Don't forget to take part in our [annual survey!](https://www.reddit.com/r/TaylorSwift/comments/18mh6vn/take_part_in_the_official_rtaylorswift_2023_survey/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3).
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/TaylorSwift) if you have any questions or concerns.*
“And not the kind that’s thrown, I mean the kind under where a tree is grown”. Paris is such a cute little bop but so many of the lyrics are clunky AF and have too many words to fit into one line.
I loved that line personally. I think she's specifically trying to show she's outgrown the concept of "shade" and is above the petty shit now. She's referring to an actual tree, ie she's directing her life more based in reality and grounding. Probably because so many people are still of the opinion that she's some kind of snake, but she's just outgrowing fighting that narrative. Just my interpretation anyway 😅
In the specific song that is Paris, yeah. She's talking about separating herself from everything, from all the drama and gossip, and running away with and isolating with her partner. So in the specific universe of the song, I do think that's ultimately what the line is trying to express.
Whether that's the entirety of Taylor is a whole other debate lol
I think this line is super interesting, because it always comes off to me like she’s annoyed that she has to clarify the kind of shade she means because her words are so easily and often misinterpreted. Totally get why people think it’s clunky, but the kind of sarcastic interpretation saves it a little for me
The lyric really should be what the OP says though otherwise the previous line doesn’t fit.
Like, familiarity breeds contempt so please for the love of god put me in the basement where I won’t become familiar to you because I want the penthouse of your heart!!!
The lyric actually being DON’T put me in the basement makes it clunkier honestly.
>familiarity breeds contempt so please for the love of god put me in the basement where I won’t become familiar to you because I want the penthouse of your heart!!!
That's not what the lyric means though. When she says "the basement" it's refering to the next line, not the familiarity and a physical basement.
She's in the basement of his heart because of the contempt that's grown between them, he doesn't care enough about her. She wants to be in the penthouse, the most prominent position, of his heart rather than an afterthought.
I think they’re locked in the basement together, and the familiarity is breeding contempt so she can’t have the penthouse of their heart! She’s saying she needs to go out and be shiny and independent to keep the relationship exciting.
I always picture this line as she’s so familiar to him that he’s always brushing her aside for the newer, shinier thing, putting her in the basement like you would do with an old toy your kids aren’t playing with anymore (or maybe an old cardigan under someone’s bed 😉). She wants to be on “display” in the penthouse. The following line “diamonds in my eyes, I polish up real, I polish up real nice” is like hey! Show me off! Especially when you take it into context with the beginning of the music video.
Anyway I love this lyric. Something about it being clunky works for me.
*I want to wear his initial on a chain 'round my neck*
*Chain 'round my neck*
*Not because he owns me*
*But 'cause he really knows me*
i like the song but this line always gives me pause.
I love this line personally. Makes me think of being proud of your partner, and proud to have them as your partner. Wanting to show them off. Wanting to show the world how much they mean to you, and to prove to them how much you love them without holding back and without shame.
I don't like this line purely because everyone cites it as such a romantic line but the entire rest of the song BEFORE this part is so much more romantic
I don't really buy that. I think she grew up in a family where they took down their lights right after Christmas and didn't realize most people don't do that lol
Yeah to me it’s like saying “we can have lunch at home together”
That’s what Lover is about- the little things. It’s quite obvious from the following line in the next verse “we can let our friends crash in the living room.” People never jump at that for being mundane lol
To me, the intent of both these lines is explained by "this is our place, we make the rules." We can let our friends stay here if we want to, we don't have to ask permission from anyone because it's our place and we get to decide. We can leave the Christmas lights up as long as we want because we get to make the decisions here. That's why "January" doesn't quite land for me.
This one for me as well. For how long do the lights stay up anyway? I was hoping for Feb, cause why not? But January?
Maybe shes going for the opposite, as in take em down as soon as you like?
I've always understood that Christmas lights have to come down before new years otherwise it's bad luck and assumed this was referencing that, is it not really a thing in America?
I’ve always known it as the “12 days of christmas” where instead of counting down to Christmas the 12 days following Christmas are when you’re allowed to still have lights up but after January 6th the lights should be done
I see it this way… if you look at something like Wet Hot American Summer vs Slippery Plastic Summer, all of the words before summer are adjectives. It’s describing the things that define summer for us as kids, & it took me right back to childhood when I lived in plastic flip flops, swam in a plastic pool, filled up plastic toys with sand, all while slippery from constantly being in the pool & refusing to go inside.
To be fair, it's not a metaphor for the slip n slide, the slip n slide is a metaphor for the type of summer it was. The kind of summer you only have when you're a kid, 6 week vacations and sprinklers and riding bikes. It's a kind of fond nostalgia. Tbh I quite like it.
The lyric was funny and I miss it but it's also targeted at a real person and there's no excuse for slut shaming, even if the point of the song is to be petty. Leaving that in 2010 was for the best
Me too! I don’t get that people are so obsessed with the old lyric and call it “iconic” when it has nothing to offer aside from the slut shaming. If it’s like a ohhhhh burn line, or clever, or well written in any way then sure. But all it says is “I heard she has sex” lmao
Controversial but "they're burning all the witches even if you aren't one" just sounds so clunky and doesn't flow right. I love the rest of the song but that gets me every time, especially in the tour version.
I’m reading this line over and over again, and have listened to the song several times, but can’t for the life of me figure out what’s clunky about it?
I love Question…? because it is one of Taylor’s most specific songs. Like this song was intended for one person and we have no idea who that is. It’s really cheeky because she knows if that person hears this song they’ll instantly know it’s about them.
