Your next girl is gonna get you reinvented and not pretendin’
“‘Til death cause I meant it” is a red herring or double-meaning or 2nd person being addressed–whichever you like.
This post will say why:
[side-note: I have whole other posts planned on why Taylor might be “Becky” and a double meaning for that song could be addressing Kelsea’s dalliance (and Fletcher’s thirst) for Taylor. Also, we need to talk about Snow on the Beach in its entirety.]
Pertinent Taylor lyrics:
Happiness. Interestingly has parts in the same vein as this song of Fletcher’s about growing from a relationship, and the next person getting the benefit of those lessons.
“I haven’t met the new me yet”
Your next girl is gonna get you reinvented
Snow on the Beach. We will talk about this song, but in it’s own post or this very long post will be too, too long. But the line that comes into play against Kelsea’s verse in Fletcher’s remix:
“Fake it til you make it”
and not pretendin’
Let’s talk about the timeline referenced in Kelsea’s verse. The beside stages different ages part:
Ages and Years the Players Moved to TN/Nashville and got signed:
Kelsea
Kelsea’s Ex-husband
Suspected dalliance and Kelsea’s recent song-muse
To sum up birthdays and age differences:
Morgan Evans’ b-day is 4/25/85 (8yr difference from Kelesa)
Taylor’s b-day is 12/13/1989 (4yr difference from Kelsea)
Kelsea’s b-day is 9/12/93
Let’s talk about proximity since beside stages puts Kelsea close to the song’s subject:
Moved closer to Nashville and got a foot in the door of the industry:
Taylor was first of these 3, getting there in 2002 at age 13-
Taylor gets signed at a younger age and earlier year than the other two, 17 in 2006-
Morgan got a toe into Nashville in 2007. He lived in Australia, so it took longer for him to break into TN-
Morgan was born in Australia and lived there until 2015-
Morgan gets signed last of these 3 in 2017-
Kelsea moved to Nashville in 2008, after Taylor was there, but before Morgan moved to the U.S.-
When they got to TN, how old they were compared to Kelsea’s age:
Taylor came to Nashville as a songwriter in 2004 at age 14 (Kelsea was 11)
Morgan flew to Nashville (from Australia where he lived) to record a single in 2007 at age 22 (Kelsea was 14)
Kelsea moved to Nashville to write songs in 2008 at age 15.
Morgan didn’t move to the U.S./Nashville until 2015 at age 30 (Kelsea was 22)
In the verse, Kelsea is figuratively and literally looking up to the person on the stage. She is younger than them and they are more established in the industry than she is in the timeline of the verse.
Age of getting signed:
Taylor got signed in 2006 at age 17 (Kelsea was 13)
Kelsea was signed in 2012 at age 19.
Morgan was signed in 2017 at age 32. (Kelsea was 24 and had already been signed for 5 years)
So the verse already doesn’t really work with Morgan. He’s actually getting fame in another country when Kelsea is not yet in the business. Then, when he does break into Nashville, it’s after Kelsea.
When did Kelsea meet them:
Kelsea (who had been signed for 4 years already) met Morgan (who would be signed the next year) for the first time when she flew to Morgan’s country, Australia in 2016
She was 23 when they met (hardly “growing up”).
Was Kelsea beside Morgan’s stages? It looks like she was in TN and he was in… Australia.
So we established Kelsea was in the U.S., not Australia. She got signed prior to Morgan. They did not meet until she was 23, when he was yet unsigned, and she had already been signed for 4 years.
I was there on the side of your stages
I grew up for our difference in ages
These lines are vague enough that they don’t say exact ages/years/people. But I interpret the sentiment of those lines as Kelsea looked up to this older, more established and famous person when she was young. Then she grew into a more personal relationship with that person.
Enter Taylor Swift.
Kelsea “met” Taylor (as a fan) in 2008. Taylor was 19 and Kelsea was 15.
Taylor mentions Kelsea’s song in a Tweet in 2015. Taylor was 26 and Kelsea was 22.
That same year (2015)
KELSEA BALLERINI PERFORMS WITH TAYLOR SWIFT IN NASHVILLE OVER THE WEEKEND
Taylor Swift performed in Nashville as a part of her 1989 Tour this past weekend and she brought out a very special guest. Kelsea Ballerini performed her number 1 song “Love Me Like You Mean It” with Swift for thousands of screaming fans. It was a huge moment for women in Country music with both women performing the first debut song from a woman to hit number 1 in 9 years!
Ballerini continues to wow audiences of all ages with her music, recently being named one of People’s “One’s to Watch”. It was a special moment for her, stating on her instagram:
Ballerini met Swift about 8 years ago at a meet and greet at one of Swift’s concerts, as time has flown by the success of both of these women have blossomed.
In 2017 Kelsea crossed over from fan to friend. Taylor was 28 and Kelsea was 24
You see the evolution. Kelsea looked up to Taylor as a child, even moving to Nashville because she was inspired by Taylor. Kelsea was a fan. Then took a very familiar path to music stardom. Taylor noticed Kelsea as an artist and her Tweet boosted Kelsea’s followers and chart numbers. Kelsea was invited to perform with Taylor, more equal in status than a fan, but Taylor was still more of a mentor. Then Taylor invited Kelsea into her personal life. I think that better matches the lyrics in Fletcher’s song.
Never thought we were subject to changes, yeah
This is maybe the most important line in the verse because it’s a multiple meaning and references other work (Kelsea’s most recent GAY album).
In the context of divorce with Morgan, Kelsea is saying they grew apart (yawn).
Subject to Changes is the title of Kelsea’s most recent album.
Subject to changes in the context of the album is Kelsea realizing she likes women.
Let’s read the song through two lenses: One under the assumption Taylor is talking to/about Karlie. The second, that Taylor is addressing Kelsea Ballerini.
We were supposed to be just friends
Doesn’t it seem like Taylor and team might want to break the boy-crazy narrative by pushing friendships (with women)? Sure, her meeting Karlie could have been organic. But also her team could have hired a lot of models to compose “The squad” to show female friendships…
You don’t live in my part of town, but maybe I’ll see you out some weekend
We could be talking about a different NYC neighborhood (in the case of Karlie).
Or Nashville. When Taylor was mostly on the coasts.
Depending on what kind of mood and situation-ship I’m in
And what’s in my system
These lines show that Taylor is dismissive about seeing this person or not. She says maybe she’ll see them out. Depending on her mood, what she’s imbibing, and who else is in her life. This is not really Kaylor (I wrote 5 albums about loving you and longing for you) vibes. Though I guess it could be during the card sharks, playing games point in time.
In Kelsea’s song Weather, however, I think it talks about being the recipient of similar capricious feelings:
I think there’s been a glitch
Five seconds later, I’m fastening myself to you with a stitch
And I’m not even sorry
But here are just 5 examples (there’s too many to include that would totally waylay this post) where Taylor DOES care a lot if Karlie leaves her life:
Cornelia Street
Death by a Thousand Cuts
Illicit Affairs
The entirety of Evermore (song), the entirety of Hoax.
Also, here’s just 5 (there’s tons more) Kaylor songs with a tinge of regret (Taylor IS sorry):
Afterglow
Betty
This is me Trying
Coney Island
Question…
You see Kaylor is NOT casual and cavalier (like this song) at. All.
But then there’s some songs from Kelsea that are a bit more casual:
I can’t help myself
The Little Things
Nights are so starry, blood moonlit
A very Kaylor mention of “stars” in Taylor’s discography is in Cardigan:
But Taylor mentions stars in a less romantic way in both Dorthea and Cowboy Like Me:
Kelsea’s song I Guess They Call It Fallin’ mentions both stars and the moon:
Again in Heartfirst
And again in Universe
And a fourth time in Love is a Cowboy
It seems like Kelsea Ballerini fell totally in love, but Taylor is just having a fling/hook-up.
It must be counterfeit
Is something about Kaylor intended to deceive or defraud?
Deceive the public/media-we’re just friends. Or deceive Jo$h?
Is Kaylor an imitation of something else?
Her mirror “relationship” with Joe?
What about Kelsea?
Is something intended to deceive or defraud?
Does Taylor get involved with Kelsea to deceive herself? As a distraction from pain, and with the intent to move on and feel better? But she just can’t?
Is KelSwift an imitation of something else?
Kaylor love. This relationship with Kelsea is meant to ease the heartbreak and loss of Karlie, but Taylor doesn’t feel it as deeply. She tries to imitate the love she felt with Karlie, but it just comes up short.
I think there’s been a glitch
I was supposed to sweat you out
Taylor could be talking about when she got a crush on Karlie. Maybe her, her parents, her team wanted Taylor to get over it. The anxiety could apply here. I wouldn’t think all the pain in the above definitions would be applicable to a fleeting crush, or hook-up though.
Applied to the Kaylor break-up and trying to get over Karlie by distracting herself with Kelsea, it fits better. Taylor is painfully trying to work through the break-up. She’s sad, anxious, having intense feelings, having to endure pain through 3-4 album cycles… I think the lyric works better with a Kaylor ending than it does as a beginning.
In search of glorious happenings of happenstance on someone else’s playground
This line is a lot. Let’s take it one word at a time to glean exactly what Taylor is trying to convey.
Glorious = Beauty but exponential, that evokes delighted and splendorous (I think I just made this word up, but you see what I’m getting at) admiration. So beauty on steroids that evokes glory in those who see it.
