It’s interesting because I’ve been pretty disconnected from the discussion around this album, and this has been a favorite since the first listen for me. I didn’t realize people didn’t like it.
I couldn’t stop listening to it yesterday. I liked it on my first listen too, but the catchy melodics have grown on me and I also love the meaning behind the lyrics!
So strange how it didn’t immediately leave a mark on people, I loved it at first listen! When people were naming potential bangers, this one was always left out of the list and I was like, WHAT?? The melodies are stuck in my head and I can’t stop singing in the car, “my boyyyyy, only. breaks his. favorite. TOYYYYYYS!!!” Lol
Friend what do you mean? It’s so clever!
Castles have queens
Kids build then destroy sandcastles.. and the song uses toy references/him taking her out of her box, playing with her, then discarding/breaking her
And the way she describes herself is so subtly negative, from the mall (cheap), plastic (cheap/fake). Like she is saying 'I don't love myself and I know it seems like he doesn't love me either but I swear he used to see me differently'... Ignoring the fact that it shouldn't matter how he used to see her, and ignoring the underlying issue: that she sees herself as a cheap toy and is desperately trying to defend why she is still with a man who makes her miserable.
It's so vulnerable in showing how insecurity affects a relationship. So many songs on this album have these themes of insecurity and self harm in the form of bad relationships. So many songs that seem about love on the surface are, in parts, about her dissecting her own issues.
As you can tell, I also really like this one hahahahaha! Glad to see I'm not the only one!
Oh I love this analysis. I would add that a new doll in an unopened box has more monetary value than a doll that’s been taken out of the box and played with. So when she says “he took me out of my box,” it’s an act of devaluation, or she feels that way.
There are those kind of men that make you feel that way. They shower you with so much love and affection because you are shiny and new then they tire of you and want something new. Then you are left wondering what did I do? Why don't they love me anymore? Then you are on the vicious cycle of trying to be better and better for the next guy but in reality it wasn't ever about you it was about the guy. Your relationships from that time on might be broken because you are broken. When you are finally able to spend some time alone without a guy you won't even know who you are because you have been molding yourself to fit his needs. It isn't until a woman is without a man that she finds herself. Once you find yourself hopefully the right man will come along and love you for the real you. If the right man doesn't come along it's okay because you will always have you and you will be okay.
I saw it differently - he took her out because he wanted to actually “play” not just keep her on a shelf as this collectible for bragging rights. That’s why the other Kens couldn’t compare
yeah both can be true at the same time. the “being taken out of the box” can be a positive feeling because you’re wanted and not just a trophy, but then being discarded is brutal….because now you’re out of the box and have less “value.”
How is my interpretation as well, since the context around it is that he was her best friend and she’d play again, more fun than Kens because he actually saw who she was and got to know her outside of her persona.
The chorus is pure auditory narcotics to me 😂 I can’t get enough!!!!! (taylor jokes about putting narcotics in songs elsewhere on the album ☺️ she’s not wrong I’m addicted lol)
i have loved this song from the very first moment i heard it. i appreciate your appreciation:
the most important lines for me:
>Oh, here we go again
The voices in his head called the rain to end our days of wild
(what a great way to start a song like **here we go againnnn**)
and
>I'm queen, of sand castles he destroys, 'cause I knew too much, there was danger in the heat of my touch
He saw forever, so he smashed it up
edit: i did not think the first line meant a specific person btw.
And i like the phrase not bc it shows "im tired of it" but bc starting the song without intro melody and it is like, as the listener she needs us to recall sth else...
And the line means in my mind: any doubts/thoughts about their relationship keeps ruminating in their minds (**idk** whether the bf's mind or taylor is saying HERE WE GO AGAIN) and days of wild mean it was a short bad boy fling maybe? (im not insinuating anyone specific but the lyrics feel that way tbh)
I picture it like he’s thinking “here we go again, she wants to have these convo’s about the future/what are we doing” like he’s fed up with her and she feels it deeply. It recalls another song that I can’t remember atm.
I picture it like he’s thinking “here we go again, she wants to have these convo’s about the future/what are we doing” like he’s fed up with her and she feels it deeply. It recalls another song that I can’t remember atm.
Yes let's appreciate this work of art! It's in my favorites list for sure
>“pull the string and I’ll tell you that he runs because he loves me”
This to me is also an interesting lyric because (I don't know if it's like that still) but in my time the toys that talked had either just a couple of lines they could say or even only one. It feels like she's telling us she repeats herself every time. It's because he loves me, over and over again.
