Talking Taylor

An interpretation of “Look What You Made Me Do”

This song is a part of Taylor’s Reputation album, a new era for her that was never seen. She moves in a new dark direction with vengeance behind her words. It was her first time assuming the role of the villain so powerfully in one of her songs.

This song of Swift’s addresses her interactions with others in the music industry. She uses this song to take back her name, which was being talked about with bad intentions at the time. She works to reject the control that other people like Kanye West were trying to take over her. Kanye attempted to misrepresent her when he told the public that she knew he was going to put the line, “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex / Why? I made that bitch famous”(West) in his song, even though she claimed she did not know. They then published video proof that she was lying. This made the public attack Taylor for pretending to be a victim. However, it turns out that Kanye left out a part of the video which proved she was telling the truth.

She responds to his deception in this song when she writes, “I don’t like your little games/ Don’t like your titled stage/ The role you made me play of the fool/ No, I don’t like you”(Swift). The games she refers to are Kanye’s lies and tricks he plays on the public trying to paint Taylor as the bad guy.

After referencing his actions, she shifts to the attitude of revenge. This is where the lyrics get dark and filled with the power she holds. Taylor writes, “I got a list of names, and yours is in red, underlined/ I check it once, then I check it twice, oh!”(Swift). She makes it clear here that she does not like him and she will go after him, almost like a warning. It is especially interesting because she does not normally go after people with evil undertones in songs, but it goes to show how much hatred she has for Kanye specifically. In addition, she references the song “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town” when she writes how she’ll check her list once, and check it twice, just like Santa does with his list. The irony is entertaining because her list differs so dramatically from Santa’s. Santa’s list of nice children to bring gifts to does not give the same vibe as her list of people she wants revenge on.

The idea of karma is all brought about by Swift, “The world moves on, other day another drama, drama/ But not for me, not for me, all I think about is karma”(Swift). So clearly, she believes that Kanye will get what he deserves for the way he acted and justice will be served. She even goes on to say that she’ll “be the actress starring in your bad dreams”(Swift) which is so intriguing because the cynical tones were a new thing for her and all it took was someone to attempt and ruin her public image.

An interpretation of “Never Grow Up” by Taylor Swift

This song is a song written about the mixed feelings of growing up. She mentions in the beginning “To you everything’s funny, you’ve got nothing to regret” and “I’d give all I have honey… If you could stay like that”. It is interesting to think about how you don’t realize when you are young that having nothing to regret is something you should cherish because as you get older you have more and more things to regret. She recognizes the simplicity of being young and how she would do anything to have that again which is something I think most of us can relate to. The absence of responsibility is something we don’t realize the importance of until it is gone.

She continues to mention things that have happened to her growing up which you can assume were traumatic for her. She writes about these experience like she is talking to her younger self saying, “I won’t let nobody hurt you.. Won’t let nobody break your heart.. And no one will desert you”. All these experiences are relatable and happen to so many of us, so it is comforting to hear her sing about these times of her life. I can tell she grieves the young girl she was before heartbreak, abandonment, and pain. It is hard to move on from pain, but acknowledging is one step forward.

Taylor continues by including the silly things we care so much about when we are younger, which don’t even compare to the things we have to worry about as adults. She talks about being embarrassed by her mom dropping her off at the movies and how at that age you can’t wait to be on your own. But being on your own isn’t all that it is made out to be. She encourages the listener to cherish the time with your parents, rather than be embarrassed by them. Parents are only around for so long, and as you get older, you’ll wish you valued the times they drove you to school, and any time spent with them. She writes, “I just realized everything I have is someday gonna be gone” and that is why you should always cherish what and who you have in your life, because someday things will change, and you’ll miss what you had. You’ll miss your dad tucking you in at night, and the love your parents showed you.

To wrap up this analysis, one final important part of this song is when Taylor writes, “In a big city, they just dropped me off.. It’s so much colder than I thought it would be..So I tuck myself in and turn my nightlight on”. These lines explain the feeling of anticipating the freedom, but also realizing how scary freedom is. While moving out and becoming an adult is exciting, the responsibility is frightening and hard. It is a feeling we all must overcome but it’s nice to know that everyone, even Taylor Swift relates, and being on your own is hard but not impossible.

An interpretation of “All Too Well” by Taylor Swift

This song, while a breakup song, proves to be an anthem for all women getting out of toxic relationships with men who just did not treat them right. While no one can be one hundred percent certain, this song has been heavily rumored to be written about Taylor’s relationship with Jake Gyllenhaal and the spiral of events that ultimately led to the end of their relationship.

At the beginning of her song, Taylor writes, “Oh, your sweet disposition…. And my wide-eyed gaze” (Swift 6-7). Here it seems that she is implying that they were a happy couple at the time. She mentions how they were singing in the car, and everything seemed fine. However, that quickly changes when she shifts the mood, writing “And I know it’s long gone and that magic’s not here no more” (Swift 11). Now we can see that this isn’t any longer a happy relationship and that she was reminiscing of the good days in the lines prior. She goes on to reminisce about other happy moments like his mom telling her about his childhood because she thought there would be a future for this relationship. However, it seems Taylor was blindsided and that while she might’ve been in love and ready for a future with him, he was not. She writes, “And I know it’s long gone and there was nothing else I could do” (Swift 22) which refers to the feeling of watching the relationship fall apart and watching him slip away, feeling helpless. She might not have wanted to give up on the relationship at the time, but there was nothing she could do to save it. She puts herself under the bus for a minute saying “Maybe I asked for too much”, but then goes on to blame him by saying “Maybe this thing was a masterpiece ‘til you tore it all up” (Swift 29-30). It’s not exactly clear here who she’s blaming for the end of the relationship but based on her clear anger, I would assume it was his fault overall.