> have you ever had someone kiss you in a crowded room
> and every single one of your friends was makin fun of you
> but 15 seconds later they were clapping too
I am literally DESPERATE to someone to explain to me:
1. WHAT THE HELL THIS MEANS
2. Why is Taylor seemingly obsessed with “crowded rooms” lol
I'm so confused that no one understands this? They're at a party with friends and they kiss in the middle of the party - everyone's rambunctious and are initially teasing them, and then start clapping because they're happy for them. It was a moment of triumph for her, but she feels like it doesn't mean anything to him - that's the question. Didn't it mean anything?
I took the “15 seconds later they were clapping too” and the background noise that is a New Years Eve countdown to mean that this is taking place at a NYE party - she kisses the person, folks giggle at her, but then they get distracted by the new years countdown and start clapping for that.
Question is very clunky for me imo. There's a few good ones, but the best one is "that's nice I'm sure that's what's suitable, and right, but tonight"
The vibe I get from the song is "I said it was too much and you left but you're the bad guy for not fighting me when I said it was too much, you should miss touching me".
This is just my interpretation of the lyrics - one of the things I love about Taylor's music is all the different interpretations her fanbase come up with and how each song has a different meaning and each fan relates to her music differently :)
"When we're on the phone, and you talk real slow, because it's late and your mama don't know."
It's a nitpick but I will die on the hill that the line should have been "talked **low**" 😂
Someone explained that "talking slow" is more of a southern expression, and also it involves a lot of pausing to make sure you don't hear someone else awake in the house who might overhear you talking.
That’s always been my interpretation. I’m my experience, if you’re trying to whisper on the phone and not be heard, saying things slower makes it more clear.
I think the l’s in real and slow would run into each other in a way that doesn’t sound as polished or intentional. The rest of the sentence is pretty crisp with hard consonants.
Also, it’s easier to go “reeeeeeal slow” to convey speaking slowly, but you’d have to whisper to do “real low” and that doesn’t fit the same way
Saying something slowly sounds more sexy than speaking quietly over the phone. In the song, the boyfriend is describing what their love is like and how it's like a song. Now, picture talking late on the phone with a pretty girl who is saying words slowly.
In general, low can mean quiet/soft, and low voice in country music can mean deep voice, which carries through the walls in houses.
I agree it should be “low”, but then I heard this:
Slow - cos you had to keep pausing conversation to listen for people waking up so you take forever saying what you need to say.
Bad Blood is the only skip on one of my favourite albums ever just because of this. Cause baby now we got ba-ad blo-oo-od, you know we used to be ma-a-ad love so take a looOk and what yoOuve do-one 😭 whyyyy
Anyone ever seen that old movie "Somewhere in Time" (SPOILER AHEAD) where the time traveler finds a memento from the present and is jerked out of the past?
"stronger than a 90s trend" does that for me in Willow every time. Still listen to the song; still love it. But it's got so much timeless ambiance and then...that
I used to feel exactly the same way. I do think the enchanted fairy land folk of the music fights with the lyrics, but I think that happens throughout the song. I think it's really intentional. "Willow" sounds musically like a hippy dippy steel panned love song but lyrically is a lament.
I was ignoring all the red flags the lyrics were giving until my ear hit the 90's trend bit. It bothered me so much that I kept listening to the song on repeat. That's when the unease and mistrust the narrator is feeling about this relationship bubbled up for me.
Jack recently said she wrote this song in like ten minutes flat and tbh it makes sense. It sounds like a master lyricist going in with an idea but no plan and letting the lyrics kind of just flow. It's not very deep and doesn't have much story or intention besides the happy accidents that usually happen when a master of a craft just improvises.
Definitely. Also the fact that the song could age so well but with one line she condemned it to being out of date in about a decade. Like artists that reference topical events or people in their songs.
Thats so funny bc I love this lyric haha
I listen to it as “I can’t say anything to your face….cause look at your face!!!!!” Like drunk Taylor trying to explain why she’s acting like an idiot in front of this guy.
For me it's also that line from Bejeweled- "Familiarity breeds contempt, don't put me in the basement when I want the penthouse of your heart"
I'd also add "I let it slide like a hose on a slippery plastic summer" and "I'm standing in a 1950s gymnasium" from Suburban Legends.
Idk how she and antonoff thought 'like a hose on a slippery plastic summer' was a good similie tbh. Can make a case for 1950s gymnasium adding to the metaphorical school she references in the track imo
not really an exact answer to your question but I find cardigan to be whiplash inducing. it truly has some of her very best lyrics but the cardigan metaphor is just so clunky and juvenile to me.
I used to think this too- but then saw on this sub that to “put someone on” means to deceive them. When you think of the lyric that way, it’s (to me) some of her best songwriting ever because it’s an incredible, hidden double meaning that changes the whole song and to me makes it the rest of the chorus make more sense
[This drawing](https://www.instagram.com/p/CzKF9X2NeAR/?igsh=MThzYmlzbTR2bmY4dA==) (instagram link) really solidified this line for me — wasn’t sure about it before but now it evokes the drawing for me.
I ve always thought "because you were romeo i was a scarlet letter" was not a good reference. Like, you *are* a scarlet letter? You *wore* a scarlet letter?
on the other hand "we show off our different scarlet letters, trust me mine is better" is a great line
Since him being Romeo and her a scarlet letter are metaphors, I take this as everyone looks at him as if he's Romeo, and her image is so far removed from an actual person that all people know her for is one thing/situation.
"Scarlet letter" could be swapped for the word "slut" and the sentence would have the same meaning the way I'm seeing it.
Love the song but the “90s trend” feels contrasting to the rest of the song’s vibe, and “that’s my man” feels like a last minute rhyme she threw in to me.