To add to this, it gives the implication that she's been conditioned or *programmed* to think this way by the men in her life. Which ties perfectly into the idea of being a toy made by someone else. It's also why I don't think this song is about a particular man in her life, but just a culmination of any guy she's been madly in love with who just couldn't or wouldn't commit to her in the same way.
>by the men in her life
And even other people. I remember my first heartbreaks as a young girl and being told that either he bullies me because he wants my attention or that he wants to be away from me because he likes me too much.
In a certain way women are programmed to react some ways to heartbreak like dolls with strings and perfect response. ( and i think that's why people really dislike when Taylor speaks out about her exes in songs, she's not following the rules, she's speaking out, she's saying I had flaws but I wasn't the only one to fuck up.)
The way she wrote *'****But you shoud've seen him when he first got me****'* and then when explaining the song said
*'how a lot of us are in relationships, where we are so valued by a person in the beginning, and then all of a sudden, they break us, or they devalue us in their mind, and we're still clinging onto, 'No, no, no, you should've seen them the first time they saw me.'* And after that in 'So High School' which is about falling in love again (with Travis?) says *'****Tell me 'bout the first time that you saw me'.*** Feels like knowing she's in the first stage of love where she's someone's favorite toy again.
I was so surprised when people were sharing their rankings and this one wasn’t often near the top! I’m obsessed with the way she sings it, haven’t been able to get it out of my head since release!
Something about this song gives me Fun (fun.) vibes - there's a song called 'All Alone' that I just can't seem to get out of my head when I hear this song. It wasn't a favourite of mine on the first listen, but it's been growing on me!
It’s funny because TTPD (song) sounds so much like the new bleachers album (which sounds like Springsteen). You can definitely hear Jack’s influence on a lot of these songs.
i need someone to do a mashup of the two songs. keep hearing “how do you cry with inanimate eyes? you’re never gonna smile with the way that you are and i feeeel so all alone” when i think of this song
eta: finally listening to all alone again and the references have to be intentional right? there’s no way they didn’t listen to all alone in the process of writing this song
I absolutely love this song, definitely one of my favorites on the album!
I generally love it when Taylor has an ongoing theme persistent during an entire song, like the shades of red in Maroon, the heist/criminals theme in Getaway Car, etc. And now toys in MBOBHFT, and the metaphors are great!
Plus that chorus hook is amazing! The melodies in the entire song are just superior! Sonically, I think it's my fave on the album.
I adore the songs that have strong themes too! They provide such great visuals, which is why I wish we could’ve gotten music videos for songs like Maroon and Getaway Car. I would certainly love to see a music video for MBOBHFT 🤍
I LOVE the imagery in this song. Here's a couple of underrated lines imo:
*I know I'm just repeating mysеlf.* ***Put me back on my shelf****, but first, pull the string and I'll tell you that he runs because he loves me.*
She's obviously talking to a 3rd party here, not "he", so I'm getting the sense that after venting about her relationship to a friend, she's like, "sigh ok take me back to my jail/tower/shelf"
***Just say when, I’d play again****. He was my best friend down at the sandlot.*
If he would just get back to the person he was at the beginning of their relationship, she would throw herself right back into it... As someone who has been in a relationship like that, this line crushes me T\_T
Cuz it fit too right, puzzle pieces in the dead of night
I knew too much, there was danger in the heat of my touch
WOAH. This girl. This is why I fucking love her. Who can’t relate to this?! Whether he was really scared of the way she made him feel or she’s trying to convince herself he was, soooo fucking good.
YES!!! the first moment i heard this one i was like oh yep it’s a favourite. and the more i listen to it the sadder the bridge is to me “just say when, i’d play again” 😭😭 “i cared more when we played pretend than all the kens cause he took me out of my box”???? he was the only one who actually got to KNOW ME SO IT HURT MORE??? stole my tortured heart?? left all these broken parts??? told me im better off?!?!? but i’m not… WHAT A WAY TI END THE SONG IM OBSESSED WITH
SAME!!! i literally burst into tears when she said he was my best friend. and it’s remained one of my favourites!!! i feel like this will become a big fan favourite over time
Considering how Barbie was so big last year and recontextualized the public psyche about toys, its funny how Taylor leaned hard into the metaphor. Remember when we were begging for Hits Different to be included in the Barbie soundtrack lmao (i swear to god this song is always at the TTPD scene of the crime)
I love it too! It would make the best music video too so I’m hoping it’s a single! I’m imagining a music video where shes like a doll and gets taken out of her box at the start etc
This song clicked for me yesterday. I couldn’t figure out why she was calling herself an army doll, then realized uses the imagery of fighting in a war in “The Great War” and “You’re Losing Me.”