Kaylor friendship could be seen as a performance, with media and heteronormativity participating in the best friends narrative. But that’s more external than the internal meaning I think this song means.
Happenings might be the, “if I see you, I’ll see you” tone of the song mentioned from the first line. It’s a very indifferent attitude.
Happenstance further substantiates the detached tone of Taylor in this song. If it happens, it happens, if not-meh.
Let me make it known that I don’t really like equating women to property.
Karlie is with Jo$h.
Kelsea was married to Morgan Evans.
Either way Taylor is playing on someone else’s playground.
All together:
Glorious = Beauty but exponential, that evokes delighted and splendorous (I think I just made this word up, but you see what I’m getting at) admiration. So beauty on steroids that evokes glory in those who see it.
Happenings = event or performance art. Kaylor friendship could be seen as a performance, with media and heteronormativity participating in the best friends narrative. But that’s more external than the internal meaning I think this song means. Internally, Taylor could be performing love “fake it til you make it” on Kelsea trying to move on, but she just can’t force it to bet totally genuine.
Happenings might be the, “if I see you, I’ll see you” tone of the song mentioned from the first line. It’s a very indifferent attitude.
Happenstance further substantiates the detached tone of Taylor in this song. If it happens, it happens, if not-meh.
Karlie is with Jo$h. Kelsea was married to Morgan Evans. Either way Taylor is playing on someone else’s playground.
The IN SEARCH OF is doing a lot of work here. Taylor felt that awe for Karlie. She hungered for those fleeting secret moments with her. But Paris and Illicit Affairs tells us it wasn’t just happenstance, Kaylor very intentionally planned their private moments. That’s why I think Glitch is more of a KelSwift song. Taylor is trying to recreate that Kaylor-magic-love feeling whenever she happens to see Kelsea. But Kelsea caught feelings. Hard. And divorced her husband, partially over this relationship with Taylor.
But it’s been 2, 190 days of our love blackout
The system’s breaking down
I think there’s been a glitch
Five seconds later, I’m fastening myself to you with a stitch
And I’m not even sorry
Nights are so starry, blood moonlit
It must be counterfeit
I think there’s been a glitch
A brief interruption, a slight malfunction
In Bigger than the Whole Sky (purportedly about Taylor’s main love interest and the self she lost by not coming out and choosing a family with her) Taylor says it was more than just a short time. In no way, did Taylor feel that Kaylor was just a affair/fling/flirtation.
But all of Kelsea’s songs talk about a person who is halfway in their relationship. Very mercurial. Fleeting. Wishy-washy. Hard to pin down. Because Taylor only sees her thing with Kelsea is herself being temporarily broken. That’s not romantic. Taylor is saying she was broken so she got with Kelsea
I’d go back to wanting dudes who give nothing
Is Taylor saying she would go back to these men (Sweet Nothing and Lavender Haze)?
Or is this advice Taylor is giving to the subject of the song?
Suggesting Karlie go back to Jo$h (which Exile, Cardigan… So many songs don’t want Karlie to pick the man).
Or is Taylor suggesting Kelsesa forget her new epiphany that she loves women? Since Taylor has firsthand experience of being a closeted country star.
I thought we had no chance
And that’s romance, let’s dance
Taylor wanted it to work with Karlie. Just in private, which Karlie couldn’t agree to in the long-term.
Here, I think Taylor is saying she didn’t really take KelSwift seriously. She didn’t intend for them to be a long-term couple. And that’s what she liked about it: Short, fun, no strings attached. Dancing is a dangerous thing–because Love is a Cowboy, when you’re with them you’re ropin’ the wind.
Glitch
Five seconds later, I’m fastening myself to you with a stitch
This is a pretty fun song, and I’m not sure it’s meant to be taken as 100% non-fiction.
Who is she talking about, that’s the major question. And some of Taylor’s lyrics fit everyone (liar & fraud) so that didn’t narrow it down for me. And our bad guy (as a collective) will be referred to as “liar” from this point on, to keep it short and simple. But some of the lines were specific enough that I could pinpoint who she’s probably talking about. Which brings me to the idea that more than one liar is getting called out in this song.
Draw the cat eye, sharp enough to kill a man
I thought this might be a reference to a song or movie that would tell us the liar she’s talking about. And there’s a movie called something like “Scooter Kill” but I thought it was kind of weak so I didn’t include it.
I eventually decided the first few lines aren’t an introduction to the liar, but an introduction to the thesis of the song: Taylor is going Catwoman to dole out some vigilante justice to the liar(s).
And you can see from Catwoman’s bio how Taylor might identify with her.
I was trying to match pieces of the song with known TS nemesis:
Kanye = Death Rattle
$cooter = the great white shark:
Jo$h and Jared Kushner are bradford & rupert thorne respectively:
His brother, Jared represented by: Bradford’s brother Rupert Thorne:
I’m not going to use Rupert Thorne’s pic to depict Jared Ku$hner because honestly, doesn’t his actual appearance remind you of a Batman villan?
So that’s how I see our villains as compared to Batman villains.
You did some bad things, but I’m the worst of them
The Ku$hners got Karlie in the end. But they are involved in so many like, genocidal-level things that it’s nowhere near any love triangle tension with Taylor, or even the masters-heist.
Kanye stole Taylor’s moment, misrepresented himself (or Kim did that alone?), and was the catalyst for snake gate. But he also made some egregious hate statements, and ran for POTUS, among other things that are decidedly worse than what he did to Taylor.
$cooter orchestrated the masters heist.
OK, the creative aspect was by Kanye. But $cooter could have absolutely vetoed and scrapped the whole thing as his manager.
That just might be worse than anything else $cooter did. But there might be more that I just couldn’t find since he’s a sneaky mofo with iron-clad NDAs.
Sometimes I wonder which one will be your last lie
Ku$hners are known liars with the housing, their job titles, the money, the “Peace in the Middle East” and so on.
Now, I’m sure Kanye was mercurial, making Taylor take an ax to a mended fence, but I’m not sure he exactly lies. Kanye is a major narcissist (always has been) and recently he has been having major bipolar cycling that is uncontrolled by medicine. That means, he has likely been literally psychotic at points. I am not excusing any of his behavior, but I’m saying I’m not sure he tries to hide it. If anything, Kanye says too much. I think he changes his mind (perhaps his mental state is part of that) and that could be perceived as lying. But you have to have organized thoughts to lie, and I’m not sure Kanye does. But Kim did lie about editing that phone call, so that could be what this line is talking about…
We have seen the various statements put out by $cooter trying to rehab his image that completely deviate from what Taylor says about the masters/bullying situation:
They say looks can kill and I might try
I don’t dress for women
I don’t dress for men
Lately I’ve been dressing for revenge
I don’t start it but I can tell you how it ends
Don’t get sad, get even
So on the weekends
I don’t dress for friends
Lately I’ve been dressing for revenge
Taylor is saying on weekends instead of sulking, she puts on her revenge catsuit and does some vigilante shit to get even.
She needed cold hard proof so I gave her some
She had the envelope, where you think she got it from?
It is plausible that Taylor could give Jo$h’s wife Karlie information. Obviously, Taylor has had access to Karlie. And the Ku$hners have done so many diabolical things it’s difficult to keep track. But what would Taylor know about the situation? It anything, Karlie might have her own insider info, but I’m not sure Taylor would be able to get government-level intel…
Maybe you think this is a cop-out from me, but I couldn’t chase down information on Taylor giving evidence to any of the girlfriends of liars. But also, would that be in an article?
What I can tell you is Kim Kardashian was still talking $hit about Taylor when snakegate was revealed to be orchestrated by her. And usually Taylor remembers her enemies long term. But also, the two might have worked together to take down problematic Kanye for various egregious activities. But also, let’s be serious–does anybody else need to take Kanye down? He pretty much ruins himself, as acknowledged by Taylor in Long Story Short:
Taylor could just be talking about the song Madwomen in regards to giving $cooter’s wife Yael ammunition against him:
Except in the same song Taylor talks about how his wife is helping her husband bring Taylor down:
This is all to say, I’m not sure if there’s an actual envelope with intelligence that was passed from Taylor to the wife of the liar. I think it is just a super-hero movie thing to say.
Now she gets the house, gets the kids, gets the pride
This can’t be the Ku$hners because they’re still together with their beards, I mean, wives. And also Karlie does not have multiple children.
I didn’t think it was about Yael, because I couldn’t find anything at all about a Benz. On that alone, I ruled her out.
Picture me thick as thieves with your ex-wife
Taylor is not close to Ivanke Trump.
And it’s a question-mark if she talks to Karlie, but given all the heartbreak that is still in Midnights, I don’t think they have much together anymore.
I really can’t see Kim and Taylor being friends after all the shady things Kim(Ye) have done to hurt her. Besides Taylor is still throwing jabs:
This is absolutely not about $cooter’s wife per Madwoman, but here’s another reason:
I can’t vouge for the veracity of this source, but this would be a major additional reason Taylor would never be chummy with $cooter’s ex-wife:
And she looks so pretty
Driving in your Benz
Ivanka is still “with” Jared, so it’s not her.
The most recent thing I could find about a Benz connection to Karlie Kloss was the Mercedes Benz fashion show in 2013. Which seems pretty long ago.
I couldn’t find anything about a Benz for Yael, so I don’t think this line is about her. Also, they have joint custody of the children.
