Month: December 2023

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.