Lyrics Explained: Taylor Swift "The Archer" | So Vulnerable!

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  • Опубліковано 20 жов 2024

КОМЕНТАРІ • 187

  • @anitkaurbagga7936
    @anitkaurbagga7936 5 років тому +546

    He uploaded the video faster than you can say "lover"

  • @nikki6265
    @nikki6265 5 років тому +81

    This song is more about her own anxiety and self loathing and a little bit about how others see her and her "friendships" and how a lot of her friends betrayed her and not as much about her relationships but she is still talking to Joe whenever she says anything with "you". She has liked (basically confirming) multiple posts on Tumblr expaining the meaning of the song and its basically a song about anxiety and self doubt and loathing and being hopeless and being wary in a relationship because she's so used to getting hurt that she's so scared to "hold onto him" and admit that he might actually be the one so she says to help her hold onto him. And when she's saying 'they see right through me' she means that no one ever sees her for who she actually is, and she says "I see right through me" because even she becomes so terrified that what everyone is saying about her is true, (even though she knows who she is and that it's not), she starts to overthink and not even see herself as who she actually is

    • @nailahmathew2885
      @nailahmathew2885 2 роки тому

      What does “ive been the archer, i’ve been the prey” mean??

  • @HannahG-nk2mf
    @HannahG-nk2mf 5 років тому +253

    I really think that if you think this song is about a guy, you’ve missed the BIG message she’s sending and actual struggle she’s talking about (this song is about true love, anxiety, her mistakes at the end of 2014, closeting, and preparing to fight now in 2019)

    • @ThePopSongProfessor
      @ThePopSongProfessor  5 років тому +12

      It's too a guy, but it's about her.

    • @stelleldir
      @stelleldir 5 років тому +4

      Closeting? Lol

    • @duarteferros5775
      @duarteferros5775 5 років тому +1

      but it's totally about Joe too

    • @natalieyuan5562
      @natalieyuan5562 5 років тому +21

      @@duarteferros5775 its rly not about joe in this case. this is more about her reflecting on herself and her heartaches and finally trying to trust in her current relationship. sure, the guy's involved, but this is more a letter to herself.

    • @jaydontrammell5321
      @jaydontrammell5321 5 років тому

      Hannah G0123 closeting ? haha okay

  • @carlajcs3847
    @carlajcs3847 5 років тому +85

    I took the last "combat" as her being willing to fight for her current relationship. Just my impression.

  • @alybeserra
    @alybeserra 5 років тому +149

    Wow. A song dedicated to me. I’ve been blessed. Thank you Taylor❤️

  • @scotthayes6711
    @scotthayes6711 5 років тому +17

    I think the combat part starts off as a reference to how she has entered previous relationships in the past but at the end of the song she is ready for combat in a different way, meaning she is ready to fight for this relationship and to make it work with his help. She is now ready to do whatever it takes to hold on to him so that he will want to stay. The lyrics just before that last ready for combat change from who could stay, who could stay to YOU could stay.

  • @Rachel-ub3hv
    @Rachel-ub3hv 5 років тому +22

    bro you’re so quick my swiftie heart is thankful 🥺 love your taylor content

  • @noellerebekah21
    @noellerebekah21 5 років тому +47

    Wow Cliff you are really at it with these videos! You are the one youtuber I can count on for uploads!!!!

  • @Sea_Maranatha_
    @Sea_Maranatha_ 5 років тому +57

    WOAH EARLY
    Also I missed the livestream and now I'm kinda lost.
    About the song, out of the ones this era so far, it's definitely my favorite. I like it, it's nice

    • @anitkaurbagga7936
      @anitkaurbagga7936 5 років тому +2

      ua-cam.com/video/Nzggdu5I9dU/v-deo.html there you go

    • @emma-di5ly
      @emma-di5ly 5 років тому +2

      Sea Pearl It’s my favourite too. Fantastic and vulnerable, I cried.

    • @CommonCommenter
      @CommonCommenter 5 років тому

      You can find it on her ig she posted it all herself.

  • @farahkhan9794
    @farahkhan9794 5 років тому +33

    I feel like you brushed over the “the room is on fire, invisible smoke” line like u didn’t talk about at all :/

  • @emma-di5ly
    @emma-di5ly 5 років тому +13

    This is a fantastic song. I’m obsessed with it and can’t stop playing it on my ukulele. Incredible! And this is a great analysis! I personally think that the bridge is sorta “people see through this facade I put up, I see right through it, can you?” and being worried about that. But this is an amazing video for an amazing song!

