It is no secret, not even to her haters, how talented Taylor Swift is when it comes to songwriting. She even can write a whole telenovela into a 4-minute song (ooohoo, yes, I am talking about no body, no crime).Â
She always, I mean, ALWAYS have something up her sleeve that makes me jump excitedly (or cry helplessly, depends on the song) whenever I listen to her songs.
Her songs have so many layers to dissect from. They can be the lyrics, the production, the vocals, the instrumentation. But in this article, I want to talk more about her lyrics. Mainly because that's my sole focus while listening to music, but more on that later! Right now let's talk about Taylor Swift's lyrics!
So, today I want to talk specifically about the parallels in Taylor Swift's lyrics. If you didn't know what a "parallel" is, it is basically when something is corresponding with something, in this context, it's a lyric from one song is corresponding with a lyric from another song!
I started noticing this parallel when I stopped listening to ONLY 'evermore' for 3 weeks straight, and started listening to 'folklore' again. When I noticed, I felt so happy because it's discovering one of the easter eggs our girl Taylor LOVES to use every time she has the chance to.
Just to clarify, these are MY OWN interpretations of the parallels and JUST 5 of my personal favorites (Because music is, obviously, subjective). Let's start:
1. invisible string & tolerate it
Something wrapped all of my past mistakes in barbed wire" & "Where's that man who threw blankets over my barbed wire
This is fascinating to me, because it tells you a complete story. Don't you think so? As 'invisible string' is the summer-crush love story full of sunshine and joy and 'tolerate it' is the continuation and the realization part of the relationship that the other person is just tolerating you. Whenever I think about this lyrics-parallel, I always think about the devastation & agony this character must have felt.
To once think that they're the one, to then realized that they're only tolerating you.
2. ME! & the 1
"I know that I went psycho on the phone, I never leave well enough alone" & "For my defense I have none, for never leaving well enough alone"
This parallel for me stands for Taylor Swift's albums. She never stops improving. From her Selftitled album to evermore, she just never leave well enough alone. She keeps exploring new genres and acing them every single time. This can also be a lesson for us to keep trying no matter what the obstacles are in this world. If the journey going up doesn't get harder and harder, why work towards it, am I right?
3. seven & happiness
"Please picture me in the trees, I hit my peak at seven" & "Honey when I'm above the trees, I see this for what it is, but now I'm right down in it"
Again, this is my interpretation on the lyrics. So, sorry if it doesn't align with yours! Trees in this context for me is her creative self, in a way. Her process of writing a song. She can see herself when she's in that creative zone (after the moment happened), yet she can't quite grasp any of them while she's living the moment.
It's relatable in a way, it's similar to when you're at a party, having a blast, and all you know are just blurs of people dancing and bodies against each other. The next morning you recalled and try to remember everything, and when you remember just a little moment you thought to yourself, "Oh yeah, that happened." and just laugh it off..
