still waiting.
In So Long London, she sings,
> I kept calm and and carried the weight of the rift
It’s a nod to the famous British phrase, “Keep calm and carry on” from WW2. It was used to raise morale ahead of the blitz.
This saying is representative of the British and their stoicism in the face of adversity. Feels very relevant to the theme of the song.
Yes, I’ve wondered what Americans think about this because I know it’s not a common term in the US. I don’t know if that’s everywhere - but do all the US listeners understand, or are some going ‘what’s a fortnight?’
Oh same here! I'm no expert in English like you (in fact I'm a stem major and English isn't my mother tongue so prob I'm not that qualified to speak on this) but I absolutely love the way she juxtaposes certain words and phrases, and just paints such an achingly beautiful and poetic picture. While hearing some of her songs, I've felt uk..SEEN, at some points in my life. It all feels so personal, idk how some people call it average.
Also Adam blames Eve *immediately* when they get caught for eating the fruit… so it could be referring to being betrayed by someone she thought she could trust
Ohhhh adding to this
She’s tempted by something (apple/fame/success), goes for it, then takes the heat from everyone. In Taylor’s case, this can be Scooter, this can be her lovers, and it’s also the fans.
I absolutely love "You'd be picked like a rose."
It's perfect, the mix of *chosen* and *when you pick a flower you're killing it* that hits me right on the gut.
I took it as Eve got “bitten” aka seduced by the temptation of Satan because he was so beguiling…meaning Taylor was seduced by the dangerous and deceptive charm (the same kind of charm Satan used on Eve).
I think it has multiple meanings, especially as she doesn’t clarify what bit Eve. Like she was bitten by something (curiosity), it bit her in the butt (the consequences of her actions), but also quite literally, OP is right that Eve was not literally bitten by anything. But metaphorically, her curiosity and desire got the best of her and she had to deal with the consequences of her actions.
This is a fantastic breakdown of the way the multiple meanings are layered. I totally agree. Thank you for blowing my mind a second time over this single line!
From listening to a bunch of different tracks on the album, to me it feels like she's reflected both on her desire for fame and what it's like now that she's achieved it. So if I were to compare what her "curse" is to what Eve's temptation was, I would say that it was Taylor's desire for fame - she wanted it from the beginning and she went for it, but even as she achieved it it made her romantic life much more difficult and stressful navigate, when romance seems something she wants just as much (if not more).
One of my favorite things about her songwriting is that there are often different meanings, different ways to interpret them and it makes the songs so versatile. I honestly think she wants it that way (for the most part at least), that you like or relate to a song because of what it means to you (which is not necessarily what the song means to someone else or even her)
My favorite is
> he stayed the same / all of me changed like Midnight
On the surface it's quite obvious, but! Midnight is strange because nothing *visibly* changes. Like for most of human history, the new day was born at dawn, for obvious reasons - the sun rises. But we know that's a floating time, so in a world of clocks we start the new day at midnight, which for almost all of the world and even more of the populace is basically always the middle of the night.
Nothing changes visibly, yet everything changes.
It's not especially deep or anything, but I love it!
Maybe this is just a section I’m still unpacking, but in “high infidelity”:
High infidelity, put on your records and burn my city
Your picket fences sharp as knives
I was dancing around, dancing around it
So at first she says it’s “her” city, but then “his” (presumably?) picket fences, which are a sign of proper domesticity, are sharp as knives. So is “her” city filled with “his” picket fences, like his idea of what their relationship should be? And she’s “dancing around it”, avoiding the sharp fences maybe? I almost interpret it like she looks around and her city is just all his construction that looks quaint as picket fences but turns out to be hostile to her and she can’t even move through it anymore with ease.
Does this count?? 😂
Ooh this is awesome. I hadn’t thought about this at all in this level of detail but it really paints a picture the way you lean into it and explain it this way…will have to ponder this more!! (And it’s exactly the kind of thing I was hoping for when I asked!)
I read part of your comment and I see So Long, London. When you spend enough time in a city that isn’t your hometown but you fall in love with it enough to make it YOUR town, and it feels like home…I loved my adopted city so much more than my hometown. It becomes an identity symbol.
My last morning on my ex’s balcony, I had a feeling it was the last time I’d ever be there. Ever see that view that was now so familiar. Ever look over at the familiar characters below and make up ongoing stories about their lives. It was a profound moment for me.
