Source: https://x.com/TSwiftEdits_13/status/1781449512244117821
This piece is included in the CD insert. I think this is an important to read before going into the album as it provides context. I wish it was done as a spoken piece as part of the album to hear the emotion she would use to portray these words.
However, I am thankful for those who have their copy of the CD already and have shared it (mine is still making its way to me via post).
I think it would benefit listeners to read this prior to listening to understand where her headspace was when this period of her life happened.
Taylor wants us to know this period in her life was a mutual manic phase, where she left the oven and went straight into the microwave. To me, this reads as her leaving her long-term relationship (oven), into something that is later referred to on track 12 'loml' as a "get-love-quick scheme" (microwave).
Ovens heat up slowly and if left unchecked, whatever is in there is going to turn into ashes eventually, whereas microwaves can heat up fast and destory what's in there quickly. She's using this to tell us the difference between these relationships, but neither produced anything successful and both burned down in the end.
She also tells us that she went temporarily insane and explains this with having been caged for too long and then was set free, but was still in a vulnerable place. What happened next was a little rat of a man who took advantage of her when she was in this headspace and love bombed her. Making everything so much worse than it had to be. She refers to him as being one of the worst men and later as the smallest man who ever lived on track 14.
A lot of critics don't understand this album and think Taylor has done too much here and needs an editior, but that's the point. The point of this album is meant to illustrate Taylor's temporary insanity and her manic phase; that's why it is wordy and it feels like a lot. She's done it this way so we can become immersed in the emotions of how she was feeling when this was all happening to her. The critics aren't doing enough research into the thematics of the album.
I standby this album not being for the general public, but rather this is for herself and for those fans who know the lore and know it well. It's for the fans who understand her as a writer and storyteller. The general public and the critics only really know Taylor for her radio hits and this album is not for them.
This is something she discussed during the Melbourne Eras Tour Night 1, which you can watch here. She called this album her life line.
