Taylor Swift Historians Decode The Tortured Poets Department...🐍 Evolution of a Snake Podcast
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- Опубліковано 28 чер 2024
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welcome back to the evolution of a snake! surprise divas...bet you thought you'd seen the last of us....but no, we're here, and this is the THIRD and final swiftologist installment of TTPD release weekend. whew! today, we tear into the tracklist of our new national anthem, dissecting the different muses, matty healy and joe alwyn, and how they played a part in the incredible storytelling done on this record. let's just say we have a few choice words for THE smallest man who ever lived!!!!!! viva la snake nation!!!!!
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0:00 - 1:00 coming up
1:00 - 16:06 prologue
16:06 - 22:37 fortnight
22:37 - 33:12 tortured poets department
33:12 - 38:19 my boy only breaks his favorite toys
38:19 - 44:48 down bad
44:48 - 51:10 so long london
51:10 - 59:42 but daddy I love him
59:42 - 1:06:40 fresh out the slammer
1:06:40 - 1:10 39 - florida
1:10:39 - 1:18:23 guilty as sin?
1:18:23 - 1:25:53 who's afraid of little old me?
1:25:53 - 1:28:33 I can fix him (no really I can)
1:28:33 - 1:38:14 loml
1:38:14 - 1:43:02 I can do it with a broken heart
1:43:02 - 1:54:13 the smallest man who ever lived
1:54:13 - 2:01:17 the alchemy
2:01:17 2:08:11 clara bow
2:08:11 final thoughts - Розваги
PART 2 IS UP NOW: ua-cam.com/video/-8AYnc3Wk1A/v-deo.html
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I'm absolutely OBSESSED with so long, London and the Prophecy. Her voice is so rich and real and the pain reflects so clearly. I think so long, London is a message to the turkey.
The resignation in Zach's face and posture because 90% of the album os about the Rat, not the Turkey is giving "my sadness is contagious" 😅
If I can offer a thought relief, I really, really, **REALLY** think that the first 5 tracks are all about Jover in some capacity;
if _Fortnight_ is not about some casual fling she used to do the thing she does better than anything (revenge), in that post mortem post _You're losing me_ phase, if so, then I think is about relapsing with the turkey, though she knows she shouldn't and doubting her own sanity because of it...
Then I don't think he is above using typewriters, and the song is titled after _his_ Whatsapp group, so...
Just in track #6 I think (think, I may be wrong, but I'm really trying to open up perspectives) we have a composite sketch about how she processes falling in love and all; and from _Slammer_ onwards we get into the absolute MESS of Eras Tour times 💁🏻
Taylor announced her split from Joe on Mattys birthday, which is April 8th
I can’t wait for Part 2! ❤ When is it gonna be released btw?
Me too lol😂
"when she realizes her broken heart is her muse, and not the guys..." That was the single most eye opening profound thing I've heard.
Also terribly depressing.
This and stop with the paternity tests. This si about her processing grief not who it is exactly
LOVEEEED THIS.
Misery is reserved for masterpieces. 💔
Seriously. Didn’t know we’d get free therapy as well ❤
We were ready to cook a turkey. We had it all there, the spices, the potatoes to go with it and were ready to chop him up. And then she said: no, today, on the menu, we have a rat.
He’s plenty cooked though and the reason this Matty insanity hapoened is how joe broke her and drove her into insanity
LMAO I HATE HOW ACCURATE THIS IS
She clowned us AGAIN she loves it 🤡
She’s utterly unpredictable but she always knows best, it’s incredible how she does it
I think it’s even more embarrassing for Joe that she made an album about another man she was with for a very short time
My headcannon is that Producer/Therapist Jack Antonoff just let Taylor ramble in the mania for a bit cause he had a wedding to plan lol
He is an evil genius, who pulled the strings. The way he said: „ I adore this album and the way it came about“ 😈
@@dreamchaser7603 Let's not ignore the input from the great Aaron Dessner too!
Lmaoo
tbh I don't blame him, imagine having these two friends crazy about each other and miserable either way, you would try to get them together already, even if you knew deep down it's gonna end badly - because at least it's gonna be off the table.
@@pikapika4240My problem with Jack is that he was Actively trying to reunite them or at least helping Matty big time! He has known him for years and his reckless behavior with women. So, what made him think it was a good idea?? Everything for an Art?? 🤔
"happy people don't get up on stage and say this is the happiest i've ever been and play question" HELP 💀
Matty Healy was simply so much more than we knew. He lived in her head for an entire decade. To quote Titanic, a woman's heart is an ocean of secrets.
“Dear reader, the biggest luxury is your secrets”
as someone who has harbored crushes for 10+ years before (even while with other people i actually loved), i totally agree, and i get it.
Yep, loved a guy for 15+ years and when we finally had our shot, he blew it all to hell. More than once. And I'm still trying to get through it. I relate to this album ***so*** much.
The girl that get it, get it
I yelled “YES” when madeline said “But Daddy I Love Him” sounds like it could be on Speak Now! it’s not just the writing, even her vocals SCREAM Speak Now to me
It is SO the 2024 Juliet from Love Story!
Yes and yes, ladies 😮❤
Yeah that’s true. Also I instantly knew it was Aaron Dessner’s work too. One of my favourites. It’s so “FUCK Y’ALL”
I almost fucking CRIED because it's so close to that country taylor I first fell in love with 😭
With it sounding so Speak Now-esque.. do you think she's reflecting on a younger love that she had?? To say "I'm having his baby" sounds like something someone would say in their formative/teenage years..
So high school is 100% trav coded, the marry kiss kill , the crinkled eyes, and “tell me about the first time you saw me”. It’s all lore
“do that impression of your dad again”
“you know ball i know aristotle”
WHEN I SAY I CRIED
He just said a few days ago it’s in his top three favorite songs of Tay, too. It’s about him, the cope is strong, lmfao.
“But we know her. We *know* her.”
Literally none of us know her. This album is her telling the fans that they don’t know her.
The greatest of luxuries are her secrets.
True
girl the og fans know her way better than yall 15 yr olds who joined the fandom 2 months ago.
@@BJ_48no
I think there is a persona that Taylor is conveying and building in her albums - that's what they mean when they say they know her. No Taylor the person per se. although there have to be overlaps
it’s so clever how madeline is dressed as the tortured poets department and zack is dressed as the anthology
She's got too much color, she's dressed like Lover of anything 😅
@@quantumwitcher9376
Madeline is dressed like lover and Zackary is dressed like either reputation or anthology
Never clicked faster on a video in my life
same haha :)
😅 me too
Ditto!!❤😂
Neeooooom 🏎️
same!🎉
"the 1 is about matty healy"
"i dont like to hear that..."
me as the 1 biggest fan never related more LMAO
Any Twin or Twin Flame reference is Matty too, as I believe he's her twin flame. Runner/Chaser dynamic
@SparkleP8nter what are other songs do u think about matty and twinflame related
@@mewsao well Invisible String is 1000% about a twin flame, she mentioned "Twin Flame Bruise" in the 10 min All Too Well, (kinda like saying she met her twin flame around that time, maybe she met her twin flame just before or just after they dated?) It definitely wasn't about Jake, it was kind of a burn towards him like "did it hurt when you saw me have a strong connection with someone else) type bruise . There's lines in Are You Ready For It and Mastermind very TF.
Then in Down Bad, "lost my best friend" "like I lost my twin" lines. The lyrics she uses "magnetic force" is about the twin flame connection, so Lover & Gorgeous. Even Wildest Dreams & King of my heart...
Some stuff I found about Twin Flame dynamic here:
("Twin flame relationships are magnetic. From the moment you meet, you feel inexplicably drawn to the other person. This feeling never seems to wane, either. It's a constant overwhelming pull, and while the attraction can be sexual, it's more often just the desire to be in that person's presence.") ("A twin flame involves two people who share the same soul. Once these twin flames meet, this results in an intense, magnetic attraction and connection. These individuals share similar past experiences and trauma")
She implies in "My Boy only breaks his favorite toys" "I'm queen of sandcastles he destroys" as if Matty was the subject in Call it what you Want. Also Delicate... Plus all these songs and probably more can be directly linked to some of the 1975 songs.
Her line about 7 bars of chocolate relates to the 1975 song Chocolate.
His song Oh Caroline matches to her Carolina etc
Oh I'm sure there's more, I just have to find them. Those are at the top of my head though.
Now, I know that when they were put out she was dating certain guys, I think she's honestly just been writing her Matty songs and keeping them in the Vault until she was ready. So she could have dozens more songs she wrote that she hasn't shared yet.
I KNOW their PUBLIC meeting happened after 1989 came out, but what if that was a staged "give me your number" for the public, because I swear she met him before red somehow. Like she was testing the waters.
Also I know Out of the Woods and Style is supposed to be about Harry S, but... The silhouette of her head in Fortnight ties back to "Style"...
And the line "are we out of the woods, yet?" Kinda like when she and Joe broke up, she got with Matty to see if they were out of the woods... But the "fans" didn't agree. They just didn't know she's been talking about Matty this whole time.