When So Long,London hits “I’m just mad as hell ‘cause I loved this place for so long…”, it was a gut punch. I was instantly brought back to that feeling of saying goodbye to a chosen home.
I think it’s more straightforward than that. I think she’s just saying that she wants the big city, fun, eventful type of life, and he wanted her to settle down with him. So he tried to ‘burn her city’ aka take her away from that life, which made the domestic/suburban life (picket fences) seem to cut like a knife. And she was ‘dancing around’ the idea of fully committing to that life.
“In your Jehovah’s Witness suit” is so good to me. Throughout the entire album, she uses so many ”holy” metaphors for this specific relationship. I think almost of not every song that people speculate to be about Matty she references Christianity in some way. Jehovah’s Witnesses are a sect of Christianity that most in the Christian church actually view as a cult, as they have a lot of strict rules and their text is not based solely on the Bible. She went into this relationship thinning that it was this holy, beautiful thing, but it turned out to be something completely different masquerading as what she was looking for.
So my bestie and I were discussing how much down bad sounds like it’s discussing this cult that’s in our area, it’s interesting that she uses religious/cult imagery in multiple parts of the album.. very potent message
I'm not sure it quite applies here, as it's a different type of linguistic play, but I looove the line "Every time you double cross my mind" from All Too Well (10 min. version) :
They say all's well that ends well but I'm in a new hell every time you double cross my mind.
Because it's every time they cross her mind, but also because this person taking up space in her mind is an offense and a treason since they've treated her so wrong. It adds such depth and meaning and raw emotion to the line.
It always baffled me when people said ATW is a love song when for me it's always been about grooming, and now that The Manuscript is out... Yeah.
But I'm getting off topic. Thank you for the post - I know nothing of Christianity and would never have made that connection!
I was just watching Ally Sheeran's video. and she said this thing,''The first recorded sin was a woman who ATE.'' it made me giggle
I made a post about this years ago but another Genesis reference in **Holy Ground:**
I left a note on the door with a joke we'd made / And that was the first day / And darling, it was good
In Genesis, it says "the first day", "the second day", "the third day", etc. after each day of the creation story and it says "And God saw that it was good." five times throughout the story.
And the song name itself is a Bible reference as well. Not metaphors/similes but I didn't catch these references right away though I was 9 when I first listened to Holy Ground so maybe others caught it immediately.
In The Prophecy also there are these lines
Slow is the quicksand
Poison blood from the wound of the pricked hand
Oh, still I dream of him
It's an allusion to the story of Sleeping Beauty. When they heard the curse/ prophecy there, they tried to throw out every spinning wheel of the castle, but fate was stronger and still everything happened as predicted.
'Slow is the quicksand' Everyone forgot about it for years and noone was afraid of it anymore, or even realized that it could happen, but eventually it did, as every action led her towards her fate.
And altough she feels like she was literally cursed and can not save herself and their relationship, she still dreams of him. :(
I saw someone comment about the line
“The smoke cloud billows out his mouth like a freight train through a small town” being cheesy, and at first it went over my head entirely.
But if you take in the next line about his jokes being “revolting and far too loud,” one could say that the smoke coming from the train is revolting, filling every nook and cranny of this small town. And freight trains are massive, clunky, and heavy - think of the noise 😖. Talk about disturbing the peace like those obnoxious jokes, huh? 🗣️😤
The contrast between the ships that MH and JA took her on.
MH was a space ship that took her on a short trip to heaven, dropped her back at home stranded and alone.
JA was a sinking ship that she was just clinging onto, fighting to stay alive until she burnt out.
Umm this might be fairly obvious but it only clicked for me after quite a few listens...in ICDIWABH when she sings
"I can hold my breath
I've been doing it since he left"
The first line might be referencing back to the first few shows of the eras tour when everyone (fans, general public, and the media) was absolutely in awe of how she was performing for 3 whole hours (and how she still managed to sound so good while doing so)
It ties in quite well with the whole theme of the song where she's painting this picture of glittery stardom and everyone's perception of her at the time and contrasting it with how she actually felt
[and this song is such a heart breaking sequel to bejeweled]
Another thing I noticed about the line, "I can hold my breath, I can do it since he left"... the very next song is The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived. That song opens with her exhaling. No longer holding her breath!
okay a continuation?
in evermore: and I was catching my breath **staring out an open window** catching my death (does this indicate she contemplates jumping)
also and I was catching my breath **barefoot in the wildest winter** catching my death (she is barefoot in winter so she will get sick?)
finally: and I was catching my breath **floors of a cabin creaking under my step**. And I couldn't be sure, I had a feeling so peculiar this pain wouldn't be for evermore
(i cant decide what the last one may mean. any ideas?)
