so on this page and tbh in a lot of the fandom we like to equate taylor swift songs, specifically from like folklore and evermore, to ATYD and iām not even gonna lie this has become a legitimate hobby of mine - trying to see it from different angles and perspectives. but can we take a moment to talk about āexileā with bon iver?
iām going to kind of break it down and analyze how it relates to ATYD below the cut :) ATYD SPOILERS I REPEAT ATYD SPOILERS: itās about the very very end, like last three or four chapters.
the first verse, i believe is from grantās pov.
in my brain this whole interaction happens in those last few chapters of the book, in 1994, when sirius goes back to the apartment and grant leaves. heās talking to remus here, seeing him and sirius interact and knowing itās over. it would take him
five whole minutes to pack me up and leave me with it
is an allusion to grant leaving that day to go to his job in brighton, and knowing remus is going to move on and spend that night with sirius.
i think iāve seen this film before, and i didnāt like the ending
is about how he found remus, the state he was in, when sirius left the first time in 1981. he knows what happened, he knows how messed up remus can get. he knows that if anything happens, heād be broken to see remus again, like, he canāt do it.
youāre not my homeland anymore, so what am i defending now? you were my town, now iām in exile seeing you out.
this partās about grantās jealousy. you were my town, you were mine, and knowing that he canāt have that now, or that he never really did.
the next verse changes from justin to taylor singing, and it also changes from grant to remusās pov.
this verse? BRILLIANT. we need to take a moment to acknowledge that these guys are poets - this stuff is so, like, profound? ughhhh
so anyway though, remus is talking to grant here. he knows that grant knows he is the second choice - siriusās understudy, if you will. and he knows grant would totally āget his knuckles bloodyā for him.
second third and hundredth chances
balancing on breaking branches
those eyes add insult to injury.
this part is the chances that grant gave remus, and not the other way around. despite remusās misery and addiction and mental illness, and despite his lycanthropy, and the magic, and the sleeping with castor issue, grant was always loyal. always. even when most people wouldnāt be.
the final part of that verse is about how even though he knew what he really wanted sirius and that he was making the right choice, oh, he would still miss grant.
i think iāve seen this film before, and i didnāt like the ending
remus knows what heās doing. he knows heās stepping back onto the tightrope and that he might get hurt again, but thatās not now. he knows heās going to miss grant and that heās causing him pain.
iām not your problem anymore
this is one of my favorite lines in the whole song, because of how much it encapsulates remusās self worth issues - itās about when he tells grant, āi havenāt always been fair to youā. itās about how he thinks all he is is a burden.
itās cliche, but grant really was a diamond in the rough. huh, maybe remus has a type?
ok oh my god i donāt even want to do the next part because itās accurate and hurts like hell but weāre going to do it. AGHH
we always walked a very thin line
you didnāt even hear me out
NOT GRANT SLANDER, but to be fair, there was like NO discussion of grant leaving. he just packed, said he had a new job, and left - and while remus was happy to have sirius back OUCH that must have hurt. BUT ALSO, this part is sung by both justin and taylor, or, grant and remus, so itās also grant kinda silently echoing his little bit of remorse for remus always wanting sirius.
you never gave a warning sign (i gave so many signs)
okay, so there are basically two ways to interpret this. the first is to stick with the script: grant = justin and remus = taylor. and in that case, i would say that grant could be, like, angry here? maybe at sirius; but also maybe at remus. what happened between grant and remus during the school year he was away is up for interpretation, but i think this could be grant mad at remus that sirius was kind of back in the world and not even telling him. and the remus echoing is like him admitting that he has always loved sirius a little more.
BUT the way that this makes more sense to me is to flip the parts, and remus telling grant that he never gave a warning sign in terms of picking up and leaving, and taking the new job. and grantās āi gave so many signsā is calling remus to realize he wasnāt in love with him.
UGH THIS BRIDGE. ok, so the whole
i never learned to read your mind (never learned to read my mind)
is just another whole thing about them never really being on the same page, and how grant would never understand remus as much as sirius did.
i couldnāt turn things around (you never turned things around)
is flipping parts again, and itās remus half assed apology about not ever really getting over sirius, and grant agreeing that he couldnāt.
the rest is flipped though, and itās each of them trying to see each othersā perspectives.
for the rest of the song, they just do the chorus and the bridges again, so i donāt think itās worth breaking down farther - especially since i have typed so much now that my keyboard is slowing down. oh my god i love analyzing folklore - any other likeminded people that would like to see more of this?