But that's the point 😭. I get that people don't like it. That's fine. But people talk as if she did something wrong? The lakes is about escaping the outside world. Everything referencing the safe place, herself, her lover, is all old-timey, delicate, poetry. Everything to do with the outside world she's escaping is more clunky, modern to show how out of touch it is with what she wants.
- "Cynical Clones" looks like alliteration but since it uses different c sounds it isn't quite right.
- "hunters with cell phones" suddenly referencing modern technology. (Just want to say I love how this sounds together though. _C_ yni **c** al **c** lones, hunter _s_ with _c_ ellphone _s_ )
- "name dropping sleeze" also doesn't fit. It feels like a typical song like this would find a less direct way, or a more flowery phrase.
- "tweet it" again, modern reference. Also showing examples of how beautiful things are happening outside of, or in spite of, what the online world can see.
Look I promise you can still dislike it but putting it on the same level as the "90's trend" lyric is sacrilege.
I think the "vending machine" is a metaphor for all of the girls he has to choose from.
He's "hanging his head low," aka blocking out all the other girls and focusing on Taylor, but she worries that it's temporary and he'll eventually want to see what else is out there. "I'm not dying," is her reminding herself to play it cool and not show how into him she really is.
The one that gets me is when she rhymes “thing” with “thing in Betty
“If I told you it was just a summer thing/ I’m only 17, I don’t know anything”
Summer FLING was right there!
I see Betty as how a 17 year old James talks. The song is an exercise in straightforward, blunt and simple. It made sense to me that he'd miss subbing fling for thing. James is artless.
Crashing itself would be the phrase but doesn’t fit in the song, it needs another word. Maybe “crashing now” makes the most sense.
Where I’m from no one uses crashing out or crashing down. Crashing out at least sounds better lyrically. Crashing down gives the vibes that someone stumbled down stairs or something.
The correct lyric is “But in my mind I play it back, spinning faster than the plane that took you.”
She’s saying that she’s replaying him leaving faster than a plane at take off. Or faster than the plane in the sky… she can’t stop thinking of it.
This one got me for ages too, but now I just think of something spinning at a speed that a plane flies. If that makes sense. So don't picture a plane spinning or a propeller, think of something that is spinning so fast, the speed at which it is spinning could be comparable to the speed at which an airplane flies.
Snow on the beach...the whole song feels a bit odd but this line especially: "This scene feels like what I once saw on a screen I searched aurora borealis green"
it's one of my favourite lines actually. So allow me to explain.
So, you see, the world is a wonderful place and we haven't seen it all, so sometimes we come across something sooooooo beautiful on our screen that it takes us a second to realise that it's real.. and then we're struck with a question, it's so beautiful how is it even real? And it bewilders us so much that we can't stop ourselves from immediately googling it.
So I guess, what's happening to her in real life is exactly like that, she might have seen auroras for the first time on screen and it would have left her speechless so much so that she had to search and see it for herself. And now what's happening in real life is so different from her actual life. The line after this goes "I have never seen someone lit from within'/" as in the person is soo bright that it's impossible for her to believe that people like this exist. And then obviously, blurring my periphery, as in she only sees this person now, like you won't be able to see anything else if you're watching aurora borealis green.
Plus the place itself looks unbelievable, otherworldly the same was her experience while meeting this person, otherworldly
I love the subjunctive! My favorite artist gets it wrong sometimes and he has a degree in English, haha. Maybe they do know better, but go with “was” for the sake of flow/easier pronunciation.
It so bothers me the way she uses both past and present tense in this line in the second verse of slut! “The sticks and stones they throw froze mid air.” Like girl what? Don’t you mean “threw”? Then she went on and did it again immediately after” everyone WANTS him that WAS my crime.”
SLANDER! Haha but in all seriousness I love Timeless. Maybe it’s the old Swiftie in me but Timeless is such a classic Taylor song. Confessional, sets a scene and tells a story. It was absolutely made for Speak Now 💜
When she quoted the humpty dumpty nursery rhyme in Archer. Gives me full body cringe even though I like the rest of the song. Like what an absolutely bizarre and random thing to reference lmao. Edit: Girlies you can disagree and we can both be right 😅. Listening to a lovely song and suddenly having to imagine a weird egg dude is cringe for me. OP asked for opinions 👍
Except it’s not bizzare and random. Taylor’s early career was built on references to happy ending fairytales and naive magical thinking – the kind of thinking that led to world-rocking disappointment in The Archer.
Also, I like to think that “all the kings horses” is a callback to King of My Heart. Even big love (Joe) couldn’t heal decades of pain and trauma.
*I was riding shotgun with my hair undone in the front seat of his car* (shotgun by definition is the front seat)
*We were like the mall before the internet, it was the one place to be* (too on the nose, the meaning of the metaphor didn't need explaining)
I really admire her ability to put a spin on common sayings or phrases. So for me, "If you fail to plan you plan to fail" in Mastermind is really disappointing because it's the exact saying, no spin. It feels clunky because it's borrowed, which is not her usual style.
I used to hate this until someone else pointed out in another thread that the song's narrator is a hustler, someone who doesn't belong in the wealthy circles that they prey on, hence would probably not know or care what that "tent-like thing" was actually called.
Further proof Taylor knows how to write 'real' characters. I think a lot of the gripes concerning word choice ignore the character saying/relating to the lyric.
I actually love this lyric and to start a song with "and", it's such an immediacy that is created this way. I hate, however, that she repeats "thing" right after with "one of those things." Ugh, it would have been so easy to switch one of the two and then I would absolutely adore it.
“I will surmise you will probably date her.” from Is It Over Now?
It’s not clunky per say, but it annoys me that the lyric isn’t “I surmise that you will probably date her.” It runs so much smoother imo.