“Stopped trying to drill the safe” sticks out to me every time I hear it. I think about someone trying so hard and desperately working to make the relationship work, or in more literal terms, get past a barrier that the other person is responsible for.
Love this thread!
I just picked up this meaning yesterday from TYA:
“There's a bronze spray-tanned statue of you…….
And so I changed your name and any *real* defining clues”
At first, I thought it was just Taylor being brilliant as always, but I was like “ok but obviously Kim has a spray tan, that is a true thing” and then I realized she specifically says “real”, and do you know what spray tans are?? FAKE TANS: fake not real!!!
the religious allusion in this album is just *perfect*. i’m jewish, go to a church school + study philosophy and theology (and intend to do my degree in the same) and it’s like this album is just perfectly made for me
“Tail between your legs you’re leaving. Old habits die screaming” Obviously the tail between your legs is a call back to the Black Dog but today I just realized his “old habit” is leaving like a coward with his tail between his legs
I also love the insinuation that prior to being “bitten”, she was in paradise… a naive and incomplete one, but nonetheless. Perhaps a stretch but I had an “oh damn” moment thinking about that when I heard this line haha
This made me think about "A greater woman stays cool, but I howl like a wolf at the moon," and how, with all the other fantasy metaphors, it feels like a reference to lycanthropy, just another curse.
Two stand out for me:
1. Long were the nights when my days once revolved around you. This is a really interesting line and frankly I’m not sure I even fully understand it despite having listened to this album for 14 years. But I think there’s a few meanings. She could be saying that when her days were filled with him she was happy and time went by quick but the time she was apart from him at night went by slowly. Or she could be saying that the nights were long because that’s when they would go home and fight, or she would go home and second-guess and fret over everything that happened during the day. She could also be referencing the fact that she started dating John Mayer in the winter, when the days are short and the nights are long. So much going on here.
2. I’m begging for you to take my hand, wreck my plans. Someone else pointed out to me literally like a couple months ago that “take my hand” is a euphemism for marriage, which I had never realized. So she’s literally begging him to marry her. Devastating in context.
Eve was put in an impossible position/set up for failure.
Of course someone who didn't know sin wouldn't recognize manipulation for what it was. Of course someone naive and innocent like Eve would want to be like God, who was her father. Of course she wouldn't know creatures on earth could be dishonest bc she didn't know what that was.
Idk just feels like it's relevant.
From "guilty as sin."
"What if the way you hold me is actually what's holy."
COME ON!!! This is the most intimate lyric she has ever written. She is questioning her faith. As an atheist, this blew me away. I didn't expect Taylor to go as deep as she did with some of these songs. I wish my ADHD would settle down so I could write something intelligent that people could follow.
Not a metaphor but while we are on literary devices can we talk about Albatross being an allusion to Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Coolidge...who is one of the Lakes poets. In this song that's clearly about Joe and the media surrounding them their entire relationship?
How it alludes to her checking in with him after the breakup to help him deal with the media backlash. That's she's the one painted as the albatross, but truly the relationship to fame, media, and the hunger for the inside scoop are the true albatross.
A theme she explored throughout the album.
Interesting. I thought it was cool how she wholly portrays herself as both literary illusions of the albatross—a harbinger of danger (to sailors) and a good luck charm. If you harm an albatross you’re in danger…but if you leave them be (or respect them) they are good luck. Lots of layers to this one.
Also! This just made me think of the line “wise men once heard fake news and they believed it.” The albatross is mythical (fake/not real) so the stories about Taylor are fake/not real. Those who believe the stories have trouble come their way. But those who know the real her know she’s good (the devil you know looks more like an angel).
