TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT DEEP DIVE: Taylor Swift album breakdown part 2 🤍🕯️🎧
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- Опубліковано 9 лют 2025
- Welcome back to our breakdown of The Tortured Poets Department by Taylor Swift!! Today I am diving deep into this album, the lyrical parallels, hidden references, easter eggs and metaphors in Guilty As Sin, Who's Afraid of Little Old Me, I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can), loml, I Can Do It With A Broken Heart, The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived, The Alchemy and Clara Bow!!! I love exploring Taylor's songwriting from an analytical perspective, squeezing the juice out of these tracks to find all the potential hidden meanings, and I can't wait to read all of your insights in the comments. Don't forget to enter the international TTPD giveaway!! Thank you guys for being as excited about music as I am 🥹
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Welcome back pals!! Thanks so much for all the love on part 1, don't forget to enter the giveaway if you haven't already!
☕ The Tortured Poets Department Deep Dive: Part 1: ua-cam.com/video/FI3gBYqQX3g/v-deo.html
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Any chance you’ll do a deep dive of songs 17-31 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻
@@micheller759 I would like to eventually! I think I may need to take a break and work on some lighthearted content for a little moment while I’m going through some stuff, but I definitely want to talk about the anthology 🤍
I need part 3 and 4 to cover The Anthology. You are the absolute best Ally!!!
Please do the anthology songs too whenever you get a chance.
@AllySheehan of course, take your time please you are more important than your work 🫶🏻
“ovulation songs” always get me omg… ally i love your sense of humor
thank you for the heads up because I'm kinda grossed out by this specific trend of internet humor. So imma go ahead and skip this video lol
@@lkcullen1918 no worries, i just want you to be comfortable! 🩷
@@lkcullen1918 okay?? skip it.. didn't need to reply though lol
@@lkcullen1918 you're miserable
@@lkcullen1918 The "ovulation" stuff only gets covered during the "Guilty As Sin?" portion, so if you really want to see the rest of the video, skip to 28:10.
the dead cedric edit with Guilty as sin over it sent me to the moon 😭
YESSS
14:05
absolutely SENTTTTT me!
The way Ally teaches me more than my literature teacher
(lit)erally tho
@@eddiesenchantedhahahahha
So proud of you
FRRRRRR
No seriously tho 😭😂
Please please please when you feel like it please please please do an Anthology deep dive too! You are truly one of my favorite UA-camr and probably the only person online I can watch talk about the Swift universe and just learn so many things while having fun. Its so cool to have someone who can share so easily their understanding of an artist without being patronising or falling in negativeness. Its just pure love and enjoyment of music. Its like a safe space for a casual listener who really love Taylor's music. So thanks! ♥️
Pleeeeaaasssee 😂 LOL I would love a deep dive into the anthology too with as many parts are she needs! 🥰🩷
I completely agree!!!
Love Ally and her thoughts about Taylor
Strong agree.
The number of times you said, "Please" got me thinking of Sabrina Carpenter's song lol
I was looking for a comment like this to add my voice to. I really want Ally’s take on The Anthology!
DROP EVERYTHING NOW MEET ME IN THE NEW ALLY VIDEO!!!!
I dropped my baby ... lessgo 👺🧑🦽⛷️
SCREAMINGGGGGGGGGG so excited!!
@@Pipsreader3Bye bye babyyyyyy🎵💛
These replies are gold
@@lance6471 😔that baby was everything to ME ! he he he he he ho ho ho 😍🥰😘
the “5, 4, 3, 2, 1, bitch dive!” kills me every time😂
When I first heard TSMWEL, I interpreted the line “you tried to buy some pills from a friend of friends of mine; they just ghosted you; now you know what it feels like” as almost like Taylor feels addicted to his love. He was a drug addict, and was ghosted by a dealer, leaving him feeling unhappy/not satisfied. When Taylor says “now you know what it feels like”, she’s saying he now knows the feeling she gets when she’s being ignored. Almost saying, his love is a drug.
yessssssss
I wondered if it doesn’t go a step further. I firmly believe the “miracle move on drug” in Fortnight is a rebound relationship, not either drugs or alcohol (functioning alcoholic). I have wondered whether this line is even actually about Matty having a relapse and going to a dealer they both know. Maybe he hit on one of her gorgeous friends when he blew up their fling and was shut down?
Christian Swiftie here! This is my favorite album of Taylor’s regardless of the religious references. The way I see it, a lot of the criticism she presents towards people who call themselves Christians is valid, because the behavior she condemns (judgment, hatred, guilt trips, etc.) doesn’t actually represent what the Christian faith should be. It’s just the behaviors of flawed people who miss the point of it all and wrongly equate their own opinions with what is “morally right”.
Also, just because I’m a Christian doesn’t mean I can’t recognize when someone is just using faith metaphors and not disrespecting my worldview. I think a lot of the hatred towards Taylor because she references Christianity is goofy - she’s an autobiographical songwriter, so if she’s had a journey with Christianity and religion in general, of course she’s going to reference it.
All love here! I really enjoy your videos and appreciate how you try to treat all points of view with respect, including my religion.
Thank you, @ashlynkarguth1629! Came here to make a very similar comment! 👏❤️
As a Christian, I personally do not feel targeted by Taylor’s lyrics whatsoever. There are so many toxic people out there masquerading as students of Jesus who deserve big fat Fs, printed in red at the top of their tests, because they clearly misunderstood the assignment.