I feel like I also need to mention that I feel that though she has all these lyrics directed at Jake, Harry, Joe etc. I believe that way back Scott Borchetta was kinda doing what Scooter did with Ariana, he separated Ariana & Mac Miller.
I think that Scott maybe told her "it's not a good idea to date HIM" TYPE thing, controlling who she's with. So she interlaced half the songs she was writing to include him still. You can see it in many songs that they are directed at one, but some lyrics are technically about another. (Kind of like my theory that IKYWT was hidden in a song about a breakup, but I believe she was referring to SCOTT himself in it. I had posted my theory in June 2019, and at the AMAS, several months later, her performance DURING ikywt, the flames on the stage looked VERY similar to the flames on the Big Machine logo. It felt like a confirmation to me...
@@mewsao here's another writeup I found on the Twin Flame Runner chaser dynamic.
"Twin Flame Runner & Chaser
It is so intense that often one of them may run from the relationship - this is what is commonly known as the runner/chaser stage. There may be difficulty in being together for long periods of time. Twin flames connect even at a distance as telepathy and empathy are common between them.
The runner experiences soul shock as well but in a very different way than the chaser does. For the chaser, this is a highly emotional time. Anger and confusion reign as you see your Twin Flame burn your shared destiny and spiritual journey, seemingly without a thought your way.
Runners love it when chasers keep up with the chase. This chase also triggers their healing during the Twin Flame process. It is very confusing when your Twin Flame runs from you. You also feel frustrated and exhausted from chasing him or her.
The changes in the energetic flow between the runner and the chaser; Twin Flames share the same energy vibration, and therefore you can feel the growth in your Twin Flame’s energetic frequency.
There is also a feeling of inner freedom that you feel. You stop feeling stressed out by the chasing behaviors of your partner.
A Twin Flame always comes back to you. You have to believe that a Reunion with your Twin Flame is imminent.
When the Twin Flame Chaser withdraws their energy to focus on themselves through SURRENDER, the chaser Twin Flame gets exhausted from controlling the relationship, the runner gets room to contemplate about what was happening."
Which is why TTPD songs about Matty Is so much more painful of an album than any Joe Breakup song... It really injured her when he ran from the relationship. And he ran from the relationship because THE FANS got in the way. If they had only known that so many years she's been referring to him in her songs.
@@mewsao
"Twin Flame Runner & Chaser
It is so intense that often one of them may run from the relationship - this is what is commonly known as the runner/chaser stage. There may be difficulty in being together for long periods of time. Twin flames connect even at a distance as telepathy and empathy are common between them.
The runner experiences soul shock as well but in a very different way than the chaser does. For the chaser, this is a highly emotional time. Anger and confusion reign as you see your Twin Flame burn your shared destiny and spiritual journey, seemingly without a thought your way.
Runners love it when chasers keep up with the chase. This chase also triggers their healing during the Twin Flame process. It is very confusing when your Twin Flame runs from you. You also feel frustrated and exhausted from chasing him or her.
The changes in the energetic flow between the runner and the chaser; Twin Flames share the same energy vibration, and therefore you can feel the growth in your Twin Flame’s energetic frequency.
There is also a feeling of inner freedom that you feel. You stop feeling stressed out by the chasing behaviors of your partner.
A Twin Flame always comes back to you. You have to believe that a Reunion with your Twin Flame is imminent.
When the Twin Flame Chaser withdraws their energy to focus on themselves through SURRENDER, the chaser Twin Flame gets exhausted from controlling the relationship, the runner gets room to contemplate about what was happening."
Her saying she swirled Matty into her poems felt like a full admission to me that folklore is about Matty in many ways. Absolutely devastating divas
I keep these longings locked in LOWERCASE inside a vault
Yeahhhhh just thinking about the “Peter losing Wendy” line and how we have a whole song for that line now
@@juliabarnes-nadir9733 The smell of smoke would hang around this long
Yesssss! 💯
I felt good on behalf of Taylor while listening to this album. I could sense her freedom. There’s no calculating business woman behind it trying to figure out which songs will be hit pop songs, no biting her tongue or holding back on things that could be TMI, and certainly no f*** given to how the exes or victims of her songs will be feeling in the aftermath of this. Freedom is the word for this album. She’s in her IDGAF era.
She mature beyond her years. Most women don't get to their IDGAF era until their 50s!😄
It’s likely she gives a lot less fucks than she used to. I find it a bit hard to imagine that Taylor shifted from giving a whole lot of fucks about every little thing and opinion of her to the other extreme. She is probably somewhere in between those two and just making her way to give significantly less fucks over time. Miles Cyrus is someone I can imagine hardly gives any fucks here and there. Not Taylor. Not even now.
I can't wait until she hits 40. All bets are going to be off. Or maybe she's already there.
Abso-fucking-lutely! I love her new candidness and hope it continues! I want to get to know the real Taylor (and maybe give her a hug after this album 😢)
You also get that with how much cursing is in it! Love that for her
what makes me so happy about this album is that here she doesnt try to please the masses who dont get her anyway. its for the people who knew her before
Yep exactly. It’s an album for anyone who cares to KNOW her deeply as an artist. If not, this album is probably a pain to get through
If she’s not trying to please anyone, then why make an album, relentlessly promote it and make an ungodly number of vinyl variants… money.
@@VEGAS-NERVEbecause she’s still one of the biggest pop stars of all time. She isn’t specifically writing songs like shake it off and me! for the radio but she’s still going to promote the music she’s made and is proud of
@@VEGAS-NERVE news flash she didnt.promote it to the pg, all the special promos were for fans, platforms advertise her bc it's her that brings them business, she doesn't need them to promote her
@@VEGAS-NERVE she is expressing herself, thats art. lover and midnights are records where she cared way too much about being appreciated by as many people as possible. in the end it takes character out of the record
The way she gave a NOD to The Swiftologist in her poem YALL! The part about being out the oven with the roasted Turkey to going into the microwave was INSANE to me and instantly made me think of Swiftologist 🤣
😂😂😂😂😂🦃
Where was this! I gotta see this omg
Hi Miranda. I found a twitter post screenshotting one of your comments where you say Taylor Swift has a "immeasurable kindness" because she paid your university tuition for a year. Is that true? The comment also says you do free therapy session for underprivileged kids every month due in part to Taylor's kindness to you and the desire of giving back to the community.
omg what?! yes it's true lol! could you tell me what the tweet says so I can find it? thanks so much!
honestly the fact that she put the alchemy and so highschool on the acceptance playlist is what fully convinced me that those songs are about travis not to mention matty healy doesn’t win trophies so
This! Honestly, ones in denial about it are kinda in their own delusion. Travis also basically confirmed it, saying in his podcast that he was put on the map. And Kaleigh Teller also liked a comment about how she wrote the Alchemy in handwritten hearts and how she's so in love. I also read up on the Heroin with an E thing, apparently it's a football joke. They joke about taking drugs to get through the games or something. It kinda disappointed me to see the delusion about that song.
@@Meggles37 yes i fully thought that the heroine with an e joke was in reference to how matty would joke about heroin without an e and how the person she is actually referring to in the song doesn’t joke about that kind of heroin but rather the other kind i thought that was obvious lol
100% it drives me CRAZY that they will make comments about people overly reading into a lyric (ie. 1830s lyric) and then literally completely discount this song being about Travis with no discussion based on the word “heroin”
@@KendallVH Exactly. This is what made me realize... hypocrites. I didn't agree with some of the stuff that has been said before, but still found it to be insightful and interesting. This one just made me realize they're just like every delusional swiftie. I believe Taylor's happy until she lets us know otherwise. She had done so much to show that she is happy with Travis, so I believe her. Swiftologist said he wouldn't believe it until she puts him in a song... well she did that and he still won't believe it???? I was in shock.
they are about him because they're generic af we get it
When Joe met Taylor she was sad and low, but he was always sad and low (he still is) and so when she says “How much sad did you think I had in me?” she’s basically saying “Did you not think I’d get better? Did you not think I’d want to be happy? I understand that you’re still sad, and that’s you, but I’m not sad anymore.”
I feel like the difference between losing Joe and losing Matty is like losing someone to a disease , vs losing someone suddenly : she grieved Joe over time, (years? ) and Matty was a sudden loss where the grief hit all at once ; also the loss of Joe might have felt like it was opening up a chance to make it work with Matty (the one who got away in some weird alternative universe) : so losing him was even more heartbreaking because she lost both of those things (him, and the idea that this was why she lost Joe and suffered through that prison sentence )
Such a good point!!
This is such an incredible way of explaining this. Such a good comparison!
This is a good point and makes me think even more that Down Bad is, in a way, about the two different "him's"!
"Prison sentence" who were the corrections officers that prevented her from walking out of that prison? Like, be for real, the relationship wasn't good for her, but don't compare it to people getting locked away for years. She was still touring, doing interviews meeting friends etc.
@@Eragon2679 it’s a metaphor that she used , she also mentioned in the forward that a lot of it was self inflicted : people stay in bad relationships for a lot of reasons .
