I appreciate your emotional connection to the song - it does hit home. To me, the thing about tantrums isn't so much saying that everyone should yell and scream when they don't get their way, it's more of a recognition that as a kid, you simply are and you respond in your natural, essential, real way that you do because you haven't assimilated to the rules, constraints and expectations of adulthood. I feel like this is a love song to the innocence and realness of childhood as much as it is about this particular friend she speaks of. There is something meaningful and primal and real you experience as a kid that leaves us as we grow up and it's sad.
I think the simplicity of some of the lyrics represents the age of when she's singing about. Also, I picture her swinging over a cliff where you can jump off into a lake...and that is how a 7 year old would describe the feeling as "high in the sky".
This is exactly how I interpret that lyric as well. It's a child's perspective, talking about swinging above a creek, so high you almost feel like you can touch the sky. Clearly it's not even close, but when you're a kid everything just seems so vast and big and epic. You don't know enough of the world to limit yourself just yet. Also, I wonder if there's some reference to childhood patty cake songs. Remember Miss Mary Mac? "She went so high, high, high, she touched the sky, sky, sky and didn't come back, back, back until the fourth of july". Taylor is very smart. I truly do think there's layers to this.
I think she may be also be singing about some kind of "high" like the high of being a kid and happy all the time, and that's why she breaks the lyric at that part and emphasizes the "high"
The “high in the sky” lyrics to me was essential for the story in this song. When you’re a kid, the height you go on a swing feels as if you’re exactly high in the sky. It captures that innocence and imagination of a child (like when she says “pirates” “haunted” “move to India”)
This song gave me a big breakthrough in therapy in accepting the trauma and abuse I experienced growing up. I equally felt bad for the kid who’s dad was always mad and I related too them at the same time and it made me realize and accept something I’d always downplayed.
Thanks for sharing this, when this song came out, I was crying, and everyone's reactions was overwhelmingly to push all that aside and focus on things like that she said "India" and that she said "closet" so it had to be about sexuality (I'm not straight, for reference). And it just, broke my heart. Because it's so rare for songs to depict this kind of thing, and represent this in such a haunting way but also from a loving pov (Taylor's to her friend). This song broke me apart and the fact most people miss the significance speaks to how most people miss it in real life. I'm glad you've had the breakthrough, it's painful but keep at it, it's one of the most freeing journeys to go through. I wish you the very best
@@AndrewFriedberg If you want songs about lost inocence and childhood try songs of the first 6 or 7 albums of the Symphonic Metalband NightWish from Finland. Live is best or a good Music Video,
I always interpreted the line, "but, I, I was high in the sky" as pointing out how large everything seems when you're a kid. Seven feet high on a swing really isn't that scary or high but as a child that can become so much more than it actually is and things are so much more dramatic and hold more weight as a kid. Also, I've heard people say that "I hit my peak at seven" is a subtle reference to Taylor's album Lover which is her seventh studio album and the first one she owns herself. The line about the haunted house and her friend's dad always spoke to me the most because it exemplifies how children interpret the world, especially the bad in it. The child just can't make sense of the father's anger and so they rationalize it with ghosts and fantastical things because they can't yet see the cruelness of the world. Anyway, love the video and your analysis of songs. Excited for the next upload :)
I knew several kids in this kind of situation and this song made me remember them and how I always knew something was wrong but couldn't understand what. My mom told me years later the real reason why some of them had to move away(they were taken from their abusive parents) and I couldn't see them again. Being reminded of these kids whose names I remember and who I have fond memories with, but also realizing I can't recall what they look like and have so few pictures with any of them, hit me hard.
This song makes me think specifically of a set of brothers I was friends with since they lived around the corner for a few years. Even after I moved away, we gave them rides some places until one day we didn't anymore. Because their dad got sent to jail for abuse, their mom finally stood up for herself, with help from other lovely people and they were able to move away. Thankfully I got the chance to run into one of the brothers years later by chance and he told me they're in a much better place now, and thanked me for always being a place to hang out without having to go home. So yeah it makes me cry almost every time lol. It's a VERY specific feeling and I know not all those kids end up okay. It makes me want to keep an eye out for people in similar situations, I want to do all I can to help people who need it.
I’ve cried to this song too. Moving to another country and leaving behind childhood friends it’s a totally different experience and I can’t help but think of all the “what if’s” when I listen to this song. I do think the picture me before I learned civility is also about losing our sense of justice a bit. We become a bit complacent with “that’s the way things are” and we stop questioning things or letting people we deem more important like our bosses, celebrities and such dictate our way of thinking and we become less individualistic in our thinking. When people who go the opposite way are many times labeled as radicals because they go against the grain. I love how such a simple but beautiful song can mean so many things to so many people. Thank you for reacting and being vulnerable with us and in front of us. Have a great day!
