#taylor analysis

Lover is complex and I’ve said in conversation with a friend ( @septembersghost ) that what makes it so compelling is that it is the most contextual of Taylor’s discography. It requires all 6 of its predecessors to be fully understood. It’s got lyrical reference to RED, clear sonic references to Fearless (Paper Rings) and debut (Soon You’ll Get Better). And you could make a case for thematic references to all 6 albums. Without understanding the whimsy and enchantment of Speak Now, can you understand the real intention behind “I like shiny things, but I’d marry you with paper rings”?

I said this to Jaime @cages-boxes-hunters-foxes in a conversation on her blog the other day, but it is also a glimpse and predictor of the Indie sound and vibe she would lean into on folkmore. We have bringing back fictional stories (which she hadn’t done openly since YBWM), exploring different productions and sounds, bringing back a country vibe (which would be very prominent on evermore), and centering plain and uncomplicated lyrical storytelling while letting the complexities of the production and sonic quality bring it to life in a way that she had never previously mastered.... which I would say is quite Indie in style...

But all that aside, the actual reason Lover is the album I turn to most is because its the album that has the songs I feel most understood by in my darkest moments (The Archer, Afterglow) and the songs I feel most understood by in my happiest moments (ME!, Daylight, Lover). The reason I said I still stand by my previous conceptions of Lover as too long and full of filler is related to that conversation with Jess I mentioned above. Lover is so contextualized with Taylor’s past work that every song will correlate to sounds or themes (or both) from at least one previous album. If a song from Lover feels like filler to you, chances are it correlates to albums or songs that aren’t your vibe. ITHK for me feels like it says nothing.... In exactly the same way AYHTDWS does. London Boy is one a lot of people feel is filler, but to me it’s VITAL! It also really correlates to the whole motif of London/NY that she’s been driving home since RED which has come to mean a fuck ton to me and might mean less to others.

So Lover is full of filler... but what you will hear as filler depends on your experience with the rest of her discography. The anti-ME! people will likely not jive with the other lighter more fun playful pop songs like Stay Stay Stay or Shake it Off or little Speak Now (and yes, I count her in this because she is a part of this story!!!). To me, ME! is one of the most incredible softest and beautiful songs Taylor’s ever released. I am still not a big fan of INTHAF, even though I like it more now than I used to. I hate the fact that we get the wedding at the end... anyway, KOMH is also not my favorite song (though I like it more than I used to).

Lover is however, incredibly complex.... and back to the fact that it’s the album I feel most understood by in both my dark and my light..... It’s the most holistic of Taylor’s albums. Lover isn’t just one thing, it’s all the things. Taylor said it was a love letter to love itself, and you can hear that in all of its complexities. Lover is every emotion rolled into one. It’s every emotion at the same time!

Actually, I think you're right to try and make that conversation more nuanced but I'm also not coming up with that many examples (though maybe you can). Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, Lady Gaga (though she's Taylor's contemporary more or less). Adele is respected as a performer but not in that pop star way.

A few more I can think of, but I think part of the point was female artists who can reach the upper stratospheres of fame and also not only write their own songs but be known for it. Madonna wrote but I don't feel like it's a central part of her image, like people wouldn't refer to her as a singer-songwriter. And that may be the real point, that very few female artists have presented themselves the way Taylor has. If you have counter examples I would be interested.

Also, one thing I wanna say about cultural commentary on Taylor in general: it feels to me like there is very little objectivity going on there, where either it's coming from within fandom and getting exaggerated to some extent or it's coming from people hellbent on taking her down a peg. A great example of this is how everyone reacts when Taylor breaks some Beatles chart record — people who don't get how the streaming era is not comparable to 1964 and also people who pretend like that difference makes it easier for an album to go number one on a given chart.

Honestly? I'm not sure. I want to believe people are genuine in their dislike of her music but in my experience there are a lot of people who seem incapable of voicing their musical dislike of her without attacking her in all respects.

I try to take criticism of her music in good faith but it can be difficult when a lot of the criticism she garners as an artist is very similar to the type of thing people say about Paul, despite them being radically different musicians in many respects. But the fact they are both notorious workaholics who first and foremost want to make their audience happy and want to come across as nice people is not lost on me, nor on a lot of people.

Hi anon thank you for this message! I love that you brought this up because the multifaceted-ness is what makes Anti-Hero brilliant imo.

This is interesting to me, because to me the song is specifically about the way in which what other people say about you can irrevocably muddle the way you see yourself. So my interpretation is that Taylor can't tell anymore whether it's satire or not. It really is like that meme: Maybe I'm the problem.

It's that moment someone points out a flaw to you that you maybe slightly agree with ("I get older but just never wiser") or one you could spend hours psycho-analysing yourself over, in the hopes of uncovering your true subconscious intentions ("Did you hear my covert narcissism I disguise as altruism"). It's the irreparable damage of having lived under public scrutiny your entire adult life and before that.

And I think it gets at a huge truth about self-deprecation: that at some point painting yourself as a villain becomes ridiculous, because you're just a person like anyone else, and people who hate you can't possibly be right about everything.

I also like that you can read "I'm the problem it's me" as part of the torrential self-hatred spiral or a moment of self-awareness, that the problem is in her head and is the fact that she has all these thoughts in the first place. Both are genuine, I wouldn't classify them as satirical. Or if anything, I think it might more be satire of self-hatred spirals, rather than outside critics, if that makes sense. Though of course, the self-hatred is extremely informed by these critics.

re:Anti-Hero: Yeah I love it, and I think you're really onto something with that being one of the thesis statements of Midnights. Acknowledging flaws head-on but in a "please see that I'm just a human" way!

I've had this vibe from Don't Blame Me for a long time, definitely since before Lover came out, but songs that followed confirmed this to me more and more – The song, on the one hand, feels like Blank Space Pt II, like it's playing with this man-eater, love-obsessed image she's acquired; on the other hand, I think it's a totally honest confession of a slight obsessive tendency. (and that's not to say I think that's all love is to Taylor) Why exactly, I couldn't tell you, but I guess it's that the song isn't exactly… Funny? But it also doesn't feel put-on to be sexy.

It’s a promise. Hear me out...

so we hear references to Joe’s depression on all three albums now... We know that like... he’s been very low. So hoax picks up when he’s in the middle of a depressive episode, saying he’s going to leave because this isn’t fair to her and she’s like “no. What’s not fair is you thinking that this love is conditional.”

she’s hurt and angry that he doesn’t trust what they built. “what you did was just as dark” references distrusting this relationship. “darling this was just as hard, as when they tore me apart” references her emotional vulnerability.

But also “you knew the hero died so what’s the movie for”/”you knew you won so what’s the point of keeping score” while talking about the pain underneath her scars.. She’s like “what is the point of all of this? like I was in serious pain and you helped me through that and now you don’t want to give me the chance to do that for you? Are you kidding me???”

It’s a promise that she will always love his shades of blue. That she’s a fire and she’ll keep him warm as she says in peace. It’s a promise that she’s going nowhere - and will be damned if he does.