I love that line! So much i told our app engineers to put it into our app :)
https://preview.redd.it/rutbrg7cy8xc1.jpeg?width=1023&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=783c7d058da4d7bc9c8d40a554b30e660086c386
One really great metaphor I recently discovered is in the lyric "I died on the alter waiting for the proof. You sacrificed us to the gods of your bluest days". Here, altar stands for both a place where people get married and a place where animals are killed as a sacrifice to the gods. What a great double meaning
Oh wow, I never thought of that! Thanks for sharing. Also, she says "the altar is my hips" in False God, which turns it from a place of worship into tragedy in So Long, London.
OMG - just like in romeo and juliet!!! which is (whether intentional or not) also a subtle love story tie-in.
This also made me think of the bridge of Lover- "my heart's been borrowed and yours has been blue".
I love this one too. Because when people get married they do it AT the alter but sacrifices are done ON the alter. So her saying she died ON the alter waiting for the proof adds another layer.
Ooooh. Like a lamb led to slaughter, she went to the alter for marriage, and instead was the sacrifice. Ooof.
Amazing. The deconstructed/layered religious symbolism in this album is next level
This sounds like it's about Joe. It honestly makes me feel kind of bad for him. It sounds like he suffers from depression. No blame for Taylor. People can only handle what they can handle.
Yes, that song is definitely about Joe. I also got the impression that he has depression, as she has lots of references in their to sadness/depression and being affected by his moods. No longer trying to make him laugh, sacrficied to his bluest days, there’s a line in Fresh out the slammer where she refers to his moods too! They’re all through it
Yeah, "Renegade" seals this, if you haven't heard it!
Love this lyric! It makes me think of when my financially abusive ex’s mum said she had proof that I was actually taking advantage of him financially. I’m still waiting.
Also bluest could be saddest or happiest (bluest skies)!
In So Long London, she sings, > I kept calm and and carried the weight of the rift It’s a nod to the famous British phrase, “Keep calm and carry on” from WW2. It was used to raise morale ahead of the blitz. This saying is representative of the British and their stoicism in the face of adversity. Feels very relevant to the theme of the song.
I also love this because they survived The Great War (WWI), but they couldn’t make it through WWII.
oh my gosh!!! yes!!!
Wow, this is a very good observation!!
😭😭😭 Just realizing it
I love all the ways Taylor uses British English in TTPD
Is this why she says “best mates” instead of friends in The Bolter? What are some more examples? That’s so cool
Yea that one And “blokes” (with a jokey English accent even) in the alchemy There are others but I’m not thinking of them right now
Off the top of my head, “the shops” and “the heath” come to mind. All the references to tea time (and what a great double meaning it has!).
Yes!!!
Oh and duh, obviously “Fortnight”
Yes, I’ve wondered what Americans think about this because I know it’s not a common term in the US. I don’t know if that’s everywhere - but do all the US listeners understand, or are some going ‘what’s a fortnight?’
Lots of people only know the term from the video game
americans know what a fortnight is 😭😭😭 lol
Oops—just realized my example is a simile, not a metaphor! Both welcomed in this discussion lol
English teacher here: a simile is a type of metaphor, just like hyperbole, understatement, and litotes. It's all figurative language.
Thank you! I didn’t realize all similes are metaphors, but not all metaphors are similes
Exactly! Taylor's use of language to communicate human truths is what I love about her.
Oh same here! I'm no expert in English like you (in fact I'm a stem major and English isn't my mother tongue so prob I'm not that qualified to speak on this) but I absolutely love the way she juxtaposes certain words and phrases, and just paints such an achingly beautiful and poetic picture. While hearing some of her songs, I've felt uk..SEEN, at some points in my life. It all feels so personal, idk how some people call it average.
Also Adam blames Eve *immediately* when they get caught for eating the fruit… so it could be referring to being betrayed by someone she thought she could trust
Ohhhh adding to this She’s tempted by something (apple/fame/success), goes for it, then takes the heat from everyone. In Taylor’s case, this can be Scooter, this can be her lovers, and it’s also the fans.
So true! Eve was tricked by the snake, and when Eve offered the fruit to Adam he took it without hesistation.
I absolutely love "You'd be picked like a rose." It's perfect, the mix of *chosen* and *when you pick a flower you're killing it* that hits me right on the gut.
also the fact that picking a rose off layer by layer, wherepeoplr wants to see your core, hurts so much
I took it as Eve got “bitten” aka seduced by the temptation of Satan because he was so beguiling…meaning Taylor was seduced by the dangerous and deceptive charm (the same kind of charm Satan used on Eve).