Lately she’s been dressing for revenge
Ummm, this is kinda wow. So, well let me just show you:
But it’s not toward the lying man–if anything Karlie is dressing for revenge against. . . Taylor… So I don’t think it counts for this song.
Here’s one of the only pics I could find of Yael Cohen Braun post-divorce:
That’s a no on the revenge dressing.
She don’t start it, but she can tell you how it ends
Don’t get sad, get even
So on the weekends
She don’t dress for friends
Lately she’s been dressing for revenge
Ladies always rise above
Ladies know what people want
Someone sweet and kind and fun
The lady simply had enough
While he was doing lines
This line heavily implies cocaine use. But I couldn’t find any gossip, articles, or arrests pertaining to drugs for any of our liars. But also, we might not know–it could absolutely be happening behind the scenes.
I then tried to think of the many ways to use “line” that wasn’t drug-associated. Stand in line, run lines as an actor, line your pockets, line of credit, boundary line, line your eyes, telephone line…
And crossing all of mine
Honestly, I don’t think Taylor intended any of the following uses of the word “line” that I found pertaining to Ku$hner misdeeds. But it turned out really apt, and kinda cool, so I wish she had intended to write about him in the following ways:
Lines of credit for Ku$ner businesses that are completely unethical-
Check out this entire article for the conflict of interest of the Ku$ner clan:
Private phone lines that skirt United States security measures-
Jared Kushner gave a confusing explanation for his alleged ‘back channel’ plan with Russia
President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, denied in a statement Monday that he suggested setting up a “back channel” communication line to the Kremlin that would bypass US intelligence agencies and persist after Trump was inaugurated.
But Kushner acknowledged in the statement, which came ahead of a closed-door appearance before the Senate Intelligence Committee, that he asked Russia’s ambassador to the US in December whether the Trump transition team could use Russia’s embassy to communicate privately with Moscow about Syria. The meeting with the ambassador, Sergey Kislyak, “occurred in Trump Tower, where we had our transition office, and lasted twenty [to] thirty minutes,” Kushner wrote in an 11-page statement detailing his contacts with Russian nationals during the election and transition period. “Lt. General Michael Flynn (Ret.), who became the President’s National Security Advisor, also attended … I stated our desire for a fresh start in relations.” Kushner said Kislyak, whose tenure in the US ended this past weekend, asked whether there was “a secure line in the transition office to conduct a conversation” about the US’s Syria policy.
“General Flynn or I explained that there were no such lines,” Kushner wrote. But he said he went on to ask whether the Russian Embassy “had an existing communications channel … we could use where they would be comfortable transmitting the information they wanted to relay to General Flynn.” Kislyak said they didn’t, according to Kushner, and “nothing else occurred.”
“I did not suggest a ‘secret back channel,'” he wrote. “I did not suggest an on-going secret form of communication for then or for when the administration took office. I did not raise the possibility of using the embassy or any other Russian facility for any purpose other than this one possible conversation in the transition period. We did not discuss sanctions.”
Kushner’s statement appears consistent with a Washington Post report published in May that said he had floated the possibility of setting up a secure line of communication between the Trump transition team and Russia — and having those talks take place in Russian diplomatic facilities in the US, essentially concealing their interactions from US government scrutiny.
According to The Post, Kislyak was “taken aback” by Kushner’s request because it posed significant risks for both the Trump team and the Kremlin. But he passed along that request to Moscow anyway. Kushner did not previously disclose the December meetings with Kislyak and the CEO of a Russian bank, Sergey Gorkov, on his security clearance form. He said in his statement that the form was submitted prematurely.
‘A staggering lack of common sense’
Experts have said that if the Kushner-Kislyak meeting and reported discussion were an isolated incident, then it could be spun as normal back-channel communication arrangements among states.
But Kislyak and the Trump campaign interacted extensively, and Trump associates either kept those interactions secret from US officials or misrepresented them, as was the case with Flynn, who was forced to resign in February for similar reasons.
Scott Olson, a recently retired FBI agent who ran counterintelligence operations and spent more than 20 years at the bureau, told Business Insider in May that it was not unusual for low-level staffers to work between governments and bypass bureaucracy to exchange views and build consensus in advance of higher-level negotiations. But what Kushner appears to have done is “substantially different, in two ways,” he said. “First, he is not seeking a back channel for a low-level staff exchange,” Olson said. “He wants high-level direct-contact communication. This is extremely dangerous because it results in verbal (and therefore undocumented and unwitnessed) agreements, which are binding on governments. Free governments do not work this way. They can’t. If they do, they are no longer free.”
He added: “Second, he asked to use a foreign government’s communication facilities. This is way beyond a private server. This is doing US government diplomatic business over a foreign government’s communication system. It’s not an off-the-record conversation. It’s a conversation recorded by the opposing party. This shows a staggering lack of understanding of the US and its place in the world. Actually, it shows a staggering lack of common sense. When he negotiates a business deal does he use the other guy’s notes?”
It also struck many experts as odd that Flynn, Kushner, and Kislyak would want to conceal discussions about Syria from the US’s national security and intelligence communities. “Why in God’s name would they want to conceal plans on Syria strategy from the US military?” asked Susan Hennessey, a former attorney for the National Security Agency. “Even accepting their Syria spin, what Kushner tried to do was blind the US government on incredibly important national security matters. That’s not how it works. That’s not the behavior of someone who recognizes America is still, at its core, a common endeavor.”
Egregious disregard drawing up boundary lines between Israel and Palestine-
Alas, I don’t think it is actually what the song is about because Jo$h’s brother Jared isn’t crossing boundaries of Taylor’s as far as I know. He’s a criminal POS, but at most his politics are disagreeable to Taylor, and his brother “stole” the love of Taylor’s life. But that line worked out pretty well with many of the Ku$hner crimes.
I sincerely hope Kanye is not doing coke. That would be like pouring gasoline on his mania. I’m not sure drugs are in his picture–as evidenced by his mentally ill outbursts and untreated personality disorder. And trying to sniff out (ha) one line in one song that Taylor might have been thinking about would be such a huge undertaking, I couldn’t even.
Does $cooter do drugs? Maybe. Lots of wealthy people seem to play in the snow, but I couldn’t find anything definitive. Nor could I find crimes about lines in any way. Though obviously $cooter is trampling on Taylor’s boundaries all over the place.
Someone told his white collar crimes to the FBI
Closest thing to Michelle Pfeiffer that you’ve ever seen, oh
Kanye and white collar crime:
Kanye has done many things. Many, many, many $hitty, evil things. But mostly they involved words- verbally abusing Kim, threatening Pete, undermining the Black community and BLM, being anti-semetic, aligning with Trump and the GOP… Punching various people also came up. But white collar crime returned more limited results:
$cooter and white collar crime:
So that could be who she’s talking about in this particular line…
Rather than try to figure out the pronouns or subject I thought the simplest way to start to decode this song was probably just looking up words. I mean, you know the general meaning of maroon or rubies, but I don’t know a lot of the symbolism or religious meanings and things like that. Here we go!
When the morning came we were cleaning incense off your vinyl shelf
‘Cause we lost track of time again
Laughing with my feet in your lap, like you were my closest friend
How’d we end up on the floor anyway?
You say, “Your roommate’s cheap-ass screw top Rosé”, that’s how
It looks like a lot of people think rose is a “girly” drink. Can we STOP gendering drinks?! Anyone can enjoy any wine (or not) and anyone can drink whiskey. I personally enjoy either depending on the occasion.
Something a bit more compelling to me is the season. Rose is a summer wine. And Taylor sings about seasons a lot. August.
I see you every day now
And I chose you
The one I was dancin’ with in New York
No shoes, looked up
At the sky and it was
The burgundy on my t-shirt when you splashed your wine onto me
As a color, burgundy is red/brown–near maroon.
The name is from France–Paris.
There is a red/purple wine from France called Burgundy.
I think it would make a lot of sense to do a call back to wine in Paris, so this is probably less about the color burgundy, and more about a memory that took place with the person she’s talking to in the song.
And how the blood rushed into my cheeks, so scarlet, it was
Taylor might be talking about scarlet in the sense of passion. Blood rushing into your cheeks because you’re turned on.
This one doesn’t seem likely, but we do need to remember it for later because there’s that line in another Midnights song that talks about blood-soaked dress.
Scarlet is a very loaded word. And Taylor knows all about that bc she used the word in that context in New Romantics: We show off our different scarlet letters/Trust me, mine is better.
The stigmatizing meaning of scarlet could also tie to the scarlet as passion meaning–if the love is socially unacceptable (gay). Her cheeks are flushing scarlet with passion for a woman which would be “bad” and get her labeled a stigmatizing letter. The one she talks about in New Romantics. Thirdly, this could be an Illicit Affairs situation where the scarlet letter is actually A. Which still works because Karlie is supposed to be with Jo$h.
The mark you saw on my collarbone, the rust that grew between telephones
I don’t think Taylor intended it, but I think it’s a neat coincidence that rust is so aligned with photography, and the subject of this song is a model.
Rust forms when metal is exposed to oxygen and moisture of a long period of time, and weakens the mass of the metal to the point it no longer provides support for the structure. It’s a great metaphor for a relationship that is deteriorating from lack of communication over time. That relationship also weakens because the people in it are no longer on the same page. Assumptions are made, worries creep in, because they’re no longer talking. The structure of their love is weakened even if both people still love each other.