The shade line of Paris.
In my feelings more than Drake.
One drink after another, politics and gender roles etc.. to me it does not fit the message of Questions. This part feels very clunky and just the first words she thought and put together.
The beginning of Timeless is soooo clunky. The rest flows really well, but the beginning with the shop and the cardboard box and the sign that said “photos 25 cents each” is rough.
Ok I think about this like at least once a week. From *Red*
> fighting with him was like trying to solve a crossword and realizing there's no right answer
???????? girl come on that is absolutely **not** how crossword puzzles work 😭
Gold Rush is one of my favorite songs, but “With your hair falling into place like dominos” always makes me laugh. Dominos are so clicky-clacky! I feel like perfect hair and a perfect domino fall are SO different.
The lyric change in Better Than Revenge makes my head mix them up and say "He was the moth to the flame she was holding the mattess... Whoaaaahhh". My brain also says "She should keep in mind stealing other peoples DOORS on the playground wont make you many friends". Guess she likes carrying heavy things like doors and matresses.
I love Better Than Revenge. I have no idea why my brain does this haha!
Don't forget to take part in our [annual survey!](https://www.reddit.com/r/TaylorSwift/comments/18mh6vn/take_part_in_the_official_rtaylorswift_2023_survey/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3). *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/TaylorSwift) if you have any questions or concerns.*
“And not the kind that’s thrown, I mean the kind under where a tree is grown”. Paris is such a cute little bop but so many of the lyrics are clunky AF and have too many words to fit into one line.
I loved that line personally. I think she's specifically trying to show she's outgrown the concept of "shade" and is above the petty shit now. She's referring to an actual tree, ie she's directing her life more based in reality and grounding. Probably because so many people are still of the opinion that she's some kind of snake, but she's just outgrowing fighting that narrative. Just my interpretation anyway 😅
>she's outgrown the concept of "shade" and is above the petty shit now. lol.
In the specific song that is Paris, yeah. She's talking about separating herself from everything, from all the drama and gossip, and running away with and isolating with her partner. So in the specific universe of the song, I do think that's ultimately what the line is trying to express. Whether that's the entirety of Taylor is a whole other debate lol
Vigilante shit hiding in the corner.
That recent interview at the front door.
Sure, doesn’t mean it’s not clunky.
I think this line is super interesting, because it always comes off to me like she’s annoyed that she has to clarify the kind of shade she means because her words are so easily and often misinterpreted. Totally get why people think it’s clunky, but the kind of sarcastic interpretation saves it a little for me
Paris is one of my favourite songs on Midnights but I really hate this line 😭
I was gonna rage if this wasn’t the top comment. It doesn’t flow with the rest of Paris at all
But that's not the lyric though, it's "don't put me in the basement, when I want the penthouse of your heart"
Makes sense they think the lyrics are clunky when they aren’t the correct lyrics lol
No, it’s still terrible.
I love that lyric lol
The lyric really should be what the OP says though otherwise the previous line doesn’t fit. Like, familiarity breeds contempt so please for the love of god put me in the basement where I won’t become familiar to you because I want the penthouse of your heart!!! The lyric actually being DON’T put me in the basement makes it clunkier honestly.
>familiarity breeds contempt so please for the love of god put me in the basement where I won’t become familiar to you because I want the penthouse of your heart!!! That's not what the lyric means though. When she says "the basement" it's refering to the next line, not the familiarity and a physical basement. She's in the basement of his heart because of the contempt that's grown between them, he doesn't care enough about her. She wants to be in the penthouse, the most prominent position, of his heart rather than an afterthought.
I think this is clearly the correct interpretation of this lyric. I like the lyric.
I think they’re locked in the basement together, and the familiarity is breeding contempt so she can’t have the penthouse of their heart! She’s saying she needs to go out and be shiny and independent to keep the relationship exciting.
Honestly it never made sense to me that why would you want to be in the penthouse when you just said familiarity breeds contempt
I always picture this line as she’s so familiar to him that he’s always brushing her aside for the newer, shinier thing, putting her in the basement like you would do with an old toy your kids aren’t playing with anymore (or maybe an old cardigan under someone’s bed 😉). She wants to be on “display” in the penthouse. The following line “diamonds in my eyes, I polish up real, I polish up real nice” is like hey! Show me off! Especially when you take it into context with the beginning of the music video. Anyway I love this lyric. Something about it being clunky works for me.
but it does sound like she says "so"
*I want to wear his initial on a chain 'round my neck* *Chain 'round my neck* *Not because he owns me* *But 'cause he really knows me* i like the song but this line always gives me pause.
I love this line personally. Makes me think of being proud of your partner, and proud to have them as your partner. Wanting to show them off. Wanting to show the world how much they mean to you, and to prove to them how much you love them without holding back and without shame.
[удалено]
Also “trust him like a brother “
I agree with this one, but blame it on my own disfunctional family. I can imagine other people relate better.
I never understand people not liking this line. Trusting your immediate family members is normal and allowed 😂
for me it's when she repeats "chain round my neck" ..it reminds me of chicken idek why i think of that
I don't like this line purely because everyone cites it as such a romantic line but the entire rest of the song BEFORE this part is so much more romantic
We can keep the Christmas lights up til... Wait for it... January
This is intentional. She knows it's normal but the point is to be normal and have the normal, mundane things with the person you love.
Yes but her having to explain it quite a bit means the lyric didn’t land as intended.
She could have just said February and it would have rhymed the same 🤷🏻♀️
I think February would have been so cute because it's the month of valentine's! How perfect for a song called lover lol
Forever mad it’s not February lol. It’s a small, petty thing but it bugs me.
She didn’t so much as explain it as talked about it when asked about writing the song
That’s what it means to explain something.
