#loas

There's a reason why it's the most reacted to song on social media -- besides Wood, but that's for other reasons — it is complex, it has depth, and it tells a story that is very dynamic.

The instumentals are great -- flowery, summery, beautiful, nostalgic, wistful — and gives you a false sense of security. You start to follow along with this very lovely story about a girl and a boy, and you become invested because of the DETAILS, the SPECIFICITY.

You're grooving along, smiling cheek to cheek -- and then the bottom falls out from under you. And you realize this is a song about grief, and loss, and what if's and maybe even regrets. And that's smart because it's interesting on a listening level, but it's also how experiencing death of a loved one feels. It's all OK until the second that it's not. And it leaves you feeling whiplashed, shocked, confused.

And then you think of all the things you should have done, would have done, could have done, if you had just known. The guilt that comes with that, the sadness, the anger, the love.

She makes you feel all of that in the song. And then when it's over, has you turning inward into your own life. Whether that's reflecting on your own losses or thinking about how maybe there are things you need to say, and should say, before it's too late.

It is the epitome of what makes Taylor Swift a prolific songwriter. And my goodness, do I wish the rest of the album had this kind of weight to it.

LIFE OF A SHORELINER