Swiftionary: Stars

Stars in eyes speaks to a desire for fame or a drive to be something more. What do all the other stars in Taylor’s catalog mean?

Taylor compares the 9 year old to stars.

Something special, untouchable, and unattainable. Beautiful and magical, but out of reach.

She confirms how stars are something unattainable in Untouchable.  Taylor doesn’t know why she’s so caught up in this girl.  But she uses words like diamond sky, sun, and a million stars spelling this person’s name to show how they are shiny, bright, sparkling, but inconceivable.  This girl makes Taylor feel like she’s coming undone because she has this strong attraction, but knows she shouldn’t act on it, that it wouldn’t be reciprocated, or it would be forbidden.  Taylor appraises the girl as precious and impossible to get near like the pretty stars in the sky.  And the adults notice the love between the two.  

Stars aligning signify perfection and idealistic happiness. Which did not occur in this particular situation.

This other person saw Taylor’s past hurts, traumas… scars. And they surrounded that pain with something beautiful and otherworldly. Taylor is incredulous this person cares for her (stars are distant and out of reach) because this type of relationship was previously unthinkable. She is invigorated by the improbable magic (it’s impossible to touch stars) that happens when this person is close. This love is healing and is all Taylor needs. Except after the person left, Taylor is without the salve on her scars and suffers a new fresh wound.

Taylor Swift’s Gay Moments: Midnights ~ Karma

Karma 

…’Cause karma is my boyfriend…/…Sweet like honey, karma is a cat/Purring in my lap ’cause it loves me/Flexing like a goddamn acrobat/Me and karma vibe like that…/…Sweet like justice, karma is a queen

Karma is my boyfriend:

sweet like honey:

Karma is a cat:

Purring in my lap:

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=purring

Flexing like a goddamn acrobat:

Me and karma vibe like that:

sweet like justice:

karma is a queen [Pat?]:

Taylor Swift’s Gay Moments: evermore ~ Willow

Willow

And there was one prize I’d cheat to win/The more that you say/The less I know/Wherever you stray/I follow/I’m begging for you to take my hand/Wreck my plans/That’s my man/You know that my train could take you home/Anywhere else is hollow…/…Wait for the signal and I’ll meet you after dark/Show me the places where the others gave you scars/Now this is an open-shut case/Guess I should’ve known from the look on your face/Every bait and switch was a work of art

Taylor Swift’s Gay Moments: folklore ~ illicit affairs

illicit affairs

Make sure nobody sees you leave…/…You’ll be flushed when you return/Take the road less traveled by/Tell yourself you can always stop…/…And that’s the thing about illicit affairs/And clandestine meetings and longing stares/It’s born from just one single glance/But it dies, and it dies, and it dies/A million little times/Leave the perfume on the shelf/That you picked out just for him/So you leave no trace behind/Like you don’t even exist…/…A drug that only worked/The first few hundred times…/…And clandestine meetings and stolen stares/They show their truth one single time/But they lie, and they lie, and they lie/A million little times…/…Look at this godforsaken mess that you made me/You showed me colors/You know I can’t see with anyone else…/…You taught me a secret language/I can’t speak with anyone else/And you know damn well/For you, I would ruin myself/A million little times

Taylor Swift’s Gay Moments: folklore ~ Cardigan

Cardigan

When you are young, they assume you know nothing…/…But I knew you/Playing hide-and-seek and/Giving me your weekends, I/I knew you…/…’Cause I knew you/Steppin’ on the last train/Marked me like a bloodstain, I/I knew you/Tried to change the ending/Peter losing Wendy, I/I knew you/Leavin’ like a father/Running like water, I/And when you are young, they assume you know nothing/But I knew you’d linger like a tattoo kiss/I knew you’d haunt all of my what-ifs/The smell of smoke would hang around this long/’Cause I knew everything when I was young/I knew I’d curse you for the longest time/Chasin’ shadows in the grocery line/I knew you’d miss me once the thrill expired/And you’d be standin’ in my front porch light/And I knew you’d come back to me

Taylor Swift’s Gay Moments: Lover ~ False God

I split the songs up on the Lover album as well so we can delve into each one a bit more.