  • @oswin5775
    @oswin5775 4 роки тому +3

    Taylor is such a polarizing artist for me. I cringe at some of her stuff but sometimes she pulls out a masterpiece that blows me away

  • @irisismail1310
    @irisismail1310 5 років тому +13

    It’s not only about Relationship. The lyrics means more than that.

  • @coramullenhour1459
    @coramullenhour1459 5 років тому +17

    I definitely feel like the song is about past friendships that have failed. She has a lot of enemies that used to be her friends.This is about her apologizing and forgiving because she misses those people. She clearly is stating that she hated herself for a while because she knows her flaws and knows some of those failed friendships were her fault. This has nothing to do with boys. When she says combat, I'm pretty sure shes talking about fighting for her friends because she doesnt want to lose anymore. Not all taylor songs are about boys.

  • @iloveyou9406
    @iloveyou9406 5 років тому +9

    I enjoyed watching your video, I took the "they see right through me" "can you see right through me"& "I see right through me" like she is invisible she isn't seen for what she truly is but for what others want to assume about her. Like in the delicate music video, she becomes invisible to everyone, even herself. Almost like she was reduced to surface assumptions and nothing deeper to everyone else.

  • @theflash5523
    @theflash5523 5 років тому +36

    So no one's gonna talk about the fact that she's a Sagittarius and her zodiac sign is represented by the Archer?

    • @savagebuck
      @savagebuck 5 років тому +6

      Exactly. I'm a Sagittarius. Sags can be quite narcissistic, witty but loyal to other Sags. She shares many of the quintessential Sagittarius "personality" if you will.

  • @eyachakroun8266
    @eyachakroun8266 5 років тому +13

    I'm glad you know about her history with tracks 5

  • @ryandylan8521
    @ryandylan8521 5 років тому +5

    I think the end "Combat, I'm ready for combat" is her saying that she is now ready to fight to keep her relationships. Where as at the beginning of the song she is saying that she expects to get into fights with friends and have the relationships implode and those friends to leave her and become enemies. But by the end of the song she is ready to fight not with friends but along with friends to maintain and even repair relationships.

  • @BronsonSelf
    @BronsonSelf 5 років тому +60

    They call him the flash of music therorys

  • @marisaw5685
    @marisaw5685 5 років тому +48

    The fact that she wants this relationship to be different and that she loves joe so much makes me so happy ❤️❤️❤️

  • @michellefarrelly9256
    @michellefarrelly9256 5 років тому +2

    I really agree with most of your interpretation of what I think is the most vulnerable and self reflective Taylor Swift song to this day. Sometimes it is really hard to let yourself be happy in an intimate romantic relationship because of all the baggage you unknowingly bring, the past betrayals, friends turned to enemies, it makes our outlook more suspicious with our guard up and 'ready for combat'. We often can resort to sabotaging and undermining ourselves to prevent taking that grand leap of faith in love and risk getting hurt again. Taylor has shown that she cares enough about her partner to reflect on these tendencies and literally begs in the song for him to help her overcome them so that she can hold onto him. So vulnerable and insightful about how our insecurities can make trusting hard no matter how much reassurance we get.

  • @victoriaabah2694
    @victoriaabah2694 5 років тому +4

    I think i agree with you, especially where you talked about searching for "Dark sides".

  • @dayumwayne9700
    @dayumwayne9700 5 років тому +12

    Make sure to buy and promote the album lover to your friends, family, and to your viewers this August 23, 2019.

  • @willwalker24601
    @willwalker24601 2 роки тому +3

    Some of her other “5th songs” include All Too Well, Dear John, White Horse, and Tolerate It 😭
    I never noticed that before but those are all so,e of her saddest, most vulnerable songs 🤯

  • @Cutrany1984
    @Cutrany1984 5 років тому +3

    I really love this song so much more than ME! and YNTCD. I noticed how you move on very quickly from the lyrics "I wake in the night, I pace like a ghost / the room is on fire, invisible smoke / And all of my heroes die all alone". In my opinion that gives the whole song and the theme of the "combats" a different twist: I think this deals with anxiety and the self-destructive urge to leave a stable relationship without that "dark side" (and to "jump from the train" yet again), because she is just not used to that. "All of my heroes die all alone" I take as her romanticizing that drama in a way and hating herself for that, because she really wants this relationship she is in to last this time and to finally "grow up" in it.