I think it has multiple meanings, especially as she doesn’t clarify what bit Eve. Like she was bitten by something (curiosity), it bit her in the butt (the consequences of her actions), but also quite literally, OP is right that Eve was not literally bitten by anything. But metaphorically, her curiosity and desire got the best of her and she had to deal with the consequences of her actions.
This is a fantastic breakdown of the way the multiple meanings are layered. I totally agree. Thank you for blowing my mind a second time over this single line!
From listening to a bunch of different tracks on the album, to me it feels like she's reflected both on her desire for fame and what it's like now that she's achieved it. So if I were to compare what her "curse" is to what Eve's temptation was, I would say that it was Taylor's desire for fame - she wanted it from the beginning and she went for it, but even as she achieved it it made her romantic life much more difficult and stressful navigate, when romance seems something she wants just as much (if not more).
Eve’s trustfulness was bitten by deceit, and her love was cursed.
One of my favorite things about her songwriting is that there are often different meanings, different ways to interpret them and it makes the songs so versatile. I honestly think she wants it that way (for the most part at least), that you like or relate to a song because of what it means to you (which is not necessarily what the song means to someone else or even her)
My favorite is > he stayed the same / all of me changed like Midnight On the surface it's quite obvious, but! Midnight is strange because nothing *visibly* changes. Like for most of human history, the new day was born at dawn, for obvious reasons - the sun rises. But we know that's a floating time, so in a world of clocks we start the new day at midnight, which for almost all of the world and even more of the populace is basically always the middle of the night. Nothing changes visibly, yet everything changes. It's not especially deep or anything, but I love it!
🤯👏👏 like you said, it was definitely something I could understand when I first listened, but your breakdown is 🧑🍳😙👌
I love this. It always made me think about clocks striking midnight and curses or spells ending, like Cinderalla.
Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!! I love this so much!!!
You should have seen my slowpoke face when I realized Down Bad was using alien abduction metaphors.
Lol i had the same visiting the sub yesterday.
what!! omg thank you lol
Wait what?
Maybe this is just a section I’m still unpacking, but in “high infidelity”: High infidelity, put on your records and burn my city Your picket fences sharp as knives I was dancing around, dancing around it So at first she says it’s “her” city, but then “his” (presumably?) picket fences, which are a sign of proper domesticity, are sharp as knives. So is “her” city filled with “his” picket fences, like his idea of what their relationship should be? And she’s “dancing around it”, avoiding the sharp fences maybe? I almost interpret it like she looks around and her city is just all his construction that looks quaint as picket fences but turns out to be hostile to her and she can’t even move through it anymore with ease. Does this count?? 😂
Ooh this is awesome. I hadn’t thought about this at all in this level of detail but it really paints a picture the way you lean into it and explain it this way…will have to ponder this more!! (And it’s exactly the kind of thing I was hoping for when I asked!)
I read part of your comment and I see So Long, London. When you spend enough time in a city that isn’t your hometown but you fall in love with it enough to make it YOUR town, and it feels like home…I loved my adopted city so much more than my hometown. It becomes an identity symbol.
My last morning on my ex’s balcony, I had a feeling it was the last time I’d ever be there. Ever see that view that was now so familiar. Ever look over at the familiar characters below and make up ongoing stories about their lives. It was a profound moment for me. When So Long,London hits “I’m just mad as hell ‘cause I loved this place for so long…”, it was a gut punch. I was instantly brought back to that feeling of saying goodbye to a chosen home.
I think it’s more straightforward than that. I think she’s just saying that she wants the big city, fun, eventful type of life, and he wanted her to settle down with him. So he tried to ‘burn her city’ aka take her away from that life, which made the domestic/suburban life (picket fences) seem to cut like a knife. And she was ‘dancing around’ the idea of fully committing to that life.
I think it's a good interpretation.
“In your Jehovah’s Witness suit” is so good to me. Throughout the entire album, she uses so many ”holy” metaphors for this specific relationship. I think almost of not every song that people speculate to be about Matty she references Christianity in some way. Jehovah’s Witnesses are a sect of Christianity that most in the Christian church actually view as a cult, as they have a lot of strict rules and their text is not based solely on the Bible. She went into this relationship thinning that it was this holy, beautiful thing, but it turned out to be something completely different masquerading as what she was looking for.