I’m pretty sure this definition wasn’t intended either, but it’s kind of cool Rust is used in programming language, when Karlie’s pet-business is Koding with Klossy.
The lips I used to call home, so scarlet, it was maroon
Here is passion again that goes with a scarlet meaning. But maroon also depth and darkness. Taylor could mean deep passion, true love. She could also mean passion, but it’s dark because there are negative things mixed with this passionate love (closeting and cheating).
Creativity–like Taylor uses in her songs.
Is Taylor using maroon like a danger signal because of the problems that occur due to this socially unacceptable passion. Or as more of an Ivy situation where he (Jo$h) will burn the house down if he knew?
Tongue = kissing?
Fire = Leo and Sagittarius sun signs? Or burning passion? Or burning the witches, as talked about in I Did Something Bad?
delusion of attachment = stuff? her career? her fame? True love takes priority over Earthly items and pride?
wisdom of discernment = let’s define discernment:
Given the context of the song and rust that grew between telephones, discernment could mean ascertaining whether Karlie is genuine and good, or if she’s “a false prophet” just in it for selfish purposes. Afterglow is really evoked with this meaning:
In that song, Taylor admits she jumped to the wrong conclusion (probably because they weren’t routinely talking-rust, you know). Taylor assumed Karlie did something terrible that hurt her. But she was wrong. Taylor made incorrect assumptions. It was all in her head, and she’s regretful at her accusations. Could Maroon be talking about the Afterglow situation?
The Buddhist monks, who learn to appreciate spiritual growth over capitalistic concerns, wear maroon. MADE OF BURGUNDY. And represent fearlessness on the path to enlightenment. Which includes valuing love and trusting the vetted, good people. You need to trust more (The Great War, which may also be talking about this very situation).
Other interesting meanings of maroon that still tie into the mistrust that led to the Afterglow situation is fool and abandon. Is Taylor admitting in this song that she acted foolish in jumping to conclusions that Karlie was intentionally hurting her? And is she accusing Karlie of marooning her, or just feeling marooned (abandoned with no hope of rescue) because of that fallout Taylor caused?
When the silence came, we were shaking blind and hazy
How the hell did we lose sight of us again?
Sobbin’ with your head in your hands
Ain’t that the way shit always ends?
You were standing hollow-eyed in the hallway
In Peace, Taylor says she’s always going to closet when the gay rumors get too loud. But in the remainder of the song Karlie refutes these initial lines by TS and tells Taylor how much she truly loves her and will do anything for her:
In Exile, Taylor and Karlie are having a conversation. They are saying this has happened 2, 3, 100 times. The Kaylor relationship has always been precarious, balancing on breaking branches. Taylor tells Karlie she just can’t come out, she’s too scared, but she’ll come out the side door (Lavender haze).
But Karlie says she can’t cry for Taylor, Taylor has to muster up the courage and come out herself. Karlie says they’ve always walked a very thin line so it’ll be fine to leave the closet. Taylor is still too afraid to lose everything. So Karlie leaves her in the hallway holding all this love. Karlie can’t wait around anymore, or deal with any more foiled coming outs-her biological clock is ticking.
Midnight Rain is written after all of that with Taylor looking back regretfully:
Karlie wanted a comfortable family life, but Taylor couldn’t come out, so Karlie went back to the default (Jo$h). Taylor chose her fame over marrying Karly and having a baby. Taylor “wanted” that pain of closeting and lavender haze…
Carnations you had thought were roses, that’s us
If this is the meaning Taylor was thinking of–motherly love is not what Kaylor was going for. They thought their love was sexy and passionate, but turns out it was love you like a friend/sister/mother. That doesn’t seem quite right in this song. I tried to think of other comparisons between carnations and roses:
Carnations are substantially cheaper than roses. Maybe Taylor is saying you thought we had an extravagant, rich, relationship, but turns out is was superficial and cheap. This could fit. But I wondered if the lifespans of the two flowers were substantially different:
And that can’t be it because carnations actually live longer that roses, but Taylor uses them with a negative connotation in the song.
Interesting–some carnations are funeral flowers. So Taylor could just be saying the carnations are the end of Kaylor. Aren’t we learning so much about color and flowers? Thanks, Taylor!
We looked at carnations, so let’s learn about roses:
Secrets! That goes right along with the theme of the song that lack of communication, accusations, mistrust, closeting—all pulled Kaylor apart.
I feel you no matter what, the rubies that I gave up
So ruby comes from Latin for Red, which Maroon is talking about a lot.
Is Taylor just saying that she gave up the scarlet passion, raw emotion, and love in choosing the closet/fame over Karlie?
Perpetually burning fires? Like a Leo’s fire. Or the comfortable home life? Taylor gave up both.
I’m sure that the healing has nothing to do with this song, but we’re learning so I still included it.
Taylor gave up Karlie (the sun). Ruby is gemstone of…the sun?! It has a MAROON aura!!!
I mean, did this exact paragraph inspire the song, or what???
When I lost you
The one I was dancin’ with in New York
No shoes, looked up
At the sky and it was maroon
The burgundy on my t-shirt when you splashed your wine onto me
And how the blood rushed into my cheeks, so scarlet, it was
The mark you saw on my collarbone, the rust that grew between telephones
The lips I used to call home, so scarlet, it was maroon
And I wake with your memory over me
That’s a real fucking legacy that you see (it was maroon)
Taylor mentions her legacy in Anti-Hero:
But I think we can match the vibe of this song a little better. I looked up legacy in relation to career (which Taylor chose over love):
And I wake with your memory over me
That’s a real fucking legacy to leave
The burgundy on my t-shirt when you splashed your wine onto me
And how the blood rushed into my cheeks, so scarlet, it was maroon
The mark you saw on my collarbone, the rust that grew between telephones
The lips I used to call home, so scarlet, it was maroon
It was maroon
It was maroon
So there you have it. Just by searching formal definitions of the words within the lyrics we figured out Taylor is probably talking about the Afterglow problem might have been the straw that broke the camel’s back in a relationship with many odds stacked against them. And what was the Afterglow problem–Karlie’s “one for the money” wedding with Jo$h, perhaps? Maybe but that’s a whoooooole ‘nother post! Anyway, Taylor’s mind thinks of worst case scenarios. Throw closeting and beards and a loud biological clock into the mix and we ascertain that Taylor chose fame over love and Karly chose baby over Taylor. And now Taylor is marooned in her loneliness and regret.
Lately (folklore on) Taylor has been especially good at obscuring subject, timelines, characters, point of view etc… I suspect she does this to make her work palatable to the largest audience possible. She can cater to every different subset of listeners by making each song multifaceted. Diverse populations, people with divergent backgrounds and sensibilities can take different things from the same songs.
In folklore, fantasy and fiction were combined to make a sort of double story out of each song. This tactic builds in plausible deniability. The Last Great American Dynasty is an explicit example. In that song, Taylor is talking about the history of Rebecka Harkness, but also herself.
In Evermore, several different people were written about in the same song, until people could not extricate the truth for what line was about who. Take Dorthea. The song is about this Dorthea who we don’t know. Maybe someone from Nashville. But also a few of the lines could be Taylor talking about herself. And other lines really seem like present-day Taylor speaking to younger Taylor. The song is about all 3 of those people. And she is not clear about when the narrator or character changes.
For Midnights, I think Taylor used a different tactic. We were told these stories are personal, non-fiction, true events. I would say perspective (who is saying this?) and character (who is being talked about/to?) are the main foils to deciphering Midnights. She even switches the person who is talking and the subject being talked to in the same sentence at points. I won’t give an example here because I’m going to try to give each song it’s own entry. But that device makes it difficult to know who the songs are about–and that’s the point.
So our first controversial (we’ll get into it in a minute) song is Lavender Haze:
Toot noise like NYE
Model walking beat
Other songs that have this same type of beat are Style and Gold Rush, which are both very Karlie songs.
Meet me at midnight…
I think she’s talking to NY day muse. Though I think songs get repurposed over time to reflect Taylor’s current situations (think I Bet You Think About Me which was supposedly a Red-era vault track, but had many, many current symbols). I think this song has at least evolved for Taylor to be about Karlie.
At 0.59 sec, Taylor sings “I want HER midnights.”
In that song, Taylor is talking about hiding her WLW love during New Years Eve when everyone is around, and for the big midnight kiss because she is closeted. Her and her lover have to resort to spending private time cleaning up on New Years Day, when everyone is passed out or hungover. But Taylor says she wants her girlfriend’s midnights–she wants to be able to be up front about the woman she loves and partake in that public kiss tradition.
Staring at the ceiling with you
This line may be a character switch. It the midnights person the same as the ceiling person?
Oh, you don’t ever say too much
The two have been “dating” for 6 years but are weirdly private, not attending important events, speaking about one another in interviews, or acting like a couple save for the occasional paparazzi photo (read, hired be the celebrities themselves to take PR pics). If the two are actually together, their relationship is unnecessarily complex. And it seems like Joe is a bad boyfriend (minimizing Taylor’s accomplishments, being absent for important events, looking like an unhappy hostage dragging her 2 steps behind him when they are photographed).
And you don’t really read into
My melancholia
That sounds unfulfilling to me. If I’m severely depressed, I want Cool to engage with me and talk to me about it. Try to help me, at least show she cares. . . But Joe apparently just takes it at face value, and doesn’t mention it.