  • @lexiikitten273
    @lexiikitten273 5 років тому +4

    I feel like the 'they see right through me part' is wrong. It's more so letting people's opinions change her opinion of herself. 'They see right through me they see right through me.... can you see right through me.... I see right through me' It's like she lets the public opinion mess with her head, that's why it keeps repeating. Then she gets paranoid he sees her that way too "can you see right through me?" to the point where she sees herself that way. Most beautiful part of the song.

  • @flordeletras2203
    @flordeletras2203 5 років тому +27

    This is amazing, because it was fast, because you explained the song really good, and because I think the song is amazing, and by fa the best when have listened to yet from lover.

  • @pugz01234
    @pugz01234 5 років тому +30

    My mom likes Taylor Swift

  • @mollysalt9223
    @mollysalt9223 5 років тому +1

    As soon as she releases new music , I listen to it and then come straight here

  • @mattkatar29
    @mattkatar29 5 років тому +5

    This is literally not even close to how I heard this song to be about. I honestly don’t think romantic relationships are the main focus of this song whatsoever. To pun intended, but to me this is all about her reputation. The perception of herself within culture in comparison to other people’s perceptions. Admitting to her instigation when it happened but also explaining how she has also been the victim of unnecessary instigation of drama for years. And the paradox of that. When she says “help me hold onto you” I did not hear that as her talking to a lover but rather herself. Just how I heard it

  • @TrevenantNights
    @TrevenantNights 5 років тому +2

    It's not about how people see her. It's about how she sees herself

  • @IngeborgNCC1701
    @IngeborgNCC1701 5 років тому +3

    The Archer = Taylor Swift is born Dec 13, she is a Sagittarius, who is an archer.

  • @naungthaw
    @naungthaw 5 років тому +11

    What if Taylor means it to her fans when she sings “help me Hold on to you?”

  • @moonlightriverra6019
    @moonlightriverra6019 5 років тому +18

    Is it weird that when I heard the song I knew you would make this video?😂

  • @SelfMadeMillennial
    @SelfMadeMillennial 5 років тому

    This got me thinking more deeply, thank you for the interpretation!

  • @zuzannas3985
    @zuzannas3985 5 років тому +4

    I really like your interpretations but i don't think this one is correct. In my opinion it is not about a relationship, it's rather about identity, her coming to terms of what she really wants, what she's scared of and how she stays defensive not in love, but in publicity, self-presentation. It's about imposter syndrome, there is a hint of romantic love in the way of "i present myself to the world and it's not really how it looks, im lost, come and help me"

  • @topher5017
    @topher5017 5 років тому +6

    You got this out so fast!
    Great video 👍

  • @allisonh5491
    @allisonh5491 5 років тому +20

    this is definitely more about her professional relationships and her friendships than romance

  • @simplemortal5068
    @simplemortal5068 5 років тому +7

    It reminds me of Liability by Lorde

  • @jordanloophole
    @jordanloophole 5 років тому +3

    omg JOE ALWYN IS A CELEBRITY, an ACTOR. He just know how to understand and read Taylor unlike Calcium Hydroxide and the other crumpled papers.

  • @kimnana7272
    @kimnana7272 5 років тому +2

    such a masterpiece

  • @AlexSuOfficial
    @AlexSuOfficial 5 років тому +35

    Okay you’re as fast as I am cuz I just made a cover of this song haha. I hope you see it too :)

  • @BS0312
    @BS0312 5 років тому +4

    Any comment on the Humpty Dumpty reference? Just wondering if there’s a particular reason she would quote that other than it sounding catchy.