Ooh, that's an interesting interpretation on the first verse. I found that the phrasing really undermines the lyrics, and often causes some listeners to interpret the lyrics a lot differently than how they're written. For example, when she sings the lyric "I hit my peak at seven (pause) feet". Most people listen to this, and interpret this as her saying she peaked at age 7 (and rightfully so because the way she sings the phrase), but the lyric continues and ends with the word "feet", meaning seven feet was the highest height she ever reached while on the swing. It's also very interesting how you bring up the excessive use of the lyric "high in the sky" in popular music. Most of the time, it either pertains to a physical or metaphorical rush of ecstasy. In this song, however, it seems more literal. She's still in the swing "over the creek", and what she means is that she's literally in the swing at a high altitude. It's also quite the opposite of being in a "good" high, as she continues "I was to scared to jump in". The lyric is being used to convey a scary feeling, uncertainty, self-doubt, etc... It's nice to hear other people's takes on music. Yours really opened up some new perspectives in me. Great video!
I really like how you take the time to analyze the lyrics. This really is an emotional song that hits hard in that second verse. You are quite talented as well. Have a Swift day.
this is my favorite off folklore too & not because i'm from india, just because her voice just sounds so divine & then the story that is painted in my head with this one is just very beautiful, raw & pure!
That's what she does man. Her songwriting just hits hard dude. And she composes the songs precisely the way she wants it to sound to give the words an impact. For me, Taylor Swift is the only artist whose music I take seriously. Everyone else's songs come and go, and their lyrics aren't even that meaningful enough to stick with you and carry about your day thinking about what those words meant to you and how it brought forth something in you to reminisce about. She's so in tune with herself. She knows exactly what she wants and makes it happen. Truly remarkable. Nothing but respect for her.
I look forward to every single one of your videos! :) I always learn something new, even about songs I thought I knew well. I think Taylor, as a songwriter, likes to put little things in her songs that change the focus... to that they can be about more than one thing. In this song, she is reflecting on the freedoms of being a child before learning civility, but also on recognizing that something was clearly wrong at a friends home situation without having the framework to understand what was really going on. Love the song, love the commentary
i think the “high in the sky” lyric has two meanings. this song feels very ‘smoke a joint and reminisce about your past’ in a hauntingly nostalgic way. the “i hit my peak at 7” cadence breaking from “feet in the swing” evokes those same layered meanings. i feel like these lines reflect the mood of the melody really well. thank you for these reactions! i love that you connect with her lyrics :)
Really liked this vid, thanks for continuing to react to TS! I hope eventually you will choose to do vids on Evermore, her second pandemic album, and sister album to Folklore. There's a lot of people who react to her music, but you're the only one I watch consistently. Love your analysis!
Wow, I’ve seen so many reactors listen to this song and not understand it at all. It was really impactful watching you realize the depth of the meaning. It definitely affected me the same way when I realized who she was singing to.
I have to admit I have been watching your Taylor swift reaction videos for the last 3 hours and I truly enjoyed them. You have very thoughtful comments and you are so talented
Soooo, about male tennis players throwing tantrums.... You should check out the "The Man" music video from Taylor's Lover album. Not necessarily to react to for UA-cam content, but just because it's relevant.
I had a fairly nice childhood. My family has always been there for me the best they could, even if they didn't recognize me developing some severe social anxiety as a kid. I dealt with my mental health the best I could, seeing that I didn't knew I had one until I was 20. On the other hand, my best friend had a hard childhood. Her parents love her, but still were emotionally and sometimes physically abusive. We met when we were 4 and I so clearly remember disliking her parents very early in our friendship. I'm 28 now and this song really hits home. The lyrics "I hit my peak at 7" legit made me so emotional, and "I think your house is haunted, your dad is always mad and that must be why" broke me. "And I think you should come love with me and we could be pirates, then you won't have to cry".. so so many days spent at my home so she didn't had to be at hers, and so many sleepovers bc they didn't harass her when I was there. And I just love her so so much, and I wish we both could be ok, and I wish we could go and just travel around as we talked when we were young, like "pack your dolls and a sweater, we'll move to India forever" it's so real for me. It all just make me cry.
Ohhh yes I have been waiting for this, I love this song! So basically there are different theory’s but my their is, she is singing about a childhood and like a friend. When she says. “ I think your house is haunted, your dad is always mad “ I think she’s referring to the child had an abusive parent and her friend was like come with me and we can get away from here and move to India and be pirates. If that makes sense? 😸
As someone who has been watching lots of tennis lately (Laver cup, US Open, etc...) I was so surprised to see Medvedev, Tsitsipas, and the rest in the video, My worlds collided for a minute!! Haha Thanks for another thoughtful video!
this song reminds me of the movie "Beasts of the Southern Wild" which is about how a young girl interprets her father's health & the changing environment in her small town in Lousiana that is on the wrong side of the levees
I am not gonna lie. I'm high binge watching your videos and am thoroughly enjoying harmonizing to your intros. Love your commentary and willingness to learn about the history of her. Big fan. Sorry for spamming you. Lol
12:30 she is in the swing seeing the world above her while she swings, AND she Is scared to jump. It's so literal. she Is remembering that feelings we all have felt. You feel like you are flying.