If anyone feels personally attacked by Taylor’s lyrics… Sounds to me like her words found their mark. 🎯
another Christian Swiftie here- I completttttttttttttely agree!!
This is itttt! As a Christian, that's exactly what I think too! She's using religious references as metaphors, many people do the same thing in their songs and tbh I don't see anyone else going through as much scrutiny as she does (as per usual, unfortunately). And if by any chance someone feels like a song disrespects their worldview they could just... skip it?? It's really that simple, ppl don't need to write entire essays on the internet, no one is making them listen to her songs or be her fans, it's so easy to just not listen...
Ally, you have absolutely nailed it again. Your analysis of LOML, one of the most misunderstood songs on the album, is spot on. It’s so refreshing to hear someone who understands the songs on their own terms, but also in the context of the rest of the album, her discography and her personal life. Bravo!
wow thank you so much pal!
Why is it misunderstood? I'm genuinely asking because everyone I watch who talks about and analyzes Taylor's albums had the same loml interpretation as in this video, so I was wondering what were the theories and the analysis of those people who misunderstood it? It seems kinda straightforward to me, but I still want to hear other ideas even though they may be wrong.
Btw, another song that I think is often misunderstood is "Alchemy", some say it's about Matty, some say it's about Travis, and honestly I'm still undecided, there are many compelling arguments for both opinions. Either way, I really love discussing this album and watching people who analyze it, it's so fun!
@@MayaMickaMicak A lot of people online are adamant loml is about her long term relationship “because how could it be about her two week fling?”
@@DCMultiCollectorexactly! Almost every everyone said that it was about Joe
@@btng and I felt like I was taking crazy pills
the alchemy is track 15, 8 + 7 is 15 but also the lyric is in your life you'll do things greater than dating the boy on the football team in the song fifteen
omg
This is so interesting especially when you also consider what number Travis wears…
@@emilybrown9090that's the point sherlock
I am a high school teacher, and I felt SO SEEN during your breakdown of I can do it with a broken heart. There were so many moments during my first year that I had to slap on a smile and literally perform my lessons. But now it is summer where I get to hang out with my Taylor Bestie for a few hours 🤍
wow i am SO proud of you!!! teachers are incredible
My son is getting ready to start High School! 😭😭😭
THANK YOU for what you do for our kids! Teachers are some of THE most important and impactful people in a child’s life.
My Stepmother, Aunt & little Sister are Teachers.
Please know you are SO appreciated! If there's any way I can get a gift to you, I'd love to! Keep your head up!
🩵🫶🩵
Same here, thank you Ally! One of my students asked me what my favorite Taylor song was, and I made the small mistake of saying it was champagne problems. It increased their empathy for me, but it also lifted the veil on the 'act' that teaching can be, and sometimes needs to be.
I'm a teacher too and the performance is so real, you are so right
same! as i teacher, i FELT that song in my bones
Re: 'drowning in the blue nile' its also saying how she's drowning in denial, refusing to see that this relationship is over. ie. 'Denial isnt just a river in Egypt'
Also cleopatra queen of denial. Great old Pam Tillis song
Musician here! To answer your question about the intro to loml it does not resemble a waltz. Waltzes are, by definition, dance songs that are in 3/4 time (the beat is in groups of 3). Loml is in 4/4 time so the beats are grouped by 4s
But another song on this album is a waltz - and it's Peter, that as we all know by now is about Matty
Came here to say this, and also that I take this as potentially referencing a couple of other things: learning the right steps to different dances and also the tradition of having a waltz as the couple's first dance at a wedding.
@@SallySimply the dance in general is a part of imagery related to Matty, they dance in cowboy like me f ex, he dances with her in the video of Oh Caroline (that references Taylor’s Delicate video) etc
It’s a symbol of the relationship but also looks like something that probably happened in real life
It does, however, have a heavy emphasis on the third beat of the measure and a sort of triplet-like feel. Almost like it's trying to be a waltz but the beat is just a bit off. Which feels like a lyrical similarity.
there is also that initial rest and then the tie in the middle of the bar so ig it feels like you lose a beat
I need a white horse + loml mashup now! Taylor if you're watching take notes 😅😆
Noted
There's mashups here on UA-cam if you look them up!
@@williamsevern1067william Bowery??
Coming back to this comment to literally say I can’t believe she did it in Miami!!!!
@@MitchCraftt she always watches Ally’s videos 😅
I took “your God” not as a distancing herself from faith or believing in God, but rather her saying the God that the judgmental, hateful people believe in is not the God she knows. This is something I really relate to as a lifelong Christian who regularly attends church and also sometimes wonder if the people I attend church with are actually worshipping the same God I do and following the same Jesus I do because they don’t show grace and love to everyone… not even everyone in our congregation. It’s the influence of politics in religion in America that has created two types of Christians in this country… the “Christian Right” who are anti-LGBTQ, anti-abortion, anti-welfare, anti-immigrant, etc. who think they can strongarm America into being a “Christian Nation” through legislation and judges “vs. the “Liberal Christians” who believe in God and Jesus and the Bible, but also respect the American freedom of religion (including the right to not ascribe to any religion) and loving the sinner even if you reject the sin and ministering to those most in need of grace and love… not judging and condemning them.
As a fellow Christian I agree one hundred percent.
