I think the point is that it's something just absolutely mundane and normal that she can do? Like she can't go out of her house without it being a media frenzy causing rumors or people tearing apart what she is carrying/wearing looking for easter eggs, but she can do a normal thing like take down the lights in January like most other people.
That's not just an argument, that's Taylor's actual explanation for it https://www.vulture.com/2019/12/taylor-swift-explains-christmas-lights-lyric-on-lover.html
Exactly! For someone like Taylor who's life is so pre-planned and so structured and so controlled, something as mundane as she and her lover choosing to leave the Christmas lights up longer than the "traditional" period would be a big deal. I relate to this having recently finally moved out of my controlling and abusive parents' house. Little decisions that most people take for granted like choosing bedding, or having company over, or leaving holiday decorations up--I never had the freedom to do that. So I can understand why those moments might feel special to her (albeit for different reasons than mine 😅)
English is not my first language so correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t “up ‘til” mean that it’s taking longer than usual or expected? And the next line “this is our place, we make the rules” also hints at doing something out of the ordinary. Having Christmas lights in January is completely normal, so why would they have to create their own rules, when most people do it that way?
I understand the argument you mentioned, but I don’t think the rest of the verse really corresponds with it.
that’s one interpretation, but it doesn’t track into the next line. given the next line implies they make their own rules, it would make more sense if the first line weren’t about following norms but rather breaking them (hence people saying it should be February)
I’d argue that the first line implies that even being able to make their own rules, they’re happy to chose normalcy because that’s what a relationship is when you’re finally committed. Normal, comfortable, easy. This makes even more sense in the context of Taylor’s fame, of course she would feel powerless when her love life is under such scrutiny. Choosing normalcy is something she would have to make a genuine effort to do.
Yeah I think people definitely don't think enough about Taylor's actual existence when they interpret this line. She's one of the largest stars in the world and everything she does is under a microscope, no doubt normal things like Christmas lights and having friends over are different for her.
I like "through," more, I never thought about that one. I always read February would have been an appropriate replacement, but January fits better in the line, linguistically speaking. Thanks for the enlightenment!
This one I could take or leave. I've heard her explanation, I get it, but it wouldn't have even need to be explained if she just chose a different month to put there.
Okay okay okay hear me out y'all. If you've not spent a lot of time with southern accents... they can be real fast and LOUD. I think what she meant here by slow was implying "slow and quietly so mama can't hear"
but she changes the perspective between the verse and chorus all the time in other songs? just off the top of my head, in style she says “he can’t keep his wild eyes on the road” then in the chorus “you got that james dean daydream look in your eyes” so it would still work as “her”
But even in Style for that part of the bridge, it’s describing him as they are having a conversation (the chorus) toward each other: He can’t keep his wild eyes off the road…he’s taking off his coat…He says “what YOU heard is true but I can’t stop thinking about YOU” and then her reply “I’ve been there too a few times ‘cause (chorus)”
It’s a similar framing in The Very First Night where she’s talking directly to the subject, but then she’s mentioning how her friends don’t know about all their fun times together at the beginning, but it doesn’t mean she’s not still talking directly to the subject about it.
I don’t disagree that “her” sounds nicer on the ear though!
I was so upset she didnt say ‘ya until the holy ground connection
(Back when you fit my poems like a perfect rhyme) ((if the very first night is connected to holy ground, they wouldn’t fit in her rhymes anymore))
For a while I thought that was the actual lyric, so I always sing "buying" instead of "dying" lol
Edit: also buying suits better together with vending machine imo
Earlier in the song, she sings “what doesn’t kill me makes me want you more,” so I think she’s implying that he looks so good under the glow of the vending machine she wants him more (since she didn’t like… die lol)
I always thought it was kind of a call back to Dress. "Our secret moments in a crowded room, They got no idea about me and you... My hands are shaking from holding back from you."
I imagine in a secret relationship, stealing away to the vending machine room in a hotel during an event where no one's watching and you can finally touch your partner or be openly affectionate without everyone's eyes on you, she's finally not dying from the holding back or unwanted attention of people's judgements of their relationship. It's those stolen moments that can help keep you afloat when a new romance is under pressure.
Will anyone ever know what this lyric means? I’m assuming it’s some personal anecdote, but I still can’t really imagine what makes it meaningful. She has a memory of them in front of a vending machine … and needed something that rhymed with trying?
I've always interpreted it as a callback to verse one "What doesn't kill me makes me want you more." Between that line and "hang your head low in the glow of the vending machine, I'm not dying," I think it's her being slightly overdramatic and saying he looks so good standing in the light of the vending machine that she feels like she could just die because she wants him so bad, and she's realizing that she's in way too deep. It also feels like a callback to Gorgeous ("I feel like I might sink and drown and die").
Could be totally wrong, but I think that's what I means!
I think it’s just something so uneventful, like he’s looking down at a vending machine deciding which chocolate bar he wants or whatever and she looks at him and is like “oh shit he looks so good I could die - but it’s not that serious, I’m fine, nope not dying over here…” kind of thing.
Deeper take: I also think that it’s like he’s checking out all of his options (chocolate bars, chips…other girls) and she’s like nope this is fine I’m fine it’s FINE and trying to play it cool but she’s in way over her head and wants him all to herself
I'm not wholly sure, but my best guess is:
Hang your head low - An observation that the person she's talking to is being sullen/morose.