I feel like there is a turn of phrase that passed you by (this is atypical BTW - love your videos!): "I hit my peak at 7 feet - in the swing above the creek". Like yes, she likely intended the double entendre of hitting her peak at 7 years old - but I think the right interpretation of the following phrase are more in the innocent "at 7 feet above the creek" ... with Pennsylvania under me I was high in the sky... Maybe I connect with that interpretation more because I used to have a creek at the house and my kids LOVED swinging over it - it was absolutely formative for them. I could see that as being both a literal type of peak, but also "clearly life was at it's utmost in these moments".
I like her versatility in the way she's used sweet tea twice in this album and each time it meant something different in this song it actually a describing the drink sweet tea and the other time she used it she was referring to a t-shirt she has said before that certain words and phrases just really click with her and she puts them down in her Memo so she can use them later
so i've been watching a couple of your videos (love your analysis!) and i started laughing about the tennis player tantrum convo -- i used to watch tennis all the time growing up, and i always wondered why it was acceptable for grown adults to throw tantrums just because a ball was out LOL
lol. There are double meanings for seven, and for feet. She is seven years old. She was standing on the swing. Her peak at seven feet, at the top of her arc; but she was too scared to let go and fall in the creek. Saw a lot of swings like that as a kid, in trees that overhang a pond or lake. Feet is doing double duty, so she put it by itself, linking both parts of the lyric.
Love these!!! Also if possible You should create a playlist for us where you can add song that you like or something like that. We may expand out music taste as well.
High has a double meaning / she was high like happy blissful and then (phrasing and how it’s written on another line - like poetry) In the sky. So high has 2 meanings here
She really almost never throw a tantrum. I watch a lot of "spilling tea" kind of videos whenever I'm bored, some of them are food deliveries, stylists, waitresses... those who met Taylor said she's really nice, friendly and a big tipper.
Thank you for this reaction, as usual with your videos I enjoyed it very much! Yeah, I do think her introductory comments make it seem like the song will be more about anger/tantrums and the freedom of being able to 'act out' in childhood than it really is -- that's only a small piece of the song's more complicated reflection on the power and mystery of childhood feelings. She sings about how strong and unfettered those feelings are in both good and bad ways -- love and friendship can come so simply and easily at that age and can last even when the memory of the person you used to know is faded except for small details. But there's at the same time a helplessness to that memory which she can see in retrospect as an adult -- a child can imagine saving a friend with fantastic adventures (we'll go be pirates! we'll move to India forever!) but of course looking back we understand that the kind of help a troubled child needed wasn't possible for another child to provide. But the sense of wonder and sadness and sympathy remains. As for the part of the song that does touch on anger...I think the pull she feels toward indulging anger and hurt feelings versus the pressure she also feels to repress them too far in order to meet society's standards about how women should behave is a conflict she comes back to repeatedly, because she's trying to figure it out in her own life. She has a song later in this album that explicitly plays with the double meaning of the word "mad" -- which can be used equally to mean "angry" or "crazy" -- and the way that, for women particularly, the first definition often automatically shades into the second because showing anger can get them written off as histrionic/embarrassing/nasty regardless of what reasons they have to feel the way they do. At the same time, anger can be addictive and self-destructive, and Taylor has said before that she felt like she got into a destructive cycle with the media where she would hate the invasiveness of their approach to her, the constant judgments the internet and media were making about her personal life, the way journalists magnified her 'celebrity feuds'...but at the same time, every time she put out a new album with songs based on her own break-ups and anger she was handing out free ammunition to keep the same kind of cycle going. For a while I think she tried to lean into the media's image of her and take control of it for her own benefit -- "Blank Space," for example, is a deliberate satire on what she saw as the imaginary 'tabloid-Taylor personality' that she turned into a megahit for herself -- but in the end I think it really depressed her to play into that narrative about herself that she hated. In this album, she's taking a different approach and experimenting with writing songs many of which are not about her personal life -- a lot of these songs are fictional, or loosely inspired by real things, and I think she's figuring out that seeking catharsis through fiction is a healthier way to express herself emotionally and artistically. The lines in her recent songs that touch on anger seem to me to show her searching for the right balance between letting it all out and holding it all in -- sometimes she yearns for a time when she could scream and cry without getting publicly reviled for it, other times she stands up for her right to be outraged, and still other times she looks at herself wryly and reminds herself "not to get lost in these petty things" as she says in another song. "Cold was the steel of my axe to grind for the boys who broke my heart. Now I buy their babies presents." Anger is a hard part of life to deal with, especially for people who have a temperament that others might consider "too sensitive" -- she's figuring out how to navigate it, thought by thought and piece by piece.