I thought the description for the movie related to Taylor’s life and songs, which may have been why she chooses that particular, and unique word to describe depression.
Melancholia film similarities to TS:
There’s a wedding (Taylor doesn’t want that 1950s shit. Karlie got married to a man).
Castle is money/status. (Taylor wants to keep hers, Karlie may have married a man for it).
narrow and winding, same as spiral. Not straight. Not easy. rural = desolate and alone. Labyrinthine?
Justine is pushed into a role others chose for her (marriage). (Just like Taylor is being pushed by media/public/parents/team/Joe? and doesn’t want that according to this song).
There is cheating and the marriage is called off. (Many of Taylor’s songs talk about cheating: Illicit Affairs, Betty, etc…)
The women in the film spend their final moments alone in a magic cave (kingdom in my bedroom, if you will) drinking wine by candlelight.
There is a SEA of FLAMES and Earth SHATTERS into a billion (million in Taylor’s case, says Mirrorball).
I been under scrutiny
You handle it beautifully
All this shit is new to me
Which part of this is new to Taylor? She’s supposedly been dating for 6 years, so not the committed relationship. She’s been famous since she was a child, so not celebrity, or media asking her things. She has even bearded at least once before.
I feel the lavender haze creeping up on me
If you missed my last post on how lavender is a decidedly gay color, go back one entry and learn some history.
Haze:
so lavender haze could be tenuous, obscure, confusing…
It reminds me of Cardigan:
Here, I think she uses smoke to symbolize the aftermath of a tragedy. And also something that was a reminder. And that causes confusion.
“Haze” reminds me even more of The Archer:
…I’ve got a hundred thrown-out speeches I almost said to you
Coming out speeches to her fans?
…Help me hold onto you
…I wake in the night, I pace like a ghost
She’s worried about what would happen if she came out
she’s a ghost because she’s caught in-between and because she feels her true self is invisible.
The room is on fire, invisible smoke
She imagines the worst outcome, and is anxious, but it’s in her mind so far.
And all of my heroes die all alone
Help me hold onto you/…Screaming, who could ever leave me, darling?/But who could stay?
Taylor wants to keep her fans, and place as a legend in music. She wouldn’t want coming out to ruin that.
(I see right through me, I see right through me)/’Cause they see right through me/They see right through me/They see right through/Can you see right through me?/They see right through/They see right through me/I see right through me/I see right through me
Can fans see Taylor’s intentions? Can they sense her fears? Taylor has been signaling she’s queer-have fans picked up on that?
Who could ever leave me, darling?/But who could stay?/(I see right through me, I see right through me)/Who could stay?/Who could stay?/Who could stay?/You could stay/You could stay/You…
Taylor is inviting fans to stay with her even if she comes out.
Furthermore she says she can feel the lavender creeping.
creeping:
You would not describe the haze of the honeymoon phase of a relationship as creeping. Creeping is negative, unwanted. The lavender is something Taylor is saying she does not want.
Surreal
I’m damned if I do give a damn what people say
Stated another way:
If I do give a damn about what people say
I’m damned
Taylor is saying if she cares about this pressure people are putting on her to marry, she will be doomed.
No deal
The 1950s shit they want from me
I just wanna stay in that lavender haze
Taylor doesn’t want the creeping lavender that will doom her (marrriage). She wants to remain in the gray, hazy area she is currently occupying. This could mean this awkward “private” relationship with Joe (if the public narrative is to be believed. Or it could mean bearding with Joe to portray herself as straight to the majority, and hinting at her true orientation to Gaylors.
All they keep asking me
Is if I’m gonna be your bride
This line is direct in who Taylor is talking to. Now, she could have changed perspectives or subjects with in the song (like in Question… and back to Peace) but this tells us Joe. The media and fans and maybe her team keep asking Taylor if she is going to be JOE’s bride.
The only kinda girl they see
Is a one night or a wife
The media and fans accuse Taylor of serial dating and not being able to keep a man, or they press her about when she will get engaged or have children.
These are the “weird rumors” Taylor spoke of in the Lavender video.
I find it dizzying
The word dizzying makes me think of all the spinning on tiptoes in heels in mirrorball:
Taylor already told us she shows each person what they want to see. She is not being her authentic self.
They’re bringing up my history
Who is they?
It could be media, fans, enemies, exes, Taylor’s own team, the music industry, her parents…
What history is being drudged up?
Taylor’s dating history, Kaylor, her song catalog, awards shows, promotion…
But you weren’t even listening
Who is you?
It could still be Joe, or the “you” could indicate a different subject: Karlie, another love/muse, Taylor’s team, her mom, fans…
…Talk your talk and go viral
This sounds like she’s addressing the media. They say whatever narrative gets them the most clicks.
I just need this love spiral
The opposite of spiral (depending on the way the word is being used): straight, a line, flat, constant, consistent, unchanging, calm…
Love spiral reminds me of the heart that turned into a spiraling tunnel in the Me! Music video:
Interestingly the heart/love spiral evokes the same feelings as this lavender haze song:
Get it off your chest
“Your” sounds less like a group (fans, her team, media, music industry) and more like one individual to me.
Get it off my desk
Whatever proposal that whoever is pushing. From the context of the song, it sounds like some sort of marriage. For someone to put something on Taylor’s desk (unless she’s talking metaphorically) this person or group has to be in proximity to her. That eliminates her talking about media, fans, or the general music industry. These two lines have to be Joe or Taylor’s own team. I think Joe, because get it off “your” chest is more personal, and less used for a collective like a team.
The media, fans, her team, and Joe all want Taylor to enter a Lavender marriage with Joe in order to satiate heteronormativity and straighten out her image. And this song makes clear Taylor wants to remain in this undefined haze.
Nobody can be a Karlie. But being a backup plan is tenuous and unfulfilling.
Alone, these might be considered “reaches” but compiled all together, it’s a LOT of coincidences.
I CAN’T HELP MYSELF
[Chorus] When the sun starts falling, the girls start calling
Taylor called Karlie the sun. Compared her to sunshine. Used gold to denote her in songs. Here, Kelsea says the sun starts falling, which can mean more than the obvious day to night. A layered meaning could mean Karlie is falling out of Taylor’s life. The sun set on Kaylor. Karlie is not considered gold anymore, but more of a veneer. It speaks to a rift and breakup between Taylor and Karlie.
And I think in this context, girls start calling, is just a covert way of disguising a love song into a friends partying song. Girls plural could have easily been girl. I think Kelsea is saying when Karlie, the sun, falls away from Taylor, that girl (Taylor) starts calling her.
The wine comes off of the shelf
Again, Taylor doesn’t own wine, but if you were alluding to her, or talking about hanging out with her, that might be the beverage you’d mention. Taylor has mentioned wine in at least 11 lyrics (not to mention champagne):
Then the drums start to kick in and all my inhibitions
Kelsea could just be using this line to show action. She might be bringing her going out on the town back to a subject she knows well–music.
But I looked up “drum” in Taylor’s lyrics and the two songs that contained the word were interesting: Better than Revenge and Hoax. In the first, Taylor is talking about a girl who “stole” a boy she liked P.S. boys cannot be stolen, they are people with their own free will and should be the recipient of anger if they choose to cheat/leave. Anyway, Taylor says, “She had to know my pain was beating on me like a drum.”
So stay with me. To analyze Kelsea’s use of “drum” in this song, we need to look at Hoax, but to give context to all the pain of that song, we need to look at a happier time in Taylor’s discography, King of My Heart: Which has a lot of clues and references to Karlie and the Kaylor relationship.
King of My Heart
I’m perfectly fine, I live on my own/I made up my mind, I’m better off bein’ alone
Taylor lives alone, and is comfortable being single.
We met a few weeks ago/Now you try on callin’ me, baby, like tryin’ on clothes
This line is hinting that the “you” in this song is a model.
The line also indicates this model is tryin’ on calling Taylor baby. It’s a new relationship, and possibly a new sexuality too (WLW) and Karlie is feeling it out.
Salute to me, I’m your American Queen
And you move to me like I’m a Motown beat
There is this Motown dance party.
But more than that check out my last post about the music video that Karlie was in. In it she watches Motown and dances suggestively. It looks almost masturbatory, honestly. Taylor is saying in this line Karlie moves to her like that (sex).
Jesus, that’s explicit.
And we rule the kingdom inside my room
Taylor and Karlie can only be a couple when they’re hidden and protected. They have to be together only in Taylor’s room, away from prying eyes.
‘Cause all the boys and their expensive cars/With their Range Rovers and their Jaguars/Never took me quite where you do
No matter the expensive, fancy things that the boys bring with them, no matter the ease of a relationship with a man–they could never compare to what Taylor has with Karlie.
And all at once, you are the one I have been waiting for/King of my heart, body and soul, ooh whoa/And all at once, you’re all I want, I’ll never let you go/King of my heart, body and soul, ooh whoa/And all at once, I’ve been waiting, waiting/Ooh whoa, ooh whoa/And all at once, you are the one, I have been waiting, waiting/Body and soul, ooh whoa/And all at once
This is a pretty sexy interlude with all the ooh whoas and repetition of body and soul. Taylor is saying she likes when Karlie sexes her up, but also it’s a romantic soul connection, not just a fu(k-fling.
Late in the night, the city’s asleep/Your love is a secret I’m hoping, dreaming, dying to keep
Taylor again, emphasizes that this love is secret and she has anxiety about keeping the relationship AND the secret of the relationship.
