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/I’m crazier for you/Then I was at sixteen/Lost in a film scene/Waving homecoming queens/Marching band playing/I’m lost in the lights…/Now I’m feeling hopeless/Ripped up my prom dress/Running through rose thorns…/…No cameras catch my pageant smile…/…Leave with my head hung…/…I’m feeling helpless/The damsels are depressed…/…No cameras catch my muffled cries…/They whisper in the hallway, “she’s a bad, bad girl”…/…And I don’t want you to (go)/I don’t really wanna (fight)/’Cause nobody’s gonna (win)/I just thought you should know/And I’ll never let you (go)…/…Oh, I just thought you should know/You should know/It’s you and me/There’s nothing like this/Miss Americana and The Heartbreak Prince (okay!)…/…‘Cause I know this is a (fight)/That someday we’re gonna (win)
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:
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:
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
I split the songs up on the Lover album as well so we can delve into each one a bit more.
Daylight
My love was as cruel as the cities I lived in…/…I don’t wanna look at anything else now that I saw you/I don’t wanna think of anything else now that I thought of you/I’ve been sleeping so long in a 20-year dark night/And now I see daylight…/…I wounded the good and I trusted the wicked/Clearing the air, I breathed in the smoke/Maybe you ran with the wolves and refused to settle down…/…Threw out our cloaks and our daggers because it’s morning now/It’s brighter now, now…/…I’ve been sleeping so long in a 20-year dark night/(Now I’m wide awake)/And now I see daylight (Daylight), I only see daylight (Daylight)/And I can still see it all (In my mind)/All of you, all of me (Intertwined)/I once believed love would be (Black and white)/But it’s golden (Golden)/And I can still see it all (In my head)/Back and forth from New York (Sneaking in your bed)/I once believed love would be (Burning red)/But it’s golden/Like daylight, like daylight…/…You gotta step into the daylight/and let it go/Just let it go, let it go/I wanna be defined by the things that I love/Not the things I hate/Not the things that I’m afraid of, I’m afraid of/Not the things that haunt me in the middle of the night/I, I just think that/You are what you love
I split the songs up on the Lover album as well so we can delve into each one a bit more.
Cornelia Street
We were a fresh page on the desk/Filling in the blanks as we go…/…We bless the rains on Cornelia Street/Memorize the creaks in the floor/Back when we were card sharks, playing games/I thought you were leading me on/I packed my bags, left Cornelia Street/Before you even knew I was gone/But then you called, showed your hand
UGH, can researchers stop lumping gay men and lesbians into the same category as if we’re some homogeneous group?! I’d like to see many more categories of bi people too-they are certainly not a monolith.
I look through the windows of this love/Even though we boarded them up/Chandelier’s still flickering here/’Cause I can’t pretend it’s ok when it’s not/It’s death by a thousand cuts/My heart, my hips, my body, my love/Trying to find a part of me that you didn’t touch/Gave up on me like I was a bad drug/Now I’m searching for signs in a haunted club/Our songs, our films, united we stand/Our country, guess it was a lawless land/Quiet my fears with the touch of your hand/Paper cut stings from our paper thin plans/My time, my wine, my spirit, my trust/Trying to find a part of me you didn’t take up/Gave you too much but it wasn’t enough/But I’ll be all right, it’s just a thousand cuts
I split the songs up on the Lover album as well so we can delve into each one a bit more.
Lover
And this is our place, we make the rules/And there’s a dazzling haze, a mysterious way about you dear/Have I known you 20 seconds or 20 years?/You’re my, my, my, my/Lover…/…Ladies and gentlemen, will you please stand?/…I take this magnetic force of a man to be my lover/My heart’s been borrowed and yours has been blue/All’s well that ends well to end up with you/Swear to be overdramatic and true to my lover/And you’ll save all your dirtiest jokes for me/And at every table, I’ll save you a seat, lover
I think this article is a bit too sympathetic to Bill. It excuses his signing DOMA as he couldn’t know it would soon be relevant. Any student of history could tell you one presidential intervention has led to major social change many times before Clinton was in office. For example, FDR created a government research agency for defense technology. Then he covertly approved The Manhattan Project. This led to creation of atomic bombs–and you know the rest: one decision had a major impact on the entire world, and still affects us today. In more modern times one decision has led to a cascade of events that eventually changes the fabric of society: Trump appoints the 1st (of 3!) conservative supreme court judge. Everyone could see that move in the chess game of politics would lead to an abortion ban–and it did in pretty short order. In all 3 cases, the president didn’t start the conflict–tensions in each scenario had been building, with many smaller strategic moves (by special interest groups, citizens, and politicians) toward an ultimate goal. But the president’s tacit approval in all 3 examples opened the door for concrete changes that enacted the desired change: USA is a nuclear world power, LGBT rights are quashed, abortion is banned. Clinton knew how politics work, and probably had an idea that the GOP would capitalize on any anti-LGBT legislation. With same sex marriage the writing was on the wall. I think Bill made a decision: Moderate voters vs. the gays, and we know who he chose.
Why DOMA Matters:
Equality at Last:
Just kidding. Equality is still far off. Even After DOMA was Killed LGBT are STILL a Wedge Issue. ie Scapegoat boogeyman to stoke fear and generate votes from ignorants to republican candidates who have no new ideas to garner support–just attacks. Ask me what I really think.
I split the songs up on the Lover album as well so we can delve into each one a bit more.