I don't think it's admiring or wanting to throw tantrums, but more just like longing for the way that we are able to be honest with our emotions as children. And like instead of playing nice or being passive aggressive with people you hate, you're straightforward about it, and purge that feeling. And there's some practical benefit to that, because cooping up those feelings isn't good for you in the end. I also am reminded of the difference between the way girls and boys are socialized to deal with their anger - girls are taught that they aren't supposed to be angry, so they tend to deal with it in all these underhanded, poisonous, passive aggressive ways when it inevitably happens, whereas boys may get into physical fights, which is bad, but it usually purges the anger more quickly, and arguably with less damage (getting beat up is less likely to emotionally scar you).
one of my fave songs on the album i really wish she had talked about it a bit more, but it's ok T^T you're a musician so i don't think it's weird at all that you listen for those things, it's always interesting for me to hear about because their not always things i pay a lot of attention to at first :) (also i was wondering why this video only showed up for me now, but i saw in the comments it was blocked😅glad to see it now)
My guess for what's on your shuffle list from the ones you've reacted to so far... Exile Love your honest reactions, you looked like you could use a hug after this one though.
@@metoziii It's actually Prince who blocked it, and they can block it for a number of days without me being able to stop it. I'm guessing the time limit just passed. But ironic, I use less than 30 secs I think of his song. :)
what makes the song more sad is that the lyric "or hide in the closet" can mean two things: one is, literally the kids tryna hide from the mad father or being in the closet as a gay child scared of coming out to your father.
A lot of people have probably already said it, but the simplicity of the those lyrics are kinda necessary for the overall feel of the song. I mean, if she would've been putting some Voltaire level stuff in there, the entire vibe of the song would've been completely off.
For me I didn't try to read anything into the lyrics I just took them as exactly what they were her describing seven-year-old girl Swingin as high she can next to a creek and then being too scared to jump in
"maybe it's on purpose" HAHAHA it most definitely is. taylor is veryyyyyy intentional about her lyricism, and everything she does with music/performances/etc. to me the "high in the sky" part made seven hit harder, because that's such a childish thing to say, and so evocative about the age she's singing of.
She is not saying she hit her peak at age 7. She hit her peak at 7 feet in the swing. That's the highest she has ever reached. As a kid, that can feel very high and scary hence "high in the sky, with Pennsylvania underneath. Then she say's "are there still beautiful things" she is wondering in present day if that kind of innocence and happiness can still exist as an adult like it did when she was a child back in Pennsylvania.
When I first heard this song , I saw the imagery of feeling high in the sky while swinging as s child , how high could I go? and then shes over Pennsylvania, and I thought she’s in an airplane leaving her friend behind
Cross you heart won't tell no other. Hiding in the closet. This may be about the taboo of homosexuality during that time. Her friend may have told her that she likes other girls. She can be herself around her. I may be wrong, but I know that Taylor supports gay rights and women's rights. She is such a great person. She doesn't base her opinion of people off of petty stuff like that. She knows that it is person's character and personality that matter. Are they kind or are the deceptive?
I always see the "hide in closet" part as an analogy to LGBTQ+ people. Probably the kid she sings about was abused at home for being gay. That's very sad and too close home for me. Always makes me emotional.
I appreciate your emotional connection to the song - it does hit home. To me, the thing about tantrums isn't so much saying that everyone should yell and scream when they don't get their way, it's more of a recognition that as a kid, you simply are and you respond in your natural, essential, real way that you do because you haven't assimilated to the rules, constraints and expectations of adulthood. I feel like this is a love song to the innocence and realness of childhood as much as it is about this particular friend she speaks of. There is something meaningful and primal and real you experience as a kid that leaves us as we grow up and it's sad.
I think the simplicity of some of the lyrics represents the age of when she's singing about. Also, I picture her swinging over a cliff where you can jump off into a lake...and that is how a 7 year old would describe the feeling as "high in the sky".
This is exactly how I interpret that lyric as well. It's a child's perspective, talking about swinging above a creek, so high you almost feel like you can touch the sky. Clearly it's not even close, but when you're a kid everything just seems so vast and big and epic. You don't know enough of the world to limit yourself just yet. Also, I wonder if there's some reference to childhood patty cake songs. Remember Miss Mary Mac? "She went so high, high, high, she touched the sky, sky, sky and didn't come back, back, back until the fourth of july". Taylor is very smart. I truly do think there's layers to this.
I think she may be also be singing about some kind of "high" like the high of being a kid and happy all the time, and that's why she breaks the lyric at that part and emphasizes the "high"
It's a "simplicity" you achieve when you are good at your craft..
The “high in the sky” lyrics to me was essential for the story in this song. When you’re a kid, the height you go on a swing feels as if you’re exactly high in the sky. It captures that innocence and imagination of a child (like when she says “pirates” “haunted” “move to India”)
Exactly
This song gave me a big breakthrough in therapy in accepting the trauma and abuse I experienced growing up. I equally felt bad for the kid who’s dad was always mad and I related too them at the same time and it made me realize and accept something I’d always downplayed.
