Iâve been rewatching Taylorâs SNL performance of False God since sheâs đ„ there. I noticed starting @2:19 of the YT video, while singing â... and weâre begging for forgiveness...â she was focusing on someone in the audience and not on the camera which was in front of her. I wonder if thatâs where DA was
mmmmmmm so đ„đ„đ„đ„
it kinda reminds me of a typical taylor stage presence move however...
i do think dianna was in the VIP near the music stage. i donât think she was down on the floor because you canât see her on the video feed when the cameras pan over from pwb to taylor after she introduced her so she may have been off to the side and up a bit where taylor looked.
also like just glancing at the lyrics... like fuck ok i have ALWAYS thought false god was a kaylor song but for fun have a quick and dirty swiftgron lyric analysis:
In the ocean separating us
Remember how I'd fly to you?
^ come back... be here vibes anyone?
I'm New York City
^ nyc seem to be karlie references almost always BUT dianna did move there and Taylor is referring to herself as nyc in this song...dianna and taylor traveled to nyc together a lot during swiftgron and maybe when dianna went off to London and taylor moved to nyc dianna started to associate nyc with taylor (also nyc mentioned in cbbh)
I still do it for you, babe
^ OK WELL WE KNOW... IN AT LEAST SOME CASES DIANNA IS DEFINITELY BABE
They all warned us about times like this
^ when have taylor and her lover been warned before in lyrics? oh right... âDidn't they tell us don't rush into thingsâ in wonderland. we all know who wonderland is about.
They say the road gets hard and you get lost
^ weâve talked about this before but driving themes/road themes equal dianna (style, iwyw, etc.)
When you're led by blind faith
Blind faith
But we might just get away with it
Religion's in your lips
Even if it's a false god
We'd still worship
We might just get away with it
The altar is my hips
Even if it's a false god
We'd still worship this love
^Â the whole subversion of religion sort of situation that is the entire THESIS of false god or comparing her love to religion happens in holy ground and state of grace (and a bit in this love when she says this love is back from the dead, best believe a girl raised Christian like taylor would relate love rising from the dead to the Ressurection) - all swiftgron songs...
I know heaven's a thing
I go there when you touch me, honey
Hell is when I fight with you
But we can patch it up good
Make confessions and we're begging for forgiveness
^Â i mean the whole swiftgron narrative was that they were off and on off and on...kaylors chime in is that the kaylor narrative or nah?
And you can't talk to me when I'm like this
Daring you to leave me just so I can try and scare you
^ again this sounds more like the fandom swiftgron narrative than the kaylor one idk yâall tell me
You're the West VillageÂ
^ this is pretty loudly kaylor/karlie. karlie lived in the west village. interestingly she did put her west village apartment up for sale a few days (literally) before this performance.
HOWEVER, dianna lives in soho, not too far from the west village and her favorite bar is in the west village:
YALL HAVE WE GONE FULLY DELULU OR IS IT STARTING TO MAKE A WHOLE LOT MORE SENSE THAT TAYLOR CHOSE TO PLAY THAT SONG AT SNL WHEN SOMEONE VERY SPECIAL WAS IN THE AUDIENCE HELP????
ALSO THE JAZZ VIBE OF THE SONG?? SINCE WHEN HAS TAYLOR BEEN INTO JAZZ BUT YOU KNOW WHO LOVES JAZZ SO MUCH SHE BECAME A JAZZ SINGER FOR A WHILE?
YEAH THAT BITCH ^^
ALSO THE SAXAPHONE? AND DIANNA WORE THAT DAMN SAXAPHONE DRESS TO THE SAME OSCAR PARTY THAT TAYLOR WAS AT IN FEBRUARY 2019????
FUCKKKK I DONâT WANNA BE COMPLETELY UNHINGED BUT...AM I ABOUT TO CLAIM FALSE GOD??? NO I CANâT. SOMEONE TALK SOME SENSE INTO ME PLEASE IâM TIRED I JUST NEED SLEEP. SOMEONE PUT CAM INTO NAPTIME I HAVE LITERALLY LOST IT HELP.