Paper Rings
The wine is cold/Like the shoulder that I gave you in the street/Cat and mouse for a month or two or three/Now I wake up in the night and watch you breathe/Kiss me once ’cause you know I had a long night/(Oh!) Kiss me twice ’cause it’s gonna be alright/Three times ’cause I’ve waited my whole life/(One, two, one two three four!)/I like shiny things, but I’d marry you with paper rings…/…I hate accidents except when we went from friends to this…/…In paper rings, in picture frames, in dirty dreams/Oh, you’re the one I want…/…When you jumped in first, I went in too/I’m with you even if it makes me blue…/…I want to drive away with you/I want your complications too
Here’s another Lover track that is more easily understood by separating the perspectives/subjects in the song. I’ll show you the parts I mean, then do multi posts on the gay content inside each of those parts.
I Think He Knows
Karlie also thinks Jo$h already knows about Kaylor:
[This verse switches to Karlie’s POV]
I think he [Josh] knows/When we [Kaylor] get all alone/I’ll [Karlie] make myself at [Taylor’s] home
And he’ll [Josh] want me [Karlie] to stay [at his house instead]/I think he knows/He better lock it down/Or I won’t stick around/’Cause good ones never wait…
He got that boyish look that I like in a man
I am an architect, I’m drawing up the plans…/…He’s [Josh is] so obsessed with me [Karlie],
…[Taylor chimes back in]
and boy I understand/Boy I understand [being obsessed with Karlie]…
I [Karlie] want you [Taylor], bless my soul/I ain’t gotta tell him [Jost]/I think he knows
We have discussed closeting, we talked about bearding and lavender marriage, we mentioned polyamory/co-bearding arrangement complications. Let’s talk about the “boy” in another way:
Kit10phish is a 39yo lesbian. As a child she seldom attended church, but went 2-3 times with her parents to unknown (to her) denominations as well as the only local church, a Baptist institution. She went 2-3 times to the LDS church with a friend as a condition of Saturday sleepovers, and was amazed that none of the origin stories were similar to what she had been taught previously. In formal church Kit10phish was never present for any sermons regarding homosexuality. Despite lack of physical attendance at church, partially due to the rural setting, Kit10phish’s parents conveyed the family was Christian and passed along Bible stories, songs, and lessons of religion. Her parents, believed homosexuality was unnatural and believed in the “hate the sin, love the sinner” rhetoric. When Ellen Degeneres came out Kit10phish was no longer able to watch that sitcom, because her parents found it too “in your face” and were disgusted. Kit10phish knew at that point being gay was frowned upon and something to stay far away from.
Kit10phish did not have very much representation of LGBT people, real or in media in the 90s and early 2000s, so she never knew it was an option. She wasn’t very interested in the boys at school, believing they were the wrong type of boy, and that she was just a late bloomer. Through her job, Kit10phish met lesbians and started questioning her own feelings. Kit10phish came out to herself one month before her 19th birthday, but it was upsetting, not freeing. She was depressed and angry about being gay, sad that life would be more difficult and she would have to forgo the milestones that she/everyone expected. There was a lot of fear and anxiety and Kit10phish knew she had to hide it from her parents, school friends, and her small community.
Kit10phish moved, in part, to go somewhere more accepting. She was out to dorm-mates and coworkers, but not her (conservative) classmates in college. After 5 years Kit10phish came out to her parents. They immediately asked if she had AIDS (they believed AIDS was a punishment for homosexuality) and if her sexuality was their fault. Her dad’s memories of being (same sex) sexually abused in the Navy came up and he was diagnosed with PTSD. Kit10phish wasn’t ready to discuss, let alone educate her parents about homosexuality, but it just so happened her dad’s childhood best friend from the same small town, was gay and happily married to a man. Kit10phish’s parents could ask all their questions to this gay couple, and glean some empathy and understanding of queer life. They found acceptance after a decade or so.
The split between innate sexuality and institutionalized religious homophobia was difficult for Kit10phish to navigate. The words of the Bible seemed insurmountably damning, yet Kit10phish knew her lesbianism was from God as it was a fixed, and unchangeable aspect of her. Feminist teachings actually helped her the most in rectifying the conflict between sexuality and religion. History and the artifacts saved and passed down are from the most powerful voices (wealthy, white, cis, males) and words of minorities are not esteemed, saved, passed down in the same way. Thus, the portions of the Bible that survived and were translated (from white men’s perspectives) are the words that made the cut. Kit10phish came to see the power and capitalistic business structures of the institution as separate from the loving teachings of religion. Kit10phish sees “faith” as a sales tactic and does not condone violence for religious supremecy. She considers herself agnostic, and thinks humans aren’t meant to know, but is open to concrete evidence of all religions and spiritualities.
An aside:
Kit10phish is still cagey about who she comes out to, and even now sometimes struggles with internalized homophobia. Though she stopped actively closeting and hiding who she was at 23 years old, she never felt any pride in lesbianism–it was an impediment to overcome. It wasn’t until literally 20 years after coming out to herself that she was actually happy about not being trapped in a heteronormative box. Before she was sad a wedding would be “weird” and “untraditional” with two women so she couldn’t have a “real” wedding. Now she regards marriage as an antiquated tradition rooted in power and ownership and rejects the sentiment behind nearly all the traditions. Not to mention the predatorily capitalistic “wedding industry” with it’s focus on spending instead of love. Instead of lamenting the lost straight milestones, Kit10phish was eventually glad about not being pressured to marry a man before 25, have children before 30, and live such a prescribed life. She is free to make her own choices on her own timeline.
kit10phish.wordpress.com 
Catty Remarks