Amazing Cory! Congratulations.
❤️🙏🏽
Thanks for sharing this, when this song came out, I was crying, and everyone's reactions was overwhelmingly to push all that aside and focus on things like that she said "India" and that she said "closet" so it had to be about sexuality (I'm not straight, for reference). And it just, broke my heart. Because it's so rare for songs to depict this kind of thing, and represent this in such a haunting way but also from a loving pov (Taylor's to her friend). This song broke me apart and the fact most people miss the significance speaks to how most people miss it in real life. I'm glad you've had the breakthrough, it's painful but keep at it, it's one of the most freeing journeys to go through. I wish you the very best
@@AndrewFriedberg If you want songs about lost inocence and childhood try songs of the first 6 or 7 albums of the Symphonic Metalband NightWish from Finland. Live is best or a good Music Video,
I always interpreted the line, "but, I, I was high in the sky" as pointing out how large everything seems when you're a kid. Seven feet high on a swing really isn't that scary or high but as a child that can become so much more than it actually is and things are so much more dramatic and hold more weight as a kid.
Also, I've heard people say that "I hit my peak at seven" is a subtle reference to Taylor's album Lover which is her seventh studio album and the first one she owns herself.
The line about the haunted house and her friend's dad always spoke to me the most because it exemplifies how children interpret the world, especially the bad in it. The child just can't make sense of the father's anger and so they rationalize it with ghosts and fantastical things because they can't yet see the cruelness of the world.
Anyway, love the video and your analysis of songs. Excited for the next upload :)
I knew several kids in this kind of situation and this song made me remember them and how I always knew something was wrong but couldn't understand what. My mom told me years later the real reason why some of them had to move away(they were taken from their abusive parents) and I couldn't see them again. Being reminded of these kids whose names I remember and who I have fond memories with, but also realizing I can't recall what they look like and have so few pictures with any of them, hit me hard.
This song makes me think specifically of a set of brothers I was friends with since they lived around the corner for a few years. Even after I moved away, we gave them rides some places until one day we didn't anymore. Because their dad got sent to jail for abuse, their mom finally stood up for herself, with help from other lovely people and they were able to move away. Thankfully I got the chance to run into one of the brothers years later by chance and he told me they're in a much better place now, and thanked me for always being a place to hang out without having to go home. So yeah it makes me cry almost every time lol. It's a VERY specific feeling and I know not all those kids end up okay. It makes me want to keep an eye out for people in similar situations, I want to do all I can to help people who need it.
@@LeannahW you helped them ,being there for them, friends.
I’ve cried to this song too. Moving to another country and leaving behind childhood friends it’s a totally different experience and I can’t help but think of all the “what if’s” when I listen to this song. I do think the picture me before I learned civility is also about losing our sense of justice a bit. We become a bit complacent with “that’s the way things are” and we stop questioning things or letting people we deem more important like our bosses, celebrities and such dictate our way of thinking and we become less individualistic in our thinking. When people who go the opposite way are many times labeled as radicals because they go against the grain.
I love how such a simple but beautiful song can mean so many things to so many people. Thank you for reacting and being vulnerable with us and in front of us. Have a great day!
The "Or hide in the closet" is a killer, that really drives home how bad this little girl's homelife is.
Ooh, that's an interesting interpretation on the first verse. I found that the phrasing really undermines the lyrics, and often causes some listeners to interpret the lyrics a lot differently than how they're written. For example, when she sings the lyric "I hit my peak at seven (pause) feet". Most people listen to this, and interpret this as her saying she peaked at age 7 (and rightfully so because the way she sings the phrase), but the lyric continues and ends with the word "feet", meaning seven feet was the highest height she ever reached while on the swing.
It's also very interesting how you bring up the excessive use of the lyric "high in the sky" in popular music. Most of the time, it either pertains to a physical or metaphorical rush of ecstasy. In this song, however, it seems more literal. She's still in the swing "over the creek", and what she means is that she's literally in the swing at a high altitude. It's also quite the opposite of being in a "good" high, as she continues "I was to scared to jump in". The lyric is being used to convey a scary feeling, uncertainty, self-doubt, etc...
It's nice to hear other people's takes on music. Yours really opened up some new perspectives in me. Great video!
I really like how you take the time to analyze the lyrics. This really is an emotional song that hits hard in that second verse. You are quite talented as well. Have a Swift day.
this is my favorite song off folklore ! (and it’s not just because i live in pennsylvania) i just love the imagery and naivety so much. thank you
this is my favorite off folklore too & not because i'm from india, just because her voice just sounds so divine & then the story that is painted in my head with this one is just very beautiful, raw & pure!