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I thought this would take me longer but yâall, Iâm done with Part 2 of my Gaylor analyses. Unfortunately this chapter brings bad news for Tily nation. I honestly donât think many of the songs on Lover are about that relationship. But I also think itâs not as simple as the mainstream Kaylor narrative would have us believe. Letâs dive into this, shall we?Â
First things first. I think itâs worth noting that many of the songs on this album are not about romantic relationships at all. Like itâs a bit of a marketing ploy to portray it as an album primarily about romantic love when so many songs explicitly arenât about that feeling. In fact, there are more themes on Lover than on any of her earlier stuff - itâs something she expands on in folklore.Â
I Forgot That You Existed, The Man, The Archer (which I firmly believe is about her debating coming out), Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince (very obviously about the political situation generally and supported by the doccie title), London Boy, Soon Youâll Get Better, YNTCD, and ME! are all about explicitly different themes. Obviously there are a couple references within those (like ME! has that line about âI never leave well enough aloneâ which reappears on the 1, and The Archer mentions someone âstayingâ but I still think ME! is about self-love not romantic love and The Archer is about personal anxiety around identity). Fundamentally, they are not love songs.
I donât think thatâs really up for debate. The only one I can see anyone - say Toes or like hardcore Tily fans - debating is London Boy. Unfortunately for my Tily babes, I do think itâs satire that serves as a homage to Joe and the other British beards, and possibly riffs a teeny bit on her time with Lily. Contrary to some gold medalists in Kaylor mental gymnastics, I fully believe Tay does make reference to Joe in her lyrics (Iâve mentioned the fictional verse for Dress and the reference to âkeeping himâ in Ready for It). This really doesnât have any of the hallmarks of Tily songs off of Rep. The British references in CIWYW, KOMH and Delicate are subtle and chilled and actually quite cute. London Boy is an onslaught of non-sequiturs about London, the UK and her beards. Also âstories from uniâ fits both Joe and Tom H, but it doesnât fit Lily who never went to university. All her Lily songs are about hiding out in private; London Boy is all about galavanting around town with âhisâ friends (Lily and Tay had the same friends though?) Itâs simply not about the same person or the same relationship.Â
I do think thereâs a chance it could be poking fun (lightly) at Lily/that period she spent in London because as Iâve already said I think Tay is not above shading ex-girlfriends and it seems like the kind of thing Karlie wouldâve also found a bit funny. I think when she got back together with Karlie - which almost definitely happened - she wouldâve 100% laughed about the âsay you fancy me not fancy stuffâ era. That would explain the recurrence of both Motown and queen imagery, which first appeared on KOMH. But where KOMH felt very genuine and authentic, this one is obviously meant to be funny.Â
Right. So. Now that weâve established 8 songs are about other themes, letâs get the Kaylor songs sorted: Cruel Summer, Cornelia Street, DBATC, False God and Daylight are all undeniably about Karlie fucking Kloss. They all feature the images and tropes and hallmarks that pepper Karlie songs. They all have the same kinds of emotions. And they paint a pretty sad, troubling and complex picture.Â
Cruel Summer comes first and seems to mostly be about their first breakup, which she first referred to on DWOHT. We have Tay once again begging Karlie to stay and work it out and not being certain for sure about her feelings. Â
We say that we'll just screw it up in these trying times
We're not trying (Oh yeah, you're right, I want it)
I mean thatâs super sad. Tayâs saying they discussed how theyâll fuck it all up, and sheâs feeling like theyâre not even trying to fix things. You also have that âI want itâ which is interesting considering the âweâ that preceded it. âWeâreâ not trying because only âI want itâ. Ouch.Â
Killing me slow, out the window
I'm always waiting for you to be waiting below
Devils roll the dice, angels roll their eyes
What doesn't kill me makes me want you more