Yes this sentiment exactly!! I came to the comments to write this but you already did haha
Yes! Follow christian as well. There is a classic book, "Your God is Too Small", by J.B. Phillips which explores this idea. Now, Phillips was an Anglican Priest, and there are those who would claim that various Anglican Churches (the U.S. Episcopal Church, Church of England) have ordained LGBT priests ("Boys and Boys and Girls and Girls"), are really not "Christian".
Fundamentally, the God that various conservative Christians worship a very different God, or at least a different conception of God, than the understanding of God of Progressive Christianity (which tends to be much more loving and much less judgmental).
Yeah, the vibe I’ve gotten from Taylor’s recent music is less a full deconstruction and more her being more of a progressive Christian - the type of person to point out that Jesus washed the feet of sex workers and flipped the church’s money tables
Yes 1000%. I don't know what Taylor's religious beliefs are or aren't, but I relate.tovthese songs because it does represent my own frustration with those who use God as an excuse to judge and hate others.
I think "I Can Do It With A Broken Heart" is a composite sketch, about both break-ups, evidenced by the change in the chorus.
"He said he'd love me all his life - but that life was too short" shows the kind of life Joe would want to live with Taylor was too small for her (note it refers to "his life": obviously that fits the first line in the usual way, but can also be interpreted that it was the kind of life HE envisioned for them that ultimately wasn't feasible for her).
"He said he'd love me for all time - but that that time was quite short" clearly refers to Matty and Taylor actually being together for onle a short while. From a songwriting perspective, I feel like the choruses would feel stronger the other way around - first "quite short", then "too short" - which convinces me this is to reflect the chronology. I could see it all being about Matty, but the song feels much stronger if it applies to both (and in that was also including previous break-ups/drama + tours, as you refer to, Ally). Maybe a little farfetched, but definitely my head-canon 🤭
@mb-k6466 I saw a post talking about the way she sings "he said he'd love me all his life and then he'd love me for all time" is how it would sound if you were crying really hard and trying to talk also. Now every time I listen to the song I can't unhear it.
@@AmyHathaway-yb2nx The way it is divided up by her breaths? Yeah, I get what you mean. Or at the very least that she is unable to breath calmly, either due to crying or working so hard to entertain, by keeping on dancing and "trying to stay afloat" (cue cardigan mv ocean scene)
Yes I agree! It's about both of them and I think several of the songs are about both. I also think more songs are about Joe than they think. I've been divorced and it's hard to just cut someone out of your brain cold turkey, you still think about them here and there even when you don't want to.
14:55 I think the grave is also directly referencing her current (at the time) relationship, where her passion ran out, left her grey and without a pulse, clinging to a sinking ship. The waves crashing also kind of tells a story about how the ship in So Long, London was finally pulled under, well and truly sunk.
So many layers
I haven’t gotten to that part of the video yet so I apologize if ally says this but that also reminds me of ‘eyes like sinking ships on waters so inviting I almost jump in’ from gold rush
@@nea.bug13 she doesn't! That... 🤯
woww yes great pick up!!
@@nea.bug13Matt’s eyes do look like sinking ships…
Literally went through a divorce and a breakup with 2 small children and I Can Do It With A Broken Heart was EXACTLY how I felt as a single mom crying after bedtime and then having to suck it up during the day and fake my smile. It’s such a relatable song.
you are an incredible mum!!
✨🤍T I M E - S T A M P S🤍✨
00:50 - Guilty As Sin?
28:12 - Who’s Afraid Of Little Old Me?
41:48 - I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)
48:27 - loml
1:05:42 - I Can Do It With A Broken Heart
1:15:43 - The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived
1:28:49 - The Alchemy
1:36:32 - Clara Bow
Thank you, but I'm gonna watch the whole video!
you are so important ! literally bless u
ty
‘I dream of cracking locks / Throwing my life to the wolves / Or the OCEAN ROCKS’ - literally Taylor diving into the stage during the eras tour before midnights ( which some might argue…breakup album)
Wow 🤯
🤯🤯
Gives my tears ricochet too
Also hoax "stood on the cliffside screaming give me a reason"
loml thought: Just Kids is also the title of the Patti Smith (of “you’re not Dylan Thomas, I’m not Patti Smith”) memoir.
Oh my lord that is so co
Can we also talk about how Travis used a makeup brush on stage to put the color make into her face 😮 I was shook.
Also in Who's Afraid of Little old me - “Let's hear one more joke... and we'll all laugh until I cry" also reminds me of "The jokes weren't funny, I took the money" from You're on your own kid. But for me, both lines specifically take me to the Ellen interview when she bullied Taylor into tears over her dating life. There are other examples, many, many others, which breaks my heart for her. Also, on first listen, I didn't even notice the play on words in the "laugh until I cry" lyric. "I laughed until I cried" usually means something is so funny you laugh until tears come out your eyes, but because her delivery is so tormented, it can only be taken literally. Perfect.
Taking this together with the Clara Bow lyric about being the real thing in a fake town… when I watch some old interviews back when Taylor was first breaking big, especially some of the Ellen interviews, I’m pretty sure her team decided not to give her any media training because their who,e concept selling her revolved around unshaped Authenticity. But Taylor even when very young and not used to Hollywood is emotionally intelligent enough to sense that those jaded people were both laughing with her and at her. That’s a pretty awful feeling, and even though the strategy worked brilliantly, it must have been painful for her.
For me, loml is ivy part 2. She got away from her 'husband' to go be with the one who was 'putting roots in her dreamland'. The one she'd been meeting 'where the spirit meets the bone' while she was 'grieving for the living' aka they were 'still alive, killing time at the cemetery, Never quite buried'.