That's what she does man. Her songwriting just hits hard dude. And she composes the songs precisely the way she wants it to sound to give the words an impact. For me, Taylor Swift is the only artist whose music I take seriously. Everyone else's songs come and go, and their lyrics aren't even that meaningful enough to stick with you and carry about your day thinking about what those words meant to you and how it brought forth something in you to reminisce about. She's so in tune with herself. She knows exactly what she wants and makes it happen. Truly remarkable. Nothing but respect for her.
Same here
I look forward to every single one of your videos! :) I always learn something new, even about songs I thought I knew well.
I think Taylor, as a songwriter, likes to put little things in her songs that change the focus... to that they can be about more than one thing. In this song, she is reflecting on the freedoms of being a child before learning civility, but also on recognizing that something was clearly wrong at a friends home situation without having the framework to understand what was really going on.
Love the song, love the commentary
i think the “high in the sky” lyric has two meanings. this song feels very ‘smoke a joint and reminisce about your past’ in a hauntingly nostalgic way.
the “i hit my peak at 7” cadence breaking from “feet in the swing” evokes those same layered meanings. i feel like these lines reflect the mood of the melody really well.
thank you for these reactions! i love that you connect with her lyrics :)
Really liked this vid, thanks for continuing to react to TS! I hope eventually you will choose to do vids on Evermore, her second pandemic album, and sister album to Folklore. There's a lot of people who react to her music, but you're the only one I watch consistently. Love your analysis!
Wow, I’ve seen so many reactors listen to this song and not understand it at all. It was really impactful watching you realize the depth of the meaning. It definitely affected me the same way when I realized who she was singing to.
Also hearing you play your version on the guitar makes me SO EXCITED to hear her play these live with her band and what she does.... it's SO GOOD.
I have to admit I have been watching your Taylor swift reaction videos for the last 3 hours and I truly enjoyed them. You have very thoughtful comments and you are so talented
I also cry when I hear this song. I relate far too much to the "your dad is always mad" part.
Why didn’t UA-cam recommend this to me? Happy that you reacted to it.
Soooo, about male tennis players throwing tantrums.... You should check out the "The Man" music video from Taylor's Lover album. Not necessarily to react to for UA-cam content, but just because it's relevant.
I had a fairly nice childhood. My family has always been there for me the best they could, even if they didn't recognize me developing some severe social anxiety as a kid. I dealt with my mental health the best I could, seeing that I didn't knew I had one until I was 20. On the other hand, my best friend had a hard childhood. Her parents love her, but still were emotionally and sometimes physically abusive. We met when we were 4 and I so clearly remember disliking her parents very early in our friendship.
I'm 28 now and this song really hits home. The lyrics "I hit my peak at 7" legit made me so emotional, and "I think your house is haunted, your dad is always mad and that must be why" broke me. "And I think you should come love with me and we could be pirates, then you won't have to cry".. so so many days spent at my home so she didn't had to be at hers, and so many sleepovers bc they didn't harass her when I was there. And I just love her so so much, and I wish we both could be ok, and I wish we could go and just travel around as we talked when we were young, like "pack your dolls and a sweater, we'll move to India forever" it's so real for me. It all just make me cry.
Ohhh yes I have been waiting for this, I love this song! So basically there are different theory’s but my their is, she is singing about a childhood and like a friend. When she says. “ I think your house is haunted, your dad is always mad “ I think she’s referring to the child had an abusive parent and her friend was like come with me and we can get away from here and move to India and be pirates. If that makes sense? 😸
Your guitar (and emotional) addition to this piece was so amazing.. thank you!
It's infuriating how good your intro songs are you sing and play so well😭
Ms. Swift broke me with this one, as with so many others. Keep on, keeping on 💗✌🏼Love watching, and listening.
That bridge hits so close to home. I cried like a baby the first time I heard it.
As someone who has been watching lots of tennis lately (Laver cup, US Open, etc...) I was so surprised to see Medvedev, Tsitsipas, and the rest in the video, My worlds collided for a minute!! Haha
Thanks for another thoughtful video!
this song reminds me of the movie "Beasts of the Southern Wild" which is about how a young girl interprets her father's health & the changing environment in her small town in Lousiana that is on the wrong side of the levees
Well good thing you have the sister album where they all collaborated again omggg can’t wait for you to finish folklore then proceed to evermore
This song really grew on me and became one of my fave songs of Taylor. 🥺🥺
august is next! i can't wait ahdjdktltl!
thank you for always making a genuine review ❤️❤️❤️
looking forward to the next upload
I am not gonna lie. I'm high binge watching your videos and am thoroughly enjoying harmonizing to your intros. Love your commentary and willingness to learn about the history of her. Big fan. Sorry for spamming you. Lol
12:30 she is in the swing seeing the world above her while she swings, AND she Is scared to jump. It's so literal. she Is remembering that feelings we all have felt. You feel like you are flying.
just can't wait for august!!!