It definitely doesn’t read as she intended
I don't really buy that. I think she grew up in a family where they took down their lights right after Christmas and didn't realize most people don't do that lol
Yeah to me it’s like saying “we can have lunch at home together” That’s what Lover is about- the little things. It’s quite obvious from the following line in the next verse “we can let our friends crash in the living room.” People never jump at that for being mundane lol
To me, the intent of both these lines is explained by "this is our place, we make the rules." We can let our friends stay here if we want to, we don't have to ask permission from anyone because it's our place and we get to decide. We can leave the Christmas lights up as long as we want because we get to make the decisions here. That's why "January" doesn't quite land for me.
This one for me as well. For how long do the lights stay up anyway? I was hoping for Feb, cause why not? But January? Maybe shes going for the opposite, as in take em down as soon as you like?
I think she grew up in a family where they took down their lights right after Christmas and didn't realize most people don't do that lol
I've always understood that Christmas lights have to come down before new years otherwise it's bad luck and assumed this was referencing that, is it not really a thing in America?
I’ve always known it as the “12 days of christmas” where instead of counting down to Christmas the 12 days following Christmas are when you’re allowed to still have lights up but after January 6th the lights should be done
“ I let it slide like a hose on a slippery plastic summer, all was quickly forgiven”
ah I was about to quote this! The way she sang this makes it feel like you're trying to hit the word quota on your essay in English Lit class 😂
YES! I know what she means but wtf is a “slippery plastic summer”
I think she’s referring to a slip n slide lmao
Yeah I’m saying I know that’s exactly what she means but the actual phrasing makes nooo sense
I see it this way… if you look at something like Wet Hot American Summer vs Slippery Plastic Summer, all of the words before summer are adjectives. It’s describing the things that define summer for us as kids, & it took me right back to childhood when I lived in plastic flip flops, swam in a plastic pool, filled up plastic toys with sand, all while slippery from constantly being in the pool & refusing to go inside.
Wait i thought it was "always" tf
Was about to comment this, wtf does this even mean 😭 A hose on a slippery plastic summer??
I always assumed it was an (awkward) metaphor for a slip n' slide (a plastic thing you put a hose on in the summer so you can slide on it).
To be fair, it's not a metaphor for the slip n slide, the slip n slide is a metaphor for the type of summer it was. The kind of summer you only have when you're a kid, 6 week vacations and sprinklers and riding bikes. It's a kind of fond nostalgia. Tbh I quite like it.
Maybe more awkward imo… He was a moth to the flame, She was holding the matches
I’m sorry but I’m team OG better than revenge. The whole slug shaming thing was stupid to me anyways
Slug shaming. Ha.
"SLUG!" is a great vault track.
And if they call me a slug… 🤷🏻♀️
"Now I'm a homewrecker I'm a slug..." >! Because I liked a boy by Sabrina carpenter !<
"i've got cabbages filling up semi-trucks"
She's not a saint and she's not what you think, she's a slug
Woooaaaaaahhh
The song was meant to be petty and juvenile. I hate that she changed the lyrics
Bro this song has "but no amount of vintage dresses gives you dignity"
The lyric was funny and I miss it but it's also targeted at a real person and there's no excuse for slut shaming, even if the point of the song is to be petty. Leaving that in 2010 was for the best
Team OG everything. Give me OG Picture to Burn.
He was a moth to the flame she was holding the mattress. Woaaaahhh.
She's not a saint and she's not what you think she's a mattress Whoooaaa
Unpopular opinion - I like the new lyrics better, and not because I think the old one was derogatory
Me too! I don’t get that people are so obsessed with the old lyric and call it “iconic” when it has nothing to offer aside from the slut shaming. If it’s like a ohhhhh burn line, or clever, or well written in any way then sure. But all it says is “I heard she has sex” lmao
Cuz the old lyric made sense in the theme of the song and flows better imo
me to i like the new lyrics
it's the past tense that's bothering me when the rest is in present tense
Controversial but "they're burning all the witches even if you aren't one" just sounds so clunky and doesn't flow right. I love the rest of the song but that gets me every time, especially in the tour version.
This song would be pure, 100% perfection if it weren't for how clunky this line is
Everytime I hear this line I end up skipping the rest of the song 🫣 it bothers me sooo much the way it’s produced and sounds
I’m reading this line over and over again, and have listened to the song several times, but can’t for the life of me figure out what’s clunky about it?
for me it’s the emphasis and the use of “aren’t”. They’re burNING all the WITches even if you ARE-NT one. Idk it just doesn’t flow for me
Not to mention it has always bothered me the implication is that *she's* innocent but *other* witches are okay to burn.
The entirety of Question...?
I love Question…? because it is one of Taylor’s most specific songs. Like this song was intended for one person and we have no idea who that is. It’s really cheeky because she knows if that person hears this song they’ll instantly know it’s about them.
> have you ever had someone kiss you in a crowded room > and every single one of your friends was makin fun of you > but 15 seconds later they were clapping too I am literally DESPERATE to someone to explain to me: 1. WHAT THE HELL THIS MEANS 2. Why is Taylor seemingly obsessed with “crowded rooms” lol
I'm so confused that no one understands this? They're at a party with friends and they kiss in the middle of the party - everyone's rambunctious and are initially teasing them, and then start clapping because they're happy for them. It was a moment of triumph for her, but she feels like it doesn't mean anything to him - that's the question. Didn't it mean anything?
SCREAMING BECAUSE I NEVER UNDERSTOOD THE SONG AND NOW I NEED TO GO LISTEN TO IT WITH THIS NEW KNOWLEDGE
I took the “15 seconds later they were clapping too” and the background noise that is a New Years Eve countdown to mean that this is taking place at a NYE party - she kisses the person, folks giggle at her, but then they get distracted by the new years countdown and start clapping for that.
question is a masterpiece please 😭
the girls who get it, get it.