His 'touch brought forth an incandescent glow' which is why she
'Felt aglow like this
Never before and never since'.
He had 'opal eyes' in ivy, which were 'somber eyes' in loml.
In ivy she said 'it's a fire
It's a goddamn blaze in the dark
And you started it' which pretty directly parallels to 'Our field of dreams, engulfed in fire, Your arson's match your somber eyes'
He put roots in her dreamland and lit a fire within her, but then he ended up burning down the dreamland as well
Omg you just fucked me up with that... genius
omg yay perfect timing, just sat down to eat lunch!!
Lol for me it’s 6 in the morning
It’s 8 am for me
Opposite for me, I just finished eating lunch right before she uploaded 😂
5pm and I'm watching House of the Dragon 🐉😅
It’s 5 am 🙂↔️
28:11 THE ELPHABA IMAGE YESSSS this is the only thing I could think about upon hearing this the first time. it’s just a great villain origin story, the imagery taylor creates is fantastic. I wish this would be performed in a award show, it has so much potential to gag everyone there
it was between her and mona vanderwaal so i'm glad elphie is being appreciated!
@@AllySheehan hahaha mona would be too! I love when you talk about PLL 💜
1:26:32 I heard someone say that "rental car" could be referred to as their relationship, as Taylor has already compared cars to relationships like in getaway car, "rental car" meaning that he viewed their relationship as temporary, which is also a very interesting point of view in my opinion! Also I think I remember from last year an actual video of Matty kicking out the lights on his stage right after their breakup, so my mind went straight to that listening to this part.
Taylor doesn’t just write about her relationships, she writes about the incidental but brief emotions, thoughts or musings and turns them into something extraordinary. Therein lies her genius.
Even if their relationship only lasted a few weeks, it was building up over the years, and the nuances of emotions gave us this brilliant album.
So, as a believer (Christian), my perspective on the Guilty As Sin lyrics - it’s not about having control over the thoughts that pop into our heads. We don’t have control over that. What we CAN control is choosing which thoughts we dwell on. We do have the power to reject a “bad” thought.
Per Scripture, we are supposed to think on things that are holy and good and “throw away” the unholy thoughts. I hope that makes sense! I love your deep dive videos!! ❤
Completely agree on this as a Christian too ❤
yup as a Catholic Christian I love that explanation!!
I came here to say this!
You said this with wonderful clarity and conciseness, thank you for contributing to this point ❤
Totally agree with that!! I don’t think our thoughts alone are the sins, we can’t control every thought we have, like you said❤️
I love your analysis! You do such a great Job of dissecting the songs while connecting them to other songs on this album as well as other albums. You are eloquent and well spoken. I really appreciate your knowledge and your your ability to bring different thoughts together cohesively and share it with everyone. I've followed a lot of different people who break down this album on UA-cam and on podcasts and you are by far my favorite due to your intense depth that you explore. Thank you for making these videos and please keep making them. I really appreciate them. And they really help me. Appreciate the music even more so
Thank you so much Lauren!!!
So first…you REALLY need a job as a professor teaching one of the Taylor Swift literature courses at a University! You just make so many connections and are able to talk about them so clearly. Amazing and impressive. Those Universities need to reach out and hire you. Your analysis of the religious references alone along with ties to her prior work is brilliant.
Second, your discussion of I Can Do It With a Broken Heart really hit home. I’m a nurse anesthetist and my ability to do my job during the abrupt end of my 15 year relationship is perfectly captured by this song. I was a wreck, but when you put people to sleep and keep them alive during surgery you have to be able to compartmentalize and put that crap away so that you can take care of people safely. I’m proud of being able to do my job well and without my colleagues knowing anything was wrong in the face of a very big broken heart. Fake it till you make it.
Third, and on a much lighter note, there are a couple things in The Alchemy that make me wonder if there may be multiple muses/situations she is addressing here. Obviously there are a ton of American football references and she did play the song when Travis was in attendance at the 87th show. This is a big hint that the track is about Travis. But, the line “he jokes that it’s heroin but this time with an ‘e’ “ makes me lean toward a reference to MH, because I think it’s well known that in 2014 when they first met he was using heroin (aka Chocolate)…and I don’t see a context where Travis would make this joke. You make a good argument for the line “I haven’t come around in so long” being about her dating an American after years on the Brits, but it had also been a long time since she had been coming around MH, so might that be a reference to him and the long period of time between 2014 when they met and when they got back together? And “who are we to fight the alchemy” seems like “who are we to get in the way of fate” - and for this album as a whole it seems like an overarching theme is that she felt at the time that a relationship with MH was fate or destined to be. That being said, it’s a great song regardless, and I’d like to think it is just about Travis.
Finally, always love your commentary on Taylor’s music and I hope at some point we will get your take on the Anthology tracks. I actually have gravitated more toward those tracks the longer we’ve had TTPD and would love to hear your take on them. Some of my faves: The Black Dog, The Albatross, Peter, Chloe et al., and The Bolter. In my humble opinion the best track on the Anthology is The Prophecy…both devastating and great in equal measure.
Thanks again for your analysis of these tracks. Really stellar work.
Cynthia thank you so much for taking the time to share these words with me, I appreciate it so much!