And it's new, the shape of your body
It's blue, the feeling I've got
And it's ooh, whoa oh
It's a cruel summer
It's cool, that's what I tell 'em
No rules in breakable heaven
But ooh, whoa oh
It's a cruel summer
With you
Here we have âIâm always waiting for youâ which yet again suggests Tay is the one whoâs more invested. Then we have the shape of âyourâ body (which is a familiar concept from Dress), but the feeling it gives her here is blue here not gold - maybe thatâs why the shape is new? In the past Karlieâs body made her feel golden but now itâs a bluer, sadder feeling. Blue starts recurring more frequently on these late era Kaylor songs. Thereâs a possible alternate reading, which is blue = Swiftgron (âmy love had been frozen deep blueâ). Itâs a nice theory but it just doesnât gel with the garden gate below. Also, while both relationships seem to have been colored by commitment issues, the premise of unrequitedness doesnât really feature on the songs about Di. She asks Di to stay, tells her sheâs thinking of her, and theyâre âtoo in love to think straightâ but Tay never says Karlie loves her back. Ever. Itâs never expressly mutual.Â
I'm drunk in the back of the car
And I cried like a baby coming home from the bar (Oh)
Said, "I'm fine," but it wasn't true
I don't wanna keep secrets just to keep you
And I snuck in through the garden gate
Every night that summer just to seal my fate (Oh)
And I scream, "For whatever it's worth
I love you, ain't that the worst thing you ever heard?"
He looks up, grinning like a devil
Look at that fourth line. It perfectly fits with the Kaylor narrative on Rep and it doesnât fit the Tily songs at all. She wanted to keep that second relationship private and secret and hidden. And here sheâs saying âI donât want to keep secretsâ - this is take two of âI donât want you like a best friendâ. Also the âfor whatever itâs worthâ reminds me of âhereâs the truthâ from End Game. Itâs the kind of thing youâd say in the midst of a fight.Â
Then we have her screaming âI love youâ and receiving no reply as usual beyond a devilish grin. The more I do these analyses the less I understand how or why Kaylor gets romanticized in the way it does, while Swiftgron gets bashed for toxicity. Like my girl Tay has a thing for chaotic lesbians with commitment issues and Kaylor seems like it was WILD.Â
Back to the lyrics, this time letâs look at Kaylor anthem Cornelia Street:
We were in the backseat
Drunk on something stronger than the drinks in the bar
"I rent a place on Cornelia Street"
I say casually in the car
We were a fresh page on the desk
Filling in the blanks as we go
As if the street lights pointed in an arrowhead
Leading us home
I find this whole song really interesting because it features one of Tayâs favorite ideas - glamorizing normal people things. Itâs like the time with the âmotel barâ in Getaway Car. Like she 100% was thrilled to be able to say âIâm renting this apartmentâ - never mind that itâs basically a whole ass house. I actually think the above verse is really beautiful. I know I give Kaylor a lot of shit but obviously there were beautiful moments and Tay had/has plenty of good memories.Â
And I hope I never lose you, hope it never ends
I'd never walk Cornelia Street again
That's the kind of heartbreak time could never mend
I'd never walk Cornelia Street again
And baby, I get mystified by how this city screams your name
And baby, I'm so terrified of if you ever walk away
I'd never walk Cornelia Street again
I'd never walk Cornelia Street again
I mean frankly this verse above is super insecure in the standard Kaylor way. Tayâs saying sheâs terrified of Karlie walking away and that she âhopesâ she never loses her. The tone is sad, forlorn and a little desperate. I also think itâs interesting that she says sheâd never walk Cornelia Street again, and that the city screams Karlieâs name and then on hoax she goes ahead and says she left a part of herself back in New York. Itâs almost like her fears and anxieties did prove justified. Poor baby.Â
Windows flung right open, autumn air
Jacket 'round my shoulders is yours
We bless the rains on Cornelia Street
Memorize the creaks in the floor
Back when we were card sharks, playing games
I thought you were leading me on
I packed my bags, left Cornelia Street
Before you even knew I was gone
But then you called, showed your hand