You are lovely ❤️
😊 thank you
Aaah, I loved the editing of this reaction 👌
AUGUST NEXT! I CAN'T WAIT :)
I like that you can get emotional too! Always looking forward to your reactions to Taylor's music. Thanks for being honest .q
Well they have another album. EVERMORE, it will be great see you react (sorry me english i'm brazilian)
bro youre amazing bro
You are
Sweet nostalgia.
I feel like there is a turn of phrase that passed you by (this is atypical BTW - love your videos!): "I hit my peak at 7 feet - in the swing above the creek". Like yes, she likely intended the double entendre of hitting her peak at 7 years old - but I think the right interpretation of the following phrase are more in the innocent "at 7 feet above the creek" ... with Pennsylvania under me I was high in the sky... Maybe I connect with that interpretation more because I used to have a creek at the house and my kids LOVED swinging over it - it was absolutely formative for them. I could see that as being both a literal type of peak, but also "clearly life was at it's utmost in these moments".
Oh my god you need to watch the music video for the man by Taylor
I like her versatility in the way she's used sweet tea twice in this album and each time it meant something different in this song it actually a describing the drink sweet tea and the other time she used it she was referring to a t-shirt she has said before that certain words and phrases just really click with her and she puts them down in her Memo so she can use them later
so i've been watching a couple of your videos (love your analysis!) and i started laughing about the tennis player tantrum convo -- i used to watch tennis all the time growing up, and i always wondered why it was acceptable for grown adults to throw tantrums just because a ball was out LOL
lol. There are double meanings for seven, and for feet. She is seven years old. She was standing on the swing. Her peak at seven feet, at the top of her arc; but she was too scared to let go and fall in the creek. Saw a lot of swings like that as a kid, in trees that overhang a pond or lake. Feet is doing double duty, so she put it by itself, linking both parts of the lyric.
I would love to see you react to “Ivy” and “cowboy like me” from Evermore. I think you will dig them!
I almost missed this video! This song was not initially my favorite when I first heard the album, but now it absolutely is.
Love these!!! Also if possible You should create a playlist for us where you can add song that you like or something like that. We may expand out music taste as well.
I always get the best music recommendations from your singing!! ♥️♥️🙏🏻
High has a double meaning / she was high like happy blissful and then (phrasing and how it’s written on another line - like poetry)
In the sky.
So high has 2 meanings here
She really almost never throw a tantrum. I watch a lot of "spilling tea" kind of videos whenever I'm bored, some of them are food deliveries, stylists, waitresses... those who met Taylor said she's really nice, friendly and a big tipper.
I love these long pond studio review videos to the moon and to Saturn!
Glad you like them!
Thank you for this reaction, as usual with your videos I enjoyed it very much! Yeah, I do think her introductory comments make it seem like the song will be more about anger/tantrums and the freedom of being able to 'act out' in childhood than it really is -- that's only a small piece of the song's more complicated reflection on the power and mystery of childhood feelings. She sings about how strong and unfettered those feelings are in both good and bad ways -- love and friendship can come so simply and easily at that age and can last even when the memory of the person you used to know is faded except for small details. But there's at the same time a helplessness to that memory which she can see in retrospect as an adult -- a child can imagine saving a friend with fantastic adventures (we'll go be pirates! we'll move to India forever!) but of course looking back we understand that the kind of help a troubled child needed wasn't possible for another child to provide. But the sense of wonder and sadness and sympathy remains.
As for the part of the song that does touch on anger...I think the pull she feels toward indulging anger and hurt feelings versus the pressure she also feels to repress them too far in order to meet society's standards about how women should behave is a conflict she comes back to repeatedly, because she's trying to figure it out in her own life. She has a song later in this album that explicitly plays with the double meaning of the word "mad" -- which can be used equally to mean "angry" or "crazy" -- and the way that, for women particularly, the first definition often automatically shades into the second because showing anger can get them written off as histrionic/embarrassing/nasty regardless of what reasons they have to feel the way they do. At the same time, anger can be addictive and self-destructive, and Taylor has said before that she felt like she got into a destructive cycle with the media where she would hate the invasiveness of their approach to her, the constant judgments the internet and media were making about her personal life, the way journalists magnified her 'celebrity feuds'...but at the same time, every time she put out a new album with songs based on her own break-ups and anger she was handing out free ammunition to keep the same kind of cycle going. For a while I think she tried to lean into the media's image of her and take control of it for her own benefit -- "Blank Space," for example, is a deliberate satire on what she saw as the imaginary 'tabloid-Taylor personality' that she turned into a megahit for herself -- but in the end I think it really depressed her to play into that narrative about herself that she hated.