I'm going through something similar to what you mentioned having to get through, so for me right now most of the anthology is quite painful to listen to. I'm hoping that if i take a little break and focus on more lighthearted content for a while, I can revisit those songs without them hitting so close to home
@@AllySheehanI am also looking forward to your take on The Anthology, but just as you made your channel a safe space for us, we also want you to feel the same. So take all the time you need.
I feel really understood, because I got out of an exhausting 4 and half year relationship, so I hope you know you're not alone in your tough time 🤗
Girl your hair is giving taylor in the green dress at that one charity dinner with Travis in the *best* way :)
oh this is the highest of compliments thank you
@@AllySheehan youre welcome!! ❤️😊
Loml is probably one of the saddest songs Taylor has ever written. Whether you interpret it to either relationship, it is a truly sad song and you absolutely analysed it perfectly.
Going to your waltz comment, someone said under the lyric video that Taylor has only ever had one waltz song and that song was Lover, a song where at the time she thought she had found the love of her life, which obviously completely contradicts this song. I have no idea though but if that’s the case that’s even sadder.
There’s so many comparisons to lyrics from other songs in her discography, not only from other albums but also this album many of which you said but I wanted to highlight a couple that I thought of.
For this album you have ‘Field of dreams’ which has another layer for me personally as it feels like it links back to the entirety of Guilty as Sin? and Fresh Out The Slammer. This field of dreams that she had and she thought the other person had interlinked with one another ‘vow we’ll uphold somehow’ have been burnt because the dream of the guy who was fresh out the slammer was really just a dream that lasted too short similar to I Can Do It With a Broken Heart ‘but that life was too short’.
Furthermore, phantoms and kind of counterfeit things is a theme that runs through the whole album, for instance, The Black Dog, The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived but in my opinion, the most interesting case is Peter ‘as the men masqueraded’ which you may talk about when you talk about it in a future video potentially. For me, it gives the sense that both men in the relationships were giving promises that never came to fruition as masqueraded means pretending to be something else and she was waiting for the person ‘letting the lamp burn’ whilst her 6 and a half year relationship was starting to feel like broken promises as the man pretended to be a forever thing making them both even more impactful and sad.
‘It was unnecessary, should’ve let it stay buried’ also kind of goes along the lines of ‘I wish you’d left me wondering’ from Would’ve Could’ve Should’ve. Just this complete and raw what if? that was completely not needed and could’ve been avoided if things had happened slightly differently but instead was sadly answered with devastation and deep regret.
There is so much to say about every song on this album and loml is certainly one of the ones with too much to say. And with that, hope you enjoyed my TED talk 😄.
I’ve been sitting on this for a while but the beginning of Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me is a very echoey soft version of the Mirrorball intro!!! It’s like she’s finally tired of being a Mirrorball and screaming at us!
Yes I can't hear WAOLOM without hearing mirrorball
My heart breaks for Taylor on "I can fix him, no really I can," because she is one of the most powerful people on the planet, and if she can't make someone become a better person, then no one can. I think it's a good lesson for everyone listening when she says "whoa, maybe I can't," because at the end of the day, a person can only change if they want to, they can't be made to by someone else.
@user-vy5fx4hk6h There is the aspect of him ghosting her which he seems to have done to other girls before , she couldn't change that aspect of his character
Omg perfect timing, my mental health is trash this morning/the past 3 weeks and your videos truly just bring me so much joy! I love the content but I also really appreciate the random pop culture references mixed in. You’re one of my favorite creators on the internet. Thanks for putting so much time and effort into these videos!
thank you so much for your kind words!!
the comparison of white horse and LOML has me crying on the train
This one is for Paramore fans: I Can Do It With A Broken Heart is Taylor After Laughter moment. One of the themes of that Paramore album is putting on a happy face while struggling on the inside. And in fact, during that era, Hayley Williams was on tour, performing, while her toxic marriage was falling apart and she battled suicide ideation. She even mentioned having her bandmate (and now boyfriend) Taylor York keeping her going, she even compared herself to a puppet and Taylor having to pull her strings - the little skit before ICDIWABH during the Eras Tour reminds me of thar. I bet Hayley relates a lot to this song.
girly. not only have you won my heart with how wonderfully you analyze shit, as a person w OCD whos immediate thought after hearing the 'someone told me theres no such thing as bad thoughts, only your actions talk' was my own intrusive thoughts, which were/are, specifically, s3xu4l in nature and I am SO fucking glad someone else sees it! especially since I think so much of my OCD wouldve been lighter on me if there wasnt the added weight of religious guilt
girl it is something that is so not spoken about enough, and i'm so sorry you have to deal with it!! i only learned about some of the more ~scary~ forms of OCD/intrusive thoughts this year that i know a lot of society would feel uncomfortable with, and i wanted to make sure anyone here who experiences that knows its okay and not their fault
Ally you could literally upload a video just reading the entire script of the Shrek movies and I'd listen blissfully. I love listening to your voice (in a none creepy way x)
LMAO the sped up "only in my miiiind" had me dead for no reason
A person she can dive into… she dove into the stage right before Midnights… genius.
Oooooh my god i never realized that she really is a ✨️MASTERMIND✨️
I Can Do it with a Broken Heart hits so hard for me, and I love that you mentioned the service industry. About a month into us talking, and right as I thought that I was really ready to give the relationship a chance, my (now) husband called me after an nine-hour shift to let me know that he wasn't going to be able to handle the distance and that he wanted us to be just friends, and then I still needed to wake up the next morning and have another nine-hour shift of service with a smile in back drive through. Having to wipe my tears away and recall my "customer voice" before opening my window for each car was so hard, but I DID make it through that day, and I will never not be proud of that.