The music video for Fortnight is so symbolic. To me Joe=jail, she was chained to the bed, she was bored, shook her hand annoyed when they took the chains off - she was ready and indifferent to it ending by then. Matty = the hospital, the move on drug, she took the pill of a rebound to forget Joe. She had hidden tattoos of how she felt all along about Matty which she finally revealed. Her tattoos matched Post Malones. He also represents Matty - they have twin tattoos, they're both tortured poets typing lyrics, they worked together and collaborated. When she's finally free, he's her first call. And there's so much more!!!! Y'all it's there! And it's good!
Someone else pointed out that the book end of midnights hits different says something like “have they come to take me away” and fortnight begins with “they were supposed to come and get me but they forgot to get me”
And these two songs were written before Matt Healy. I think she went through a really difficult time behind the scenes from Thanksgiving until the start of the tour. She wasn’t Joe or at least not very much. I think he then well he allegedly cheated on her with his costar which made the possibility of going back very unlikely and then up pops Matt Healy
I saw this as a “I’m in my rebound era album” which is why all the muses blend together throughout each song. She couldn’t have one without the other and the intensity of emotions that comes with that
I 100% think that her feelings were all over the place in this period. Like, she was back into experiencing strong emotions after a long time, and she was like going back and forth trying to get all of them together
she dated two tortured poets
So right! Two sides of the same coin in my opinion. You can definitely interchange them in certain aspects and there’s a duality there that intertwine’s them forever back to minimum midnights and potentially all the way to folklore.
@@jessicafreckles2313 I think I need you to be my best friend
@@samanthalang2211 Haha, we’ll just be cookin’ up theories all day girl.
This album is the epitome of the girls who get it get it and the girls who don’t don’t. Like idk how to explain to people how amazing this album is.
Yesss!
Non swifties just won’t get it
Genuinely I think you need to know at least a little bit of lore and know all the other albums for this one to make sense and to be able to appreciate it.
yes!! my friend said “did she do this 30-song album about her 6 year long relationship?” and i just said “too long of a story to tell you. short answer: no”
@@maciedixon3983some swifties dont get it and called her immature
It seems like maybe she wasn't delusional when she said Cardigan was about Matty. "But I knew you'd linger like a tattoo kiss/I knew you'd haunt all of my what-ifs/The smell of smoke would hang around this long/'Cause I knew everything when I was young." I also agree that The One is probably about Matty. People spend so much time on Easter Eggs, but, really, the fans know nothing until she tells us.
"try to change the ending, Peter losing Wendy"
I actually found the combined heartbreak of Joe and Matty coming through in this album and as you say, composite sketches on multiple sons. I think she truly suffered a monumental loss with Joe, who did in a way truly love her for HER, and Matty was the follow-up that she maybe put all of her hopes and dreams into, which is why she was even more crushed when it didn't work out, like a -wait i thought the suffering was over moment. It's probably what led to the Prophecy? And the end with Matty also probably brought the pain back from the ending of Joe. I actually find songs like So Long London and Loml to be insanely sad, not manic sad, but in a depressive, comatose, watching someone slowly die kind of way, which arguably to me is more painful and heartbreaking. Overall, i am fucking haunted by this album.
Very true. When you are leaving a relationship even though you know it’s for the best because you tried your hardest. It’s still easy to put off and just run to the next set of arms, but the grief of losing Joe was just channeled through Matty. She obviously thought about him for a long time, which is something that I suspected especially after she said how she was happier than she had ever been in her life. I thought, she’s probably going to regret saying that. Travis seems like he suits her so much better and I was prepared not to like him either what I’ve learned is not to judge :-) belong, but her music tells a story that we can all relate to.
My crackpot theory is that their 1989 fling had way more meat to it- if cardigan is about Matty there’s a line that says “Peter losing Wendy” CUE THE SONG PETER: “said you were gonna grow up then you were gonna come find me” I think it was so devastating because she had been living with the possibility in her back pocket for LITERAL years. Ever read Persuasion by Jane Austen?
I also think "The One" is about the same person as the teenage love triangle because in Cardigan she says "chase two girls, lose THE ONE" and those songs are back to back on the album
Actually heard the rumor that her parents did in fact NOT approve of her dating Matty back then and this is why the 1989 fling ended. His aunt also stated on Friday that there is much more to the story than the public knows, but he wants to keep it discreet.
Am I the only one who thinks Peter isn't about Matty at all? The whole song feels like she's describing how she fell out of love with the other person as time went on despite trying to hold on to the idea of them, which obviously isn't at all what happened between her and Matty
@@gildanonofyabiznez6430 it sounds to me exactly like what happened with Matty -- they were younger, it was not the right timing, but they kept crossing jet streams and she preserved him in the back of her closet --- but --- i think the fantasies expired when they actually dated and the promises they made to each other were broken and she realized that he never actually grew up...
a friend of Mattys affectionately calls him "peter pan" on instagram...it's a nickname he's had long term. i love how she intertwined the story of peter man in the entire song! BRILLIANT
Taylor called the Turkey her Jailer in back in Ready for it? Reputation. The duality of Jailer, a jailer in infatuation, then jailer in misery.
Well spotted ! I almost forgot about that line
I know we joked that their ship name was Toe, but from the beginning she said they were Jaylor!
With jailer she was like "lock me down" with paper rings and all... but all he did was lock her up -_-
@@newbee4116"You can be my jailer, my Burton to my Taylor and then in Fresh out the Slammer she's making her
unpopular opinion: i really enjoy florida!!!
idk where y’all live but where i live, florida is the most popular vacation destination. there’s the sketchy parts, where the buried bodies are, and then there’s the vacation spots. the beaches of destin (or pretty much anything on the panhandle) are beautiful. as someone who’s vacationed there for multiple summers, it does feel like a home to me. it’s like an alternate reality, and there’s a sense of belonging but like taylor says, im just a guest. when leaving destin and returning home, i have ‘withdrawals’ and struggle with returning to my normal life. she wrote a story about someone who is middle class and craves the escape. i feel that florida!!! has a mystery to it, it’s both intriguing and relatable at the same time
I like it as well, I really enjoy the intensity of the chorus! 😊
It’s growing on me but still a bottom for me out of all the others ❤
Fortnight is about when Taylor & Matty were first together for a fortnight in 2014. When she felt like she was an old cardigan under someone’s bed he put her on like she was his favourite. She kissed him in a crowded room and every single one of his friends was making fun of him. He left her house in the middle of the night (leaving his typewriter behind). She chooses safe Calvin over starry eyed Matty. Next chapter. They see each other around because they work in the same industry. Then he’s in her backyard recording at Jack’s studios. His girlfriend waters the Electric Lady plants. Joe is cheating on Taylor. Matty comments on Cardigan. He rescues her from her Joe experiment. The end.
This!
Ou this interpretation makes so much sense.
Thank you!
This makes a lot of sense that this would be about what happened in 2014... espeically since 14 is a fortnight...it's a callback to the year
@@michtiefomg I missed the year !!!!
One thing I've been realising as I relisten is just how much Hits Different alludes to and plays a role in setting up the album:
"Or have they come to take me away?" -> "I was supposed to be sent away / but they forgot to come and get me"
"I found an artifact / cried over a hat / cursed the space that I needed / I trace the evidence make it make some sense" -> "I keep finding things in drawers / crucial evidence I didn't imagine the whole thing"
"I used to switch out these Kens / I'd just ghost" -> "I felt more when we played pretend than with all the Kens"
"A wrinkle in time like the crease by your eyes" -> "The brink of a wrinkle in time"
"Each bar plays our song" -> "But she's too young to know this song / that was intertwined in the magic fabric of our dreaming" (from The Black Dog, a pub in London)
On one hand I agree with what you said in the video - she has such a massive discography that sometimes it's a coincidence rather than an Easter egg. But the fact that Hits Different was originally the 'last' song on Midnights and there's just SO MUCH IN IT that now makes a lot more sense with what TTPD has told us...makes me think at least some had to be intentional.
some motifs she seems to reuse over several muses, for instance, she definitely used “starry-eyed” or similar before joe and now after him as well. but the parallel motifs here do make me ponder.
I still think hit’s different was about Joe.
all i have to say is: Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?
!!!!!!!
Favoritest Track on TTPD from the very first listen to where it’s pretty much stayed on repeat. 🤍🩶🖤
“You should be” - first time I heard that I lost it!
Could’ve been a first single. Seems like a thesis statement for the album
Absolutely obsessed with “Down Bad” I can’t stop listening to it! This album is beyond my expectations! Thank you so much for uploading this for us! 🖤🤍
I joined during Reputation, and lemme tell you - to me, the darkest is also the most relatable side of Taylor, especially when it's a darkness that's been quietly brewing on the inside for a long time. This is what I've been waiting for. I can confidently say that I've never related to and liked her more. I'm also thrilled that, for the first time, she clearly and directly scolded her fans and displayed undeniable contempt for the way she's been treated like someone who isn't or shouldn't be able to make her own choices. Before, she would direct her anger at the media or at the general public, this is the first time she directly puts her *fan base* in its place
I've been thinking a lot about so long london as the track five when loml exists and I have to wonder if the reason it ended up there is because it's really the only song that's unequivocally about joe. it is the odd man out on the album. it's the one moment where she takes time to reflect on and really mourn that specific relationship. it's like the closing of a coffin lid at a funeral. and it's the only song where she does so without the composite sketches or any thought or reference to matty. it does sound tired and exhausted, but also sad and mournful, like it's the only moment where she stops to really let herself feel that feeling in this otherwise very chaotic period. it's not the most emotionally evocative track five, but when I think of it this way, it kind of makes sense why it gets that spot.