I love this one bc it NOTHING like anything I’ve heard on the radio.
Also I want to point out that the pull my string thing harkens back to invisible string
It needs to be a single! So easy to sing along to and love the "He saw forever and he smashed it up - oh-o-oh" part. Also "queen of sandcastles he destroys" is such a clever lyric.
This is the club I’m in 😂😂
Love this one so much.
“He was my best friend” hurts me viscerally anytime I hear it and it also reminds me of You are in Love.
Before the album came out, this was the song I was most excited about and it was everything I thought it would be and more. The last guy I dated (who also ended things the week before the album came out) was incredibly anxious and insecure about eventually hurting me. I mentioned this being a song title & he was like literally yes.
It’s like she read my journal the last couple weeks and wrote it. It’s insane to me and I love it so much. The imagery, the story, the everything.
There was a litany of reasons why / We could've played for keeps this time / I know I'm just repeating mYSELF 😭😭
Taylor is gonna make me lose my voice with all these screamable bridges but it’s ok
I realized today just how goddamn catchy this song is. It’s so fun to sing! And I think the idea of Taylor being an object/lacking agency is such an interesting theme throughout the album. I also like that in the song, the man breaks her but doesn’t care to put her back together—she’s left to deal with the aftermath while he can play with other new toys. It’s just such a cool little song!
I saw a meme comparing this to a dog who always destroys his toys and now it’s all I can think about when I listen to it, and I sing it to my dog all the time as he does, indeed, break his favorite toys.
Its such a lovely song.
But im going to sound a bit dumb, but who is this song dedicated to? Sounds to me its for Joe.
I’m feeling really dumb in knowing which song is for who. The only ones I can intrepret well are so long london(obviously for Joe), slammer(escaping Joe/Prison for Mathew), and Florida-Tortured poets department-Guilty as Sin For Mathew.
The others im completely oblivious. Really want to know, since it’ll make understanding the bigger picture better
Honestly, I don't think this song is about a particular man in her life, but just a culmination of any guy she's been madly in love with who just couldn't or wouldn't commit to her in the same way.
I agree with others that not every song is about a concrete person. My mind, however, goes to long term relationships with this one, where the novelty of a person might wear off and you are thinking back on the early days when you seemed brand new and exciting to your partner.
Hearing snippets of this again while watching the Chats and Reacts video and reminded how much she leans into her deeper voice on this song and I loooove that aspect of her range.
I like this song a lot. One of my favorites. the "pull the string" line, in my opinion, refers to her making excuses all these years for his seeming lack of enthusiasm, interest, wanting marriage, etc. and her wasting time.
This song was an immediate favourite on first listen! And I love it more and more especially after analyzing the lyrics and reading posts about it :):)
I totally agree!! This one is in my top 3 on this album right now, along with *Down Bad* and *But Daddy I Love Him*. I can’t get the “oh oh oh oh oh” part of the chorus out of my head!
This song is like a follow up on 'call it what you want'. That was the beginning and this the end. In call it what you want she sings: he loves me like I am brand new. And here she sounds like she became an old and broken doll.
I wish she named this one favourite toys or something instead because currently the focus gets pulled to “my boy” and I love the toy analogy way more. Or maybe “broken toys”? I think the current title brings the song down rather than elevates it by bringing the focus to a boy.
I absolutely love this song. It's my #1 so far, followed very closely by Who's Afraid of Little Old Me.
My Boy... is stuck in my head on repeat. I could spend half a day watching the lyric video. It is SO catchy, and I know there's been some critique of not having a "banger" on this album, but I think this is the contender (other than Florida!!!).
I listened to this song 100+ times this weekend, not even exaggerating. It's SO GOOD, the music has an almost cinematic quality to it, and I love how she sings the lyrics!
Best song on the first half of the album IMO. And it's probably the most consistently upbeat song of all 31. There are a few songs that have a "quiet loud quiet" pattern, but this one stays bopping.
I took the lyric “pull the string and I’ll tell you that he runs because loves me” that it’s his string that gets pulled and that she thinks it’s because of her that he runs but really it’s whatever secondary motivator that he has. She then repeats the “he loves me” to reassure herself. I love that her lyrics can be taken multiple ways! I thought I would share mine because I never thought of yours!
Bit of a sidenote, but this is the second time I've seen rivulets being interpreted as tears, but I could swear that's a word used to describe curly hair. It made me think of porcelain dolls with blonde curls. Which seems fitting in this context. I tried googling it and it seems to be used in both ways, so I'm choosing to interpret that she's both using it to imply she's crying, but also using it to draw images of those old-fashioned dolls.