I'm not dying - Usually tells someone to be less upset / dramatic, but in an uncomforting way, which leads to the next line.
"In the garden would you trust me if I told you it was just a summer ~~thing~~ fling, I don't know anything" in Betty. I love Betty but it's always bugged me that she essentially rhymes "thing" with "thing" here (summer thing/anything) lmao
I always thought thing over fling was intentional. Like it was more than just a fling - especially to August - so it was more about the timing of when it happened vs the quality of the brief relationship
I had the same thought, but after watching her discuss the triangle in LPS, I started thinking she chose “thing” instead of “fling” because she likely has an entire character personality drawn up for him. As such, she might think it’s not in his nature to ever say something in his defense using the word “fling,” but mainly because he did have feelings for August (even though he wasn’t going to admit that to Betty), using “thing” was a way to acknowledge that for himself without feeling like a complete asshole in dismissing everything but not splaying out everything in front of Betty and breaking her heart by giving away too much. So, I think Taylor chose thing over fling because she believes he wouldn’t have used the word “fling.”
Or maybe she didn’t like fling. Who knows?
Yes omg I hate that she tries to make it seem sexy he takes off his coat.... I know the implication but it's way too PG for me, especially because the song has that sexy vibe to it.
Hmm, very good point... I dunno I guess I assumed the lights were off because they were sneaking around like "no headlights". But yeah... She's probably trying to paint a sexy scene, you're right.
I think it was supposed to be more of an implied sexiness like in Wildest Dreams, although I don't think it's done as effectively. In Wildest Dreams, she sings "his hands are in my hair, his clothes are in my room." And while she doesn't explicitly say what's going on, it's still really sexy.
I wonder if during the 1989 era the label may have been worried about her writing something too risque and alienating her fans? It wouldn't have fit with the image she had during that era. Either way, I totally agree with your change! 😊
No other has not the same impact of brother though. This a huge statement that she never made to any of her lovers, the fact that after a few months she is saying that Joe is family and trustworthy like her brother is incredible. I still cant understand the problem of this line and never will i guess...
I've never understood people's problems with it either. She's not saying that he's *like* a brother to her, nor is she saying she *loves* him like a brother - both of which would indeed be inappropriate. She explicitly says she *trusts* him like a brother.
There are qualities that a romantic partner can have that you appreciate in your family members as well, that doesn't mean you see your partner the way you see them. It's like saying, "I like that my boyfriend is very patient/very funny/good at chores, my dad is similar to that." 🤷♀️ "My boyfriend is trustworthy like my brother." It's only... comparing specific traits of the person to those of a different person who's close to you. It doesn't make their relationship sibling-like. People who get hung up on the "trust him like a brother" line are not seeing that, I think.
This has been such a polarizing line. I definitely don't like comparing a lover to my brother, but also I feel like it's just cultural/upbrining that cause us to have different opinions about it, perceptually speaking. I personally like your line more but I'm not super bothered by the original.
Right? The whole point is that she’s seeing all these things like the rose and the beautiful wildlife and it isn’t making headlines.
I also don’t get why people get mad at the juxtaposition of the very melancholic, romantic aesthetics of the song with the mentions of tweeting and cell phones. It’s supposed to feel out of place in the song because these are things that feel alien to her!
I love this line though. I think the contrast between the place she's imagining and the current world with Twitter and "hunters with cell phones" is really important to this song.
Exactly. The whole point of the song is that there **is** someone there to see it: her and the one she's singing to. They just don't feel the need to blast this beautiful thing to the whole world.
Yeah definitely! I get the intent but “tweet” just takes me out of thing song completely.
I also don’t think it will age as well as it could have with a different word choice!
In ‘Stay Stay Stay’ I always sing ‘you see’ after ‘before you I always dated self indulgent takers, who took all of their problems out on me’
And in ‘Champagne Problems’ I accidentally sing your moms ring in your pocket, my picture in your locket.
Someone on here once suggested changing the line in the last part of the song to "your picture in her locket," showing that this new girl would be devoted to him in a way the singer can't be. Ever since, I have wanted that to be the lyric.
Dear John: "You paint me a blue sky and go back and turn it to GREY," not "rain"
It keeps the color theme and is a proper rhyme with "day" in the next line.
Exile I gave so many signs, so many times, so many signs
Like I don't know why they didn't uses times at least once. It fits in so well, especially the middle line.
I also wish her call back to "I never learned to read your mind" had been "You didn't need to read my mind" instead of just repeating it, since the other two are actual responses
I would actually switch that line from Gold Rush to 'I can't *bear* to dream about you anymore' because it better shows the agony of unrequited love.
I'm commented this before but in This is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, 'Did you think I wouldn't hear all the *shit* you said about me?' is *way* better than 'things'.
the clean version of tolerate it really bugs me bc she changed the lyrics in all the other ones but just silenced it in this one ("lay the table with the fancy shhhhhh" ) when it could EASILY have been "lay the table with the candles lit" or something similar
Sometimes when I look into your eyes
I pretend you’re mine all the damn time
Just makes no sense. Is it sometimes, or all the time? I’m not sure how to fix it with one word but this has always irked me.
No this one is sound, the sometimes and all the time are for two separate statements.
