on the world.
So naturally we’ve been going over every line, lyric and nuance with a fine-tooth comb to see what’s been going on with our gal since last we met.
Here’s all the references we’ve picked up so far along with everything that’s been happening in the land of Miss Swift.
Many years have passed since Taylor Swift first started dating and after a string of bad blokes that inspired a string of beautiful bangers, our girl finally found the one.
And you’ll be happy to know that she’s still very much in her love bubble, or as she puts it, her “lavender haze”.
Throughout the album she sings about Joe being a safe space from the chaos that comes with being Taylor Swift.
“I’ve been under scrutiny, you handle it beautifully,” she sings.
Bless him!
She gives off the impression that being a celebrity is a massive impertinence and she wants nothing more than to shut the world out and remain in her love bubble.
“I’m damned if I do give a damn what people say,” she sings, obviously still wanting to be kept out of the narrative.
She calls out the way she’s been treated by the media and the public, including “the 1950s shit they want from me.”
She references the times she’s gone viral and had shit from her past brought up in public.
“I find it dizzying, they’re bringing up my history, but you weren’t even listening.”
On “Anti-Hero” she sings about waking up in a panic, worried that her partner will grow tired of her ways and leave.
She acknowledges what he’s had to put up with, singing: “It must be exhausting always rooting for the anti-hero.”
Hearing Taylor Swift sing about enjoying a drink isn’t new but it’s still a sweet reminder that she really is one of us.
The song “Maroon” refers to spilled red wine and elsewhere she sings about getting buzzed on “cheap-ass rosé.”
She doesn’t sugarcoat her story and she’s honest about the fact that not everything’s all sunshine lollipops.
On “Maroon”, an incident she refers to as “the silence” had both she and a lover “shaking blind and hazy.”
“How did we lose sight of us again?” she asks.
“Sobbing with your head in your hands, ain’t that the way shit always ends?”
Remember how we collectively lost our shit when Taylor Swift sang “fuck the patriarchy” on the 10-minute version of “All Too Well”?
Welp, that wasn’t a one-off, mates.
On this album, there’s a “fucking”, “fuckin'” and a “shit”.
Hearing Taylor swear in song is just *chef’s kiss*.
No wonder this album is called as she sings that “midnights have become my afternoons.”
She sings that sometimes her “depression works the graveyard shift.”
In the past she has been open about her struggles with mental health: “I definitely don’t feel good all the time,” she once said on , adding that “there have been times where I needed to take years off because I just felt exhausted, or I felt, like, really low or really bad.”
What’s the cause of these moments? “Ghosts that stand there in the room” — meaning she’s haunted by her past.
One of her midnight activities includes a nightmare about her daughter-in-law killing her for her money.
She even paints a picture of her funeral and how she’s “laughing at them from hell.”
It’s… bizarre. And I’d like to contact a dream interpreter to find out what the hell that means.
It wouldn’t be a Taylor Swift album without taking shots at her enemies, right?
She sings about her lust for revenge throughout the album and Alexa, play “Better Than Revenge”.
On “Vigilante Shit”, she sings: “I don’t start shit but I can tell you how it ends. Don’t get sad, get even.”
And on “Karma”, she revels in watching the downfall of her enemies, which we’ll address in a mo.
First of all, let’s not forget the fact that the album was announced on the anniversary of the 2009 VMAs incident, plus it was released on ‘s bday.
So naturally there were going to be some Kimye references throughout.
On “Vigilante Shit”, she sings: “She needed cold hard proof so I gave her some,” perhaps referencing when Kim leaked audio of Taylor seemingly agreeing to be on‘s song.
“She had the envelope, where you think she got it from?” Taylor adds, which could be a nod to the fact that Taylor also recorded the phone call and which vindicated her.
“Now she gets the house, gets the kids, gets the prize. Picture me thick-as-thieves with your ex-wife,” she sings.
Back in December 2021, Kim Kardashian that the feud was donezo when she admitted that she loved Taylor’s music. Plus an insider recently told that Kim is “so glad all that bad blood is behind them” and that she, “doesn’t see this in any negative way whatsoever.” The source continued: “What happened in the past is the past” and that, “ has moved on from this a long time ago. She wishes Taylor nothing but success and happiness.”
Sure, she’s hardly “thick-as-thieves” with Kim, but that’s not the point of these lyrics. She’s saying that in the battle of Taylor vs Kanye, Taylor won.
I also have a theory that there are nods to Kimye in “Karma.”
Here’s why:
“You’re talking shit for the hell of it, addicted to betrayal but you’re relevant.” — Kim and Kanye have ongoing beefs with other celebs which keeps them in the headlines.
“You’re terrified to look down because if you dare you’ll see the glare of everyone you burned just to get there, it’s coming back around.” — Literally no one has had more public feuds and friendship breakups than Kim and Kanye.
“I keep the side of my street clean, you wouldn’t know what I mean.” — Let’s face it, neither of Tay’s rivals has a great reputation.
“Trick me once, trick me twice, it’s coming back around… Ask me why so many fade while I’m still here.” — Kanye fucked with Taylor when he snatched the VMA award from her in 2009 and again when he and Kim tried to take her down in 2016. And although the pair were doing well at the time, karma has caught up with them.
“Sweet Nothing” appears to be a nod to Scottish DJ who she dated for just over a year back in 2015.
Not only does Calvin Harris have a song of his own called “Sweet Nothing” — the iconic 2012 banger with — but in the song she sings about that time she and an ex-BF took a pebble from Wicklow.
What the heck is Wicklow, you ask? Oh, just a town in Ireland.
Who did Taylor Swift go to Ireland with? Oh, just her ex-BF Calvin Harris.
On “Midnight Rain”, she sings about an ex who wanted to lock her down in a serious relationship while she was focused on her career. She wanted to carve out her own identity separate from him.
While dating this ex, she was living in a “wasteland full of cages, full of fences, pageant queens and big pretenders, but for some it was paradise.”
She admits that she ended up breaking his heart because ultimately, they were too different. And while he has stayed the same, the relationship changed her forever.
If I had to wager a guess, I’d say that this one is probably about Calvin Harris too.
Shortly after their split, a mate of Taylor’s told the relationship ended because Calvin was “intimidated” by her success.
“[Harris] said on multiple occasions that he was intimidated by Taylor, which is why he would not attend any events where she was being honoured, or any award shows unless he was nominated,” they explained.
I’m sure this is just the tip of the iceberg and we’ll find more references as we re-listen to the album on repeat.
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