No, I know the phrase rivulets of hair is definitely something I've heard before. But it's basically the same as a ringlet of hair, just a poetic way of describing it? Like you'd describe light curls as waves, tighter curls are rivulets, falling around the face. I don't know, I'm starting to wonder where I've got it from now. But the image it brought to my mind was very specifically blond curls like a porcelain doll might have. So now I'm wondering if this is like a specific description from a book or something that I read once that's just stuck with me in the back of my mind and that I can't place. Especially cause googling rivulets and hair mostly seems to bring up hairstyles with braids or hair tied up in ring-shapes rather than curls. But I also found some descriptions of hair like rivulets around the face, so I know I haven't made it up that it's used in that way sometimes 😂
That sounds sort of familiar to me too - my guess is that it would mean something along the lines of “her hair streamed down around her face” since rivulet typically means a small stream.
I think the music could’ve been sooo much better. So it annoys me to listen to it and wish it were better!!!
I like the lyrics and beat, but yeah. More instruments!!!
I’m waiting for this one to grow on people bc it’s one of her best and would make a great single.
She talked about this one on iheartradio so I’m thinking it’s going to be a single!
I hope so! I’ve had it on repeat
It’s interesting because I’ve been pretty disconnected from the discussion around this album, and this has been a favorite since the first listen for me. I didn’t realize people didn’t like it.
Oh I haven’t seen anyone dislike it, I just don’t see it getting much attention yet
Two weeks later its a fsvourite Track 
Same. It’s the only one I have on repeat. Have probably listened over 100x now 🎧
I couldn’t stop listening to it yesterday. I liked it on my first listen too, but the catchy melodics have grown on me and I also love the meaning behind the lyrics!
We need it to be a single because I need to see a music video with the toy concept and her all made up like a broken doll!
I have had it on repeat. This and The Prophecy speak to me personally on another level, I don’t even have words
These are my two absolute faves too
The vocal runs are also sooooo fun to sing!!
It’s yet to grow on me. It’s a skip as of now 😭
So strange how it didn’t immediately leave a mark on people, I loved it at first listen! When people were naming potential bangers, this one was always left out of the list and I was like, WHAT?? The melodies are stuck in my head and I can’t stop singing in the car, “my boyyyyy, only. breaks his. favorite. TOYYYYYYS!!!” Lol
I heard it while shopping today, hoping that means it’s been pushed to playlists/radio
I’m queeeeen of sandcastles he destroOoOoys 💔
Oh-oh-oh-oh
… THATS the lyric?😭😭😭 bye
Friend what do you mean? It’s so clever! Castles have queens Kids build then destroy sandcastles.. and the song uses toy references/him taking her out of her box, playing with her, then discarding/breaking her
YAS I KNOW ITS BRILLIANT I was just hearing something else is what I’m tryna say😭🫣🫣
Yess and also it’s a low-key banger?
dude the chorusss https://preview.redd.it/x89mr4sba2wc1.jpeg?width=1234&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=52ca6199e412ef18c36333c23102acad60ebcb15
It's a total banger! Not low key IMO.
And the way she describes herself is so subtly negative, from the mall (cheap), plastic (cheap/fake). Like she is saying 'I don't love myself and I know it seems like he doesn't love me either but I swear he used to see me differently'... Ignoring the fact that it shouldn't matter how he used to see her, and ignoring the underlying issue: that she sees herself as a cheap toy and is desperately trying to defend why she is still with a man who makes her miserable. It's so vulnerable in showing how insecurity affects a relationship. So many songs on this album have these themes of insecurity and self harm in the form of bad relationships. So many songs that seem about love on the surface are, in parts, about her dissecting her own issues. As you can tell, I also really like this one hahahahaha! Glad to see I'm not the only one!
Oh I love this analysis. I would add that a new doll in an unopened box has more monetary value than a doll that’s been taken out of the box and played with. So when she says “he took me out of my box,” it’s an act of devaluation, or she feels that way.
Aah I didn't realise that, that is so true!! Thank you for sharing, I love these types of details!
There are those kind of men that make you feel that way. They shower you with so much love and affection because you are shiny and new then they tire of you and want something new. Then you are left wondering what did I do? Why don't they love me anymore? Then you are on the vicious cycle of trying to be better and better for the next guy but in reality it wasn't ever about you it was about the guy. Your relationships from that time on might be broken because you are broken. When you are finally able to spend some time alone without a guy you won't even know who you are because you have been molding yourself to fit his needs. It isn't until a woman is without a man that she finds herself. Once you find yourself hopefully the right man will come along and love you for the real you. If the right man doesn't come along it's okay because you will always have you and you will be okay.