I turned around before I hit the tunnel
Sat on the roof, you and I
Those first four lines seem to be about the good again, and Iâm happy for them. I really do think they had good times. Those four lines make me think of parts of YAIL and the toast and weekends and stuff.Â
The rest of this verse though seems to be about the first split and subsequent reunion. âI thought you were leading me onâ she says, and I âleft Cornelia Streetâ presumably to go to London. But then Karlie called her back, âshowed her handâ and Tay âturned aroundâ before she reached the point of no return and they worked it out. âSat on the roof, you and Iâ is similar in content to âup on the roof with a schoolgirl crushâ but very different in tone. Sheâs not peppy here, sheâs not positive. Itâs a little bit tortured - and then it continues with âhoping it never endsâ. The reappearance of the Tily imagery on Kaylor 2.0 songs makes sense to me, again, because discussing exes in the same social circle as you is just blatant lesbian culture. It makes complete sense that these two women are on Taylorâs mind. She has really really deep feelings for Karlie but she enjoyed the more simple and straightforward relationship she had with Lily.Â
DBATC is the Kaylor 1.0 breakup anthem:
Saying goodbye is death by a thousand cuts
Flashbacks waking me up
I get drunk, but it's not enough
'Cause the morning comes and you're not my baby
I look through the windows of this love
Even though we boarded them up
Chandelier's still flickering here
'Cause I can't pretend it's okay when it's not
It's death by a thousand cuts
We have her getting drunk to forget, trying to say âIâm fineâ when itâs not true, and just generally missing Karlie.Â
I dress to kill my time, I take the long way home
I mean, this is Cornelia Street (ânever walk here againâ) and Dress all over again. Itâs the two ideas from before but now on the other side, because theyâre actually broken up.Â
And what once was ours is no one's now
I see you everywhere, the only thing we share
Is this small town
You said it was a great love, one for the ages
But if the story's over, why am I still writing pages?
âI see you everywhereâ is very âthis city screams your nameâ and I think âsmall townâ is a metaphor for their social circle. The last two lines are just Tay being hung up on Karlie. She was writing pages in Cornelia Street as well, so this whole idea of telling a story with Karlie is another recurrent image.Â
My heart, my hips, my body, my love
Tryna find a part of me that you didn't touch
Gave up on me like I was a bad drug
Now I'm searching for signs in a haunted club
Our songs, our films, united, we stand
Our country, guess it was a lawless land
Quiet my fears with the touch of your hand
Paper cut stings from our paper-thin plans
My time, my wine, my spirit, my trust
Tryna find a part of me you didn't take up
Gave you so much, but it wasn't enough
But I'll be alright, it's just a thousand cuts
I mean this is the usual obsession, desperation and general pining Tay has for Karlie. We also have Karlie touching her briefly, which is something she has spoken about before and is really into. Paper-thin plans is probably about the plans to make it work? We have that image reparations later in hoax so I think itâs most likely about Karlie bailing on Tayâs PR game and doing her own thing and/or Karlieâs (accidental?) involvement in the masters heist.Â
Also, this whole song is very sad but itâs not on the level of desperation I would expect if Tay wasnât rebounding hard and if they didnât reunite. Sheâs pretty sad about how the whole thing went down but she does say sheâll âbe alrightâ which is the opposite of âthatâs the kind of heartbreak time could never mendâ. I think she wrote this after the first breakup and Cornelia Street came later, after they were back together. Thatâs when she really went all in into this relationship. It still wasnât enough.Â
False God is about their reunion:
We were crazy to think
Crazy to think that this could work
Remember how I said I'd die for you?
We were stupid to jump
In the ocean separating us
Remember how I'd fly to you?
We know Tay ran away to Europe after the mess of 2016 and here she jumps into the ocean separating them and flies back to Karlie. The idea of it being âcrazyâ that it could work is also a recurrent fear/anxiety she has with regards to Karlie. âI had a bad feeling,â remember?