Amazing analysis as usual 👏🏻 A note on Clara Bow for me is that when she first began it was still the era of radio stations limiting airplay of women’s songs to 1 woman per HOUR, so having it be linear, like Clara, then Stevie, then Taylor, then the next girl made me think of that. This was why “Lithithfair” was created. To show there was demand for female artists simultaneously.
Please do a deep dive on The Anthology?! Taylor Swift leaning into the Witchiness in lyrics & performance has to be one of my favorite things!
Also, i love when you show the connections between all of her songs, etc. I adore your deep dives into TayLore
I love how you deep dive in the lyrics, it really helps me understand the song more when I listen to it. Can't wait for the anthology talk!
Usually when I click on a UA-cam video, I instinctively think "Please don't be an ad". But before clicking on this one I thought "I hope there's an ad for such quality content and to support such a kind person"
"i pushed you to the edge but you were too polite to leave me" popped in my head when ally was talking about "i broke my own heart cause you were too polite to do it" and now i cant stop thinking abt it
I LOVE these deep dives! I learn so much. Thank you Ally! @1:27:10 when she says "You are what you did", I've always thought that to mean he ghosted her, so now he IS a ghost to her. As in she's moving on, he's insignificant and will be forgotten. Also referring back to the earlier line "they just ghosted you, now you know what it feels like". What he did was ghost her. And in several different songs she says how he haunted her. Here she has realised that he was a ghost all along and she can finally forget him. Just my two cents to add. I definitely think Taylor is brilliant in putting so many layers upon layers of meaning into her lyrics. And everyone who listens can still add their own interpretation. ❤
I never really appreciated how relatable "I Can Do It With A Broken Heart" is until last month. In my past relationships, I couldn't do anything with my broken heart. Then my dad passed away, the night of the viewing I arrived before my mom (I'm an only child) and when I saw him in the casket I started crying and I whispered "I'm a real tough kid I can handle my sh*t". When the clock struck 4 pm I said to myself "lights, camera, bit*h smile." I'll lose it later, not in front of my hometown.
i'm so sorry love, i can't even imagine a viewing and how hard that must have been
I can listen to you talk all day. This is my safe space. I had a very dark night, when depression brought up the worst of me and I just didn't want to exist. I'm trying to heal from that and I just came here to feel that safety of surrounding yourself with things you like. I love Taylor, I love her work. I can take refugee in them and feel my feelings in safety. You help me with that. You help me to make that space in my life with the music I like. Thank you Ally ❤
as somebody who’s been a fan for 15 yrs I truly appreciate you for doing this deep dive because it really helps out. ❤so thanks ally
OMG THE BLUE NIALL 😂 I'm dead
The Jason Kelce clip…perfection. 😂
My choice for the thesis statement for Guilty as Sin would be “I keep these longings locked in lowercase inside a vault”.
Just sums up what this song is about, and how guilty she feels for even writing about it. Just perfect
About Taylor referencing little details of relationships in her songs - I immediately thought of the iconic scarf from all too well, and the Polaroid picture ("they don't know about the Polaroid picture, they don't know how much I miss you") from the very first night! I'm sure there's so many examples of this, and I think it's a big part of her style of songwriting! And as always, thank you for the video Ally 🤍
The lyric “the hospital was a drag, worst sleep that I ever had” also reminds me of midnights. Her sleepless nights. AKA midnights was her time in the hospital. Her mind I can’t 😭
Also, when the eras tour became the TTPD version, the 1 was cut
yes!
1:17:00 the other really interesting starry eyes reference is cowboy like me, “eyes full of stars”! so it calls right back to i can fix him and cowboy like me
Can we appreciate all the effort Ally puts in for us? We love you Ally thank you!
The line “You hung me on your wall, stabbed me with your push pins” in The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived to me paints a picture of like a detective’s wall with photos and notes and pins and strings. Almost like this person was only in her life trying to solve the mystery and expose her, like you touched on later in the song. Just another meaning I found. Love your videos Ally!
I am so glad that you gave WAOLOM the massive deep dive that it deserves in this vid! It's definitely one of the most vulnerable songs she's ever released I think, every line is just so cutting and brutally honest that it takes me out every time I listen. Definitely agree that '... til the circus life made me mean' is the thesis statement, but I reckon the most visceral line is 'don't you worry folks, we took out all her teeth.' First time I heard it it actually made me shiver a little bit, just the imagery of her being caged, looking scary but not really being considered a threat-- the whole thing of someone being all bark and no bite. Anyway! Love this song, and I'm so glad it has a spot on the Eras setlist 🤍🤍🤍
I’ve been waiting for this one, woop woop
Throwing my life to the waves, or the ocean rocks is such a cool line. It sounds to me like she's inside and indoors, and however boring that might be, it's safe. On the other hand, if she escapes that, she's free and wild but she's out in the middle of the woods. There's no assurance that she'll be safe
I know others have said this before, but Ally does not go have to go this hard on these videos. The research, the editing, the overall effort she puts into them for us… we don’t deserve it, but thank you!