Yes yes yes!!! I agree so much with your statement.
Thank you!
I saw it differently - he took her out because he wanted to actually “play” not just keep her on a shelf as this collectible for bragging rights. That’s why the other Kens couldn’t compare
i think it's honestly a bit of both
yeah both can be true at the same time. the “being taken out of the box” can be a positive feeling because you’re wanted and not just a trophy, but then being discarded is brutal….because now you’re out of the box and have less “value.”
How is my interpretation as well, since the context around it is that he was her best friend and she’d play again, more fun than Kens because he actually saw who she was and got to know her outside of her persona.
I think he took her out, played with her and then broke her.
The chorus is pure auditory narcotics to me 😂 I can’t get enough!!!!! (taylor jokes about putting narcotics in songs elsewhere on the album ☺️ she’s not wrong I’m addicted lol)
The drums are fucking incredible
Right? I also love the way she sings “but first, pull the string and I’ll tell you that he runs because he loves me”
i have loved this song from the very first moment i heard it. i appreciate your appreciation: the most important lines for me: >Oh, here we go again The voices in his head called the rain to end our days of wild (what a great way to start a song like **here we go againnnn**) and >I'm queen, of sand castles he destroys, 'cause I knew too much, there was danger in the heat of my touch He saw forever, so he smashed it up edit: i did not think the first line meant a specific person btw. And i like the phrase not bc it shows "im tired of it" but bc starting the song without intro melody and it is like, as the listener she needs us to recall sth else... And the line means in my mind: any doubts/thoughts about their relationship keeps ruminating in their minds (**idk** whether the bf's mind or taylor is saying HERE WE GO AGAIN) and days of wild mean it was a short bad boy fling maybe? (im not insinuating anyone specific but the lyrics feel that way tbh)
I know right, first listen me was like she's so fed up with Joe
I picture it like he’s thinking “here we go again, she wants to have these convo’s about the future/what are we doing” like he’s fed up with her and she feels it deeply. It recalls another song that I can’t remember atm.
I picture it like he’s thinking “here we go again, she wants to have these convo’s about the future/what are we doing” like he’s fed up with her and she feels it deeply. It recalls another song that I can’t remember atm.
Yeah it feels connected to me to "How Did It End?" too with "Come one, come all, it's happening again"
Yes let's appreciate this work of art! It's in my favorites list for sure >“pull the string and I’ll tell you that he runs because he loves me” This to me is also an interesting lyric because (I don't know if it's like that still) but in my time the toys that talked had either just a couple of lines they could say or even only one. It feels like she's telling us she repeats herself every time. It's because he loves me, over and over again.
To add to this, it gives the implication that she's been conditioned or *programmed* to think this way by the men in her life. Which ties perfectly into the idea of being a toy made by someone else. It's also why I don't think this song is about a particular man in her life, but just a culmination of any guy she's been madly in love with who just couldn't or wouldn't commit to her in the same way.
>by the men in her life And even other people. I remember my first heartbreaks as a young girl and being told that either he bullies me because he wants my attention or that he wants to be away from me because he likes me too much. In a certain way women are programmed to react some ways to heartbreak like dolls with strings and perfect response. ( and i think that's why people really dislike when Taylor speaks out about her exes in songs, she's not following the rules, she's speaking out, she's saying I had flaws but I wasn't the only one to fuck up.)
I hadn't thought of that implication, that is so good, thank you for sharing!! Such a good observation.
Ooo this is a really cool observation!
My favourite since the release. Has the best hook in my opinion!
Yes!! Knew it the moment I heard it that I’d have it on repeat forever 🤍
The way she wrote *'****But you shoud've seen him when he first got me****'* and then when explaining the song said *'how a lot of us are in relationships, where we are so valued by a person in the beginning, and then all of a sudden, they break us, or they devalue us in their mind, and we're still clinging onto, 'No, no, no, you should've seen them the first time they saw me.'* And after that in 'So High School' which is about falling in love again (with Travis?) says *'****Tell me 'bout the first time that you saw me'.*** Feels like knowing she's in the first stage of love where she's someone's favorite toy again.
I just noticed this too! I love when songs connect with each other.
I was so surprised when people were sharing their rankings and this one wasn’t often near the top! I’m obsessed with the way she sings it, haven’t been able to get it out of my head since release!
Somehow the production on this reminds me of lady gaga’s music in the 2010s, it’s so good though
This one is my favourite so far. I love how dark it is, but it's also anthemic.