Change my priorities/The taste of your lips is my idea of luxury
Again, referencing the fact the boys have money and cars and stuff, but Taylor would forgo all those physical items for Karlie’s physical touch.
…Is this the end of all the endings?/My broken bones are mending
It’s not the last time Taylor will mention bones when she talks about the pain of this relationship:
With all these nights we’re spending/Up on the roof with a school girl crush
Drinking beer out of plastic cups
Say you fancy me, not fancy stuff
Taylor told us she cares more about love with Karlie than items boys can give her, and that lifestyle she could lead with men. Now she asks Karlie to say the same:
Back to Hoax:
The second song containing the word “drum” is Hoax, possibly the most painful song in Taylor’s catalog, in my opinion.
My only one/my kingdom come undone/my broken drum/you have beaten my heart
is a bleak, sad line. Taylor says Karlie is the only one she ever really loved. And Karlie going with Jo$h (picking the expensive things over love with Taylor in the private ) has burned down the kingdom inside Taylor’s room she spoke about in King of my Heart.
Taylor could be likening her heart to a drum since they both beat. She’s telling the subject of the song they have broken her heart. Beaten has a few meanings: It could be talking about a heart pumping, but in the past tense. It could indicate winning a competition (Jo$h won the trophy or champion ring, Karlie). It could be a physical beating (let’s hope not, but we have several knife and sword fights in Taylor’s catalog).
So back to Kelsea, she says:
Then the drums start to kick in and all my inhibitions
So. The drums are a signal Taylor is heartbroken and Karlie is out of her life. When Karlie is out, that’s Kelsea’s chance to be in. Broken drum is when Kaylor is off-again, but when that happens Taylor calls up Kelsea. The drum hurts Taylor, but the drum brings Taylor to Kelsea. It’s a reason why Kelsea might be reluctant to go out. This relationship is somewhat one-sided, fickle, fleeting, uneven. But…
Are gone by a quarter to twelve
This plays into my theory about the stars and moon possibly being in Taylor’s Midnights album. The clock. Taylor’s clock of albums has different colors for each number.
You can easily see Red (Dianna) went from the latter part of Speak Now to the early part of the Reputation era. Then the numbers turn gold for sunshine Karlie. And the gold numbers match up with the albums that reference Karlie (Reputation, Lover, folklore, and Evermore).
But look at 9 (quarter to 12). Halfway through it goes from gold to aqua/green/blue. Is this the time Kelsea is referring to in the song? The sun goes down at 9 (Karlie goes away) then Taylor calls Kelsea up and that’s Kelsea’s cue to throw out her inhibitions and worries and go have fun with Taylor? Are these green/blues for Kelsea? Or signifying Taylor is blue/depressed/closeted/single so rebounding (with Kelsea)?
Yeah, I try to be an angel, then the whole thing goes to hell
Lord, help me, I just, I can’t help myself/(She can’t help it, thе girl can’t help it)/(She can’t help it, thе girl can’t help it)
Kelsea knows it’s not a good idea to get with someone who is back and fourth, still not over her ex, and that may take their relationship as seriously–but she can’t help it.
[Verse 2]And I could go for a walk and maybe eat a salad
Kelsea is comparing herself to Karlie, because Taylor is still not over Karlie. Kelsea (from the midwestern/southern state of TN) said what she eats in a day and fast food was high on the list:
Karlie said what she eats in a day, and her menu was drastically different than Kelsea’s.
Models can’t eat very much. Their very income depends on keeping their body lean (underweight) so they notoriously eat very little. If Kelsea is trying to be like Karlie, the former Victoria’s Secret Angel, she might try to exercise and limit calories.
I could pick up my guitar and write another ballad
Kelsea could write another song like one of these that wish Taylor were more focused on her. Or a love song of their good times. It’s something she probably finds cathartic, and it’s something she has in common with Taylor.
I could even meditate to live with less distraction
All that pick me up at eight, I’m tryna kick the habit, but
Basically, this song talks about how when Taylor is not with Karlie, she goes to Kelsea. And Kelsea naturally compares herself to the gal that Taylor is pining over because Kelsea wants something more than to be a backup plan. Yet, even though Kelsea knows her relationship with Taylor is problematic and unfulfilling she is trying to be like Karlie herself (eat salads meditate) so Taylor will regard her in the same way and stay. Kelsea’s head knows it’s trouble, but her heart can’t say no and leave it alone.
[Pre-Chorus]Oh-oh, here I go again/Oh-oh, I can’t say no
I’m sure there’s a lot of layers (fitting with the Lover house if the clock is upside down, counting down, so many things), but I wanted to speak on an obvious one I noticed:
The numbers on the clock correspond with Taylor’s albums:
1 is her first, Self Titled, album…
4 is her fourth album, Red…
8 is her eighth album, folklore…
You get the idea. The numbers also are the order of the albums in Taylor’s catalogue.
Additionally, the color of the numbers signify Taylor’s sexuality at the time that album was released. By that I mean the muse, the crush, and closeting to out ratio:
Half of 3, 4, 5, and half of 6 are red. Meaning the latter half of Speak Now to the first part of Reputation was Dianna-love was burning red. We saw the Swiftgron evidence of the movie date, the costume party with the note on the door, the moment during the Shirly McLane birthday party, on and on.
Half of 6, 7, 8, and the first part of 9 are gold. So Taylor was in love with sunshiny Karlie from Reputation, through lover, and folklore, then started getting over her (but was still hung up on her) as Evermore went on.
Lyrically that makes a lot of sense.
I think these two more obviously colored album/era/muses show us the colors on the clock are predictive for the eras that haven’t happened yet. Especially since 9, 10, 11 look similar to the 1, 2, 3 that already happened.
The other colors are more mysterious since we don’t really know exactly what goes on in Taylor’s personal life unless she writes about it, and we can tie that to real life events. If she keeps the lyrics subtle, or if the events weren’t public knowledge, the loves/muses are ???
Also, I’m having a lot of trouble distinguishing the colors, telling the colors apart, and seeing matching colors (help!). It’s like the color next door influences my eyes to blend the colors together…
1 looks blueish with 11 looking light a lighter version of that same color. It might be a less muddy, dark color because Taylor was more herself/out/free/innocent in these eras. Think of the Myspace posts, and we haven’t seen the album 11 era yet, but can guess she might be going for the same vibe as self-titled era.
2 and the latter half of 9 have a green hue to me, but Cool says it’s gray/silver. 10 looks alike, just a little lighter.
3 looks like a mix of the colors of 1 and 2– it’s darker/greener (to my eyes) than 1, but a little more blue than 2. During Speak Now era, Taylor was outspoken but groomed and marketed to be America’s sweetheart. So she openly had baby-gay vibes toward Emily, but wrote very coded songs that were super-duper straight to the media/public. It’s a mix of the innocence during debut and the slick marketing with covert lyrics of Fearless.
3 and 10 and 2 and 9 seem really similar to each other.
Does Fearless (2) and latter Evermore (9) have things in common?
Break-up? Feeling lonely?
Will early Speak Now (3) and Midnights (10) have something in common?
What do we think are key characteristics/muses/closet:out ratio in early Speak Now?
The theory is unfinished, but something to pay attention to.
And 12 is the brightest, whitest, most obvious one, so there is something big happening there.
You saw my disclaimer on the other 3-4 posts that yes, this post is Taylor-centric because I’m trying to find connections. The thing that started this was Kelsea’s lyric: DAISES ON THE DASHBOARD?! For what reason? It’s not a common expression, or something that happens. That is a purposeful, direct connection to Kaylor. So here we are, seeing ANY possible others… But I like Kelsea as an artist in her own right, I’m not saying she’s copying Taylor, or that Taylor wrote her songs or anything disrespectful. I’m just trying to call out possible intentional connections that Kelsea placed across her new album.
If this is confirmation bias–it’s sure strong. And it speaks to how Taylor’s writing has the ability to capture universal, relatable feelings in all sorts of situations. So many lyrics of Taylor’s encapsulate just what an individual is feeling or going through. If this song is not intentionally referencing Taylor’s work–then Kelsea needs to give Taylor a call, because Tay could really be an understanding shoulder to cry on. She gets what Kelsea is going through–says her lyrics.
Each one of these lyrical parallels would be considered a “reach” by the mean-Gaylors and the hetlors. And it’s true, after seeing the daises line, I was really looking deep, and trying to pull out any, little thing that connected to Taylor. So some of these just might be stretching it. This write-up may delve into fan-fiction territory, but take from it what you like, and leave what feels too “reachy” (to use a word I’m tired of). But when there’s TEN “reaches” in one song is it confirmation bias or a preponderance of evidence? Time will tell. Midnights out October 21, 2022.
I GUESS THEY CALL IT FALLIN’ (Lyrics)
I guess they call it falling ’cause you end up on the ground/You can’t live forever with your head up in the clouds
I mean, Taylor Swift [Lover] OUT now?!
As we discussed before Kelsea might be talking about the beginning of the Lover era where Taylor was actively trying to get Karlie back (the literal signs, the mural, etc, etc…). A lot of cloud imagery was used for Lover promo so Kelsea uses the word “clouds” to describe this more complex situation. See Kelsea’s song Weather in another post.
Think it’s written in the stars ’til they burn out
I am waiting to see if Taylor talks about stars in her new album–it’s a pet theory of mine with no evidence yet. I have seen stars (and the moon) mentioned across this album of Kelsea’s. And it makes sense to me for Taylor to move on from Karlie (the sun) to Kelsea the stars and/or moon.