And we all thought that Reputation was her "angry" album....😂
Ime that album was a little bit of manufactured anger along with some real… this is like 150% and very raw. This is the type of ‘bad girl’ that Taylor can pull off
I think reputation was her “I’m a bad bitch and I’m fine and I’m better than this and I’m happy now AND IM FINE OKAY?!” Album and this is her furious, completely done with this shit album.
@@allyson6735lmao yes, people were also saying this is her FU album to critics, finally not trying to please them and show them she can still pull numbers without catering to the general pop
Rep walked so ttpd could run
TTPD to rep: that was cute
The two of you are literally the messiahs of my post 9-5 shift boredom, amen.
never related to a comment more in my life
Zach is right. It's not even just "the people". The New York Post and The New York Times also stated things like it needed editing and it was too long. I did feel that it was because they really missed the concept of the entire double album. I really do feel this is some of her best writing. I love her music in general but this was on another level.
And if she had released a shorter album, and fans learned that there were a bunch of unreleased songs, they would have clamored for them anyway.
I'd rather she release every song she writes, and we can sift through it ourselves.
Hi! I’m a Swiftie from Korea who used to live in the US, I post Korean subtitle videos just for fun, and I came across your channel and I thoroughly LOVED this video!! Such effort and depth!!
I personally love But Daddy I Love Him, it brought me such nostalgia and the sounds are so exhilarating in a way.
It got me thinking, how after the pregnancy joke she laughs “you should see your faces”, maybe the whole “But Daddy I love him” line itself is a poke at the audience (including some fans) who still view her as the girl from Love Story whose love affairs are up gossip and for nosing into, and they think she is still the girl who has to cling to her dad, or whoever, for approval about her love interest.
And the whole perspective change “dancing in my dress in the sun” “even my Daddy just loves him” seemed like a dream to me, a faraway future where she is free to love whoever she loves, with zero paps or whatever, because that part both lyrically and sonically reminded me of Wildest Dreams. I’m probably reading too much into it, but of reminded me of the Old Taylor and made me cry. 😂 Anyway, you’ve got yourself a subscriber! Loved this video!
i feel like a oven and microwave analogy works really well regarding the two relationships people focus on when looking at this album. she was miserable in her relationship with joe so she started thinking about the what ifs regarding matty. both stories start the same, her the damsel in distress and him, the man that thinks he’s saving her, that can promise her what she is lacking. she wants true love, marriage, a future together. in the end the two "love stories" were quite similar, a man making promises he couldn’t keep and her slowly going insane. with matty it was just accelerated like how a microwave can do an ovens job faster.
that’s why a lot of the songs are not just about one of them and why a lot of people are confused as to why she’d write so many songs about matty.
And an oven is a slow cook. It has to come up to temperature before it burns.
But a microwave boils in just minutes.
It makes total sense to me 😂 Matty boiled her ass and Joe was a slow cook until she reached the boiling point
Taylor said at one of her concerts that she is the happiest she has ever been in ALL aspects of her life. She was referring to Matty whether Swifties liked him or not. However, Taylor in her album is furious that her fans are butting in her love life against Matty when she believed he was so right for her. Unfortunately, he hurt her and dropped her. And with Joe, Taylor was already over him although pissed that he would not commit to her but with Matty she was on a "high." Excited and felt everything he told her was true about getting married etc just to be ghosted. But, Taylor made sure to let her fans know to her it is not loving her to intrude their negative feelings about her "love" or love someone she is not with and never will be. And it was honest of her to write that. Her fans will get her songs when she writes them and by then, she is healed by whatever had hurt her and as she says, now it is the fans song to relate it however they want. I found that to be Taylor growing, meaning it is her life and she will live her life and if she gets hurt she will get over it and if the fans don't like him, it is not their right to tell her to break up. Or if they are not a match, and broken up, don't tell her you love him. It is her name and her life and at 34 years old, it is all her decisions whether fans like it or not. I liked the albums and I liked she wrote that.
So High School is about Travis. There is a TK and TS in pink you should find in the video. Plus Marry, Kiss, Kill that Taylor refers to has to do when years ago, Travis was asked who is marry, kiss, kill with Katy Perry, Taylor Swift and Ariana. Travis did not want to choose but ended up saying kill Ariana, marry Katy and kiss Taylor. Taylor who researched Travis way back when they met, brought up marry, kiss, kill and says that she, Taylor wants all three with Travis. People not into football don't have to believe Taylor loves Travis now and is happy but those same people should not then if they stay together as they are together going on 10 months now and if they remain together not to act like they knew. Taylor has a video out with her cooking and Travis giving her a kiss on her cheek. When did Taylor put any boyfriend on her video out into the public. As far as Alchemy it only works if the line, "he says it is like heroin but with an E" is if Matty and Taylor spoke on the phone which is possible that Matty was trying to explain his ghosting her and Taylor said she is seeing Travis and is like a drug without drugs or something and Matty said like heroin with an E. Because Taylor wrote "he" said. She didn't say who the he is. If not that, then she was writing about Matty. Since it does not surprise me she was with Matty, Taylor seems extremely happy with Travis like finally a superstar in his career is nice, humble, family oriented and adores her and is fun. Plus way before he met Taylor he hosted SNL and right after that signed by CAA as they see him in entertainment and movies being like the Rock but after Travis retires from football. Travis is executive producer of an Indy film that got great reviews. And executive producer of another film that is not out yet. All this meaning contracts before Taylor. Their relationship may end or may not but as Taylor's father told Travis father, he rather Taylor be with a football player than a musician. And Taylor loves the fact their careers are not in competition and both have fame in their respective careers plus Taylor is having great times she never experienced before.
genius take!!
Genius. But also, you cook turkeys in the oven. Not microwaves.
43:13 She lost her twin because they are both tortured poets aka songwriters. They both had a lot of breakups and broken hearts in their lives and each time they both poured it out in their songs. That’s my interpretation…
She’s referencing twin flames. She also mentions cosmic love. If you do MH and Taylor’s charts there is insane synastry for past life and this life connection. Even if no one else saw it, they felt it. He was a huge catalyst for her. Hence most of the album being about him.
"it's self-aware but not self-conscious" - love it!! Spot on
The major turkey cooking here is that taylor talked alot about her fling with matty with Extreme passion, thrill and excitement while pn the other hand, the songs about joe is about tortured boredom, confinement and sadness…. Thats a major coooking if youll ask me
I've seen so many people say that they're surprised she wrote so many songs about a short fling with Ratty Healy. But Taylor herself says 'As the decade played us for fools' in Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus which means that this was an on and off thing for almost a decade. She was so obsessed with the rat that she was ready to jump into a relationship with him immediately after the turkey left. This was an entire decade of bottling feelings and sexual tension which made her believe so hard that she could fix the rat and make him a man until she realized that he couldn't be a man because he needed her but he 'needed drugs more'. This is her slapping everyone on the face like you thought I was sad because of Joe? No I was not. She pushed her feelings for Ratty so deep inside when she started dating Joe that the moment he reappeared in her life during her turbulent time with Joe, she was ready to go all in with him. He promised her what Joe couldn't give her, a marriage and children. The song Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus is so interesting to me because she talks about their decade long on and off relationship in such detail. Even when she was out with other people she was thinking about him. So even though I understand why swifties hate on the rat, they can't deny that most of the songs are about him. He's the man Taylor quite literally subconsciously wanted the whole time until she realized her efforts to fix him weren't worth it. She didn't write majority of the songs about a short fling, she wrote all them for the man she's wanted for a whole decade.
Yes. It's a decade long love story! It's that unrequited love from your youth. She was and is a big 1975 fan so add that in too. Whatever you think of Matty, they had one hell of a love story of over a decade! And BOTH wrote epic hits about one another. I like some 1975 too and about you and Caroline are definitely about her.
I understand they have a history, but I do not believe she “wondered” about him all those years, otherwise she would’ve been with him sooner. She didn’t want to be with him because she had better options, she chose Harry, Calvin, Tom and Joe over Matty several times The only reason she started feeding her feelings for Matty was because she was unhappy with Joe and wanted a new boyfriend. As she fantasised about Matty she created this whole story in her head the they waited for each other their whole life 🙄 it’s pathetic. If Joe wasn’t a depressed anxious weak man, and wanted to marry her, she would’ve done it and Matty would’ve never crossed her mind again.
Well that love story is really … 😔 😳 He was never who she thought. She never really knew him & I fear he was always a ghoster or not so great person & she couldn’t see or refused to see it. I’d want much better love stories for my friends, for any woman
Tbh I don't think she necessarily spent a whole decade pining for Ratty, but rather what they had was an unfinished "what-if" thing that never had closure. It's something she would've gone on the rest of her life not thinking about had things with Joe been better (she said as much herself - I forget their names now, I'm so very tame now), but they didn't, she was spiraling, and Ratty knew exactly what went wrong and where to strike. That doesn't mean she wasn't devastated by Joe. But Joe's heartbreak was a long time coming thing, she already had time to slowly detach from the relationship. Ratty's wounds are fresh and backed by a massive break-up, so unfortunately she's going to feel the hurt deeper. They're also intertwined with the Joe scars, too, considering the core reasons are pretty much the same: promises of marriage & kids that turned out to be hollow.