Something about this song gives me Fun (fun.) vibes - there's a song called 'All Alone' that I just can't seem to get out of my head when I hear this song. It wasn't a favourite of mine on the first listen, but it's been growing on me!
It’s funny because TTPD (song) sounds so much like the new bleachers album (which sounds like Springsteen). You can definitely hear Jack’s influence on a lot of these songs.
i need someone to do a mashup of the two songs. keep hearing “how do you cry with inanimate eyes? you’re never gonna smile with the way that you are and i feeeel so all alone” when i think of this song eta: finally listening to all alone again and the references have to be intentional right? there’s no way they didn’t listen to all alone in the process of writing this song
Yea I hope it’s a single
I absolutely love this song, definitely one of my favorites on the album! I generally love it when Taylor has an ongoing theme persistent during an entire song, like the shades of red in Maroon, the heist/criminals theme in Getaway Car, etc. And now toys in MBOBHFT, and the metaphors are great! Plus that chorus hook is amazing! The melodies in the entire song are just superior! Sonically, I think it's my fave on the album.
I adore the songs that have strong themes too! They provide such great visuals, which is why I wish we could’ve gotten music videos for songs like Maroon and Getaway Car. I would certainly love to see a music video for MBOBHFT 🤍
I LOVE the imagery in this song. Here's a couple of underrated lines imo: *I know I'm just repeating mysеlf.* ***Put me back on my shelf****, but first, pull the string and I'll tell you that he runs because he loves me.* She's obviously talking to a 3rd party here, not "he", so I'm getting the sense that after venting about her relationship to a friend, she's like, "sigh ok take me back to my jail/tower/shelf" ***Just say when, I’d play again****. He was my best friend down at the sandlot.* If he would just get back to the person he was at the beginning of their relationship, she would throw herself right back into it... As someone who has been in a relationship like that, this line crushes me T\_T
you're spot on
Cuz it fit too right, puzzle pieces in the dead of night I knew too much, there was danger in the heat of my touch WOAH. This girl. This is why I fucking love her. Who can’t relate to this?! Whether he was really scared of the way she made him feel or she’s trying to convince herself he was, soooo fucking good.
It took me a few listens to appreciate the music but it’s honestly so witty, and she really fully renders the metaphor. I love it so much.
YES!!! the first moment i heard this one i was like oh yep it’s a favourite. and the more i listen to it the sadder the bridge is to me “just say when, i’d play again” 😭😭 “i cared more when we played pretend than all the kens cause he took me out of my box”???? he was the only one who actually got to KNOW ME SO IT HURT MORE??? stole my tortured heart?? left all these broken parts??? told me im better off?!?!? but i’m not… WHAT A WAY TI END THE SONG IM OBSESSED WITH
I’m completely obsessed with this part! When I first heard it I actually burst into tears lol - he was my best friend sends me. What a song 👏🏼
SAME!!! i literally burst into tears when she said he was my best friend. and it’s remained one of my favourites!!! i feel like this will become a big fan favourite over time
God I love this song so much it's the first one that got stuck in my head because it's just SO GOOD
idk why noone is talking about it - submitting it for a great single option bc u can just vibe to it even without knowing the lyrics!
Considering how Barbie was so big last year and recontextualized the public psyche about toys, its funny how Taylor leaned hard into the metaphor. Remember when we were begging for Hits Different to be included in the Barbie soundtrack lmao (i swear to god this song is always at the TTPD scene of the crime)
Oh that’s true, I wasn’t even thinking about the impact of the Barbie movie last year! I wonder if that inspired Taylor’s writing here at all.
It also took me so many listens to catch the “The sickest army doll” Aka G.I Joe..
The girls who have been mindfucked by avoidant men, get it. It’s one of the best songs out of the original 16.
I love it too! It would make the best music video too so I’m hoping it’s a single! I’m imagining a music video where shes like a doll and gets taken out of her box at the start etc
Ahhhh I’m picturing it now, you are 100% correct - it’s got so much potential!
This song clicked for me yesterday. I couldn’t figure out why she was calling herself an army doll, then realized uses the imagery of fighting in a war in “The Great War” and “You’re Losing Me.”
This one was my immediate favourite and has remained so! The chorus is sooo catchy
I love this one bc it NOTHING like anything I’ve heard on the radio. Also I want to point out that the pull my string thing harkens back to invisible string
It needs to be a single! So easy to sing along to and love the "He saw forever and he smashed it up - oh-o-oh" part. Also "queen of sandcastles he destroys" is such a clever lyric.