False God

We were crazy to think/Crazy to think that this could work/Remember how I said I’d die for you?/We were stupid to jump/In the ocean separating us/Remember how I’d fly to you?/…They all warned us about times like this/They say the road gets hard and you get lost when you’re led by blind faith…/…But we might just get away with it/Religion’s in your lips/Even if it’s a false god/We’d still worship/We might just get away with it/The altar is my hips/Even if it’s a false god/We’d still worship this love…/…I know heaven’s a thing/I go there when you touch me/Honey hell is when I fight with you/But we can patch it up good/Make confessions and we’re begging for forgiveness/Got the wine for you/And you can’t talk to me when I’m like this/Daring you to leave me just so I can try and scare you

Taylor Swift’s Gay Moments: Lover ~ MA&THP [Part 3 LGBT Rights Have to Wait for Democrats]

I split the songs up on the Lover album as well so we can delve into each one a bit more.

Here’s another Lover track that is more easily understood by separating the perspectives/subjects in the song.

Sapphic love:

American glory/Faded before me/Now I’m feeling hopeless…/…I counted days, I counted miles [Keeping an eye on the campaigning and the primary run up to the election]/To see you there [to see a Democrat in office]…/…My team is losing [Democrats lost]/Battered and bruising/I see the high fives/Between the bad guys [Trump, cronies, lobbyists, investors, the benefactors of exploitation and oppression]…/…American stories/Burning before me…/…Boys will be boys, then/Where are the wise men?/…I counted days, I counted miles/To see you there/To see you there/And now the storm is coming, [The GOP is about to create laws that hurt everyone aside from wealthy, white, straight, cis males] but

https://www.theutcecho.com/opinion/trans-lives-are-not-a-wedge-issue/article_320f5fd8-ba01-11ec-88e7-5b0ac162c419.html

Taylor Swift’s Gay Moments: Lover ~ MA&THP [Part 2 Gender Roles]

I split the songs up on the Lover album as well so we can delve into each one a bit more.

America’s Sweetheart to Miss Americana:

You know I adore you [America]/I’m crazier for you [USA]/Then I was at sixteen/Lost in a film scene [innocent, naïve, charmed]/Waving homecoming queens/Marching band playing/I’m lost in the lights [caught up in youth and fame]…/…Ripped up my prom dress/Running through rose thorns…/…No cameras catch my pageant smile…/…American stories/Burning before me…/…No cameras catch my muffled cries [Disillusioned by American politics]…/…They whisper in the hallway, “she’s a bad, bad girl” [as Taylor aged, her image became more negative]…/…You and me [Taylor’s country]/That’s my whole world/They [Patriarchal oppressors, homophobes, far right conservatives (take your pick)] whisper in the hallway, “she’s a bad, bad girl”/”She’s a bad, bad girl”

As Taylor’s competence increased with age, she was perceived as more of a threat:

But the sexism was always there, even when Taylor was viewed as America’s Sweetheart:

Taylor Swift’s Gay Moments: Lover ~ Afterglow

I split the songs up on the Lover album as well so we can delve into each one a bit more.

Afterglow

It’s on your face, and I’m to blame, I need to say/Hey/It’s all me in my head/I’m the one who burned us down/But it’s not what I meant/Sorry that I hurt you/I don’t wanna do, I don’t wanna do this to you/I don’t wanna lose, I don’t wanna lose this with you/I need to say, hey/It’s all me, just don’t go/Meet me in the afterglow…/…Tells me this love is worth the fight, oh/I lived like an island, punished you with silence/Went off like sirens, just crying/Why’d I have to break what I love so much?/It’s on your face, don’t walk away, I need to say…/…Tell me that you’re still mine/Tell me that we’ll be just fine/Even when I lose my mind/I need to say/Tell me that it’s not my fault/Tell me that I’m all you want/Even when I break your heart

***Trigger Warning***

I’m not making any accusations here. Writers can deviate from complete non-fiction, and exaggerate and embellish for the sake of entertainment. I don’t know Taylor, I don’t know the context of Afterglow, and I don’t know details of her behavior. I’m going to give some information about a real problem in the LGB community to help raise awareness. [T was not part of this particular study, and their stats are very bad so probably would have skewed results if they had been included].

I thought it would be interesting to share all of the questionnaires that lead to the research conclusions:

Results:

https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1166&context=theses

Taylor Swift’s Gay Moments: Lover ~ Me!

ME!

I know I never think before I jump…/…And trouble’s gonna follow where I go…/…But one of these things is not like the others/Like a rainbow with all of the colors/Baby doll, when it comes to a lover/I promise that you’ll never find another like/Me-e-e…/…I know you never get just what you see…/…Spelling is fun!…/…Strike the band up, one, two, three