In this album, she's taking a different approach and experimenting with writing songs many of which are not about her personal life -- a lot of these songs are fictional, or loosely inspired by real things, and I think she's figuring out that seeking catharsis through fiction is a healthier way to express herself emotionally and artistically. The lines in her recent songs that touch on anger seem to me to show her searching for the right balance between letting it all out and holding it all in -- sometimes she yearns for a time when she could scream and cry without getting publicly reviled for it, other times she stands up for her right to be outraged, and still other times she looks at herself wryly and reminds herself "not to get lost in these petty things" as she says in another song. "Cold was the steel of my axe to grind for the boys who broke my heart. Now I buy their babies presents." Anger is a hard part of life to deal with, especially for people who have a temperament that others might consider "too sensitive" -- she's figuring out how to navigate it, thought by thought and piece by piece.
First time I got to the end of the song it the beginning…really good one!!
This is absolutely my favorite song of hers because it hits home
“She hit her peak at seven feet over the creek.”
I don't think it's admiring or wanting to throw tantrums, but more just like longing for the way that we are able to be honest with our emotions as children. And like instead of playing nice or being passive aggressive with people you hate, you're straightforward about it, and purge that feeling. And there's some practical benefit to that, because cooping up those feelings isn't good for you in the end. I also am reminded of the difference between the way girls and boys are socialized to deal with their anger - girls are taught that they aren't supposed to be angry, so they tend to deal with it in all these underhanded, poisonous, passive aggressive ways when it inevitably happens, whereas boys may get into physical fights, which is bad, but it usually purges the anger more quickly, and arguably with less damage (getting beat up is less likely to emotionally scar you).
love your music intros
one of my fave songs on the album i really wish she had talked about it a bit more, but it's ok T^T
you're a musician so i don't think it's weird at all that you listen for those things, it's always interesting for me to hear about because their not always things i pay a lot of attention to at first :)
(also i was wondering why this video only showed up for me now, but i saw in the comments it was blocked😅glad to see it now)
My guess for what's on your shuffle list from the ones you've reacted to so far... Exile
Love your honest reactions, you looked like you could use a hug after this one though.
This video is blocked in countries out of the US just so you know! Im using a vpn to watch it.
this is the only one that's blocked.
Thanks for telling me
Im in Greece and i watched it just fine
@@Anna13Tonks because he did something now its available. it was posted almost a week ago
@@metoziii It's actually Prince who blocked it, and they can block it for a number of days without me being able to stop it. I'm guessing the time limit just passed. But ironic, I use less than 30 secs I think of his song. :)
hits me too so hardly!
5:07 I don't think she misses It, I think she just WONDERS where does that go?
MORE TAYLOR!!!
what makes the song more sad is that the lyric "or hide in the closet" can mean two things: one is, literally the kids tryna hide from the mad father or being in the closet as a gay child scared of coming out to your father.
I laughed so hard at "we'll remember this forever", so accurate
A lot of people have probably already said it, but the simplicity of the those lyrics are kinda necessary for the overall feel of the song. I mean, if she would've been putting some Voltaire level stuff in there, the entire vibe of the song would've been completely off.
For me I didn't try to read anything into the lyrics I just took them as exactly what they were her describing seven-year-old girl Swingin as high she can next to a creek and then being too scared to jump in
The Blur 2 reference aged poorly 🤣 Love the video!
I like tennis! 🤷♂️😜
And tentru tampre🤣🤣
"maybe it's on purpose" HAHAHA it most definitely is. taylor is veryyyyyy intentional about her lyricism, and everything she does with music/performances/etc. to me the "high in the sky" part made seven hit harder, because that's such a childish thing to say, and so evocative about the age she's singing of.
Pleasedo renegade
She is not saying she hit her peak at age 7. She hit her peak at 7 feet in the swing. That's the highest she has ever reached. As a kid, that can feel very high and scary hence "high in the sky, with Pennsylvania underneath. Then she say's "are there still beautiful things" she is wondering in present day if that kind of innocence and happiness can still exist as an adult like it did when she was a child back in Pennsylvania.
When I first heard this song , I saw the imagery of feeling high in the sky while swinging as s child , how high could I go? and then shes over Pennsylvania, and I thought she’s in an airplane leaving her friend behind
That is highly impressive that you can throw an internal temper tantrum. My face gives everything away.
Or maybe she's just saying she was swung so high she reached 7 feet above the ground
Taylor's songwriting is NEVER simplistic. I will take her songwriting over other pop singers hands down.
Although you can take the lyrics anyway really
Cross you heart won't tell no other. Hiding in the closet. This may be about the taboo of homosexuality during that time. Her friend may have told her that she likes other girls. She can be herself around her. I may be wrong, but I know that Taylor supports gay rights and women's rights. She is such a great person. She doesn't base her opinion of people off of petty stuff like that. She knows that it is person's character and personality that matter. Are they kind or are the deceptive?
I always see the "hide in closet" part as an analogy to LGBTQ+ people. Probably the kid she sings about was abused at home for being gay. That's very sad and too close home for me. Always makes me emotional.
Golfers are ridiculous at times.