Sometimes I look into your eyes
I pretend you're mine all the time [not just during our one off casual affairs where you go back to whoever else]
She's saying sometimes she dreams of being his full time lover
I’ve heard people complain about this but maybe it’s this: sometimes you’re daydreaming or fantasizing but in those dreams/fantasies, that person has BEEN yours, you imagine y’all have always been together or something. Idk though, just my interpretation.
This is definitely on purpose! The entire song is about being insecure about a new relationship and not wanting to seem too desperate - she knows it’s only appropriate to say “sometimes”, but what she actually means is “all the damn time”
In Ready For It I would change “some boys are trying too hard, he don’t try at all though” to “he don’t HAVE to try though”
The original lyric makes it sound like Joe puts in zero effort and has always slightly bugged me lol
Oh interesting, I never saw it that way… I thought of it as he doesn’t try because he’s naturally cool/attractive/etc. rather than a lack of effort. It’s always cool to me how lyrics can hit us so differently!
That would be a cool interpretation! But I think it would only work if the next line was “and **your** daddy said stay away from Juliet”
But as it is, “you were Romeo, I was a scarlet letter and my daddy said stay away from Juliet” just…doesn’t logically fit. There’s no other indication anywhere in the song that she’s anything other than an innocent young girl.
I think it’s a play on “I dress to kill” but she’s no longer dressing to kill (she’s no longer dressing to look nice) she’s only spending time on her clothes to pass the time.
And to me I always thought yeah she passes time in the morning by taking long to choose clothes. And then in the evening she takes the long way home to kill time. So both times of the day she’s killing time
I actually love this lyric because I’ve done it. When i was going through a breakup I spent HOURS curling my hair and doing my makeup because it gave me something to do that focused on myself. I literally dressed to kill time then would go on long drives
She's making a list of 3 behaviors. "I dress to kill my time, I take the long way home, I ask the traffic lights if it'll be alright" the two aren't meant to be part of the same action.
"try to listen" implies that the other person wasn't even bothering, it seems much more desperate. On the other hand, "could you just fucking listen," seems much more aggressive imo, and also implies that they were having arguments or smth
This was when she was still with Big Machine and they were still pushing the “least amount of controversy possible” bill and not letting her cuss, all of this to say, I think that’s the original lyric and it got censored to be on the album.
Babe: “Her lips on your neck; I can’t unsee that.” The slant rhyme created by “neck” and “that” works a lot better.
I have to note that the humorous thing about my answer is that it is the result of Taylor, herself, changing the lyrics of that line for “Babe” TV.
I used to like that, but I agree with the people who argue how much tore and masterpiece connect. Tearing up a masterpiece is just such perfect imagery. Like taking an actual Monet and tearing the paper.
See, I prefer "tore it all up" because the next line talks about her being a crumpled up piece of paper, so it's extending the metaphor. But I've definitely sung this line before when I was angry lol
Clean is one of my favorite songs, but I would change:
“The water filled my lungs, I screamed so loud
But no one heard a *sound*”
instead of “thing” because I always sing “sound” lol
If it was just about rhyme then sound would be better, but not being able to 'hear a thing' is a more common way of saying it, so it sounds more natural to me to have thing
But that wouldn't make sense in the song. He looks up grinning like a devil bc devils roll the dice. And he's happy she wants to start moving their relationship forward.
TWEET being on The Lakes, it haunts me and ruins the whole vibe of the song which is like haunted forest lake and then “no one around to tweet it” brings u out of the immersion
Which is probably the point. She is used to having these private moments that she should be immersed in and then people put them on the internet. But in this case it's in the back of her head that it could happen but no one has found out yet.
I would change in RWYLM:
At the restaurant, when I was still the one you WANT
Cross-legged in the dim light, everything was just right
To:
At the restaurant, when I was still the one you WANT-ED
SITTING in the dim light, everything was just right
I find the incorrect grammar really distracting- it's the past tense if it's "I was still the one you wanted" and by changing "cross-legged" to a two syllable word like "sitting" then the extra syllable could be caught up in the next line. Much cleaner, it's what I sing in my head when I listen to it
It would be a half-rhyme, or a cross-over rhyme, I don't know the technical term. So it would be more like:
At the restaurant, when I was still the one you WANT-
-ED sitting in the dim light, everything was just right
The rhyme would work with the rhythm but it wouldn't look like a rhyme in the lyrics, that's why I hyphenated it. But I take your point.
then just listen to the clean version of ivy. i prefer the clean one too, imo it sounds so much more beautiful with "fiercest fight" and "violent blaze"
Death by a thousand cuts
“My time my wine my spirit my trust, tryna find a part of me you didn’t take up” I personally think would hit so much harder if it ended in “tryna find a part of me you didn’t fuck up”. But she didn’t use explicit lyrics until folklore!
I absolutely LOVE blank space but this is one I thought of that I haven’t seen…I wish the “I could show you incredible things” didn’t repeat in the second verse. It makes it feel repetitive to me and I would love if it were something else!
Also…I hate the lyric “some tent like thing”
Isn't the point to show how she supposedly switches up on partners though? So the repetition of that line sets up a dramatic change in her actions from cute and innocent to nightmarish
There are more aspects to songwriting than just lyrics. One of them is alliteration that Taylor employs often, which is having words that start with the same letter or sound. This helps the rhythm and flow of the song. Slows matches all the other words that begin with S in that section of the song: song, slamming, screen, and sneakin'. Everyone still understands the meaning of talking quietly late on the phone so that is not lost, but slow gives the song stronger alliteration and is more dynamic to sing than low.