And I can't talk to you when you're like this
Staring out the window like I'm not your favorite town
I'm New York City, I still do it for you, babe
They all warned us about times like this
They say the road gets hard and you get lost
When you're led by blind faith, blind faith
Theyâre figuring things out, and Tay is New York - Karlieâs favorite city. âI still do it for youâ is an admission of affection, which rarely happens in Kaylor songs, but itâs so sexual that I donât find it shocking or out of character.Â
But we might just get away with it
Religion's in your lips
Even if it's a false god
We'd still worship
We might just get away with it
The altar is my hips
Even if it's a false god
We'd still worship this love
I mean sex songs are just peak Kaylor and this is all just so so so gay and I donât understand how hets can make it make srnse. âWe might just get away with itâ is the usual Kaylor anxiety by the way.Â
I know heaven's a thing
I go there when you touch me, honey
Hell is when I fight with you
But we can patch it up good
Make confessions and we're begging for forgiveness
Got the wine for you
And you can't talk to me when I'm like this
Daring you to leave me just so I can try and scare you
You're the West Village
You still do it for me, babe
They all warned us about times like this
They say the road gets hard and you get lost
When you're led by blind faith, blind faith
Standard Kaylor imagery with sensual touching, wine and New York and a direct reference to Karlieâs apartment. I think âmake confessions and weâre begging for forgivenessâ appears to refer to the reunion.Â
Daylight is a very beautiful love song for Karlie. The âgoldenâ, the bodies intertwining, New York, and the depth of her emotions all fit the Kaylor story and narrative. I think she wrote this when they were back together. Itâs also, as is common with the Kaylor songs, squarely from Tayâs perspective. She wrote it alone, and I think specifically for Karlie when they reunited. Very pretty, very nice. I mean they ended up breaking up and that was bound to happen in like every other song but when they were good Tay did create some gems and they were very happy. I love this song and I do like aspects of Kaylorâs time together.Â
Now we get onto the songs that donât neatly fit Kaylor.Â
Afterglow could be a Kaylor song. But it could also be about the breakup with her rebound. Itâs not only by Tay, so weâre looking for broad themes rather than specifics necessarily.Â
Hey, it's all me, in my head
I'm the one who burned us down
But it's not what I meant
Sorry that I hurt you
I don't wanna do, I don't wanna do this to you (Ooh)
I don't wanna lose, I don't wanna lose this with you (Ooh)
I need to say, hey, it's all me, just don't go
Meet me in the afterglow
I donât know that this sounds like the Kaylor breakup we heard about. Itâs a different premise to False God, DBATC and Cornelia Street. In all of those songs it was a mutual breakup/misunderstanding. âI canât talk to youâ and then âyou canât talk to meâ in False God is a two-way communication issue. DBATC goes off at Karlie for taking up every part of her and âgiving up on meâ. Cornelia Street said Tay thought Karlie was âleading her onâ but that was resolved. Then Afterglow goes and lays all the blame on Tay.Â
I lived like an island, punished you with silence
Went off like sirens, just crying
Why'd I have to break what I love so much?