  • @bainor-ayyaha.lacoto3321
    @bainor-ayyaha.lacoto3321 5 років тому +4

    It is more of herself not her lover and their relationship❤

  • @Isabellabuscus
    @Isabellabuscus 5 років тому +8

    I think the nose has a bigger meaning... a more revealing and harder concept to grasp... I came here looking to see if you had it, the rest of the song I understood and you got... but I think the nose part was glossed over considering it’s a very specific metaphor she’s using and a strange one at that.... the nose is a very obvious part of the face, being the center and it also comes with its own connotations... one being nose-y for example... but what she said was
    “Dark side, I search for your dark side
    But what if I'm alright, right, right, right here?
    And I cut off my nose just to spite my face
    Then I hate my reflection for years and years”
    That maybe she had already stopped looking for flaws in people on principle and when it came to the end and everyone made a fool of her, with her John Mayer thing for example, she hated herself for not being nosy.... she spited her face, her image, by not being the way anyone is or can be in a relationship, and cut off that part that makes her ‘hard’ or battle-ready... a part of her that would prepare her for the worst... So it’s possible that now when she’s looking at her reflection with the nose cut off, let’s say circa the song ‘Ours’ about Mayer back in her Speak Now days when she was ignoring the many critics of her romantic partner, and partners since, and seeing now that she sort of resents that choice she made to go in strong with all her relationships and still fail?
    Or is the nose meant to signify something else entirely being that our sense of smell is highly connected to memory... maybe she wants to forget the scent of other lovers and be more pragmatic.... be more ‘ready for combat’... or opposite... not be ‘ready for combat’ with that missing nose, not remind herself so vividly via scent all that she’s gone through and to come in with Joe with a clean slate...
    My analysis isn’t too clear, and still fresh but.... I too am involved in English lit, I’m graduating this coming year and I honestly think Taylor and word choice go hand in hand... let me know if you have any theories or other ways to read this Nose metaphor...

    • @christiana-cs5ru
      @christiana-cs5ru 5 років тому +6

      Isabella google the saying “cut off my nose to spite my face” and it explains exactly what she meant, it’s a saying :)

    • @HalienNation1
      @HalienNation1 5 років тому +5

      “to cut off your nose to spite your face” is an idiom which means you shouldn’t do something out of spite or revenge that will end up causing more harm to you than to the person with which you are angry. In other words, do not let your overreaction lead to self-harm.

    • @savagebuck
      @savagebuck 5 років тому

      look up Sagittarius personality, you'll understand this song better.

  • @callmeglee
    @callmeglee 5 років тому +7

    Wowww so early,I love your videos💘

  • @mebethan
    @mebethan 5 років тому

    I think we all interpret the song in our own way, you shouldn't criticise him for his opinion when Taylor puts out the songs for us to interpret them into our own lives and relate to them in our own ways, she has said this herself. I interpret this song with my current lover and how I feel towards him, it makes me love the song even more because it's so relatable in many ways.

  • @vlad-igor
    @vlad-igor 5 років тому +2

    Combat - she is afraid to be hurt, so she hurts others so she won't get hurt first. Or she's just ready to fight her enemies & the media for attacking her nonstop rather than just giving up & do nothing.
    People come & go, all her friends dont stay long & she ends up alone at the end of the day which is obviously sad.
    She never grows out of her old ways/attitude she has towards people/situation she hates, typically she just whines if there's a problem which she tries to learn to keep Calm now.
    She wants everyone to stay good with her & friendly not as an enemy & no hatred
    She put others down & and also she was put down by others
    Everyone wants her she's famous but no one really stays, even friends are short lived
    She tries to see her enemies mistakes but she have been making them all along
    She has self hatred & she hurts herself by hurting others
    She has so money regrets and all she she's herself dying alone at the end with no one around, it's lonely
    She wants people to stay with her by giving her trust & not hurting her in anyway so she can hold on to them
    Everyone only see all her wrongs & mistakes she sees them her friends see them but they stay
    Some will go away because of her past mistakes avoiding her thus having no further relationship/friendship with her
    Help her be your friend/stay with her/teach her to be a good friend so there's no fight or enemy
    But this time she's strong

  • @goblinfolk
    @goblinfolk 5 років тому +21

    ok but Joe IS the celebrity, he’s and actor, but i think you wanted to say that they don’t want their relationship to be public

    • @vindhyasrikanth2053
      @vindhyasrikanth2053 5 років тому +6

      exhausted 4 life yea joe IS AN ACTUAL celebrity. They just don’t wanna be public bc of the pressure that comes with it.