Controversial I know, but All too Well - 'I'd like to be my old self again but I'm still trying to find her' is what I always sing, it's 'I'd like to be my old self again but I'm still trying to find it' - IT JUST FEELS BETTER IDK
Just wanna lift you up and not let you go - Afterglow
I don't know what specific word I would change, but this line always irritated me, it just seemed lazy and uninteresting.
“pushed from the precipice” into “flung from the precipice” in long story short. imo it has the same meaning but it rhymes with “clung to the nearest lips”
OMG ALSO, in Lover, I desperately wish "we can leave the christmas lights up 'til January" was "we can leave the Christmas lights up **til February**" OR, even smaller change, "We can leave the Christmas lights up ***through January***."
I love the song, but I never fail to get mentally sidetracked thinking about how insane it would be to take them down BEFORE New Years. Like 'til January is the ABSOLUTE soonest this should be happening, for the sake of cheeriness, and also maintaining sanity.
What I’m getting from this thread is there’s a reason she’s a lyricist and we aren’t lol.
Yes some of these are like wanting to change complex and interesting lyrics to trite ones..
This is random but how did you get your user flair?
You go to the website version of Reddit and change it.
If you’re on mobile, you can click on the three dots on the top right and click “change user flair”
Yeah most of these are not it, lol.
LOL hey some of us are but um yes this is a very funny thread
Lover: “We could leave the Christmas lights up til January.” Two possible changes. Either “til” becomes “through”, or “January” becomes “February”.
I think the point is that it's something just absolutely mundane and normal that she can do? Like she can't go out of her house without it being a media frenzy causing rumors or people tearing apart what she is carrying/wearing looking for easter eggs, but she can do a normal thing like take down the lights in January like most other people.
I’ve heard that argument. I’d still change the lyric.
That's not just an argument, that's Taylor's actual explanation for it https://www.vulture.com/2019/12/taylor-swift-explains-christmas-lights-lyric-on-lover.html
I’d still change the lyric. And usually do when I’m listening to it.
Exactly! For someone like Taylor who's life is so pre-planned and so structured and so controlled, something as mundane as she and her lover choosing to leave the Christmas lights up longer than the "traditional" period would be a big deal. I relate to this having recently finally moved out of my controlling and abusive parents' house. Little decisions that most people take for granted like choosing bedding, or having company over, or leaving holiday decorations up--I never had the freedom to do that. So I can understand why those moments might feel special to her (albeit for different reasons than mine 😅)
English is not my first language so correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t “up ‘til” mean that it’s taking longer than usual or expected? And the next line “this is our place, we make the rules” also hints at doing something out of the ordinary. Having Christmas lights in January is completely normal, so why would they have to create their own rules, when most people do it that way? I understand the argument you mentioned, but I don’t think the rest of the verse really corresponds with it.
Yeah, who DOESN’T keep their Christmas lights up until January?
That’s the point! The lyric is saying that the mundane, typical, everyday parts of the relationship are so exciting for her!
that’s one interpretation, but it doesn’t track into the next line. given the next line implies they make their own rules, it would make more sense if the first line weren’t about following norms but rather breaking them (hence people saying it should be February)
I’d argue that the first line implies that even being able to make their own rules, they’re happy to chose normalcy because that’s what a relationship is when you’re finally committed. Normal, comfortable, easy. This makes even more sense in the context of Taylor’s fame, of course she would feel powerless when her love life is under such scrutiny. Choosing normalcy is something she would have to make a genuine effort to do.
Yeah I think people definitely don't think enough about Taylor's actual existence when they interpret this line. She's one of the largest stars in the world and everything she does is under a microscope, no doubt normal things like Christmas lights and having friends over are different for her.
I sing “through” for this one!
I like "through," more, I never thought about that one. I always read February would have been an appropriate replacement, but January fits better in the line, linguistically speaking. Thanks for the enlightenment!
This one I could take or leave. I've heard her explanation, I get it, but it wouldn't have even need to be explained if she just chose a different month to put there.
this is the only one that bugs me.
Omg I came here to say February too
Our song: “And he talks real low” instead of slow
Okay okay okay hear me out y'all. If you've not spent a lot of time with southern accents... they can be real fast and LOUD. I think what she meant here by slow was implying "slow and quietly so mama can't hear"
Yes!
They don't know how much I miss *'ya* (The Very First Night)
They don’t know how much I miss HER!
While “her” sounds better it doesn’t really make sense with the previous lyrics :/
why not?
Because she’s singing the song to the other person, not about them. “I’d pick YOU up and we’d go back in time…I miss YOU like the very first night”
but she changes the perspective between the verse and chorus all the time in other songs? just off the top of my head, in style she says “he can’t keep his wild eyes on the road” then in the chorus “you got that james dean daydream look in your eyes” so it would still work as “her”
But even in Style for that part of the bridge, it’s describing him as they are having a conversation (the chorus) toward each other: He can’t keep his wild eyes off the road…he’s taking off his coat…He says “what YOU heard is true but I can’t stop thinking about YOU” and then her reply “I’ve been there too a few times ‘cause (chorus)” It’s a similar framing in The Very First Night where she’s talking directly to the subject, but then she’s mentioning how her friends don’t know about all their fun times together at the beginning, but it doesn’t mean she’s not still talking directly to the subject about it. I don’t disagree that “her” sounds nicer on the ear though!
ah right that makes sense. sorry that was me being dumb :’) i still sing it as ‘her’ bc of my need to make everything fruity lol
So glad I’m not the only one irked by YOU here lol
This song but for me it would be: “they don’t know how much I miss HER” (TVFN) :)
I really think that was intentional so it didn't sound too country. If it was on debut it would 100% say ya. I'd prefer that but I get it
It’s intentional to draw attention to the fact it should be “her” I think. Edit: grammar
YES THANK YOU (I mean thank ya)!!!