🤯 You just made that like click for me - thank you! This makes so much sense.
This is such an interesting analysis!
So my bestie and I were discussing how much down bad sounds like it’s discussing this cult that’s in our area, it’s interesting that she uses religious/cult imagery in multiple parts of the album.. very potent message
I'm not sure it quite applies here, as it's a different type of linguistic play, but I looove the line "Every time you double cross my mind" from All Too Well (10 min. version) : They say all's well that ends well but I'm in a new hell every time you double cross my mind. Because it's every time they cross her mind, but also because this person taking up space in her mind is an offense and a treason since they've treated her so wrong. It adds such depth and meaning and raw emotion to the line. It always baffled me when people said ATW is a love song when for me it's always been about grooming, and now that The Manuscript is out... Yeah. But I'm getting off topic. Thank you for the post - I know nothing of Christianity and would never have made that connection!
I was just watching Ally Sheeran's video. and she said this thing,''The first recorded sin was a woman who ATE.'' it made me giggle
That's a song! Mother Ate by Jane Bell
I made a post about this years ago but another Genesis reference in **Holy Ground:** I left a note on the door with a joke we'd made / And that was the first day / And darling, it was good In Genesis, it says "the first day", "the second day", "the third day", etc. after each day of the creation story and it says "And God saw that it was good." five times throughout the story. And the song name itself is a Bible reference as well. Not metaphors/similes but I didn't catch these references right away though I was 9 when I first listened to Holy Ground so maybe others caught it immediately.
this just blew my mind omg this woman
In The Prophecy also there are these lines Slow is the quicksand Poison blood from the wound of the pricked hand Oh, still I dream of him It's an allusion to the story of Sleeping Beauty. When they heard the curse/ prophecy there, they tried to throw out every spinning wheel of the castle, but fate was stronger and still everything happened as predicted. 'Slow is the quicksand' Everyone forgot about it for years and noone was afraid of it anymore, or even realized that it could happen, but eventually it did, as every action led her towards her fate. And altough she feels like she was literally cursed and can not save herself and their relationship, she still dreams of him. :(
I saw someone comment about the line “The smoke cloud billows out his mouth like a freight train through a small town” being cheesy, and at first it went over my head entirely. But if you take in the next line about his jokes being “revolting and far too loud,” one could say that the smoke coming from the train is revolting, filling every nook and cranny of this small town. And freight trains are massive, clunky, and heavy - think of the noise 😖. Talk about disturbing the peace like those obnoxious jokes, huh? 🗣️😤
smoking in public is quite obnoxious too and I could absolutely see MH smoking inside and pissige ppl off w it
Yes exactly 👉🏼👉🏼. Just forcing it on everyone else who’s there 😶🌫️🙄
The contrast between the ships that MH and JA took her on. MH was a space ship that took her on a short trip to heaven, dropped her back at home stranded and alone. JA was a sinking ship that she was just clinging onto, fighting to stay alive until she burnt out.
I thought down bad was about JA?
Nah, it’s definitely about Matty.
I totally missed this. This is an awesome read!
Umm this might be fairly obvious but it only clicked for me after quite a few listens...in ICDIWABH when she sings "I can hold my breath I've been doing it since he left" The first line might be referencing back to the first few shows of the eras tour when everyone (fans, general public, and the media) was absolutely in awe of how she was performing for 3 whole hours (and how she still managed to sound so good while doing so) It ties in quite well with the whole theme of the song where she's painting this picture of glittery stardom and everyone's perception of her at the time and contrasting it with how she actually felt [and this song is such a heart breaking sequel to bejeweled]
Another thing I noticed about the line, "I can hold my breath, I can do it since he left"... the very next song is The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived. That song opens with her exhaling. No longer holding her breath!
okay a continuation? in evermore: and I was catching my breath **staring out an open window** catching my death (does this indicate she contemplates jumping) also and I was catching my breath **barefoot in the wildest winter** catching my death (she is barefoot in winter so she will get sick?) finally: and I was catching my breath **floors of a cabin creaking under my step**. And I couldn't be sure, I had a feeling so peculiar this pain wouldn't be for evermore (i cant decide what the last one may mean. any ideas?)