Fame is such a crazy concept. I think about it all time- the junction of how isolationg fame would be
OMG 2 HOURS OF ALLY - THIS IS PERFECT!!! 😍 Also thank you so much for the One Tree Hill recommendation - i am Naley OBSESSED (on season 3 finale rn)
ahhh omg season 3 is the best!! hope you're holding up okay after that finale
@@AllySheehan hahaha yea the cliffhanger hurt
(Minut 29.05) I think the start of writting of "who is affraid of little of me" was the golden globes, like the "joke" from jo koy. Because the line,"Lets hear one more joke" and the way she says it ...
oh great point
That’s my theory as well. Her not playing along and fake laughing to the joke about her in the monologue of a not well known host who was bombing got SO much attention because they had the reaction camera right on her. To me, that’s the record scratch moment that instantly came to mind the first time I heard Who’s Afraid.
I had forgotten all about that!! Thanks for making that connection
I also heard the ticking in the bridge of I Can Fix Him as the ticking of a rollercoaster as it nears the top of a big drop, where all the anticipation has been building to that moment and then as the ticking reaches the top and you start to go downhill, your stomach drops and you start going really fast, which I thought was like Taylor's moment of realization that she actually couldn't fix him, and everything came crashing down.
yesss! or like a ticking time bomb??
Thank you for the most appropriate in depth analysis for Guilty As Sin? It's one of my favorites she's ever written
it's so crazy to think back on all the songs on older albums that could have actually been about matty all along...I feel like I had a that's so raven eye zoom in moment
Psychologist over here (and person who has been in both intense and disfunctional relationships and a healthy happy stable one): it's the contrast with the lows that makes the highs seem higher, mixed with the relief; plus the fact that you idealize the highs because you need to hold on to them during the lows to tell yourself it's worth it. You're not really happier, it's more like an optical illusion + fooling yourself. In a healthy happy stable relationship with time and depth you can honestly find more profound happyness and feelings, in my experience, but I guess it takes more time and subtlety, and in general the whole relationship feels different - because you're not idealizing the other, which is a good thing, because it allowes you to love the real person and not the one you made up in your mind
Just a note on the religion thing, I think it’s important to remember that Christianity is a religion that has A TON of variation. There are Christians who would say that thoughts can be sinful, there are ones who would say that your actions are what you’re judged by and not your thoughts, there are Christians who would condemn masturbation, there are ones who don’t care at all about it, same goes for almost every major issue. I’m actually ex-Christian now and really not here to defend the religion, but it’s good to keep in mind just how much diversity there is within it.
I was going to say the same thing!
PLEASE breakdown the Anthology like this. So many of those are my favourite songs from this album!
Ally I looove the lyric parallels! It makes the listening experience so much more enriching and insightful
Talking about "Broken Heart" and the moment where you said something like "everyone deserves compassion - well not quite", it reminded me of a realisation I've been having recently through my trauma healing: everyone deserves compassion, but you don't owe everyone your compassion.
ALLY IM SO EARLY!!! Can’t wait to watch this!?
Getting Guilty As Sin as a surprise song after blasting it on repeat for weeks feels illegal - I had a ‘lowercase vault’ friendship bracelet with me all ready for the off chance I could give it to someone of her entourage that very evening 😂❤️
When you mentioned how Taylor takes personal details from relationships and puts them in her songs (in reference to loml), it immediately made me think of the intro to Last Kiss being the exact amount of time that Joe Jonas’s break up phone call to her lasted 💜
27:33 sorry, this is taking a bit to get through, but literally loving every single minute. Not an exaggeration. Please don’t apologize for making all these connections to other work. This is exactly what she wants from the listener and I’m truly appreciating all this help making those connections. Before this video, I couldn’t stand Guilty as Sin. Turns out I didn’t get it and never listened long enough again to fix that. Now it might end up being a top 5 song on the album entirely because of your analysis - I haven’t listened to it again since I haven’t finished your analysis but I’m very excited to do so when I am! Again, thanks for all the work you’ve put into this.
Loved the video!! This kind of videos look like they take so long to make, we really appreciate and enjoy them THANK YOU
Yay!! I JUST finished watching part 1 a couple hours ago, and was trying to mentally pace my excitement for part 2… and here you are!!🎉🤍
Ally I loved how you mentioned Christianity and ocd!! I have clinical ocd and Im also a Christian so it was always a hard topic for me to work through!! I just loved that you pointed that out!
what an interesting intersection!!! i'm sure you have wonderful perspective on both
It’s so interesting how split in the middle fans are about loml. I really loved your analysis - but I just can’t shake the feeling that this is about Joe rather than Matty. I feel like the placement on the album is particularly telling, coming right after “I Can Fix Him” and how she ends it with a realisation that she can’t fix him - the first sort of “oh wait I was wrong about this” feeling she’s alluded to so far on the album. I feel like putting “loml” next is her ruminating about how sad she is, having lost Joe - a longtime love of hers and now potentially thinking she’ll need to end things with Matty too.
I think with the opening:
Who's gonna stop us from waltzing / Back into rekindled flames? / If we know the steps anyway - Kind of paints a picture of: what if you (Joe) and I got back together? We were with each other for so long anyway, we know the steps/each other so well.
I think other parts too really just scream Joe to me like:
“You and I go from one kiss to gettin married” - how much marriage references are on reputation and Lover … “Still alive, killing time at the cemetery. Never quite buried” - how she is referring to herself as slowly dying on Midnights and TTPD being in this relationship with Joe, but still also holding on so tightly.