🙌 🫶 this
Still digesting the album. This feels like a seminal piece of work, and I totally understand why it's being so divisive for all the fandom, the GP and the critics. To be honest, it reminds me of how some of the best albums of all time only were recognised years/decades even after their release. It's going to be so interesting to see how this album ages and were it takes us. I feel like we are going to talk about it forever.
I also feel like this happens to Taylor specifically at every album release. Minus her country days and 1989, almost every album since then seems to split criticism. Then after a year or a few, the next one come out and everyone says the previous album was genius and this new album is awful. I never fully like a Taylor album on the first listen because I can't digest what's happening. It takes a few listens and separating the songs out to truly enjoy them and then seeing the full picture. In my opinion this is her best album minus the anthology with the 16 base songs on the cut album. It tells a story like a book and is so authentic and now I just have to wait for everyone else to catch up to this lol
@@jessieburgess9431 I see what you're saying here, but I honestly don't remember such an extreme reaction since maybe Reputation. The only album were it's happened backwards is Lover. People love tp shit on it now, but upon release it was very well received and it also garnered some of the best reviews of her career uptil that moment lol
I agree with you The Anthology makes the album convoluted. I kinda wish she would have done a "sister album" with it like she did with evermore or an expanded edition later on like Midnights, although I understand that since she appears to have moved on from this period already, she's probably already working on something new
@@PoisonedApathy I'm treating the anthology like the 3 am editions of midnights. More songs she wanted to add but couldn't find a great place to put them in the album. I also think she's very much in the public eye right now which has brought in a lot of previous non listeners. I honestly think they were going to complain no matter what, then the newer fans.
I think it will take listening to the album at least 3-4 times straight through to get its premise. Artistically, it's far more complex than many of Swift's previous albums.
@@Sacto1654 once I had the lyrics here and on Spotify I was done for lol haven't turned it off in two days
Oh my god Zach, the way you compared Clara Bow to the Faustian bargain was brilliant. I absolutely loved yours and Madeline’s commentary. This was so much fun thank you!
After my first big heartbreak where I had my “I pictured you with other girls in love and threw up on the street” feelings, I entered into my own messy rebound era. At one point I went on exactly 2 dates with a guy before realizing things shouldn’t proceed between us because he was just looking for fun and I fall hopelessly in love with men who have seen me naked. ANYWAY. He invited me to a party and then ignored me the whole time, and I went home and WEPT with the same ferocity that I wept for the guy I deeeeply loved but had to walk away from. Why? I didn’t even know the other guy- we went on two dates. That feeling of rejection after experiencing your first hope after a breakup calls back up to the surface every painful thing from your real break up. The new guy shouldn’t have made me cry so much, but I did because I was actually crying over the guy I loved,and crying because a new hope died, and crying because that feeling of “am I just unloveable?” Came bubbling to the surface bc it was triggered by that rejection. This whole album is that. So the discourse between which song is about which man is wrong. They’re essentially the same experience. I saw a comment in this thread that said “the men aren’t the muse, her pain is” and that’s exactly what’s happening. Often times she’s talking about both of them in the same song at different points because the emotional experiences are woven intricately together.
I think I only understand this album because I am as insane as her btw. Never judged her for Marty because damn bitch if that ain’t the most relatable Taylor swift moment ever.
I agree with Madeline that Midnights was the concealed/under cover Joe breakup album and TTPD is more Matty heavy
However High Shool is so about Travis. “You play ball and I know Aristotle” You think either Joe or Matty could catch a fucking ball?
They probably don't know about the "marry, kiss or kill" question from 2016 either 😅
TK and TS are in slightly different colors in the lyric video hahahaha
@@TheUnicornonthecob This is also why I think Alchemy is not actually for Travis, because then she would have made it obvious in the lyric video like she did for So High School 😕
@@nuggetdoja871 well no, because the idea of writing your crush’s initials on a notebook is very high school so it fits hahah.
That would be misplaced on The Alchemy, but the Spotify artwork is a clip from the Fortnight video. Post’s hand “intertwined” for hers - she’s wearing a TTPD bracelet and he’s wearing a big ring (friendship bracelet and supper bowl ring.) It is absolutely about him, I fear.
@@TheUnicornonthecob
@nuggetdoja871 The Alchemy is about Travis though. The circled you on a map is a direct reference to the tiktok trend where woman were teasing their football loving husbands/bf's etc that Taylor put Travis on the map, that she made him famous, that he was a nobody before her and then they would try and argue that he was one of the best all time in his position.
Travis makes the heart sign after scoring is in the line cause the sign on your heart.
The heroine line could be a reference to how he treats and talks about her compared to the pill buyer in the previous track.
The friends lift you up above their head could be a reference to how they met when friends of his after hearing the missed bracelet thing on his podcast campaigned for her to give him a chance because he is a great guy.
I had a few more in a post i made earlier but that one got nuked because i said they were wrong, but then again i have the feeling they are in the speakupnow section of the fandom when it comes to Travis.
I beg of you. Please interview a 1975 stan to uncover all of the connections in the album. This album really does pay homage to their work, and as you said in the down bad commentary, he really is her twin…tortured soul mates, can’t be together but they’ll never be forgotten (my gosh guilty as sin is literally her answer to 1975’s about you). Also, Oh Caroline/When we are together/me and you together song seem to all be about Taylor.
I need an apology immediately from both of you, to all of us that knew the alchemy was about Travis. “Did you guys know this was the 87th show….this happens once in every few life times….” Might want to take that final nail in the coffin out 😂
I interpreted loml as a composite sketch, it initially focuses on the relationship with Matty but in the very end once Taylor combs through the "braid of lies," she realizes her loss of her life is Joe:
"Our field of dreams engulfed in fire
Your arson's match, your somber eyes
And I'll still see it until I die
You're the loss of my life"
Also this might allude to the ghosts of Joe and TS:
"Dancing phantoms on the terrace
Are they second-hand embarrassed
That I can't get out of bed
'Cause something counterfeit's dead?"
Yes. In “glitch” she uses the counterfeit term about them… (joe)
That's what I've been saying! :) I actually believe she did this in a few songs on this album, mixing experiences with Matty and Joe whenever it fit the theme of the song. It's nothing new either as Taylor has mentioned before that's something she does as the storytelling is more important to her.
Some of you are too obsessed with Joe 😂
@@dreamchaser7603 that's the best thing about art, it is subjective to different interpretations
Yes! And I think there are parallels with Peace! In Peace she says she is wasting Joe’s honor because she shit talks with her friends while he paints dreamscapes. But it turns out his dreamscape (impressionist paintings of Heaven) were fake. And he actually was less honorable than her by possibly leading her on about the possibility of marriage and kids when he wouldn’t actually follow through.
I think Matty is the low down boy and Joe is the stand up guy. It’s about them both. The two major loves and losses of her life. Joe was a glow, the daylight, and then when they started to fail the shade. She was patient but it didn’t work. Matty was the starry eyes and the meteor strike. They rushed into it insanely fast. That didn’t work either.
In the 'So High School' lyric video she posted the letters TK and TS are in a slightly different colour - so that is confirmation there's at least one Tayvis song by her
Light Pink TK and TS letters in the lyrics. But they’re adamant that Travis is NOT on this record, so… 🤷🏻♀️
@@ReaP1886 dont understand why ppl so adamant about that though, i mean whats wrong if its about him? Like? Same with the Alchemy. 'It couldnt be about him. The football reference doesnt matter at all. Plus if you say so, you're wrong' Please. Superiority complex about interpreting lyrics is weird lol
@@Nadine-sb3gh Taylor makes great albums when she’s just went through heartbreak/difficulties, and some other life experiences. It’s her coping mechanism. What happens when she finds happiness and settles down getting married and have kids (that she clearly didn’t get from Joe)? Would she still make music? Maybe. Would it be better than her sad songs? Who knows?
I’m all for Taylor making this album and saying goodbye to the past so that she can move forward full throttle to happier things in her life.
@@ReaP1886 I think she would. There's a lot to pick out from he relationship with travis. His protectiveness and care, the fact that he's probably the only man who truly sees her for both the artist and the socially awkward dorky girl she is, the numerous invisible strings between them, the relationship dynamics between the people in his circle and chief's kingdom and how they stood by her unconditionally. So much things to say. The only problem would be the production on the record if it will appeal to people or not.
Also I think she'll focus more on directing and writing in later years.
I can understand the confusion with The Alchemy since removed from the sport references it could be interpreted multiple ways, but there’s just no other way to interpret So High School. It’s clearly about Travis.
Home being a " town you're just a guest in" to me is like how she made a home in London, an in the end it turned out not to be home at all... same goes for "arrested" as in feeling like in a prison in her own home. Thats how in interpreted it. BTW, I'm a huge Florence fan so I actually loved Florida!! It is another winner song (out of so many on this record!!) for me!
