My knuckles were bruised like violets/Sucker punching walls, cursed you as I sleep-talked/Spineless in my tomb of silence/Tore your banners down, took the battle underground/And maybe it was ego swinging/Maybe it was her/Flashes of the battle come back to me in a blur/All that bloodshed, crimson clover…/…You drew up some good faith treaties/I drew curtains closed, drank my poison all alone/You said I have to trust more freely/But diesel is desire, you were playin’ with fire/And maybe it’s the past that’s talkin’/Screamin’ from the crypt/Tellin’ me to punish you for things you never did/So I justified it/All that bloodshed, crimson clover/Uh-huh, the bombs were close and/My hand was the one you reached for/All throughout the Great War/Always remember/Uh-huh, the burning embers/I vowed not to fight anymore/If we survived the Great War/It turned into something bigger/Somewhere in the haze, got a sense I’d been betrayed/Your finger on my hair pin triggers/Soldier down on that icy ground/Looked up at me with honor and truth/Broken and blue, so I called off the troops/That was the night I nearly lost you/I really thought I lost you/We can plant a memory garden/Say a solemn prayer, place a poppy in my hair/There’s no morning glory, it was war, it wasn’t fair/And we will never go back/To that bloodshed, crimson clover/Uh-huh, the worst was over…/…Always remember/Uh-huh, we’re burned for better/I vowed I would always be yours/’Cause we survived the Great War
Remember we’re looking at words in the lyrics of Question… to try to decipher who and what and when.
We’ve almost gone through the entire song, pulling lyrics containing the same words to get a sort of consensus or feeling about Taylor’s intention.
Now that we’re toward the end of Question… lyrics, we need to address the central part of the song: Kiss in a crowded room. And the kiss really brings to mind Dancing with our Hands Tied and maybe Kissgate.
We will analyze Dancing with our Hands Tied to see if it parallels Question….
Except this particular line within Dancing with our Hands Tied got a bit long because I really don’t know for sure and there was no solid direction to take the analysis. I will go into it in detail in this post so the guesses don’t overwhelm the analysis of the song as a whole.
And I’ll spell out my conclusions from this post in the full analysis of Dancing with our Hands Tied. But that post was getting very long and I was afraid nobody would read it. So to make things even more confusing each line in DWOHT is going to be its OWN post. But then I’ll do a main DWOHT post with just links to each different post. It’s a whole big thing.
Then we’ll get back to the end of Question…
Was that explanation as confusing as trying to guess who Taylor’s songs are about?
I’d hold you as the water rushes in
Taylor is describing that in her re-do of this kissing in public event, she would hold her lover even with her team commencing operation straight-wash. The water rushing in (PR and a return to closeting) is putting out the fire (being outed as gay). Instead of feeling relieved with the re-closeting, Taylor wishes she would have prioritized her lover and embraced their relationship.
Part of Taylor wants to choose authentic love, and the woman. She started fighting for her love, arguing with her team about downplaying the event that outed her. “The water [PR damage control] filled my lungs [was big and overwhelming] I screamed so loud [protested against going back into the closet], But no one heard a thing.” Nobody listened to Taylor and she submitted, “Hung my head as I lost the war.” The war is Taylor’s conflict with her team–she [briefly] wanted to be honest and authentic about the event, but they thought it would be bad for the brand.
But it is also the conflict within herself. As the face of the TS brand, Taylor has a lot of power over her image. It’s ultimately her that is conflicted, thus weak at pushing back against her team. Clean describes Taylor’s struggle: “There was nothing left to do…When the butterflies turned to dust that covered my whole room.” As much as Taylor wants to come out and be free to love her soulmate, her fears of losing everything are stronger. Remembering how the butterflies crumble to dust and Taylor is unhappy and alone, she had momentary bravery and pushed back against her team’s damage control. But her fear took over, and in the end she helped the cover-up, “So I punched a hole in the roof, Let the flood carry away all my pictures of you.” Being open with her sexuality is frightening, unknown territory to Taylor–like the depths that she dreaded and hated in Marjory.
“And the sky turned black like a perfect storm” shows that hiding won out after the actual event. Taylor’s team jumped in and shut down the gossip, as they’ve done every time Taylor is caught being too gay with a woman (Emily suddenly quit under unusual circumstances, Liz was fired, Dianna’s blog, tattoo, and presence were erased, and Kaylor boarded up the windows, going private). Taylor’s team literally paid people to withhold quality videos and good pictures of Kissgate from public view. Taylor transitioned safely back into her comfort zone–the closet.