It's on your face, don't walk away, I need to say
Hey, it's all me, in my head
I'm the one who burned us down
I mean this really does sound like itâs Tay fucking up badly. Not wanting to let the other person in, taking it out on them, hurting her lover.Â
It's so excruciating to see you low
Just wanna lift you up and not let you go
This ultraviolet morning light below
Tells me this love is worth the fight, oh
This really doesnât sound like the Kaylor fear and stress. It sounds like the cerebral and emotional connection from Rep. âItâs so excruciating to see you lowâ seems tied up with the heart to hearts and conversations she was having in those secondary songs on Rep.Â
Tell me that you're still mine
Tell me that we'll be just fine
Even when I lose my mind
I need to say
Tell me that it's not my fault
Tell me that I'm all you want
Even when I break your heart
I need to say
This just seems like a very different plan for fixing things than the one outlined in the Kaylor songs (which is âletâs boneâ). Also âI break your heartâ is an anxiety that seems to parallel the burgeoning love in Delicate, KOMH and CIWYW. It doesnât seem like a Kaylor fear because Tay is always the one who wants Karlie more. I believe this is mostly a Tily breakup song.Â
Then we get the three happy songs on the album: Lover, I Think He Knows and Paper Rings. Itâs actually pretty intense that there are only three peppy, romantic songs on an album largely touted by Gaylors and Hetlors alike as being about a happy long term relationship.Â
You want my controversial explanation for these songs? Theyâre fictional. All three are extremely vague and lacking in any of the Karlie/other person imagery. Theyâre like New Yearâs Day and some of the early stuff.Â
I Think He Knows is a very hetro song. It physically pains me to say that, it really does, but nothing about it seems gay to me. I guess âboyish lookâ is something you could say about some women but thatâs really a reach. Also itâs just very much not a relatable lesbian emotion. Iâve never met a queer woman being like âyeah I think she KNOWS, you know?â about her girlfriend. âSheâs so obsessed with me and boy I understandâ would make no sense. Us sapphics are compulsive overthinkers. And thatâs what comes across on all her songs about Karlie and about Di and even those Tily songs from Rep. Thatâs largely why Tayâs stuff is so damn gay.Â
Tayâs permanently anxious - even on her love songs, thereâs a thread of anxiety running through it all. This song is missing any of that anxiety. This song also has so, so many male pronounsâŠ. And âI am an architect, I'm drawing up the plansâ is an objectively weird thing to say about a relationship. It just doesnât strike me as sapphic, and it definitely doesnât strike me as being about Karlie lr Lily or Di. Also Nashville is 16th Avenue and I donât know why any of the women would be associated with Nashville.
That Nashville reference makes me think that maybe the song is inspired by the music industry generally? If you go look at 16th Avenue by Lacy J. Dalton, thereâs a clear narrative about the music industry. I think itâs possible that Tayâs song is referencing the love she feels for and from the music industry and her fans. That would tie into the architectural plans, being 17 (she often speaks about being stuck at that age because itâs when she got famous), and âheâs so obsessed with meâ makes sense when youâre AOTD. Even the âattitudeâ line makes sense in this interpretation.Â
This bit:
Lyrical smile, indigo eyes, hand on my thigh
We can follow the sparks, I'll drive
Lyrical smile, indigo eyes, hand on my thigh
We can follow the sparks, I'll drive
"So where we gonna go?"
I whisper in the dark
"Where we gonna go?"
I think he knows
Is a little harder to make sense of and seems like it could maybe be about Lily or at least inspired by her - thereâs the car/driving theme from the secondary Rep relationship and Lily does have indigo eyes (theyâre way bluer than Joeâs). So maybe she used images and diaries from that period to add to the story about Nashville? But overall this smugness just doesnât strike me as very gay and in general the song doesnât seem to be about any one woman in her history. Also âbetter lock it down or I wonât stick aroundâ is so very hetro and like⊠untortured.Â
Paper Rings is not about Karlie but I also donât think itâs about Lily.Â
The moon is high
Like your friends were the night that we first met
Went home and tried to stalk you on the internet
Now I've read all of the books beside your bed
The wine is cold
Like the shoulder that I gave you in the street
Cat and mouse for a month or two or three
Now I wake up in the night and watch you breathe
This is not about Karlie. Weâve heard repeatedly that they fell in love at first sight so âmonth or two or threeâ is kinda wild? Like they full on U-Hauled it with the Big Sur trip and Tay moving to New York and Karlie basically moving into her apartment. They were never cat and mouse? Also Karlie was a supermodel by the time they met one another so âtrying to stalk you on the internetâ seems a bit of an odd way to phrase it. There wouldâve been plenty to find. They both had big reputations. Moreover, they had multiple mutual friends so âyour friendsâ is also an odd turn of phrase. How does this verse fit any aspect of the Kaylor love story?Â