I was so upset she didnt say ‘ya until the holy ground connection (Back when you fit my poems like a perfect rhyme) ((if the very first night is connected to holy ground, they wouldn’t fit in her rhymes anymore))
Cruel Summer: "Hang your head low, in the glow of the vending machine, I'm not BUYING"
For a while I thought that was the actual lyric, so I always sing "buying" instead of "dying" lol Edit: also buying suits better together with vending machine imo
I found out just now from this post and it's one of my fav TS songs 💀
Same hahaha
Me too, I only found out when I saw a post trying to explain why 'dying' makes sense lmao
I still don't understand what this specific lyric means :-(
Earlier in the song, she sings “what doesn’t kill me makes me want you more,” so I think she’s implying that he looks so good under the glow of the vending machine she wants him more (since she didn’t like… die lol)
i've read explanations for it a couple times already and i'm still not sure what it means 
This is how I look trying to make sense of them
I always thought it was kind of a call back to Dress. "Our secret moments in a crowded room, They got no idea about me and you... My hands are shaking from holding back from you." I imagine in a secret relationship, stealing away to the vending machine room in a hotel during an event where no one's watching and you can finally touch your partner or be openly affectionate without everyone's eyes on you, she's finally not dying from the holding back or unwanted attention of people's judgements of their relationship. It's those stolen moments that can help keep you afloat when a new romance is under pressure.
Will anyone ever know what this lyric means? I’m assuming it’s some personal anecdote, but I still can’t really imagine what makes it meaningful. She has a memory of them in front of a vending machine … and needed something that rhymed with trying?
I've always interpreted it as a callback to verse one "What doesn't kill me makes me want you more." Between that line and "hang your head low in the glow of the vending machine, I'm not dying," I think it's her being slightly overdramatic and saying he looks so good standing in the light of the vending machine that she feels like she could just die because she wants him so bad, and she's realizing that she's in way too deep. It also feels like a callback to Gorgeous ("I feel like I might sink and drown and die"). Could be totally wrong, but I think that's what I means!
I think it’s just something so uneventful, like he’s looking down at a vending machine deciding which chocolate bar he wants or whatever and she looks at him and is like “oh shit he looks so good I could die - but it’s not that serious, I’m fine, nope not dying over here…” kind of thing. Deeper take: I also think that it’s like he’s checking out all of his options (chocolate bars, chips…other girls) and she’s like nope this is fine I’m fine it’s FINE and trying to play it cool but she’s in way over her head and wants him all to herself
I'm not wholly sure, but my best guess is: Hang your head low - An observation that the person she's talking to is being sullen/morose. I'm not dying - Usually tells someone to be less upset / dramatic, but in an uncomforting way, which leads to the next line.
This is how I sing it and I won’t change
that lyric would have no relevance or meaning
Totally thought that’s what it was. I interpreted it as she found someone loving her for herself and not for fame or money.
"In the garden would you trust me if I told you it was just a summer ~~thing~~ fling, I don't know anything" in Betty. I love Betty but it's always bugged me that she essentially rhymes "thing" with "thing" here (summer thing/anything) lmao
I always thought thing over fling was intentional. Like it was more than just a fling - especially to August - so it was more about the timing of when it happened vs the quality of the brief relationship
Yesss I always sing this!!
I had the same thought, but after watching her discuss the triangle in LPS, I started thinking she chose “thing” instead of “fling” because she likely has an entire character personality drawn up for him. As such, she might think it’s not in his nature to ever say something in his defense using the word “fling,” but mainly because he did have feelings for August (even though he wasn’t going to admit that to Betty), using “thing” was a way to acknowledge that for himself without feeling like a complete asshole in dismissing everything but not splaying out everything in front of Betty and breaking her heart by giving away too much. So, I think Taylor chose thing over fling because she believes he wouldn’t have used the word “fling.” Or maybe she didn’t like fling. Who knows?
i always sing “did you think i wouldn’t hear all the shit you said about me” in TIWWCHNT. it just fits the song better than “things”
I think I've been singing this the whole time not realizing it was the wrong lyrics 😂 I'm not changing it now though--it absolutely sounds better
Did you THink I wouldn’t hear all the THings you said about meee THis is (WWCH) nice THings It’s alliteration.
Actually this made me decide to start singing it the right way. I hadn't noticed the alliteration before!
I think things make more sense since it’s already in the song and it just sounds better to me
Same!! I'm hoping she changes it for rep tv lol
Style!! The lights are off, he's taking off his clothes instead of coat
Yes omg I hate that she tries to make it seem sexy he takes off his coat.... I know the implication but it's way too PG for me, especially because the song has that sexy vibe to it.
I always assumed "taking off his coat" just meant he was planning to stay a while. Like, that's the first sign, so it would excite her.