“You lowdown boy, you stand up guy” - personally, I immediately heard “London Boy” echoed in her lyric here - just such a cool flip on that. And then ‘stand up guy,’ how great all her fans thought he was.
The lyrics about paintings too - I think I remember a video (maybe GQ) where Joe said he collects paintings from an artist in Cornwall? And then the imagery around heaven and hell - as Ally said, referring back to False God and invisible string.
And the con man/get love quick scheme obviously does refer to Matty, but I feel like she’s talking about it in a way of “I did this thing to get over you, it didn’t work, I still feel this hole without you here.”
Cinephile - Joe is an actor … “I’ll never leave, nevermind” - The way he left her/not showed up for her.
I could go on and on! But I’ll stop because this is already too long haha! I think that the beauty of music is that everyone can attach their own feelings and perspectives to the songs, and I really, really love your interpretation Ally! (SORRY FOR THE LENGTHY COMMENT!!!)
i agree :))
The line about paintings 'your impressionist paintings of heaven turned out to be fakes" is a line about being conned into thinking you are buying an expensive piece of art but the painting is a forgery . Why I think some people may be convinced that its Joe or Matty is the similarities of them being moody artistic British men who probably had similar tastes. But what convinces me loml is is about Matty is that throughout its not a complimentary or even a romanitc song .
Its about an old lover who comes back into her life "rekindled flames " and repeatedly cons and lies to her "who's going to tell me the truth when you blew in with the winds of fate and told me I reformed you " . Also at no point does Taylor say this is the love of her life ,she says he told her she was the love of his life "loml" , that abbreviation is one Matty has used before on twitter when he called then girlfriend FKA Twigs "loml" online. He has called other girlfriends the love of his life before. Throughout the song there is reference to him not being what he claimed "coward claimed he was a lion" , and " combing through the braids of lies" -his lies were so deep and intertwined she can't unravel them . Cinephile doesn't just mean actor, it also tends to be a pretentious person with a love for arts /film and a deep knowledge of them ,Matty does give that vibe as well as Joe. This isn't a romantic song about longing or missing someone ,its a song about deep disappointment in someone's behaviour and manipulation.
I don't know when in the bloody hounds people think Matty Healy had the time to tell her she was the L word of his life, they were together for 2 to 3 weeks, c'mon...
He was in contact for all these years, but sending her horny jazzy songs, not asking her to have kids with him, for God sake 🙄 it's so obvious
I also super agree with the positioning on the album -- when having to confront the fact that this one was a bad deal is he moment when anyone would feel the lowest about losing the other 💁🏻
Last, but not least, she chose to name the song as an acronym, because they played scrabble together.
@philjan23 She has known Matty Healy since the 1989 era , something seems to have happened between them then. Even during her relationship with Joe he would publicly mention her in interviews and praise her .If he was saying this in interviews one can only surmise that throughout the decade when they were apart he could have been making all manner of romantic proclamations to her , trying to lure her away from Joe . He was working with Jack and also Taylor during the making of Midnights so they were circling each other for a long time
My favourite genius swiftie has posted❤❤❤❤❤❤❤🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
Matty having the audacity to say “we weren’t even that serious” is INFURIATING. I’d probably go insane too.
I always assumed the “sign on your heart says it’s still reserved for me” is his box in KC being reserved for her. There was probably a literal sign in the place that has his heart with her name on it
Yes thats so smart actually
one thing I was thinking about when you were talking about the whole preexisting vows thing was that Guilty As Sin is kind of Speak Now (the song) from the groom's perceptive. Instead of being the one ruining the wedding, she's the one realizing she's on a bad path and is needs to pivot to someone else.
Your videos are so in depth and unmatched. I really adore how you explore the religious references etc. I am a Christian (tho my relationship to Christ has changed a lot) and I love how you went to a summer youth group camp I used to do that. Taylor said in Miss Americana said she's a Christian but her values are different from many of those who claim to have those values. I think the problem with being overly conservative is that there is a judgemental attitude that Jesus never supported. He said "let him who has no sin cast the first stone" and of course Taylor refers to this concept in Cassandra. I personally feel like God is gray and things are much more complex than people know. I adore your perspective! Cannot wait for when you post again ❤
Im so glad you mentioned the Elinor Glyn book and showed the cover and comparison to Taylor’s Time magazine picture!! I noticed the connection when I first got the book. Her mind man.
LOVE your callbacks to Midnights!! Stay warm, Ally ☃️❄️
Ally, I would listen to you deconstructing Taylor albums for a full week! I always knew The Alchemy is about Travis but there were definitely a couple of lyrics I didn’t fathom before watching this. Love you so much! ❤
I love listening to your videos as a podcast
❤
Same! Certainly liven up a dull night shift 🫶🏻
I already loved the album but your explanations make me appreciate taylors storytelling and talent so much.
I listened "I can do it with the brocken heart" through all my divorce and moving shit, that is my personal anthem, also like "you on your own kid"
It made my day to wake up this morning to this video uploaded!! I’m seated and spending my morning listening to your breakdown. Thanks! Love your breakdowns!!
The hair is stunningggg!!
I had my Matty. It was the highest of highs and lows so low I didn’t think I’d recover. But it’s just life, the highs often come with the lows, and like all things in hindsight, the highs were sooooo worth it. I’m still standing - and I always look back with a sort of guilty secret smile….
honestly good for you!!! this is LIFE and you're LIVING it baby!
I CANT WAIT FOR ALL OF THESE BREAKDOWN VIDEOS:)