Taylor Swift and the Metaphors
In honor of Midnights, Taylor Swift’s newest album released on October 21st, I’m breaking down some of my favorite metaphors in Taylor’s lyrics. Over the past several years, I’ve been hyper-fixating on Taylor’s albums (especially, but definitely not limited to, Taylor’s Versions). I’ve rediscovered some old favorites, come across songs that I missed entirely, and even memorized Reputation, which I had intentionally avoided. Taylor has a song for every mood. Betrayal, disappointment, vengeance, joy, nostalgia. No surprise universities are teaching writing courses featuring Taylor Swift. Every metaphor is a doorway to peek into her experience of family, romance, and friendship. Taylor’s life and art are built on relationships.
You drew stars around my scars, and now I’m bleeding.
cardigan, folklore (2020)
Ouch. This one gets me every time. Relationships can cause hurt but relationships are also where we find healing. And sometimes, the relationships that heal can also hurt. Through great love can also be great grief. We know this from Taylor’s entire discography, but even for her, it’s rare to see one line capture the betrayal of a once soothing relationship turning into yet another wound. I wonder if those scars were from the same relationship, portrayed here as a sign of a repeating cycle of hurt, heal, and hurt again.
I made you my temple, my mural, my sky.
Tolerate It, Evermore (2020)
Now I’m begging for footnotes in the story of your life.
Worship and dedication. Admiration and commitment. In just a few words, Taylor paints a picture of the monument created in her mind of her lover. The heartbreak of making someone your entire world and learning that you’re an afterthought. It’s hard to write more about a succinct line that captures the message so thoroughly.
Darling, I’m a nightmare dressed like a daydream
Blank Space, 1989 (2014)
Yaaaaasssss. This line is sooooo chaotic in the best possible way. I remember the first time I heard Blank Space on the radio, I thought it was someone making fun of how much Taylor had been in the “news” about her relationships. Almost like she was the only celebrity playing the field. When I realized it was her singing about herself, I appreciated her sense of humor. This line gives us insight into how Taylor views herself, at least the caricature in the media, as someone who is so chaotic, who’s spending energy masking for the sake of fame and publicity, who’s not allowed to just be her very human self. This song was released in 2014 on the album 1989, which puts Taylor at about 25, the age at which your brain is working on wrapping up development. Already by 25, Taylor had received so much fame and cruelty at a time when most folks are still creating who they are. I wonder how all of this impacted her identity development, and the echoes of this impact are visible in every album after 1989, especially Midnights (but that album calls for it’s own post).
His love was like driving a new Maserati down a dead end street.
Red (Taylor’s Version), Red (Taylor’s Version) (2021)
How much do I love this lyric. So vivid. There’s a reason car ads don’t show cars driving down cul-de-sacs; it’s not visually interesting or adventurous in the way car dealerships want you to think of cars. Taylor’s powerful visual of how love can be passionate and powerful and such a freaking let down . I wonder if, at the height of the relationship, she felt like the love would last forever or at least, longer than it did. The dead end street is the abrupt end to the relationship , unexpected and anticlimactic.
To be in relationships, with yourself and with others, is to have all the feelings. Critics will talk shit about anything, but there’s no arguing that Taylor’s emotional expression through songwriting has connected her to the lived experience of fans all over the world. I hope her metaphors help her process the relationships that hurt.