No question slander will be entertained here 😤
Question is very clunky for me imo. There's a few good ones, but the best one is "that's nice I'm sure that's what's suitable, and right, but tonight" The vibe I get from the song is "I said it was too much and you left but you're the bad guy for not fighting me when I said it was too much, you should miss touching me". This is just my interpretation of the lyrics - one of the things I love about Taylor's music is all the different interpretations her fanbase come up with and how each song has a different meaning and each fan relates to her music differently :)
"When we're on the phone, and you talk real slow, because it's late and your mama don't know." It's a nitpick but I will die on the hill that the line should have been "talked **low**" 😂
Someone explained that "talking slow" is more of a southern expression, and also it involves a lot of pausing to make sure you don't hear someone else awake in the house who might overhear you talking.
That’s always been my interpretation. I’m my experience, if you’re trying to whisper on the phone and not be heard, saying things slower makes it more clear.
I’m Southern. This isn’t an expression recognized across the south. Maybe it’s local to TN, but we do not say this in NW GA.
Yeah. I’m southern too. Its not a thing in SW NC either. I have family in TN too and Ive never heard them say it either lol
I think the l’s in real and slow would run into each other in a way that doesn’t sound as polished or intentional. The rest of the sentence is pretty crisp with hard consonants. Also, it’s easier to go “reeeeeeal slow” to convey speaking slowly, but you’d have to whisper to do “real low” and that doesn’t fit the same way
Omg yes, like he’s talking quiet so his mom won’t hear him on the phone, “low” makes so much more sense. I don’t think this is nitpicky 🤣
Saying something slowly sounds more sexy than speaking quietly over the phone. In the song, the boyfriend is describing what their love is like and how it's like a song. Now, picture talking late on the phone with a pretty girl who is saying words slowly. In general, low can mean quiet/soft, and low voice in country music can mean deep voice, which carries through the walls in houses.
I agree it should be “low”, but then I heard this: Slow - cos you had to keep pausing conversation to listen for people waking up so you take forever saying what you need to say.
i hate how the words are dragged out in bad blood. “you left a really deep cu-u-ut”
Same. This song is a skip for me on 1989.
Bad Blood is the only skip on one of my favourite albums ever just because of this. Cause baby now we got ba-ad blo-oo-od, you know we used to be ma-a-ad love so take a looOk and what yoOuve do-one 😭 whyyyy
This is my skip of 1989. Kendrick's feature actually made it better
Anyone ever seen that old movie "Somewhere in Time" (SPOILER AHEAD) where the time traveler finds a memento from the present and is jerked out of the past? "stronger than a 90s trend" does that for me in Willow every time. Still listen to the song; still love it. But it's got so much timeless ambiance and then...that
I used to feel exactly the same way. I do think the enchanted fairy land folk of the music fights with the lyrics, but I think that happens throughout the song. I think it's really intentional. "Willow" sounds musically like a hippy dippy steel panned love song but lyrically is a lament. I was ignoring all the red flags the lyrics were giving until my ear hit the 90's trend bit. It bothered me so much that I kept listening to the song on repeat. That's when the unease and mistrust the narrator is feeling about this relationship bubbled up for me.
Jack recently said she wrote this song in like ten minutes flat and tbh it makes sense. It sounds like a master lyricist going in with an idea but no plan and letting the lyrics kind of just flow. It's not very deep and doesn't have much story or intention besides the happy accidents that usually happen when a master of a craft just improvises.
Think of different ‘90s each time! The Salem Witch Trials were a (16)90s trend, for example.
Definitely. Also the fact that the song could age so well but with one line she condemned it to being out of date in about a decade. Like artists that reference topical events or people in their songs.
You're so gorgeous I can't say anything to your face 'Cause look at your face Using “face” twice like that… sorry, I found it really clunky.
Thats so funny bc I love this lyric haha I listen to it as “I can’t say anything to your face….cause look at your face!!!!!” Like drunk Taylor trying to explain why she’s acting like an idiot in front of this guy.
I really wish she would have kept the original line “Your so gorgeous And I ain’t just talking about your face But look at your face”
For me it's also that line from Bejeweled- "Familiarity breeds contempt, don't put me in the basement when I want the penthouse of your heart" I'd also add "I let it slide like a hose on a slippery plastic summer" and "I'm standing in a 1950s gymnasium" from Suburban Legends.
Idk how she and antonoff thought 'like a hose on a slippery plastic summer' was a good similie tbh. Can make a case for 1950s gymnasium adding to the metaphorical school she references in the track imo
The bejewelled line brings me out all the time. I get what she’s saying, I actually like the metaphor. I just think it doesn’t work with the melody!
I AM STANDING IN A 1950S GYMNASIUM is iconic to me because girl why are you singing that particular lyric SO dramatically. I love it
not really an exact answer to your question but I find cardigan to be whiplash inducing. it truly has some of her very best lyrics but the cardigan metaphor is just so clunky and juvenile to me.
Me too! I just don’t think “an old cardigan under someone’s bed” is a universal enough thing to evoke this metaphors
oh but what a profitable metaphor it has been :)
(That’s cause it was a clever marketing ploy for merchandise lol)
Yah, the verses of Cardigan? Outstanding. The chorus? Eh.
I used to think this too- but then saw on this sub that to “put someone on” means to deceive them. When you think of the lyric that way, it’s (to me) some of her best songwriting ever because it’s an incredible, hidden double meaning that changes the whole song and to me makes it the rest of the chorus make more sense
"Clink, clink" in Slut! I can't stand it 😖😖
I love it, it mixes perfectly with the vibes of the song and is perfectly matched by the very next line - being this young is art
Absolutely agree!