…I was like, “Oh my God”, every thought played like a video
I thought the quotations and video was an odd turn of phrase, so I looked up Taylor’s lyrics where she says, “Oh my God” and found:
A song about the media and public having this perception of Taylor. She is tongue in cheek here, playing into that (false) perception. The subtext/secret meaning of the song is about bearding.
Shake It Off is a song about ignoring haters and living your best life.
That song also addresses the media and public’s perception of Taylor:
The third song where Taylor uses, “Oh my God” talks about the perception that Taylor is a serial dater who just writes songs about her exes:
All three of these songs talk about the (false) perception in the general public that Taylor is boy-crazy. And the narrative pushed by the media that Taylor just writes songs about her exes. The were really big music videos for Taylor as well.
I think in this line Kelsea is saying when her and Taylor were first having romantic sparks, she was incredulous. Kelsea might have been surprised because the media portrays Taylor as a man-eater, and Taylor’s public persona leans into dating and writing songs about men. So Kelsea might have been shocked to have a romantic connection with Taylor. She might also have been a bit star-struck to have something serious with someone of Taylor’s caliber of fame, since Kelsea had seen Taylor in her music videos before meeting her in person.
Left your shirt, and the hurt, now I curse your Acqua di Gio
Taylor’s Tisthe Damn Season mentions perfume:
It’s about how Taylor goes back to her hometown (Nashville, where Kelsea also lives) to visit her parents and has an on again off again fling when she’s home. Both people are OK with this situationship. Taylor talks about how when she’s home that relationship and life (road not taken) seems good, but she left that geographic location. But it still is part of her and stays with her.
In Illicit Affairs Taylor talks about sleeping with someone who is committed to somebody else (Karlie is officially with Jo$h). They have to lie and sneak around to see each other. But living in secret gets real old, and the high of their encounters feels less and less good as time goes on because of the million lies.
The perfume is used as a “tell” of the encounter. Perfume can be used to cover up the scent of the side-chick so her smell is not noticed by the boyfriend. Karlie might put on the perfume Jo$h bought her (or perfume she picked out because Jo$h liked the smell) to cover up Taylor’s smell on her. It could go the other way too: Perfume cannot be worn during the encounters because it would leave scent-evidence that the person was there. If Jo$h could smell Taylor’s perfume on their bed there would be questions.
Kelsea curses the perfume because the scent left behind makes her think of Taylor. And also the perfume represents secrets and hiding an affair, so it makes Kelsea think of the Kaylor bearding triangle.
That night you told me I hung your moon (I hung your moon)
If Midnights has moons and stars, I will not shut up about it!!!
I jumped right in with no parachute (No parachute, oh, oh)/…Did you only get me high to let me down?
Taylor uses “high” in two of her more WLW songs:
Call it What You Want is a definite Karlie song (Call it what you want, Karlie what you want). Taylor tells Karlie that she can call what they have going on whatever she wants. Karlie is nervous about it. Karlie doesn’t want to be a cheater. But Taylor just wants to keep what they have going alive, even if it needs to be secret and unofficial. It doesn’t have to be lesbian-love, call it anything that makes you more comfortable. It speaks to the on-again off-again nature of Kaylor also. With Karlie being nervous about breaking her commitment to Jo$h as one reason for the encounters to be fleeting and secretive, on and off.
Kelsea using “high” in opposition to down could reference an on and off Taylor relationship. And when Kelsea thinks of Taylor’s songs pleading with Karlie to be with her, that’s what gets Kelsea down. Whenever Kaylor is “on” that means Taylor is emotionally unavailable and physically gone from Kelsea. Kaylor and KelSwift and similar relationships. One person is on, then off, here than gone.
Another song where Taylor uses the word “high” is Don’t Blame Me. In the song Taylor compares WLW love to a drug. She says it’s bad for her and her brand and her image, but also she can’t stay away. “My drug is my baby.”
Kelsea feels like her love with Taylor gets her high also. When Taylor comes around and loves Kelsea, it’s like a drug. It’s that same drug Taylor speaks about in her song, the WLW love, and Kelsea can’t leave it alone even though there’s a let down when Taylor/the WLW love leaves again.
I guess they call it falling ’cause you end up on your face/Sleeping by myself in a bed I didn’t make
If Taylor and Karlie were on and off, it’s possible Taylor got with Kelsea during the Kaylor “off” periods. And it wasn’t Kelsea’s choice to be alone during the Kaylor “on” periods. Taylor’s song, Willow describes Taylor sneaking in to see Karlie even though she’s committed to Jo$h (bearding contract or bisexual love, we don’t know).
Willow talks about sneaking around to be with your secret WLW lover despite commitments to men and secrecy to preserve public images. The partner is mythical, because they are gone a lot, mostly a dream not reality. Describing a lover as a trophy or champion ring could speak to Taylor and Jo$h fighting over Karlie. In their fighting, they’re treating her as an object without autonomy to make her own choices. “Prize I’d cheat to win” probably has the double meaning of cheating in a relationship, and also cheating/lying to the public to hide the true nature of the relationship. “I’m begging for you to take my hand, wreck my plans, that’s my man” is one partner asking the other to commit fully to them. Wreck the bearding plans (for one or both Taylor/J0e and Karlie/Jo$h). In an interview, when asked about Jo$h, Karlie repeatedly referred to him as “my man” which came off as awkward. So Taylor may have written Willow with that in mind, to convey Karlie’s commitment to Jo$h as a stumbling block to be “home” (a committed relationship with each other).
Sleeping in a bed I didn’t make, is Kelsea saying that her relationship with Taylor, got her dragged into all this Kaylor drama. She didn’t create the Kaylor bearding triangle, but she has to live with the consequences of it too. Kelsea is left alone when Taylor is literally going back to Karlie, or emotionally still hung up on Kaylor.
… I should’ve known, should’ve known, should’ve known, should’ve known (I should’ve known, known)
I thought Kelsea’s repetition of this phrase was pointed, but didn’t know why. I looked up the phrase in Taylor’s lyrics to check if Kelsea was insinuating a connection.
It’s funny that the lyric ties to White Horse a song about someone holding out hope that this other person will come around. Ultimately Taylor realizes this person is going to let her down because she is being starry-eyed and dreamy about love, not realistic.
So that sentiment goes right along with Kelsea falling for an person who is back and fourth, in and out of her life. There are highs when they’re together, but it comes at the cost of loneliness and feeling bad when Taylor physically leaves for Karlie (in earlier years), or emotionally checks out for missing the Kaylor relationship (in more current times).
… Then the wind, blowing in, threw me right off of my pedestal
Red is a song also about highs and lows of a passionate love that ends suddenly. It seems connected to the theme of this song as well.
The word, “wind” again conjures, Willow which describes secret meetings and fooling the media/public with the bait and switch. It’s a lover that comes and goes in secret, same as in Kelsea’s song.
In the second half of Kelsea’s phrase she says threw me off my pedestal. “Pedestal” is a very loaded word in GayLore. It conjures Dianna, one of Taylor’s early girlfriends. It’s also a common phrase when digging into Gaylor (Taylor’s LGBT subtext and secretive relationships) to say “going down the rabbit hole” which was Dianna’s heading on Tumblr (I think?).
Taylor doesn’t have a copyright on the word, but if Kelsea were trying to reference Gaylor things, that would be a good way to do it. In Long Story Short, Taylor describes being at the top, then falling down (kinda like this song) then clinging to the nearest lips. . .
…[Bridge]/I should’ve known gravity was gonna pull/You and me, down, down, down
In one of Taylor’s gayest songs, she uses “gravity” to describe the pull she has to a dangerous partner/type of love. And Taylor says that other person (Dianna?) is quicksand. Meaning not stable, fickle, here and gone. Sort of like this song is saying Taylor is in and out, bringing Kelsea love to make her high, then leaving and making Kelsea fall to the ground, sad and lonely.
But I know now/I should’ve known gravity was gonna pull/You and me, down, down, down
A second song of Taylor’s uses “gravity” to describe her inability to stay away from this lover/love that’s bad for her brand. Dancing with Our Hands Tied aka the Kissgate song, is another of Taylor’s gayest songs. So it’s funny that this song talking about a love interest that is fickle and leaving all the time, talks about that love interest feeling scared about homophobia. Taylor, loves Karlie, but doesn’t want to get caught as WLW and lose her career success. So she runs away and hides, despite love. And Kelsea is acknowledging that not only Kaylor takes Taylor away from their relationship, but Taylor’s skittishness about being out(ed) is a barrier to her being emotionally/romantically available.
But I know now/…[Outro]/(I guess they call it fallin’, ah-ah, ah)/I guess they call it fallin’/(I guess they call it fallin’, ah-ah, ah)
Finally, one of Taylor’s songs that uses “falling” perfectly encapsulates the meaning of this song.
Taylor tells Dianna to stay with her instead of leaving all the time. Taylor fell in love, but it’s not happy, it’s cruel because Dianna is worlds away. Now the shoe is on the other foot and Taylor is worlds away while Kelsea is sad when she’s gone.