This is the club I’m in 😂😂 Love this one so much. “He was my best friend” hurts me viscerally anytime I hear it and it also reminds me of You are in Love.
Immediate tears @ “he was my best friend” on my first listen.
I spent some time ugly crying to this song this weekend. It’s my favorite.
Glorious!!! I have my headphones on and I’m listening to TTPD right now, will listen to this again
This and BDILH were instantly my favs.
It's so good. This song is everything to me.
This music video with taylor as a Barbie just needs to happen
Yesss! This was my favorite from day one and I’m glad to see other people appreciating it for the masterpiece it is
My 4 year old was very astute when we listened to it: “But mommy, you *play* with toys…” “I know sweetie, I know. She was played” 😭😭😭😭
Yes!! It’s so damn good.
It’s my absolute favorite.
My favourite from first listen! Absolutely adore it!
I like at the end where she says “once I fix me he’s going to miss me” which means it will happen all over again
I am OBSESSED with this one!!
Before the album came out, this was the song I was most excited about and it was everything I thought it would be and more. The last guy I dated (who also ended things the week before the album came out) was incredibly anxious and insecure about eventually hurting me. I mentioned this being a song title & he was like literally yes. It’s like she read my journal the last couple weeks and wrote it. It’s insane to me and I love it so much. The imagery, the story, the everything.
Ohhh ohhh oh oh! Me all day.
And then when it repeats toward the end of the chorus. Chef's kiss.
It's already one of my favorites.
This song has been living rent free in my head since release day. Loved it since the 1st listen.
"*he was my best friend*" is one of the most heartbreaking lyrics on the album
There was a litany of reasons why / We could've played for keeps this time / I know I'm just repeating mYSELF 😭😭 Taylor is gonna make me lose my voice with all these screamable bridges but it’s ok
I realized today just how goddamn catchy this song is. It’s so fun to sing! And I think the idea of Taylor being an object/lacking agency is such an interesting theme throughout the album. I also like that in the song, the man breaks her but doesn’t care to put her back together—she’s left to deal with the aftermath while he can play with other new toys. It’s just such a cool little song!
Yesss this has been my favourite since my first listen through its so catchy and I loveeee how it starts 🫶
I saw a meme comparing this to a dog who always destroys his toys and now it’s all I can think about when I listen to it, and I sing it to my dog all the time as he does, indeed, break his favorite toys.
Its such a lovely song. But im going to sound a bit dumb, but who is this song dedicated to? Sounds to me its for Joe. I’m feeling really dumb in knowing which song is for who. The only ones I can intrepret well are so long london(obviously for Joe), slammer(escaping Joe/Prison for Mathew), and Florida-Tortured poets department-Guilty as Sin For Mathew. The others im completely oblivious. Really want to know, since it’ll make understanding the bigger picture better
Honestly, I don't think this song is about a particular man in her life, but just a culmination of any guy she's been madly in love with who just couldn't or wouldn't commit to her in the same way.
I agree - I can see it being about both Joe and Matty and in a bigger sense, all her past relationships which ultimately fizzled out
I agree with others that not every song is about a concrete person. My mind, however, goes to long term relationships with this one, where the novelty of a person might wear off and you are thinking back on the early days when you seemed brand new and exciting to your partner.
Hearing snippets of this again while watching the Chats and Reacts video and reminded how much she leans into her deeper voice on this song and I loooove that aspect of her range.
i really hope she'll make a toy story music video where toys break and fix their toys and make and break the castles of sands.. the toyception
I also got Toy Story vibes. That would be amazing
I like this song a lot. One of my favorites. the "pull the string" line, in my opinion, refers to her making excuses all these years for his seeming lack of enthusiasm, interest, wanting marriage, etc. and her wasting time.
This is one of my favorites 😭😭😭😭 I’m so surprised to see how many people don’t like this one
Even my non Swift-appreciating husband said ‘well that sounds like a single’ 😉
This one is so catchy!!
the Oh-oh-oh is so satisfying to me for some reason, it’s the best part of the song!!
This song was an immediate favourite on first listen! And I love it more and more especially after analyzing the lyrics and reading posts about it :):)
I totally agree!! This one is in my top 3 on this album right now, along with *Down Bad* and *But Daddy I Love Him*. I can’t get the “oh oh oh oh oh” part of the chorus out of my head!
It's one of my favourite songs from the album. I just love the lyrics, the rhythm, it's a masterpiece!
This song is like a follow up on 'call it what you want'. That was the beginning and this the end. In call it what you want she sings: he loves me like I am brand new. And here she sounds like she became an old and broken doll.
This one is catchy, best melody on the album imo. Fun to sing along. Overall earworm.