She goes on to write, “And you call me up again just to break me like a promise” (Swift 33) which is most likely referring to him contacting her post-breakup which just broke her more. Whatever he said on these calls could not have been good because she refers to herself as a “crumpled up piece of paper” (Swift 35) which implies how truly heartbroken she was over this breakup. I imagine her lying in bed for days, curled up, crying, and not showering. While this is just the image I’ve created, it seems like a valid representation of her based on that line.

Finally, Taylor throws some lines in that refer to her innocence before this relationship, probably because Jake was so much older than her when they dated. She says how she’d “like to be” her “old self again” (Swift 39) and how the scarf he still has of hers “reminds” him “of innocence” (Swift 44). Both lines mourn the innocent girl she was before she fell in love and was then broken by this man. She knows that she will never be the same again, and that is probably a very hard feeling for her to overcome.

An Interpretation of “Innocent” by Taylor Swift

It’s 2009, Taylor Swift wins Best Female Video at MTV’s Music Video Awards, but instead of being able to accept her award, Kanye West barges forward, taking the microphone, and starts speaking on how Beyonce’s video was really the best. This event sparked Taylor Swift to write a song (of course) where she addresses this event that changed her entire image.

Taylor starts addressing Kanye’s insanity at that moment by saying, “Lost your mind tryin’ get it back” (Swift 4). Here she directly calls him out for doing something no one could have ever expected. Who really runs up on stage at an award show to interrupt someone who just won? When you think about it, it really does seem like he lost his mind when he did that, and I think everyone who watched him storm the stage was in just as much shock as Taylor.

She continues to address his immaturity when she writes, “32 and still growin’ up now” (Swift 28). Here she is calling him out for being a whole 32-year-old grown man when he went and decided to bombard what should’ve been Taylor receiving her hard-earned award. This is especially important because at this time Taylor was only 22 years old, meaning she is calling Kanye out for being immature as a woman who is 10 years younger than him. It’s quite embarrassing for him honestly how he could make such a rash decision that was plain disrespectful at 32 years old and take away from a 22-year-old’s big moment. Unsurprisingly, Taylor had years of maturity on him even though he was 10 years older.

After calling Kanye out for his immaturity, Taylor takes a step toward maturity, and decides to be the bigger person by saying “Your string of lights is still bright to me. Oh, Who you are is not where you’ve been. You’re still an innocent” (Swift 10-12). Here she is claiming that she still supports Kanye as an artist and that his actions were just a mistake and don’t define who he is as a person. This is one of the most important lines because it shows that even when people make mistakes, we shouldn’t let them define who they are because forgiveness is an important aspect of life. Taylor was able to forgive Kanye and he humiliated her at an important moment of her life that she worked so hard to get to, while also being in front of thousands of people. So, what I get out of this is that if she can forgive him on that large scale, we should be able to do the same in our everyday lives. Her forgiveness sends a message to anyone listening to the lyrics and allows us to think about how she was able to be the bigger person so we can too. This message is important to all of the young girls who grew up with her music in 2010 when this was released and although it might seem silly, the messages learned from her truly are something I will carry with me forever.

 

An interpretation of “The Man” by Taylor Swift

You may listen to this song because you love Taylor Swift, because it’s fun to dance to, or just because you heard it on the radio. Or you can be like me and listen to this song because the meaning behind the lyrics is an exquisite representation of gender inequality today in America. Taylor starts the song with “I would be complex, I would be cool”(Swift 1-2), where she refers to how if she were a man, she could do things like, date a number of people without getting the hate that she does. If a man were to date a bunch of women, it would make him cool, and people would excuse his behavior because it’s considered socially acceptable for a man to do. They’d say “Boys will be Boys”, a phrase commonly used to excuse boys/men of inexcusable actions that have become commonplace for the male population. In the case of a woman, she’d be called profanities and disrespected because there is a double standard.

She also mentions how when men are successful, they aren’t questioned on whether they deserve success. In the case of a woman being successful, like Taylor, people tend to question how she got there. Did she use her looks to gain success? How was she dressed? Questions like these don’t come to mind when it comes to men, rather people say: Wow he put in so much hard work to get to where he is now.

Another one of Taylor Swift’s lyrics, “I’m so sick of running as fast as I can. Wonderin’ if I’d get there quicker if I was a man”(Swift 11-12), refers to the sad truth that if a man and woman were to put in the same amount of work toward the same goal, in this society a man is going to get there first. The reason he will be able to achieve his goal faster and easier is because men are naturally aided in society more than women are. Our country is set up in a way that supports men in their goals and prohibits women from reaching theirs. 

Taylor also writes, “If I was out flashing my dollars. I’d be a bitch, not a baller”(Swift 42-43). In these lines she mentions yet another double standard. She writes how if she, as a woman, were to show off her money it would not be seen as cool or impressive. Rather she’d be seen as a bitch rubbing her success in people’s faces. On the other hand, when men do the same, they’re ‘ballers’ and considered cool and impressive. 

Overall, Taylor employs songwriting to send strong messages to her audience. In this song, she sends an important message of feminism as she challenges the clear inequalities in society when it comes to how men are perceived versus women. I believe it is important to look deeper into her lyrics because as seen in “The Man” she may be addressing serious issues that need to be brought to light immediately.