PS: awesome video you two, thank you so much for this!!
Thanks! I enjoy your analysis! my niece is a swiftie (she is 15 so very new swiftie) and listening to you help me connect with her! I
Love that you both are critical but at the same time love TS! that is so important! I start listening to TS at my 50 year old after I went to see her in the eras tour in June! Going again in Milan with my niece (she lives there) and looking forward to enjoying it with her! Again! Thank you! you are amazing! ❤
Thank you so much Claudia!!
This album reminds me of how when you feel really down and out and you pour out your heart to a close friend and then the next time you see them you wonder if they look at you differently. It's one of the reasons why people feel so all alone in their pain. I love Taylor and I love her for being brave enough to share her pain with us knowing that there will be critics and haters that will tear her apart. This is the album that hurts the most, but is so beautiful. I love her.
I think Fortnight maybe can encapsulate the album. WARNING: Entering clowning territory... The song says something about her living with her husband who is cheating, she is mad but she doesn't care because she is taken by the guy who she was in touch with and he moved into her neighbourhood. She wants to kill neighbour's wife (rat's any potential love interest) and her husband (turkey).
She starts with alcohol and aesthetic, expecting turkey to call her up and ask her if she is okay but he remains quiet. But she is also with the rat who is ruining her life.
I think post malone in video with tattoos depicts rat and without it represents turkey.
Maybe maybe not.. but that's what I gathered.
Wow, good interpretation! I'll have to watch again thinking of this.
Interesting… post with no tattoos to me seems like the mask Matty wore pretending to love her and be clean …Taylor’s face shows love at post then sheer anger.
@@TY-ko2jb Interesting. To be honest we are missing a lot from the music video. At any point sometimes I see joe in it, other times I see matty. Now that i watched this 2 hour long video, i never knew matty was a good songwriter and all (was never into 1975)
Like it starts with her being locked away... locked away with joe. He gives her move on pill (like move on, forget your past)
, she comes out of her recluse, starts typing away - songwriting. Across the room she sees matty, a fellow songwriter. They look across observing each other from distance. They both type away and connect. But blue is about joe so I am not sure if its joe or matty?
Then she goes back to joe.. they are lying facing each other (but why is there style TS paper silhouette and story of us?) She runs back into joe's arms momentarily happy.
Then its a whirlwind, momentary expression change... i don't think its sheer anger. Its hard to decipher. Like she is expectant (maybe joe said after this album release it will happen), then she is frustrated? disappointed? betrayed? idk. She reaches out to him (with cheating, i wanna kill him line playing in background). She is back at being prodded/ tortured. Matty is observing, unplugs the machine when she is hurting. Then there is first physical touch when he puts hands on her shoulder.
But then next scene is a mystery. There is something there but IDK WHAT!!!! 😅 I could be completely off the mark here and fully dululu. I really want a discussion on the music video.
@@newbee4116 another good take! I need to watch again now 😂. Also, I'm a low key fan of 1975 and their music is beautiful. He is a really good artist. Me is awesome. Somebody else is great. The heart song is awesome too.
@@spiritranger9202 The only song that was ever in my playlist YEARS ago of them was "somebody else" , really liked it. Will definitely look into them, thanks for the suggestions!
I wasn’t expecting any songs to be about Travis either, but there’s just no other way to interpret So High School. If you don’t know anything about the man you’ll miss all the lyrics pertaining to him. But come on “you know how to ball, I know Aristotle” who the hell else is that supposed to be. Not to mention TK and TS being highlighted in the lyric video with the football floodlights that has 58 lights on it as in Super Bowl 58 the one Travis and the Chiefs just won. Refusing to believe what’s clearly in front of you.
Sorry I will be arguing that the alchemy is about Travis. Saying “The greatest in the league” is way too literal and high school football is not referred to as a league
Yes 👍🏻
So Long, London is also very connected to You’re Losing me. One example:
Getting color back into my face vs my face was grey but you wouldn’t admit we were sick.
And in You're Losing Me- her heart wouldn't start, she couldn't find a pulse, then in So Long London she says she stopped the CPR on the relationship
💯
@@kellyprang611 yes! That struck me on very first listen!
We got our Swiftologist working overtime this week 💀💀
NoSleepologist
As a TNT stan i didn't think the alchemy was about travis at first. I had only heard her say touch down and i wasn't paying attention to the rest of the lyrics but taylor doing this made me go back to look at the lyrics. She put it on the acceptance playlist with so high school, the Spotify video of it was when post was reaching for her hand and they zoomed into their hands. She was wearing travis' bracelet and post was wearing a pinky ring. Travis usually wears those. Also someone took a photo of the alchemy lyrics in their vinyls and she drew hearts beside the word chorus. I don't think she'd do all these things if she didn't mean it was for Travis. She never went this hard for joe to prove a song is about him or not.
So looking at the lyrics this is my interpretation of why it's about travis:
This happens once every few lifetimes. These chemicals hit me like white wine == maybe the fact that they are so connected by not only the over 50 invisible strings but the instant connection they had.
What if I told you I'm back?The hospital was a drag.Worst sleep that I ever had == she's back from london and the manic episode she had with joe and matty
I circled you on a map == the joke that she put him on the map
I haven't come around in so long.But I'm coming back so strong == the fact that she hasn't been to America in a while and also her old self is back.
The chorus kinda gives let's cut off all our exes in our path. You only need to win me over. His heart still being reserved for her could be the fact that she was his celeb crush. He's been liking posts of her all the way back to oct 2022.
Then the second verse about his child play in school being forgiven is maybe the fact that he got in trouble a lot in school to the point were drugs cost him his football scholarship. Also his Misogynistic tweets back in the day.
The heroine joke to me kinda gives matty may have chosen drugs over you but you are my drug.
These blokes warm the benches definitely refer to all her british exes that fall in comparison to him
Yep, 100%. I was shocked beyond shocked when I heard them say Alchemy was not about Travis. Like, are you serious? I think the masses all agree it's about Travis and Taylor putting it in her acceptance list and the pictures on spotify leave no doubt.
@@lmkk9118 the way she has been claiming travis a lot these days I think she's really serious about him. I just hope she wants to marry him because she loves him and not because she wants the validation of being married
This is such a perfect good break down ❤
Sign on your heart == Travis has been making the heart sign after he scores
Shirts off == this might be a stretch but this could be seen how he bared his intentions about giving her his number on his podcast
and your friends lift you up over their heads == Might be a reference how friends of him jumped in after they heard him on his podcast and held him up and pleaded Taylor to give him a chance because he was one of the good ones according to them (Erin Andrews, maybe one of her dancers who's brother played with him)
@@mikedebruyn First thing I thought of with "shirts off" bridge was Jason at the Bills game - like maybe she was just describing the atmosphere at games. The "your friends lift you up over their heads" would indicate them throwing their hands in the hair cheering him on the sidelines to support him and 'lift him up'. "Beer sticking to the floor" further describes what it's like at a game (specifically in the box where she was at), and "Cheers chanted, cause they said There was no chance, trying to be
The greatest in the league" is talking about when everyone in the NFL was saying the Chiefs had no chance at the Superbowl after they lost a series of games
You’re wild if you don’t think The Alchemy and So High School are about Travis😭. The Alchemy is def a composite sketch, but that bridge is 100% about him. So high school is so blatantly about him. “You know how to ball, I know Aristotle” “are you gonna marry kiss or kill me?” Y’all don’t be dense.
I’m trying so hard not to be a keyboard warrior about this album but I feel like you guys are sane so I can make a comment here 😂😂 I’ve seen everyone so confused about fortnight and I actually think it’s the perfect opening song. It sets the stage of the rest of the album and tells the story of what happened with the joe and matty overlap.
as briefly as I can:
the fortnight refers to the time she spent with matty back in 2014. she says “there we were forever” she’s been stuck in her head in this moment in time with him while she’s been imprisoned elsewhere.
“run into you sometimes ask about the weather” self explanatory
“now you’re in my backyard turned into good neighbors your wife waters flowers I wanna kill her” matty was working with jack in 2021 while he was in a long term relationship. he came back into taylor’s orbit and she was jealous of his girlfriend because meanwhile “my husband is cheating I wanna kill him”
she was so miserable with joe and he was cheating while she had to watch her one that got away be with someone else. there’s so many other little tidbits I could comment on but that’s the high level story line and once I understood what the heck she was saying I was like OHHH O K A Y. 😂
also thank you for commenting on how this album is for the girlie pops who been around. I explained it to my friends by saying anyone who gets their information from people magazine articles and takes it at face value is confused right now and it’s just not really for them.
Ooooohhhh that's yk... Interesting 🤔
This is it! Also some people have pointed out that in the music video Posty is both Matty and Joe, he changes from with and without tattoos throughout… She takes a pill as a temporary fix (Matty). There is so much to unpack in the lyrics and the video, it’s confusing but it’s all there… literally setting the scene for the songs being about both of them interchangeably.
I LITERALLY left basically the same comment before I saw this, omg. It feels so validating when someone else interprets it like I do 😂 not that I think differing interpretations are wrong!