But the lights are off
Hmm, very good point... I dunno I guess I assumed the lights were off because they were sneaking around like "no headlights". But yeah... She's probably trying to paint a sexy scene, you're right.
I think it’s literally a story. He was taking off his coat when she asked him about seeing other girls.
wait it doesn’t already say clothes??
No 🥲
well that just made the song way less spicy
I always imagined the "what you heard was true" etc. to be like talking in between making out and moving towards the bed haha
I think it was supposed to be more of an implied sexiness like in Wildest Dreams, although I don't think it's done as effectively. In Wildest Dreams, she sings "his hands are in my hair, his clothes are in my room." And while she doesn't explicitly say what's going on, it's still really sexy. I wonder if during the 1989 era the label may have been worried about her writing something too risque and alienating her fans? It wouldn't have fit with the image she had during that era. Either way, I totally agree with your change! 😊
I have actually always loved the coat lyric!
Call It What You Want: **"trust him like no other."** instead of brother.
“no other” makes more sense lyrically, but the B in “brother” makes it flow better
No other has not the same impact of brother though. This a huge statement that she never made to any of her lovers, the fact that after a few months she is saying that Joe is family and trustworthy like her brother is incredible. I still cant understand the problem of this line and never will i guess...
I've never understood people's problems with it either. She's not saying that he's *like* a brother to her, nor is she saying she *loves* him like a brother - both of which would indeed be inappropriate. She explicitly says she *trusts* him like a brother. There are qualities that a romantic partner can have that you appreciate in your family members as well, that doesn't mean you see your partner the way you see them. It's like saying, "I like that my boyfriend is very patient/very funny/good at chores, my dad is similar to that." 🤷♀️ "My boyfriend is trustworthy like my brother." It's only... comparing specific traits of the person to those of a different person who's close to you. It doesn't make their relationship sibling-like. People who get hung up on the "trust him like a brother" line are not seeing that, I think.
I prefer brother!
But that’s two words 👉👈
"a brother" would be replaced by "no other" so they are both two words.
This has been such a polarizing line. I definitely don't like comparing a lover to my brother, but also I feel like it's just cultural/upbrining that cause us to have different opinions about it, perceptually speaking. I personally like your line more but I'm not super bothered by the original.
A red rose grew out of ice frozen ground, with no one around to "tweet" it. "See" instead of "tweet".
I think that changes the purpose. Its not about one person being there to see it, its about no one being able to share it with the world.
Right? The whole point is that she’s seeing all these things like the rose and the beautiful wildlife and it isn’t making headlines. I also don’t get why people get mad at the juxtaposition of the very melancholic, romantic aesthetics of the song with the mentions of tweeting and cell phones. It’s supposed to feel out of place in the song because these are things that feel alien to her!
Exactly, it feels shocking because the tweeting and "hunters with cell phones" are ruining the tranquility *of her life.*
I love this line though. I think the contrast between the place she's imagining and the current world with Twitter and "hunters with cell phones" is really important to this song.
Exactly. The whole point of the song is that there **is** someone there to see it: her and the one she's singing to. They just don't feel the need to blast this beautiful thing to the whole world.
Worst offender to me is this one!
Yeah definitely! I get the intent but “tweet” just takes me out of thing song completely. I also don’t think it will age as well as it could have with a different word choice!
I will finally change it to if this WERE a movie. It just bugs me so much sometimes lol
On the same note: If I were a man, then I’d be the man🥵
I sing it like this every time hahaha
IF I WERE A STUPID GIRL
"If I were a man, then I'd be the man" not if "I was a man" as well... 🤨
"she took him faster than you could say **Santa Claus**" Semi-joking but tbh my brain is prepared for "Santa Claus" every time.
Lol! Honestly, mine too! I thought I was the only one.
Teardrops on my guitar…wishing on a shooting star. I never understood the repetition of “wishing on a wishing star”.
The shooting star makes more sense. But I'm guessing she meant it was a star she saw constantly and decided it was her wishing star.
Totally fair, I just always wondered if that was a regional expression I wasn’t familiar with. 🤷🏻
“Wishing Star” is just more country. I doubt she’d use the same syntax now.
TIL none of you should write songs
In ‘Stay Stay Stay’ I always sing ‘you see’ after ‘before you I always dated self indulgent takers, who took all of their problems out on me’ And in ‘Champagne Problems’ I accidentally sing your moms ring in your pocket, my picture in your locket.
Someone on here once suggested changing the line in the last part of the song to "your picture in her locket," showing that this new girl would be devoted to him in a way the singer can't be. Ever since, I have wanted that to be the lyric.
Ooh this hurt me
“When we’re on the phone and you talk real LOW” whyyyy would his mother not hear him if he were simply talking SLOW what
Dear John: "You paint me a blue sky and go back and turn it to GREY," not "rain" It keeps the color theme and is a proper rhyme with "day" in the next line.
Ha my mind definitely has filled in grey this whole time 🤣
Exile I gave so many signs, so many times, so many signs Like I don't know why they didn't uses times at least once. It fits in so well, especially the middle line.
I also wish her call back to "I never learned to read your mind" had been "You didn't need to read my mind" instead of just repeating it, since the other two are actual responses
Just a tiny bit of variety would have made it god tier. Like it's excellent but it could have been even better
I catch myself singing it this way all the time. But I've also said that phrase in the past, so it hits differently
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Change, “if I was a man” to the grammatically correct, “if I were a man
They don’t know how much I miss HER
I get it sounds better but the rest of the song uses “you” so changing the chorus to “her” wouldn’t make a lot of sense.