Water rushing in is describing the same emotions as the song Clean. This fire (getting nearly outed) threatened to consume Taylor and everything around her. Then “Rain came pouring down” and the fire and smoke were being quelled. “When I was drowning, that’s when I could finally breathe” is saying when Taylor was surrounded by PR, it was a relief. At least Taylor isn’t anxious about the unknown when she’s cloaked in secrecy within the closet. She knows what to expect, and feels protected by the familiarity. Her ruminations were momentarily gone.
Taylor’s team arranged it so the gay event never happened. “And by morning/Gone was any trace of you” The internet and the relationship were scrubbed. “I think I am finally clean’ is the image-rehabilitation that pushed her back into the closet and shut-down her addiction to women’s touch. The isolation and depression engulf her in gray and Taylor is regretful about her circumstances, but doesn’t see a way to change them (Question… [Part 13]).
Remember we’re looking at words in the lyrics of Question… to try to decipher who and what and when.
We’ve almost gone through the entire song, pulling lyrics containing the same words to get a sort of consensus or feeling about Taylor’s intention.
Now that we’re toward the end of Question… lyrics, we need to address the central part of the song: Kiss in a crowded room. And the kiss really brings to mind Dancing with our Hands Tied and maybe Kissgate.
We will analyze Dancing with our Hands Tied to see if it parallels Question….
Except this particular line within Dancing with our Hands Tied got a bit long because I really don’t know for sure and there was no solid direction to take the analysis. I will go into it in detail in this post so the guesses don’t overwhelm the analysis of the song as a whole.
And I’ll spell out my conclusions from this post in the full analysis of Dancing with our Hands Tied. But that post was getting very long and I was afraid nobody would read it. So to make things even more confusing each line in DWOHT is going to be its OWN post. But then I’ll do a main DWOHT post with just links to each different post. It’s a whole big thing.
Then we’ll get back to the end of Question…
Was that explanation as confusing as trying to guess who Taylor’s songs are about?
And darling, you had turned my bed into a sacred oasis
Taylor says they went from friends to this and she has dirty dreams about this former friend, turned lover in Paper Rings. Taylor also reveals that her and Karlie have a private relationship inside her room, in King of my Heart, because the boys never took her where Karlie does [same, girl] (Question… [Part 2]).
By definition, an oasis is in the middle of an arid land. Taylor is describing her life as a desert. She’s alone in a harsh environment that lacks necessities, and is dangerous. This person revived Taylor and supplied the love she needed to survive.
End Game describes how the body is gold, the eyes make Taylor drunk on love, and this person has captured her very soul.
But at the same time Taylor can’t forget all the drama and how her reputation suffered. Because the couple represents a vilified form of love, Taylor feels she has to conceal the relationship. Still, Taylor was unable to leave this illicit romance even though closeting is depressing.
Time and time again Taylor chose her career and the closet over her lovers, and all she’s left with is memories and regrets [Question… [Part 10]).
People started talking, putting us through our paces
Taylor’s career is never far from her mind, and she worries how people will judge her. She has to worry about media scrutiny as well. Taylor knows if she dated a woman (publicly) it would be a big conversation, and there would be a lot of negative reactions. Even when she’s swept away by the strongest desires for women, Taylor is still worried about public disapproval [Question… [Part 14]).
A lot of external quagmires such as Snakegate have pulled Taylor down in addition to her hesitation over her sexuality (Question… [Part 15]). She has dealt with frenemies who betrayed her, so Taylor has a difficult time trusting people. Sadly, Taylor is not really all that close to anyone, except for her mom, and (at times) her baby.
Taylor’s super-fame is not relatable and it isolates her. So many of Taylor’s friends (her publicist, Tree, for example) are people on her pay-role, or mutually beneficial superficial work friends. The other people around Taylor are in the background just getting drunk, high, and laughing. But these people cannot be counted on (“we’ll never say that word again”). There are queer friends who have the same trauma as Taylor, but because of closeting she can’t truly and openly be too close to them (Question… [Part 5]). Taylor’s support system is connected with her brand, so Taylor the person is overlooked. As a result, Taylor’s romantic relationships suffer. She is too focused on external opinions and validation, and her lovers are relegated to the back-burner a lot of times. Taylor uses “universe” to show how far away she seems to her lover in Coney Island (Question… [Part 15]).
Since Taylor just can’t/won’t come out and live openly, and she’s left feeling alone and melancholy.
Kit10Phish Explains it all __has moved! https://tinyurl.com/bdad9vdm 
Catty Remarks