  • @MoonChildLux
    @MoonChildLux 5 років тому +2

    "I cut off pieces of my nose, just to spite my face" is her admitting she got a nose job, for all the Swifties who've denied she ever got one. I think she looked beautiful before and after, I'm sad that she doesn't like her own reflection though. I was one of the first True Swifties ( I was the 59th person to like her Facebook page, I've been here since the beginning I noticed the change in her face as soon as it changed, it wasn't just make up)...

    • @kamallb4650
      @kamallb4650 5 років тому +2

      To be honest she was a teen back then, shape of the nose changes as u grow older and older...

    • @saloni.sharma
      @saloni.sharma 3 роки тому +3

      No it isn't her admitting to a nose job😂😂😂
      It's about sabotaging and harming herself while she was going through anxiety and her eating disorder.

  • @k.m.5824
    @k.m.5824 5 років тому +2

    The Archer isn't Track 5 but she said it is about her honest feelings And close to her heart like other Albums track 5

    • @heathwitch
      @heathwitch 5 років тому +4

      It is Track 5. Taylor said so in her Livestream. And it's listed as Track 5 on streaming services.

    • @k.m.5824
      @k.m.5824 5 років тому

      @@heathwitch oh ... I thought track 5 is going to be single than she said it's not single .. just got confused

    • @heathwitch
      @heathwitch 5 років тому +4

      @@k.m.5824 No, Taylor said The Archer (track 5) is not a single, it's just a song she wanted us to have before Lover drops. The next single is in the works -- she's filming the music video atm. :)

    • @abrielle13
      @abrielle13 5 років тому +1

      She literally said it was track 5

  • @melissagarza3855
    @melissagarza3855 5 років тому +11

    Only the real swifties are this early

  • @Sanjaykumar-zr8my
    @Sanjaykumar-zr8my 5 років тому +1

    @taylorswift13 , SHE IS THE BESTEST SONG WRITER OF THE CENTURY AND WILL BE SO ! THIS 13TH YEAR IS AWESOME ! AND FLAWLESS AND PERFECT. BTW LOVE YOU

  • @amaryllis543
    @amaryllis543 5 років тому +8

    What how do you do this!? It just came out ssvusisjshds

  • @anreerasmus776
    @anreerasmus776 4 роки тому +2

    After seeing Miss Americana, I feel like Archer is not about a man at all🌿

  • @dianaalvarezrocha5557
    @dianaalvarezrocha5557 5 років тому

    Uhh I was hoping you’d do this one! Thank you!

  • @leiakarandikar4405
    @leiakarandikar4405 5 років тому +1

    I love this song so much❤️❤️❤️

  • @gauravsingh227
    @gauravsingh227 5 років тому +9

    Loved your lyrics reaction !!!! And The Archer is Amazing and Beautiful😍💓

  • @ItsNadin
    @ItsNadin 5 років тому +1

    The lyric they see right through me
    I got that exactly like you did
    But swifties said it is like delicate music video where no one could sees her like they were seeing though her as she weren’t ther
    But if that is right why would she asks him if he can see her like they and herself see her

  • @allenampong9230
    @allenampong9230 5 років тому

    The way you explained it reminds me of new romantics.

  • @sophiealiiiiiii2993
    @sophiealiiiiiii2993 5 років тому +1

    They see right through me do you see right through me I see right through me in my opinion this part is how the world always talks about her in bad untrue ways to the point where she doubts how good she is.

  • @KH-tx6lg
    @KH-tx6lg 5 років тому +2

    I find it weird that I found this song about faith. Not my normal first impression on things.

  • @lizziedoglover6657
    @lizziedoglover6657 5 років тому

    I needed this !!

  • @noahkilps128
    @noahkilps128 5 років тому +2

    Hey cliff can you explain some frank ocean? My fav in particular is Siegfried

  • @heyimdanielle8693
    @heyimdanielle8693 5 років тому

    I really loved the band fun. and when I saw Jack Antonoff helped write it I knew it was going to be a great song!

  • @meganabbott9290
    @meganabbott9290 5 років тому +1

    damn. you’re quick

  • @danayellow44
    @danayellow44 3 роки тому +3

    The Archer is also to symbolise the fact that she's a Sagittarius. That's what Sag's do! We run from relationships.

  • @ed-xq5jd
    @ed-xq5jd 5 років тому

    I see that TOP poster in the back. The Clique is strong.