Yes! Glad to see someone else understood the same thing I did! Fortnight is setting the stage so we understand where this whole album was coming from, it's like a prologue that explains what she was thinking of Matty while she was still with Joe. The video reinforces this as well imo
Yes, I feel like you have to be a English major or literary lover to fully appreciate fortnight. Like she said about the music video it's all about the metaphors. When you look at the song through that lens it makes sense.
I literally woke up 10mins ago and my first thought was “AHHH THE PODCAST” and here it is!!
What comes through in your analysis and what I appreciate the most about you 2 is your sensitivity towards Taylor (ok maybe not her street style & certain other hot takes but still…). You seem invested in her as an artist and as a human being, remarking on her character growth, her emotional evolution and the proficiency of her craft. Thank you for your thoughtfulness! The album hit me as deeply sad and dark - this makes more sense to me reflecting on how she talked about how badly she needed to write this album. In addition to grieving back to back losses that were painful in different (and also similar) ways, she’s contending with her life as a celebrity and that must be absolutely wild. Clearly it is. You can hear it in her songs. Which are also bops. This album is a ride! I hope you 2 are taking good care with all the influx of new fans and old fans + commentary, while you try to emotionally process this new album (I spent Saturday crying because it triggered some of my own grief but also: girl, are you ok?? I hope she is 🤍). Bless you both! Lots of love, Fritz 🤍🖤
I think a lot of the lyrics in loml also relate to Joe:
- Lowdown boy / London Boy
- You cinephile - Joe was an actor
- Your impressionist paintings of heaven / you paint dreamscapes on my wall
- Killing time at the cemetery, never quite buried - the parallel with you're losing me and I can't find a pulse / how long can we be a sad song
As I listen more to the album it seems she's often writing about both Joe and Matty in the same song e.g. The Black Dog and Peter. There are so many layers to each song, the whole album is so complex.
Fortnight feels like short summary of the whole album. I think i get it since the first listen even if i need time to sit on it.
Agree. There is a lot of symbolism, but it does take time to understand WTF is going on with the video and storyline and how it relates to the album.
Yes. And the video is so compelling
I really grew on me after I saw the video
The video even more so. He without tattoos in the middle is him as Joe. Then he saves her with tattoos as Matty. At the end he's Travis trying to reach her (give her a friendship bracelet at her concert.) After they touch the end zones in on a bracelet on her wrist.
‘You stabbed me with your push pins’ is so dbatc coded, like he didn’t stab her with a knife or anything to do serious damage, but a thousand tiny little pin pricks can be just as damaging when they all add up
I interpreted the Alchemy as her returning back to love after all the pain she experienced with Joe and Matty. I think the specific love she's experiencing in the song is with Travis, but the theme is love in general. Just my opinion🤷♀ I liked hearing your thoughts! 🤍
I interpreted that “I’m back” line as her being back dating an American after her last few English men (Joe, Matty, Tom, Harry). Also “blokes warming benches”, English use blokes. Could be referencing Joe/Matty etc warming the bench and now she’s with Travis
omg i LOVE the closed captions! thank you so much for adding this detail into the video!
My number one take away days after release, is that with this album she really just needed to get things out, and it's not geared towards radio play, or even awards. Because this album appeals to neither critic, casual listener, or even fans. It really feels like just hers, given to us because that's her job, but otherwise was just a necessary step for her to leave it all behind.
It's middling in my ranking of her albums for now, because I have not assimilated these songs yet, but it also has some glittering gems that I loved from the jump.
Calling Taylor’s songwriting “verbose “ is like saying elephants are grey. Not that I’m complaining. I love that her songs are rich in lyrics. This album needs an addendum - TTPD: The Therapy Sessions. Taylor is letting it all out and we are here for it.
You always bring so much clarity to me with your lyric analysis! Really enjoyed the video. Can’t wait for the second part lol
I subbed to the Patreon so fast after your initial reaction video. I don’t have any swiftie friends to digest this album with. So thank you for being my besties during this time! 😂
That so high school is 100% about Travis. Kiss marry kill is from an interview he did years ago, the dad impression, he talked about having her watch American pie and movies like that cuz they're his favorite in an interview. And their initials are highlighted in the lyric video because she is insane. I hate myself for knowing all of this.
I generally can see the song being about anyone but him 😂. But the alchemy makes my brain hurt trying to decode who it’s about
Plus the original Spotify song background clip was a bright stadium light.
I just don’t see Alchemy being about Matt Healey.
Lol both the Alchemy and So High School are. It couldn't be any clearer. These two are clearly Travis haters and will go through any amount of mental gymnastics to achieve their desired result. Yeah.....she wrote a song about Matty or some other former flame that she's back with, loads it with football metaphors, says " this happens once every few lifetimes" about the relationship, AND puts it directly after The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived on the album. Which basically closes that chapter of her life. Does that make more sense than it being about the professional football player that she has clearly been in love with since last September?
For me, there is no doubt that The Alchemy and So High School were written about Travis. The Alchemy: "Circled you on a map" listen the New Heights podcast, Jason jokes that Taylor put Travis on the map, "child's play back in school forgiven under her rule" videos and stories coming out about trouble Travis got into when he was in high school & college, she's saying she doesn't care about that shit, "shirts off, your friends lift you up over their head" shirts off is referring to Jason Kelce taking his shirts off and jumping out the suite at the Bills game. The "this time it's herion only with an "E" gave me Travis poking fun at Matty Healy vibes. and then of course, the obvious Superbowl, he comes running to her after they won. So High School is a no brainer, with the "Kiss, Kill, Marry" interview video, and getting her card door video.
Okay, as a Tayvis truther, I am going to make the case for why I think The Alchemy is about Travis. Here's my thesis:
First, I think she was actually in the hospital-not a mental hospital but perhaps an overnight or 1-2 day stay for some reason. The "I circled you on a map" is referencing the fact that people were joking that she put Travis on the map. The "touch down" is referring both to football touchdowns and the number of times she touch downed in her plane to see him. The "Call the amateurs and cut them from the team..." could be her staking her claim and telling him to get rid of any other love interests, but I also think that it might be referencing his publicist who posted an image of Taylor with a clown face over her (hence, the "Ditch the clowns..." reference). I also think the "Hey you..." verse is directed at his publicist, forgiving her for the mean girl behavior and letting her know that she is in charge now. She had been going to back-to-back Chiefs games but missed the game in the lead-up to the publicist posting the clown emoji, so she hadn't been around for at least two weeks before she came back. It is the longest that she had gone without seeing Travis in person since they went public. Do I think that two weeks is a long time? No. Does Taylor Swift think two weeks is a long time? I am guessing yes.
"These blokes warm the benches..." is a dig at Joe and Matty, saying that she has ditched the English men. "He jokes that it's heroin, but this time with an 'E'" is doing a couple of things. First, it is playfully teasing Travis' inability to spell and it is also a dig at Matty. With Matty, it was about the heroin. With Travis, it is about her feeling like she is the heroine (i.e. a woman admired for her courage, outstanding achievements or noble qualities). This also fits with the fact that people were commenting on how well Travis was doing when Taylor was in attendance. His personal stats were exponentially better when she was at the games than when she wasn't. Do I think Travis actually said this line to her? No. Do I think Matty Healy said this to her? Also no. I think she came up with the line because that is how she feels when she is with Travis.
"Shirts off..." could be a reference to Travis' brother taking his shirt off at the game when he first met Taylor. The "There was no chance trying to be the greatest in the league" is clearly referencing the fact the the Kansas City Chiefs slumped mid-season and everyone wrote them off. People even questioned whether they would make the playoffs. I will die on the hill of "Where's the trophy? He just comes runnin' over to me" is absolutely not about Matty Healy. Based on the rest of the songs, Matty Healy never put Taylor above his own self-interest. In the after game footage of the Division Championship and the Super Bowl, you can see that Travis makes a beeline for Taylor and his family. He doesn't look for the trophy or anything else.
As an aside, someone on TikTok compared the line in Lover where she says "And at every table, I will save you a seat..." to the line "Cause the sign on your heart says it's still reserved for me," noting that Taylor doesn't have to worry about being wanted by Travis. Being an avid Tavis fan, I have watched their relationship unfold and it has been abundantly clear that Travis has never wavered in his interest/admiration/love for Taylor. He does not miss an opportunity to praise her and you can see by the look on his face that he is in love. I think that he has made her feel secure about her place in his heart. The press that appears to have come from Tree and his people have made note of the fact that she is not worried that Travis will do something shady while she is on tour because he is so open about his feelings towards her with everyone. No matter how deluded she may have been about Matty Healy, I can't imagine that she was secure about his feelings for her (even with the love bombing, considering everything else about him).
Finally, I don't think Taylor would be so cruel as to write this song about another man when it has so many clear correlations to Travis. Even if Travis would never know that it was about another man, she would know. It would be a kind of betrayal to Travis, a person who has been nothing but good to her. She doesn't need sports imagery to write a "meet cute" about Matty Healy. And, for those people who say that the sports imagery is a red herring to throw people off the fact that is about Matty Healy, why would she bother? It is not like she tried to hide Matty Healy in the other songs.