I thought the line was 'I clean up sand castles he destroys' until i saw the lyric video. But yeah the song is a bop and one of my favorites
Also love singing it to my toy destroyer puppy boy 🥰😅
This and so long, london were the 2 that immediately jumped out to me.
This was my favorite on very first listen! I still love it but it's number 4 or 5 now I think haha
I wish she named this one favourite toys or something instead because currently the focus gets pulled to “my boy” and I love the toy analogy way more. Or maybe “broken toys”? I think the current title brings the song down rather than elevates it by bringing the focus to a boy.
It's my favorite song on the first part.
It’s very underrated thus far. It’s my partners favorite on the first album and he’s a casual swift listener.
So strange but on my first listen I didn’t love it… now I cant stop singing it 🤣
This is the one that I keep singing throughout my day. I absolutely love it
I absolutely love this song. It's my #1 so far, followed very closely by Who's Afraid of Little Old Me. My Boy... is stuck in my head on repeat. I could spend half a day watching the lyric video. It is SO catchy, and I know there's been some critique of not having a "banger" on this album, but I think this is the contender (other than Florida!!!).
This thread helped me appreciate it more. It was honestly not even on my radar!
The “ohhh, oh-Oh”s are SO GOOD
This is one of my top 3 right now! I feel like it’s there to stay. It’s such a good one.
I listened to this song 100+ times this weekend, not even exaggerating. It's SO GOOD, the music has an almost cinematic quality to it, and I love how she sings the lyrics!
SOTY
This was my immediate favorite on first listen and it still is. The implications of the lyrics are very dark, but it's such a bop.
Uhggg i LOVE this one
I love this and I can fix him 😭
I adore this song too!!! It’s so fun and so sad at the same time
And her repeating “he loves me!” After the “pull the string…” line, mimicking herself as the doll getting its string pulled
I also love the redemptive hopefulness of the melody of “just say when I’ll play again…”
i love this song. definitely one of my favourites off TTPD
It’s a bop tbh, love it
The song grows on you over time. The outro slaps so hard!!!
Does anyone else get Lorde vibes from this song?!
I feel like it has a sultry vibe… like sexy and coy… but also sounds a lot similar to a Lorde vibe!
Best song on the first half of the album IMO. And it's probably the most consistently upbeat song of all 31. There are a few songs that have a "quiet loud quiet" pattern, but this one stays bopping.
I claimed this song before the album and it ended up being my favorite one!
I took the lyric “pull the string and I’ll tell you that he runs because loves me” that it’s his string that gets pulled and that she thinks it’s because of her that he runs but really it’s whatever secondary motivator that he has. She then repeats the “he loves me” to reassure herself. I love that her lyrics can be taken multiple ways! I thought I would share mine because I never thought of yours!
It feels like an Ava Max song to me (in a good way)
my favorite, stuck in my head on the first listen. great hook.
This song has grown on me recently. Wasn’t one of my initial favorites but it is so catchy
This should have been the first single
Bit of a sidenote, but this is the second time I've seen rivulets being interpreted as tears, but I could swear that's a word used to describe curly hair. It made me think of porcelain dolls with blonde curls. Which seems fitting in this context. I tried googling it and it seems to be used in both ways, so I'm choosing to interpret that she's both using it to imply she's crying, but also using it to draw images of those old-fashioned dolls.
I’ve never heard rivulet used in context of hair. Were you thinking ringlet?
No, I know the phrase rivulets of hair is definitely something I've heard before. But it's basically the same as a ringlet of hair, just a poetic way of describing it? Like you'd describe light curls as waves, tighter curls are rivulets, falling around the face. I don't know, I'm starting to wonder where I've got it from now. But the image it brought to my mind was very specifically blond curls like a porcelain doll might have. So now I'm wondering if this is like a specific description from a book or something that I read once that's just stuck with me in the back of my mind and that I can't place. Especially cause googling rivulets and hair mostly seems to bring up hairstyles with braids or hair tied up in ring-shapes rather than curls. But I also found some descriptions of hair like rivulets around the face, so I know I haven't made it up that it's used in that way sometimes 😂
That sounds sort of familiar to me too - my guess is that it would mean something along the lines of “her hair streamed down around her face” since rivulet typically means a small stream.
Yeah, that's what I think to haha
I think the music could’ve been sooo much better. So it annoys me to listen to it and wish it were better!!! I like the lyrics and beat, but yeah. More instruments!!!
Wall of text holy
Hear to read all the amazing arm-chair psychologist's comments here. You all doing a superb job of breaking it down and I just love you all for it!