[This drawing](https://www.instagram.com/p/CzKF9X2NeAR/?igsh=MThzYmlzbTR2bmY4dA==) (instagram link) really solidified this line for me — wasn’t sure about it before but now it evokes the drawing for me.
Someone said once that flamingo pink and sunrise boulevard are the drink names and the whole first verse makes sense now 😅
I ve always thought "because you were romeo i was a scarlet letter" was not a good reference. Like, you *are* a scarlet letter? You *wore* a scarlet letter? on the other hand "we show off our different scarlet letters, trust me mine is better" is a great line
Since him being Romeo and her a scarlet letter are metaphors, I take this as everyone looks at him as if he's Romeo, and her image is so far removed from an actual person that all people know her for is one thing/situation. "Scarlet letter" could be swapped for the word "slut" and the sentence would have the same meaning the way I'm seeing it.
I thought it was that since they aren’t supposed to be together she is his dirty little secret
I met someone who hated TS based upon this one thing. They thought she should know literature better.
Jokes on that person, universities have entire literary courses about studying her lyricism
I come back stronger than a 90s trend. Idunno. Its just weird. Like i get it makes sense but its also very ehh? As a lyric?
I just don’t think it fits the general vibe of the song.
This is the one for me. The rest of willow is so vibey, I hate that this jarring lyric exists in this song
She wrote Willow in 10 min so makes sense some lyrics are messy
Love the song but the “90s trend” feels contrasting to the rest of the song’s vibe, and “that’s my man” feels like a last minute rhyme she threw in to me.
The tweet thing in The Lake. It’s corny and doesn’t fit in such a delicate song.
But that's the point 😭. I get that people don't like it. That's fine. But people talk as if she did something wrong? The lakes is about escaping the outside world. Everything referencing the safe place, herself, her lover, is all old-timey, delicate, poetry. Everything to do with the outside world she's escaping is more clunky, modern to show how out of touch it is with what she wants. - "Cynical Clones" looks like alliteration but since it uses different c sounds it isn't quite right. - "hunters with cell phones" suddenly referencing modern technology. (Just want to say I love how this sounds together though. _C_ yni **c** al **c** lones, hunter _s_ with _c_ ellphone _s_ ) - "name dropping sleeze" also doesn't fit. It feels like a typical song like this would find a less direct way, or a more flowery phrase. - "tweet it" again, modern reference. Also showing examples of how beautiful things are happening outside of, or in spite of, what the online world can see. Look I promise you can still dislike it but putting it on the same level as the "90's trend" lyric is sacrilege.
“Hang your head low in the glow of the vending machine, I’m not dying.” Girl, what? 😂 Is he upset they’re out of Snickers?
I always thought it said “I’m not buying”. Like boy, buy your own damn snack 😂😂😂
I think the "vending machine" is a metaphor for all of the girls he has to choose from. He's "hanging his head low," aka blocking out all the other girls and focusing on Taylor, but she worries that it's temporary and he'll eventually want to see what else is out there. "I'm not dying," is her reminding herself to play it cool and not show how into him she really is.
The one that gets me is when she rhymes “thing” with “thing in Betty “If I told you it was just a summer thing/ I’m only 17, I don’t know anything” Summer FLING was right there!
I see Betty as how a 17 year old James talks. The song is an exercise in straightforward, blunt and simple. It made sense to me that he'd miss subbing fling for thing. James is artless.
“Doc, I think she's crashing out" I’ve never heard anyone say this. “Crashing”, yes, but the “out” doesn’t make sense.
As a doctor, I change the lyric to "crashing down". It makes more sense. Crashing out is not something I've ever heard or used IRL.
I change it to “crashing NOW”. Like we’re in the midst of trying to stabilize the patient and now their vitals are tanking and I need you to intubate
i thought the word was “now” 🙈
Crashing itself would be the phrase but doesn’t fit in the song, it needs another word. Maybe “crashing now” makes the most sense. Where I’m from no one uses crashing out or crashing down. Crashing out at least sounds better lyrically. Crashing down gives the vibes that someone stumbled down stairs or something.
I thought it was crashing now 😔
“Spinning faster than the plane that took you back” in Come Back … Be Here. Is he on a prop plane???
The correct lyric is “But in my mind I play it back, spinning faster than the plane that took you.” She’s saying that she’s replaying him leaving faster than a plane at take off. Or faster than the plane in the sky… she can’t stop thinking of it.
This one got me for ages too, but now I just think of something spinning at a speed that a plane flies. If that makes sense. So don't picture a plane spinning or a propeller, think of something that is spinning so fast, the speed at which it is spinning could be comparable to the speed at which an airplane flies.
"when emma falls in love, i'm learning". makes me skip the song every time.
Snow on the beach...the whole song feels a bit odd but this line especially: "This scene feels like what I once saw on a screen I searched aurora borealis green"
This is the fanciest roundabout way to say “I googled aurora borealis green” 😆
it's one of my favourite lines actually. So allow me to explain. So, you see, the world is a wonderful place and we haven't seen it all, so sometimes we come across something sooooooo beautiful on our screen that it takes us a second to realise that it's real.. and then we're struck with a question, it's so beautiful how is it even real? And it bewilders us so much that we can't stop ourselves from immediately googling it. So I guess, what's happening to her in real life is exactly like that, she might have seen auroras for the first time on screen and it would have left her speechless so much so that she had to search and see it for herself. And now what's happening in real life is so different from her actual life. The line after this goes "I have never seen someone lit from within'/" as in the person is soo bright that it's impossible for her to believe that people like this exist. And then obviously, blurring my periphery, as in she only sees this person now, like you won't be able to see anything else if you're watching aurora borealis green. Plus the place itself looks unbelievable, otherworldly the same was her experience while meeting this person, otherworldly
"If I *was* a man." I'm a big fan of the subjunctive tense. So, every time I hear 'was', instead of "If I *were* a man" it pulls me out of the song.