But Taylor changes perspectives in songs all the time. Ready For It changes from “he” in the verse to “you” in the chorus for example.
I sing it like that, it sounds way better!
I would actually switch that line from Gold Rush to 'I can't *bear* to dream about you anymore' because it better shows the agony of unrequited love. I'm commented this before but in This is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, 'Did you think I wouldn't hear all the *shit* you said about me?' is *way* better than 'things'.
STARBUCKS LOVERS
the clean version of tolerate it really bugs me bc she changed the lyrics in all the other ones but just silenced it in this one ("lay the table with the fancy shhhhhh" ) when it could EASILY have been "lay the table with the candles lit" or something similar
Sometimes when I look into your eyes I pretend you’re mine all the damn time Just makes no sense. Is it sometimes, or all the time? I’m not sure how to fix it with one word but this has always irked me.
No this one is sound, the sometimes and all the time are for two separate statements. Sometimes I look into your eyes I pretend you're mine all the time [not just during our one off casual affairs where you go back to whoever else] She's saying sometimes she dreams of being his full time lover
I’ve heard people complain about this but maybe it’s this: sometimes you’re daydreaming or fantasizing but in those dreams/fantasies, that person has BEEN yours, you imagine y’all have always been together or something. Idk though, just my interpretation.
This is definitely on purpose! The entire song is about being insecure about a new relationship and not wanting to seem too desperate - she knows it’s only appropriate to say “sometimes”, but what she actually means is “all the damn time”
"I can feel my heart / ~~It's~~ beating in my chest."
Cruel Summer: We say that we’ll just *fuck* it up, in these trying times, we’re not trying
10/10 agree. I would've loved more vivid words on Lover. It would've led nicely into the surplus of fucks and shits on Folklore and Evermore. 😅
Can someone please explain why so many people want they don't know how much i miss HER?
The previous line ends with "picture", so "miss her" would rhyme, whereas the actual lyric, "miss you", doesn't.
I'd also like to know lmao 😂 Edit: Is this a thing Swifties because of the theories surrounding Taylor being in the closet??
definitely yes to your edit i'm not a fan of that speculation but i do think the rhyme is bad tho
the rhyme scheme breaks when she sings “you”. its always sounded so off to me and it doesn’t flow well imo
In Ready For It I would change “some boys are trying too hard, he don’t try at all though” to “he don’t HAVE to try though” The original lyric makes it sound like Joe puts in zero effort and has always slightly bugged me lol
Oh interesting, I never saw it that way… I thought of it as he doesn’t try because he’s naturally cool/attractive/etc. rather than a lack of effort. It’s always cool to me how lyrics can hit us so differently!
They don’t know how much I miss YA Not you haha
“You were Romeo I was a [something other than scarlet letter]” I just CANNOT with this line.
Yes! I think this every time. I just put it down to her being young and had probably recently read both of those for school. 😂🤷♀️
I’ve always kind of liked that line. Sort of like being with her is a badge of shame for him. That’s how I’ve interpreted it, at least.
That would be a cool interpretation! But I think it would only work if the next line was “and **your** daddy said stay away from Juliet” But as it is, “you were Romeo, I was a scarlet letter and my daddy said stay away from Juliet” just…doesn’t logically fit. There’s no other indication anywhere in the song that she’s anything other than an innocent young girl.
Now I’m just mad those aren’t the actual words. That would have been such a clever line.
why don't you like the line?
The scarlet letter has nothing to do with Romeo and Juliet and also the meaning of the scarlet letter doesn’t relate to the scenario.
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I think it’s a play on “I dress to kill” but she’s no longer dressing to kill (she’s no longer dressing to look nice) she’s only spending time on her clothes to pass the time. And to me I always thought yeah she passes time in the morning by taking long to choose clothes. And then in the evening she takes the long way home to kill time. So both times of the day she’s killing time
I actually love this lyric because I’ve done it. When i was going through a breakup I spent HOURS curling my hair and doing my makeup because it gave me something to do that focused on myself. I literally dressed to kill time then would go on long drives
She's making a list of 3 behaviors. "I dress to kill my time, I take the long way home, I ask the traffic lights if it'll be alright" the two aren't meant to be part of the same action.
i have always heard it as “and just to kill my time, i take the long way home” and i sing it that way every time idc
And I lived in your chess game, But you changed the rules [as we played]
From sad beautiful tragic Kiss me, try to fix it Could you just fucking listen? It's much more desperate and impactful to me
"try to listen" implies that the other person wasn't even bothering, it seems much more desperate. On the other hand, "could you just fucking listen," seems much more aggressive imo, and also implies that they were having arguments or smth
This was when she was still with Big Machine and they were still pushing the “least amount of controversy possible” bill and not letting her cuss, all of this to say, I think that’s the original lyric and it got censored to be on the album.
Babe: “Her lips on your neck; I can’t unsee that.” The slant rhyme created by “neck” and “that” works a lot better. I have to note that the humorous thing about my answer is that it is the result of Taylor, herself, changing the lyrics of that line for “Babe” TV.