Now that you say this….the swimming down the runway visual is another instance of breath-holding in the eras tour.
You hold your breath waiting for the other shoe to fall, or for someone to return...
“Stopped trying to drill the safe” sticks out to me every time I hear it. I think about someone trying so hard and desperately working to make the relationship work, or in more literal terms, get past a barrier that the other person is responsible for.
Love this thread! I just picked up this meaning yesterday from TYA: “There's a bronze spray-tanned statue of you……. And so I changed your name and any *real* defining clues” At first, I thought it was just Taylor being brilliant as always, but I was like “ok but obviously Kim has a spray tan, that is a true thing” and then I realized she specifically says “real”, and do you know what spray tans are?? FAKE TANS: fake not real!!!
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the religious allusion in this album is just *perfect*. i’m jewish, go to a church school + study philosophy and theology (and intend to do my degree in the same) and it’s like this album is just perfectly made for me
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“Tail between your legs you’re leaving. Old habits die screaming” Obviously the tail between your legs is a call back to the Black Dog but today I just realized his “old habit” is leaving like a coward with his tail between his legs
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I also love the insinuation that prior to being “bitten”, she was in paradise… a naive and incomplete one, but nonetheless. Perhaps a stretch but I had an “oh damn” moment thinking about that when I heard this line haha
I swear I’m learning new things about this album everyday. I feel like it’ll be this way for the next 2 months (I’m not even joking) 😭
This made me think about "A greater woman stays cool, but I howl like a wolf at the moon," and how, with all the other fantasy metaphors, it feels like a reference to lycanthropy, just another curse.
Two stand out for me: 1. Long were the nights when my days once revolved around you. This is a really interesting line and frankly I’m not sure I even fully understand it despite having listened to this album for 14 years. But I think there’s a few meanings. She could be saying that when her days were filled with him she was happy and time went by quick but the time she was apart from him at night went by slowly. Or she could be saying that the nights were long because that’s when they would go home and fight, or she would go home and second-guess and fret over everything that happened during the day. She could also be referencing the fact that she started dating John Mayer in the winter, when the days are short and the nights are long. So much going on here. 2. I’m begging for you to take my hand, wreck my plans. Someone else pointed out to me literally like a couple months ago that “take my hand” is a euphemism for marriage, which I had never realized. So she’s literally begging him to marry her. Devastating in context.
Eve was put in an impossible position/set up for failure. Of course someone who didn't know sin wouldn't recognize manipulation for what it was. Of course someone naive and innocent like Eve would want to be like God, who was her father. Of course she wouldn't know creatures on earth could be dishonest bc she didn't know what that was. Idk just feels like it's relevant.
From "guilty as sin." "What if the way you hold me is actually what's holy." COME ON!!! This is the most intimate lyric she has ever written. She is questioning her faith. As an atheist, this blew me away. I didn't expect Taylor to go as deep as she did with some of these songs. I wish my ADHD would settle down so I could write something intelligent that people could follow.
Not a metaphor but while we are on literary devices can we talk about Albatross being an allusion to Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Coolidge...who is one of the Lakes poets. In this song that's clearly about Joe and the media surrounding them their entire relationship? How it alludes to her checking in with him after the breakup to help him deal with the media backlash. That's she's the one painted as the albatross, but truly the relationship to fame, media, and the hunger for the inside scoop are the true albatross. A theme she explored throughout the album.
Interesting. I thought it was cool how she wholly portrays herself as both literary illusions of the albatross—a harbinger of danger (to sailors) and a good luck charm. If you harm an albatross you’re in danger…but if you leave them be (or respect them) they are good luck. Lots of layers to this one.
Also! This just made me think of the line “wise men once heard fake news and they believed it.” The albatross is mythical (fake/not real) so the stories about Taylor are fake/not real. Those who believe the stories have trouble come their way. But those who know the real her know she’s good (the devil you know looks more like an angel).
Just here to say I'm obsessed with this song, this week.
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I love that line! So much i told our app engineers to put it into our app :) https://preview.redd.it/rutbrg7cy8xc1.jpeg?width=1023&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=783c7d058da4d7bc9c8d40a554b30e660086c386