OK this is going to be all about Taylor because I’m trying to convey the connections I noticed. And maybe some of it is a “reach” as the more mean-girl Gaylors and the homophobes accuse anything that’s outside the well-established narrative. I heard many things, that alone, didn’t mean much, but compiled all together made me think, hmmmmm. So this is me looking at Kelsea’s work through a frame of trying to find proof she is into women and also that her and Taylor had a fling/are together/are WLW besties–something is there! But please know that I like Kelsea Ballerini as an artist, on her own terms.
[ellipses indicate lines I omitted. Highlighted text is her lyrics, plain text is my commentary]:
Weather
I’ve been thinkin’ you’ve been thinkin’ ’bout something else (Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm)
I suspect at least 10 songs on Taylor’s last (true vs re-recordings) album Evermore contain Karlie references.
The, I Bet You Think About Me music video dropped 11/15/21 was practically overt in it’s Karlie images and symbolism.
On the left, music video groom on the right, Jo$h Ku$hner, Karlie’s husband:
Taylor knocks the groom over on the wedding cake:
I think she’s going for some symbolism here:
And Taylor eats a cherry:
Whatever the red scarf represents (many Swifties say it’s Taylor’s virginity)… Taylor gave it to the bride:
At the first dance, the groom (Jo$h) pulls the bride in, and to me, it looked like a “you’re mine” gesture. As in Jo$h made known he owns Karlie, or there is a contract, or he will keep her:
When Taylor/bride walks away from the dance, she shows us red sneakers under the wedding dress. I’m sure you can guess who else wore sneakers under her wedding gown? It’s Karlie.
And in the lyrics of this same vault track I think Taylor snuck in a more modern reference to some shoes that Karlie was recently marketing:
Aside from this video, as well as a preponderance of lyrics from folklore, Evermore, and some vault tracks, and the general sadness on Taylor’s face and in her voice for every event/performance she’s attended since 2020–the new album about to drop is called Midnights.
Karlie is a spokeswoman for this Midnight perfume released July of 2022:
And Taylor, wearing silver (right picture), said TS10 will be called Midnights. A month later:
And during this Midnights Era, Taylor wore gold, which is similar in aesthetic to the gold in Karlie’s Midnight perfume ad.
This was not an exhaustive list of the times Taylor has referenced Karlie in recent times. So you can see why Kelsea would feel the person she’s talking to in the song (Taylor?) is thinking about something else–breakup with Karlie.
Yeah, we felt perfect, now I’m nervous, can you even tell? (Oh,oh)
This headline says, “. . . perfect for a date. . .” when Taylor and Kelsea were photographed shopping together. It just might fit with the perfect lyric if Kelsea is trying to contrast the current unsettled times in a relationship, where someone is not over their ex, and maybe a flight risk, with the good times they had.
Did I wake you up on the wrong side of the bed?
Kelsea just might be alluding to Taylor sleeping with Karlie, and the image that Taylor snuck into her video while dressed in drag. In The Man music video Taylor, as the man, gets out of bed with a slender woman. And when the man gets out of the bed, this sun-looking item on the wall is obscured, bringing “my loaded gun, my eclipsed sun” lyrics from Hoax (a song probably about the Kaylor break-up) to mind. Make of that what you will.
Is there someone’s body that you’d rather be laying with instead?
The line in this song might be intended to conjure the mental image of that video clip and its wink to Kaylor. Also, the expression ‘wrong side of the bed’ means grumpy, bad day, etc… Kelsea (if my theory pans out about her and Taylor being together in some manner) may be telling Taylor that she’s acting moody, and negative, and grumpy, because she is missing a different person in the bed (Karlie). Or missing the person that used to be on that side of the bed (Karlie). Without more info it’s hard to say for sure, but if all these references across Kelsea’s new album are about Taylor, I can see how anyone would have had enough of their fling/new relationship/GF being hung up on an ex.
I’m so tired of your weather/Stormy when we’re together/Yeah, we used to be sunny and seventy-five/We wеre dancing, baby, rain or shine
Kelsea met Taylor June of 2015. And they danced at that first party:
…Now somehow, I need a sweater
Kelsea is possibly talking about the cardigans Taylor sent her close friends for the folklore rollout (for the song/single, Cardigan):
Aside from this lyric possibly talking about the cardigan gift, a deeper meaning could be Taylor’s album/era. During folklore, it was clear in a lot of lyrics that Kaylor were breaking up or broken up, and Taylor didn’t want that. It’s full of regret and longing, and Taylor seems very preoccupied with Karlie in this time frame. If Taylor had seen, was currently seeing Kelsea, or even if Kelsea wished Taylor would see her as a love interest–Taylor’s heartbreak over Karlie would get in the way. It would not be happy, sunny times, it would be gloomy, sad times that made Kelsea feel chilly and left out.
How’d we go from summer to cold as ice?
The romance with this person went from steamy and hot and comfortable to distant and chilly. If Taylor was unable to move on from an ex, or held out hope of getting back with Karlie, it would put a relationship with Kelsea on the back burner.
In Taylor’s The Lakes, she says she can’t move on. And Taylor wishes Karlie would come back to where they had been (in the closet together) in total privacy. The red rose is a Kaylor reference we talked about earlier, and the ice frozen ground is all the depression and loneliness and heartache and chilliness toward one another. In Taylor’s wishful thinking Karlie and her could be together and that difficult, calamitous love, is causing her a grief she can’t overcome.
Right Where You Left Me is another of Taylor’s songs that uses frozen imagery to show she is not moving on from the Kaylor breakup:
Because Taylor can’t move on from the Kaylor breakup, any relationship between Kelsea and Taylor cannot move forward either. If Taylor is frozen in place to where she had been with Karlie, it would be distant and chilly inside any relationship between Kelsea and Taylor. Kelsea is left out in the cold, feeling the aloofness of a Taylor stuck in the past, or in a fantasy in her head.
Are we really lovers if you’re changing your mind/Like the weather? (Weather)
Taylor can’t decide if she wants to pine and be heartbroken about Karlie, or if she wants to move forward with someone new. She is not committed, and Kelsea can feel how this person she’s trying to be in a relationship with is fickle, running hot, then cold as her moods change.
Uh-huh, oh/Get in or get out
Kelsea tells Taylor to either be present in the relationship with her or be alone wishing that Kaylor would have worked out.
But honestly, right now, you’re killin’ my vibe/(Killin’ it, killin’ it, killin’ it)/(Killin’ it, killin’ it, killin’ it)/So, if you wanna stay stuck in the clouds/Keep ’em around but not in my sky (Mm-hmm)
Taylor doesn’t own clouds. Put clouds and sky were constant themes in the Lover era.
Me! video:
Taylor didn’t want to date the man, nor did she want this man’s hand in marriage. She accepted a kitten. She’s saying no to men here.
Many Gaylors think Kaylor broke up or were on and off before 2019, and the Lover era was Taylor trying to get Karlie back. Evidence for the beginning of the Lover era wooing Karlie back are the lyrics around New York and the butterfly mural commission:
I think the commissioned mural looks a lot like Karlie’s Victoria’s Secret wings!
Here is a well-worded comment from a Gaylor on Reddit that explains the many reasons the Lover album isn’t a romantic love story, it’s a plea to Karlie; begging her to get back together:
Kelsea using “stuck in the clouds” in this song is not accidental. A lot of the Lover album, imagery, videos and roll-out focused on the sky.
When Kelsea says you can stay stuck in the clouds, I think she means the mindset of trying to get Karlie back. Just like in the Lover era. And Kelsea tells Taylor, it’s fine if Taylor stays stuck in the Lover-era clouds, pining for Karlie, but not in her sky. Kelsea doesn’t need anyone who is moody and hung up on their ex.
When it hits the fan, I don’t know who you’re gonna be/I’m not asking for much, just a little reliability
Kelsea is emphasizing the point that Taylor’s heartbreak about Kaylor is making her a flake in their relationship.
I’m so tired of your weather/Stormy when we’re together/Yeah, we used to be sunny and seventy-five
The number/temperature 75 is very specific. Kelsea is saying her and Taylor(?) used to be happy, but are now gloomy. And I found this tweet from Kelsea:
It is exactly the same temperature in the lyric! If we can find out who Kelsea saw in L.A. on July 1, 2022 (or the few days before) we will know who this song is about!
I tried to figure out where Taylor was late June to July 1 of this year, 2022, and had a very difficult time (since I don’t know anything about Jet tracking). If anyone can get the jet data, or other sources showing if Taylor Swift was at her L.A. house June-July, we’d be one step closer to knowing if this song is about her.
This was as close as I could get to narrowing down where Taylor was:
June 11, 2022 (Tribeca Film Festival, NY)
July 4, 2022
…[Bridge]
Baby, talk to me/Tell me what you need/Don’t leave me hanging anymore
Taylor’s song, Cowboy Like Me has a lyric about hanging.
Skeletons in the closet means a dirty secret. Something bad in your past you hide from others.
It’s funny Taylor mentions closets in this context. I’d say part of the point of this song is having gay-dar and being able to identify other gays (because you’re one too, so you know the signs). And gay people hide in the closet before they’re out. A secret and hiding in the closet??!
Here’s an excerpt about the Gardens of Babylon:
As a sidenote: The central club in America’s Queer as Folk series, about mostly gay men and a pair of lesbians, was called Babylon.
The fact that another track on Kelsea’s same album called, Love is a Cowboy really puts it over the top!
… Are we really lovers if you’re changing your mind/Like the weather? (Weather)
And the word, “Lovers” to end the song??? OMG. I think I’m on to something here.
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