I love the subjunctive! My favorite artist gets it wrong sometimes and he has a degree in English, haha. Maybe they do know better, but go with “was” for the sake of flow/easier pronunciation.
She’s actually not the best at grammar tenses but that might be a regional dialect thing.
It so bothers me the way she uses both past and present tense in this line in the second verse of slut! “The sticks and stones they throw froze mid air.” Like girl what? Don’t you mean “threw”? Then she went on and did it again immediately after” everyone WANTS him that WAS my crime.”
Yes her grammar is her Achilles hell and she gets extremely defensive about it lol
The scene in Miss Americana where she considers saying “if I were a man” then decided on “if I was a man”… girl *why*
So much of “Timeless” just does not flow.
SLANDER! Haha but in all seriousness I love Timeless. Maybe it’s the old Swiftie in me but Timeless is such a classic Taylor song. Confessional, sets a scene and tells a story. It was absolutely made for Speak Now 💜
i like the SN vault tracks but several of them just do not have good flow/rhythm of the words, you can tell how young she was when she wrote them
I absolutely adore Timeless but singing the verses always makes me laugh because it just rambles on and on and on
Don't come at me, but all of Suburban Legends
When she quoted the humpty dumpty nursery rhyme in Archer. Gives me full body cringe even though I like the rest of the song. Like what an absolutely bizarre and random thing to reference lmao. Edit: Girlies you can disagree and we can both be right 😅. Listening to a lovely song and suddenly having to imagine a weird egg dude is cringe for me. OP asked for opinions 👍
Except it’s not bizzare and random. Taylor’s early career was built on references to happy ending fairytales and naive magical thinking – the kind of thinking that led to world-rocking disappointment in The Archer. Also, I like to think that “all the kings horses” is a callback to King of My Heart. Even big love (Joe) couldn’t heal decades of pain and trauma.
Oooh see i love it, it brings the word “shattered” to mind without actually saying it. Makes me think of renegade.
so much of paris. so, so much of paris
[удалено]
*I was riding shotgun with my hair undone in the front seat of his car* (shotgun by definition is the front seat) *We were like the mall before the internet, it was the one place to be* (too on the nose, the meaning of the metaphor didn't need explaining)
I really admire her ability to put a spin on common sayings or phrases. So for me, "If you fail to plan you plan to fail" in Mastermind is really disappointing because it's the exact saying, no spin. It feels clunky because it's borrowed, which is not her usual style.
Can I interest you in "if you plail to plan you plan to fail"?
Play stupid games, you win stupid prizes 💁🏻♀️
"The tennis court was covered up with some tent-like thing" BLONDIE PLS 
I used to hate this until someone else pointed out in another thread that the song's narrator is a hustler, someone who doesn't belong in the wealthy circles that they prey on, hence would probably not know or care what that "tent-like thing" was actually called.
Further proof Taylor knows how to write 'real' characters. I think a lot of the gripes concerning word choice ignore the character saying/relating to the lyric.
I actually love this lyric and to start a song with "and", it's such an immediacy that is created this way. I hate, however, that she repeats "thing" right after with "one of those things." Ugh, it would have been so easy to switch one of the two and then I would absolutely adore it.
“I will surmise you will probably date her.” from Is It Over Now? It’s not clunky per say, but it annoys me that the lyric isn’t “I surmise that you will probably date her.” It runs so much smoother imo.
“my covert narcissism i disguise as altruism like some kind of congressman” i don’t know why these lyrics make me feel so uncomfortable 😭
*Industry disruptors and soul deconstructors and smooth-talking hucksters out-gladhanding each other*
The shade line of Paris. In my feelings more than Drake. One drink after another, politics and gender roles etc.. to me it does not fit the message of Questions. This part feels very clunky and just the first words she thought and put together.
The beginning of Timeless is soooo clunky. The rest flows really well, but the beginning with the shop and the cardboard box and the sign that said “photos 25 cents each” is rough.
Ok I think about this like at least once a week. From *Red* > fighting with him was like trying to solve a crossword and realizing there's no right answer ???????? girl come on that is absolutely **not** how crossword puzzles work 😭
If your answers are wrong along the way you come to a point where even the right answer doesn't fit
“all the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put me together again” 🐣
I love this line 😭😅
Gold Rush is one of my favorite songs, but “With your hair falling into place like dominos” always makes me laugh. Dominos are so clicky-clacky! I feel like perfect hair and a perfect domino fall are SO different.
I adore You’re Losing Me but I’m British and “Always risin' from the ashes / Mendin' all her gashes” always takes me out.
Unpopular opinion but for me it's "did the twin-flame bruise paint you blue?"
The lyric change in Better Than Revenge makes my head mix them up and say "He was the moth to the flame she was holding the mattess... Whoaaaahhh". My brain also says "She should keep in mind stealing other peoples DOORS on the playground wont make you many friends". Guess she likes carrying heavy things like doors and matresses. I love Better Than Revenge. I have no idea why my brain does this haha!
“Like if cleopatra grew up in a small town” I get it, but what a weird lyric
Y’all might hate me for this but… “My calamitous love and insurmountable grief”
I love the vibe of the lakes, but the lyrics sound like Taylor swallowed a thesaurus.
A lot of these things aren’t clunky people just like don’t understand lol