In the winter, in the icy outdoor pool
When you jumped in first, I went in too
I'm with you even if it makes me blue
Which takes me back
To the color that we painted your brother's wall
Honey, without all the exes, fights, and flaws
We wouldn't be standing here so tall, so
This is also very not Kaylor lol except for the tall part. The chilled out hanging out and swimming and wall painting sounds more like the songs about Tily on Rep.Â
I like shiny things, but I'd marry you with paper rings
Uh huh, that's right
Darling, you're the one I want, and
I hate accidents except when we went from friends to this
Uh huh, that's right
Darling, you're the one I want
In paper rings in picture frames in dirty dreams
Oh, you're the one I want
This seems like it could be Tily because of the âwe went from friends to thisâ (Kaylor were never friends, and had no intention of being friends, theyâve literally only ever dated). But Iâm not sure Tay ever wanted to marry Lily? Thatâs not what comes across in the other Tily songs.Â
I want to drive away with you
I want your complications too
I want your dreary Mondays
Wrap your arms around me, baby boy
The driving and the chilledness is similar to the Tily songs but Iâm still not sold. It really doesnât feel particularly authentic.Â
Also, I know I mostly do lyric analysis but Iâd like to include this quote from Tay about the song: âThis song talks about true love, and if you really find true love, you probably don't really care what the symbolism of that love is. Material things wouldn't matter to you anymore if you found someone that you just wanted to live your life with.â The quote is distinctly hypothetical. âYou probably donât really careâ âwouldnâtâ âif you foundâ....
My gut says this is based around positive romantic relationships she has had but is extrapolated to a rosy conclusion. One day, Tayâs gonna want to marry someone with paper rings. But for now itâs a fictional hypothetical. None of the details fit any of her relationships. Itâs made up. Thatâs why it includes the âbaby boyâ line... because itâs fiction.Â
And now for the really hot take⊠Lover is equally made up, although she was - again - inspired by her real relationships.Â
We could leave the Christmas lights up 'til January
This is our place, we make the rules
And there's a dazzling haze, a mysterious way about you, dear
Have I known you twenty seconds or twenty years?
This is continuing the themes from New Yearâs Day which always strikes me as a âwhat ifâ rather than an actual ode to one of the muses. That final line seems like it could be about Karlie but the absolute calmness with which she sings makes it seem like itâs not about her. The mysterious way is also a brand new image and considering how much she sings about Karlie you wouldâve thought weâd have had that image at least once before?
Can I go where you go?
Can we always be this close forever and ever?
And ah, take me out and take me home
You're my, my, my, my
Lover
I mean this doesnât sound like Kaylor. Part of the anxiety there is always about going places together and being seen. It does have bits that seem like Tily to me; âtake me out and take me homeâ kind of reminds me of the âmeet me in the backâ and âcan we always be this closeâ seems similar to âis it chill that youâre in my head?âÂ
We could let our friends crash in the living room
This is our place, we make the call
And I'm highly suspicious that everyone who sees you wants you
I've loved you three summers now, honey, but I want 'em all
The first three lines could be about either Karlie or Lily although I donât know if Tily had âtheir placeâ. Kaylor definitely did.Â
That last line⊠is kinda why I think this is mostly fiction. I mean we know it doesnât make sense for Toe. We know that. And I know about the gymnastics to fit it as a Kaylor song. But the thing is, even if she wrote it around the time that they went away to Wyoming, why wouldnât she update it when recording it? It literally doesnât fit the Toe timeline so it canât be that she wanted it for that. She couldâve made it vague. But no she says âthree summersâ. Where else have we heard about âthree summersâ?
September saw a month of tears
And thankin' God that you weren't here
To see me like that
But in a box beneath my bed
Is a letter that you never read
From three summers back
It's hard not to find it all a little bitter sweet
Thatâs from Tim McGraw.Â
She just likes that image. It recurs. Itâs not about Karlie, and itâs not about Lily, and itâs obviously not about Joe. Itâs just a pretty turn of phrase. She loves counting in summers and Cruel Summers and the summer in Betty/augustâŠ. Itâs not something she associates with one person.Â
Ladies and gentlemen, will you please stand?