  • @kenzaeljaoui7217
    @kenzaeljaoui7217 5 років тому

    So fast , love it

  • @ayaalabbas3675
    @ayaalabbas3675 5 років тому

    Loved this

  • @flordeespinart
    @flordeespinart 5 років тому

    can you please give your thoughts on cruel summer

  • @sbritte
    @sbritte 5 років тому +3

    HOW FAST ARE YOU?

  • @tbhidk2861
    @tbhidk2861 5 років тому

    I got the notification of her song

  • @astoriadrawz3309
    @astoriadrawz3309 5 років тому

    Prof, sir, you’re so fast. I’m not done studying your last upload yet.

  • @noahsheehan7800
    @noahsheehan7800 5 років тому +4

    Better than pray for the wicked

  • @ryanneliza
    @ryanneliza 5 років тому

    Great video!

  • @brylosstudio5729
    @brylosstudio5729 5 років тому

    Is that the waveform of the song behind you ????

  • @twentyonesunflowers7467
    @twentyonesunflowers7467 5 років тому

    I saw this before I even saw Taylor had a new song and was like hmmmm new song by Taylor

  • @derekwong8772
    @derekwong8772 5 років тому +3

    I don't think it's just about a guy, she's been through too much

    • @savagebuck
      @savagebuck 5 років тому +2

      It's about her zodiac sign, the Sagittarius. If you look up Sagittarius personality then you'll understand why the lyrics are.

  • @suryaditaufan7285
    @suryaditaufan7285 5 років тому +1

    Yasssss

  • @brentpartridge3627
    @brentpartridge3627 5 років тому

    Did she write this for Lorde's hunger games album.

  • @elegistazazel9108
    @elegistazazel9108 5 років тому

    5th song? I know me and yntcd...which are others???

  • @teryvitovcova
    @teryvitovcova 5 років тому

    Omg you're so fast!

  • @ericamaeespino6448
    @ericamaeespino6448 5 років тому

    Any figurative languages in this song?

  • @katecarroll5108
    @katecarroll5108 5 років тому

    The first thing I did after listening to the song was search for this video 😂

  • @sarahcallaghan711
    @sarahcallaghan711 5 років тому

    She’s going back to December that’s why it’s snowing

  • @meetmeatmidn1ght
    @meetmeatmidn1ght 5 років тому +3

    The song is about her betraying herself

  • @louis7bugatti142
    @louis7bugatti142 4 роки тому

    quien es Jose???

  • @Annamarie40985
    @Annamarie40985 5 років тому +3

    I interpreted the song as a way of battling anxiety, whether it be in your relationship or with yourself.

  • @Letmebed16158
    @Letmebed16158 5 років тому

    i salute Taylor for easily moving on after a relationship. it takes me years before entertaining another guy. But taylor, it takes only month? or maybe week? or days? how can she do that?

    • @rturney6376
      @rturney6376 Рік тому

      She’s gay Sweetheart. You know what a Beard is?

  • @michaelphong8828
    @michaelphong8828 4 роки тому +1

    It's her fighting for Jesus 🙏 #gods army

  • @vanessa1052
    @vanessa1052 5 років тому

    How did you do this so fast

  • @ShivCreates
    @ShivCreates 5 років тому +1

    Love ur interpretation 😍😍😍 btw I did a reaction on my channel

  • @yogeshpal4053
    @yogeshpal4053 5 років тому

    Professor :- This my theory, I'm not sure if it is completely right or not Taylor.
    Taylor Swift :- Aaaa...haaa, keep speaking/talking.

  • @maplematt9092
    @maplematt9092 5 років тому +1

    **Joe Alton** Taylor swifts BF is an actor so he is a celeb

  • @欧美娱乐范儿
    @欧美娱乐范儿 5 років тому

    I am your fan from China, can I reprint your video? I hope to share it with more people

  • @ImSkeletox
    @ImSkeletox 5 років тому

    Wow, this was fast :0

  • @mustlikeme4me
    @mustlikeme4me 5 років тому +1

    the devil works hard, but the pop professor works harder

  • @tbhidk2861
    @tbhidk2861 5 років тому +2

    Hi

  • @miaambrose7018
    @miaambrose7018 5 років тому +3

    Lmao I never been this early before