Taylor Swift lyrics are in a category all their own, and I don’t mean that in a gushy way; literally, they’re just in a different league. Every song in her discography—from 2006’s Taylor Swift to Reputation—is a singular blend of melodrama and introspection. They’re campy but cutting, autobiographical but ambiguous. Her songwriting style is polarizing, simply put, which is why the world freaks out whenever she releases a new record. It’s become a sport now to decode Taylor’s lyrics and look for meanings that aren’t there (or maybe they are). That’s part of the fun—and the frustration.
We just went through one of these decoding games with the Reputation era. This time around, Taylor not only released an album with 15 songs, but two magazines stuffed with original poetry, so there was a lot for fans to unpack. And they’re not off the hook yet: British Vogue commissioned Taylor to write a poem to accompany her cover and photo shoot, and the words are classic Taylor. Take a look at it for yourself, below:
A post shared by British Vogue (@britishvogue) on Dec 6, 2017 at 3:13am PST
To be fair, the words in this poem are pretty general. There doesn’t seem to be anything here that points to any specifics in Taylor’s life. However, the concept of letting go of past demons and embracing your future should sound familiar to people who’ve listened to Reputation. That’s essentially what her album is about: facing the drama, rumours, and scandals that plagued her for years—the demons—and reclaiming her narrative once and for all. (Well, the album is about that and Taylor’s boyfriend, Joe Alwyn. Let’s just keep it real here.)