Edited to add: For what it's worth, the handwritten lyrics for The Alchemy feature hearts drawn around the chorus (supposedly the only song with hearts). I doubt that she would be drawing handwritten hearts on any of the songs about Matty Healy. Also, she updated her "I Can Do It With A Broken Heart" (Acceptance) playlist to include So High School and The Alchemy. If The Alchemy were about Matty Healy, it would either be on the Denial or Anger playlists, don't you think? Here's the last thing (and if this is true, it is diabolical): someone pointed out on TikTok that Taylor saying in her Time article that Travis was "metal as hell" for putting her on blast on his podcast could have been an easter egg for The Alchemy. I think everyone agrees that her using that phrase seemed weird and kind of jarring. The definition of alchemy is "the medieval forerunner of chemistry, based on the supposed transformation of matter. It was concerned particularly with attempts to convert base metals into gold...." I can't decide if I believe the easter egg theory, but it would be pretty cool if it is true.
Listen the alchemy makes my brain hurt, trying to decode. But I know for a fact that so high school is about Travis. So many references that if you know the lore behind tayvis, it literally can’t be about anyone else.
I’m in 100% agreement w this interpretation!!!
Spectacular interpretation, I agree!
Yes, I can't believe people tjink the Alchemys is about Matty. How???? Sorry swiftologist but The Alchemy is about Travis . The NFL is even using it on videos of Travis , it is so clear 🤷♀️
Yeah I had a similar interpretation but not as good as yours:
Referring to coming back to Kansas after she already performed there and coming back strong after "I Can Do It With A Broken Heart"
"I circled you on a map
I haven't come around in so long
But I'm coming back so strong"
Referring to the "problematic" tweets that resurfaced from Travis twitter from 2010-2011 once they started dating
"That child's play back in school
Is forgiven under my rule"
Referring to everyone joking that Taylor won the Super Bowl in her first rookie season lol
"Ditch the clowns, get the crown
Baby, I'm the one to beat"
Travis joking with Taylor about her ex and that this time, she's his heroine
"He jokes that it's heroin, but this time with an "E""
I quite literally could not live without your breakdowns of albums. You two are SO incredibly in tune with how you feel, even with the insane lyrics. I LOVE IT!! ❤️
Loved your insights. Felt validated many times and you also gave me some revelations. To say I'm looking forward to part 2 is an UNDERSTATEMENT.
For me, a fan since those early Tim McGraw days, this album was full circle for me. And I think you said it perfectly. It’s a return to form for her, and for us. It’s very deep, confessional, raw, angry. This is exactly what I was expecting from the album. To me this album takes the cake. It is now my #1 and I will hold onto it dearly.
as a 1975 fan too “i’ll build a fort on some planet where they will all understand it” is literally my culture is not your costume to us because every twitter fight is just like “no you don’t understand him! let me explain.” Like taylor get it. She watched one too many Matty Healy fan edits on tiktok in 2021 and wrote guilty as sin.
She watched that fan cam of him with a cigar on his mouth with somebody else playing in the background and went feral for him (I can’t blame her, I went feral too)
@@yasmimvieira8754can u give me a link? What did taylor see in him 😭😭 im a fan of 1975 music btw
I was searching for tea on the album and stumbled upon yall. I wasn’t expecting this but I’m SO here for this deep dive. 💕
Love the thorough, yet fun analysis and the dynamic between you two. Loving joining the Patreon this week!
Welcome aboard!
I went back and rewatched your Matty videos yesterday and it’s so funny how well you clocked Taylor’s state of mind at the time. She was NOT okay 💀🤪
I feel like TTPD is kind of folklevermore unleashed. Like, those two but without the restrictions of “these are all fictional stories, trust me guys!” and the approach to make these songs sound not really autobiographical while they were.
Now she doesn’t need that shell anymore. She’s unleashed and free to be as uncensored and she wants to be.
This, 100%
My first Evolution of a Snake podcast 🎉 Love the chemistry between the two if you and how you made me think about the lyrics in different perspectives. Pure gold!
I never interpreted the “you said normal girls were boring” line as her being a pick me, I just heard it as her saying that that’s what he told her but he left her anyway. You said, “normal girls were boring” but you were gone by the morning.
truly the no days-offologist
This album feels like her most raw and vulnerable work. Her other alums, as much as I love them, and as confessional as they can be, are all hidden behind a certain layer of "pleasantness". She still needs people to like her and be a widely relatable person. Whereas in this work, it feels like this is about her own healing without the need for anyone else to understand her.
I absolutely love that you’re both die hard swifties and also be like, yeah she’s crazy and we love that for her
Love this so much, amazing work 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 you both are the only people who truly get it!! When will part 2 be out? I can’t wait 🤞🏻
you don’t understand how ready i was to click this video… i NEED to understand these songs
Idk how popular of an opinion this is but i think that for me Florida!!! is Taylor’s best collab with a female artist. Our little messy boots and Florence made magic in the studio together!
Nothing New
To met it really does sound like a collab, it definitely seems like something you would hear Florence put out but it still sounds Taylor. I think it’s perfect blend of their talents and their styles.
Also as a non-American swiftie I can’t say whether or not Florida is the right place to pick for a song like that but from what she explained I get what she was going for and I for one, really enjoyed it.
Idk i prefer castles crumbling more tbh. Florida didn't really capture me like that. Fair I've only listened to it once though
Yes I agree it's such a fun song and the production sounds very much like a song from the Florence + the Machine album Dance Fever and I love Florence's voice in the song it's amazing! I love this line, "at least the dolls are beautiful fuck me up Florida!"
@@anagham4700I've been to Florida on holiday and I had a lot of fun
I’m so happy to listen to you two diva’s thoughts!! I literally haven’t and won’t look at any random reviews because of how much I love it.
So high school is 10000% about Travis! “Are you gonna marry kiss or kill me? Just a game but really, I’m betting on all 3 for us too!” We have all seen the episode where Travis said kiss Taylor!
Say what you (not y'all specifically, just a general pronoun) want about this album, love it or hate it, this is Taylor's most intriguing and complex work to date. The lore behind it all - coming out of a stifling long-term relationship, jumping right back into a fool's gold situationship that you later on realized was more so manic than love, all while going on the biggest world tour in history and having the whole world watching for every crack in your facade, and underneath the surface dealing with an intense sleuth of self-loathing, self-destructive tendencies - is A LOT for one person to go through. No wonder she wrote 31 songs about it.
This is one of those albums that you'll either adore with your whole heart or just think it's repetitive and far-too-long. The divisive reaction to this album is understandable, though, because much like her, it's also all over the place. It's a jumbled mess to me the first time I heard it, but the more I go back to it the more I appreciate it. She did not hold back and I have to give her credit for it. There's this pure, honest vulnerability that we honestly haven't seen in full since Red probably. Glimpses of it peeked through during folklore and evermore, but she disguised it under the guise of fiction, but this album? She's laying it all out on the table - the good, the bad, and everything in between. Production-wise some songs do leave a bit to be desire if I'm being honest, but for the purposes of this album, I think the overall work does what it's supposed to do, and in certain songs (like So Long London, How Did It End?, or Florida!!!) it does the job splendidly.
She hasn’t been her authentic self since 2016 and now it’s coming out like a volcanic eruption.
The video is a nod to Mary Shelley, who wrote Frankenstein in the Lakes District. It has been speculated for years that she didn't write the book by herself and that her husband helped. Taylor and Mary were both accused of not writing their own art.
YESSSSSSS 🤜🤛
Not in the Lake district, they were in Switzerland for the summer
Sorry Zach, but I’m one of those who think that “the alchemy” is about Travis 😅 and just came here to say that after today’s show in Paris (the 87th eras tour show) Taylor pretty much confirmed that the song is indeed about him 🫢
Can I just say, I'm soOoOo excited your most recent videos are some of your most popular! Love you Swiftologist. :*
As someone who only stans one pop artist and primarily listens to alt rock, indie rock, and industrial/metal, this is shaping up to be one of my favorite albums. The writing is beautiful. The vulnerability is astounding. We. Were. Eating. This was clearly a passion project for her. We clap. We cheer. I dont care what the casual listener thinks.
The sad truth is that time wasted in relationships is vastly different for women and men. I thought I never wanted children and scoffed at the concept for the majority of my life. Then i meet my husband and the love i felt was so intense and suddenly the most important thing in the world was to have a family. Sadly, i only realized this at 39. I was incredibly fortunate to have my son at 41 and i an thankful each and every day. 6 years of our child bearing youth is a very high price to pay and i wish men could understand that about women, that when you waste our time, it's much more precious than if we waste men's time, because they can be fathers for so much longer. If, like me, she saw herself having a family with the turkey... The fact he lead her on for so long is just cruel
Absolutely and that is something we can't know until the time is passed.
That is why so long, London is such a devastating song to me. Her spine split from carrying them up the hill. She was dying from trying to make this relationship work. She decided to wait for him because she thought they would be together forever. It is tough to turn around after 6 years of going in one direction and when you realise it's over you have the sense of wasted time. Life may seem long but youth is short.
Yes...precious years, some men don't understand.
Love this deep dive! Thank you for all your content