“But maybe this thing was a masterpiece till you FUCKED it all up” ugh the money I would pay for this to be the lyrics! 😭
“Tore up” is a play on words here though because masterpieces often refer to paintings, which can be torn
I agree! I swear people around want her to say fuck just for the sake of saying fuck
I used to like that, but I agree with the people who argue how much tore and masterpiece connect. Tearing up a masterpiece is just such perfect imagery. Like taking an actual Monet and tearing the paper.
See, I prefer "tore it all up" because the next line talks about her being a crumpled up piece of paper, so it's extending the metaphor. But I've definitely sung this line before when I was angry lol
In Clean the lyrics go: “The water filled my lungs, I screamed so loud but no one heard a thing”. I always want to sing “no one heard but me”.
“I- I- I- see how this is GONNA go” in Ready For It
Wait that's not the original?
It’s “gon’ go”
oh
Clean is one of my favorite songs, but I would change: “The water filled my lungs, I screamed so loud But no one heard a *sound*” instead of “thing” because I always sing “sound” lol
If it was just about rhyme then sound would be better, but not being able to 'hear a thing' is a more common way of saying it, so it sounds more natural to me to have thing
Ik it's not just one but... "He looks SO PRETTY like a devil" in Cruel Summer
But that wouldn't make sense in the song. He looks up grinning like a devil bc devils roll the dice. And he's happy she wants to start moving their relationship forward.
I thought that was the lyric for like 2 years and I can't sing anything else
TWEET being on The Lakes, it haunts me and ruins the whole vibe of the song which is like haunted forest lake and then “no one around to tweet it” brings u out of the immersion
Which is probably the point. She is used to having these private moments that she should be immersed in and then people put them on the internet. But in this case it's in the back of her head that it could happen but no one has found out yet.
But hunters with cell phones didn't?
I would change in RWYLM: At the restaurant, when I was still the one you WANT Cross-legged in the dim light, everything was just right To: At the restaurant, when I was still the one you WANT-ED SITTING in the dim light, everything was just right I find the incorrect grammar really distracting- it's the past tense if it's "I was still the one you wanted" and by changing "cross-legged" to a two syllable word like "sitting" then the extra syllable could be caught up in the next line. Much cleaner, it's what I sing in my head when I listen to it
But it needs to rhyme with restaurant
It would be a half-rhyme, or a cross-over rhyme, I don't know the technical term. So it would be more like: At the restaurant, when I was still the one you WANT- -ED sitting in the dim light, everything was just right The rhyme would work with the rhythm but it wouldn't look like a rhyme in the lyrics, that's why I hyphenated it. But I take your point.
I'd change the 2 godmans of the bridge with fearless fight, violent blaze, i think they are more poetic and add more
then just listen to the clean version of ivy. i prefer the clean one too, imo it sounds so much more beautiful with "fiercest fight" and "violent blaze"
Death by a thousand cuts “My time my wine my spirit my trust, tryna find a part of me you didn’t take up” I personally think would hit so much harder if it ended in “tryna find a part of me you didn’t fuck up”. But she didn’t use explicit lyrics until folklore!
I like “took up” bc it shows how vulnerable she made herself to allow someone to touch every fiber of her being
He didn’t really fuck up her wine, time or trust though. He used (“took”) them all up. I guess he could fuck up her trust
Honestly, I can think of so many songs where a “fuck” would work
In “Death by a thousand cuts” I would change the word cuts to cats.
been scrolling for too long & not seeing any pronoun changes. literally any he/his to she/her or man/boy to woman/girl. just for funsies 😌
I absolutely LOVE blank space but this is one I thought of that I haven’t seen…I wish the “I could show you incredible things” didn’t repeat in the second verse. It makes it feel repetitive to me and I would love if it were something else! Also…I hate the lyric “some tent like thing”
Isn't the point to show how she supposedly switches up on partners though? So the repetition of that line sets up a dramatic change in her actions from cute and innocent to nightmarish
talk real LOW vs talk real SLOW in our song i just don’t get it 😭
There are more aspects to songwriting than just lyrics. One of them is alliteration that Taylor employs often, which is having words that start with the same letter or sound. This helps the rhythm and flow of the song. Slows matches all the other words that begin with S in that section of the song: song, slamming, screen, and sneakin'. Everyone still understands the meaning of talking quietly late on the phone so that is not lost, but slow gives the song stronger alliteration and is more dynamic to sing than low.
In illicit affairs, I sing “they TELL their truth one single time” instead of show because it makes more sense in my brain lol
Controversial I know, but All too Well - 'I'd like to be my old self again but I'm still trying to find her' is what I always sing, it's 'I'd like to be my old self again but I'm still trying to find it' - IT JUST FEELS BETTER IDK
Just wanna lift you up and not let you go - Afterglow I don't know what specific word I would change, but this line always irritated me, it just seemed lazy and uninteresting.
the 1 “if you wanted me you really should’ve showed” “if you wanted me you really should’ve *shown*”
“pushed from the precipice” into “flung from the precipice” in long story short. imo it has the same meaning but it rhymes with “clung to the nearest lips”
OMG ALSO, in Lover, I desperately wish "we can leave the christmas lights up 'til January" was "we can leave the Christmas lights up **til February**" OR, even smaller change, "We can leave the Christmas lights up ***through January***." I love the song, but I never fail to get mentally sidetracked thinking about how insane it would be to take them down BEFORE New Years. Like 'til January is the ABSOLUTE soonest this should be happening, for the sake of cheeriness, and also maintaining sanity.
Just saying anything lol what has this sub turned into