With every guitar string scar on my hand
I take this magnetic force of a man to be my
Lover
My heart's been borrowed and yours has been blue
All's well that ends well to end up with you
Swear to be over-dramatic and true to my
Lover
This whole wedding bit doesnât make sense for either Kaylor or Tily or Swiftgron. Like sheâs constantly questioning Karlieâs commitment to her. And you want me to believe sheâs singing vows? Lol no.Â
And you'll save all your dirtiest jokes for me
And at every table, I'll save you a seat
Lover
Very cute. Very non-specific. Not about any one partner.Â
So this supposed ode/serenade to Karlie doesnât feature any of the images associated with her and doesnât include any details that actively fit their relationship arc as described elsewhere except for jealousy and possibly love at first sight.Â
These three peppy love songs - which make up the minority of songs on the album - are about Taylorâs manifestations for the future. ITHK could be about the industry more generally. The other two are describing what she wants and what she pictures as ideal for a relationship.Â
So conclusions: a large chunk of the songs on Lover arenât about romance. Many, many are about Karlie. Afterglow could be about Lily and some of the regrets Tay had about the split. Paper Rings, I Think He Knows and Lover arenât about anyone in particular.Â
Last thought: I agree that Itâs Nice To Have a Friend is about lesbians generally. But also possibly about Karlie, in which case the final verse is Karlie choosing the marriage with Josh and in that case the song is fucking devastating and heartbreaking. But tbh a lot about Kaylor is so itâs no surprise đ€·đ»ââïžÂ
itâs so interesting to me how much of lover is about losing faith in the traditional ideals of patriotism and religion and replacing that with the concept of love being the only real important thing. âamerican glory burning before meâ and âdesperate people find faith, so now i pray to jesus tooâ contrasting with like..... the entirety of false god, the point being that even if love is temporary itâs still pretty much the only Good solid thing in this world
to me, lover is about losing faith, in government, in politics, in religion... and then finding it again in love. in romantic relationships, in self-love, in activism for a cause close to your heart. in loving yourself and the people around you and trying to share that love with the world.
How is "can we always be this close" about a long-distance relationship?? It just doesn't make sense to me.
"Can I go where you go?" đ
And then talking about New York being both of their favorite city when one doesn't live in New York??
Is it supposed to be comical? I just don't understand why you would sing about being so close to someone you live in a DIFFERENT COUNTRY from. I've had long distance relationships with people living in another state, one being 3k miles away and I didn't actually feel close to them. I felt fucking far as hell away from them. It was brutal. I don't recommend.
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But let me put on my tinfoil hat for a second... what if the shot to make it look like it might say '--- Sur' is intentional? It's the first close shot we get of her headband, after all..
Ok so obviously Lover has a LOT of blue imagery from âitâs blue, the feeling I gotâ in Cruel Summer to âmy heartâs been borrowed and yours has been blueâ in Lover to âeven if it makes me blueâ in Paper Rings. I could go on, but we get the point. I read that the theory (unless itâs been confirmed) is that Lover is the opposite of Red. Red was bright with passion and burning, but also rage and anger. Blue is calm and contentment and peace, but also sorrow and fighting. This album is the counterpart to Red (which also explains some of the nods to Red lyrics on the album). The point is, to expand on the theory some more, I was rewatching old Taylor music videos today, and I noticed in IKYWT music video her hair is pink. At the beginning of the Lover era, Taylor had pink hair. In the Me! Music video her hair turns blue at the beginning. This is the first nod to the transition to blue, and the pink hair was a nod to IKYWT on Red!
thinking about how in the second verse of âitâs nice to have a friendâ the way she says itâs nice to have a friend in context is almost like she is trying to downplay her decidedly more-than-friendly feelings by shoving them into the friend compartment. whereas in the third verse they are clearly romantically together at this point but itâs still nice to have a friend because they started out as friends and friendship is still the basis of their relationship even though now itâs so much more and basically she wants to hang out with him for her whole life and iâll never be okay again