Listening to this album was honestly challenging. I typically find the poetic abilities of Taylor Swift to be tasteful and meaningful. But, there is something drastically different about this particular record. It doesn’t really resemble any of her past work or have much depth in general. She seems very happy with her current life situation and her love interest, but it almost seems as if heartbreak and hardship are the things that inspired her music to be great.
The Fate of Ophelia
The ominous sound of the kick and snare leads us into a tale of a woman that was called upon by someone special. The man wants her all to himself in an intimate setting. She shares small details about him, comparing him to a pyro (a person that has an impulse to set fires). This is a play on words to relate to the fact that he is starting their “loving flame.” She claims that if she had never met him, she would have fallen into her own sad and quiet life alone because she vowed to herself to value her individuality. She compares herself to a princess sitting up in a tall tower waiting for a powerful prince charming to come and get her, adding to the fairytale aspect of the whole story. The metaphors used all relate to the original story of Ophelia, where Ophelia drowns and dies at the fault of all the men that had negatively affected her life. Saying that this man saved her from “The Fate of Ophelia” is to mean that he swooped her away from the negative effects that all of the bad men and ex-boyfriends could have had on her. Saying that he “dug her out of her grave” shows how close she was to ending up like Ophelia. The chorus is a catchy sequence of lyrics that are to mean that now that they are together their pasts are not important or relevant because they have each other. The following verses go on to describe the literal story of the original Ophelia relating it to the story of Taylor’s failed love stories. Again, reiterating that she does not care or pay attention to all those bad things in the bridge because her new love has “locked them away.”
Elizabeth Taylor
The layered ring of the line “Elizabeth Taylor” opens up the scene of the next track. I assume that the entire story refers to the British-American actress and her affair with Richard Burton. Setting scenes of the two setting up meetings and calling from various settings in Italy. The view of Portofino is not something that can be seen from the Plaza Athenee so in this lyric she is referring to two separate memories. She stays constant in the theme of talking about the sorrow of the past men that impacted her life negatively. She reiterates the importance of their time in Portofino. But, the secret affair with Richard is being spoken highly of and is seen as a lifeline in Elizabeth Taylor’s life. The line “If your letters ever said, ‘Goodbye’/ I’d cry my eyes violet” means to me that if the secret messages between the two ever stopped, Elizabeth would be broken and sad forever. Similar to the theme of the song “The Fate of Ophelia,” being that if the man that saved her had never emerged or ever left her, she would be broken and have little will to live. The line “Be my NY when Hollywood hates me” I could only imagine refers to Taylor’s Reputation era; meaning that if it were to ever happen again that the world hates her, she wants her lover to be her safe space as New York was to her at that time – a place to hideout and feel secure in. Mentioning real places in the world of where their love began such as Musso & Franks brings a realness to this love story. This will catch the ear of Hollywood locals and better visualize what happened. Mentioning the popular perfume by the real Elizabeth Taylor, White Diamonds, and saying that they’re “forever” as well as the newspapers and the screens, is such a clever way to say that the story of Elizabeth Taylor could never die out because of all the places it lives on.
Opalite
This track starts with a fun bit and a light tone. Taylor shares a fault of hers, missing past lovers because they feel familiar but her brother reminds her that this could never work because of the ways these relationships ended in the first place. She makes a mockery of the cliche happy couple quotes that they give as advice. The chorus kicks up with subtle bass riffs where she puts her mothers advice on a pedestal. Her mother praises her for the way she handled things in the past and now she has her bright life full of new love. The general theme of the song is repeated throughout that life has ups and downs and things always change.
Father Figure
This track channels a bit of a manipulative masculine figure. The chorus is posed as an offer: a masculine figure that can help you, give you advice and support you. But, in return you must be loyal to him. It is a binding contract with a person that can keep you protected and help you do well but you have to sell a bit of your soul. The bridge is a confusing haze of lyrics that seem like a threat and a slap on the wrist for a young and ignorant being that does not understand the way of the world. The last verse seems to be a conversation between the student and the master. The student has mistaken his new teachings for being better than the master. Now, the master exclaims that he will destroy the student because of this new overconfidence and reemphasizes that they cannot out do him.
Eldest Daughter
This track starts off with a string of millennial comments that allude to the fact that she is exhausted by the culture of the times and the way the internet has taken over and made everyone a bad person. The chorus is a more uplifting message that is accompanied by a higher octave piano. The message being that Taylor herself promises to be a good person and to be faithful. The second verse enters in with an open guitar and a reminiscent attitude towards memories that made her more careful in her choices. Following this she makes a statement to mean that “Eldest Daughters” are first to experience pain in the world. This line confirms my belief that this whole song is a message of reassurance and safety to a younger girl that needs guidance. The bridge is a shimmery flashback of Taylor never believing that she would find a great love in her life or any direction. The last chorus reassures that she will now live by teaching and protecting.
Ruin The Friendship
The bass line in this track enters and leads us into a scenic route speeding down a road. Giving us an appreciation for the outdoors and a moment with a bestfriend. Claiming she feels regret in not kissing him at the right moment – she held back. A mention of his girlfriend gives the whole relationship a sneaky feel. The next verse is a scene at a high school prom. She comes with a date but catches him staring at her whilst dancing with somebody else. She reiterates feeling regret over not acting on her feelings with him in the chorus. The bridge is a demonstration of her going back on her impulsive thoughts and agreeing that staying just friends is the right choice. The next verse I found to be very interesting when she says “Abigail called me with the bad news” because assuming this is the same Abigail that is featured in Taylor’s song “Fifteen” off the Fearless album – it’s a reason to believe she really is talking about her own life. Aside from this, the bad news seems to be a message that this boy has passed away, and she regrets never confessing her feelings. The last piece of advice left in the song is to always take the leap and not worry about “ruining the friendship.”
Actually Romantic
This track starts off in a vengeful tone with the palm muted power chords. It feels like a diss track. She rattles off some insults and shit talking that she has heard this person say about her. Instead of firing back, we head into the prechorus with a light tone and the lyrics “But it’s actually sweet.” This is a mockery of all the efforts this person puts in to put her down and instead of firing back she says “No man has ever loved me like you do.” Whoever these haters are that she is referring to, which could be many people including but not limited to Scooter Braun and Kanye West, they obviously look for reactions out of her. Taylor responding with laughter and flattery definitely bothers them. The mockery goes on and on throughout the song as she throws out “positive insults” and puts down how much time they spend talking shit about her. The bridge is like a chant that rings out a continuous string of “in your face comments.” Overall the entire time she relates the obsession and negativity to the amount of obsession you need to pursue a romance.
Wi$h Li$t
This track is a list of all the expensive things that people may want and how they want people to think they’re interesting because of them. After spewing this list and exposing people for being materialistic, she admits that all she wants is love and kids and a cliche open yard family life. The lyrics aren’t that complex and the entire theme is pretty straight forward. They praise Taylor’s new love interest and the obsession she has with their life together. She encourages that everyone else in life “gets what they want” and all she wants is “the driveway with a basketball hoop.” Some of the lines are relatable in that she wants “a best friend who I think is hot.” This is very different from Taylor’s typical lyricism, which is a bit confusing considering she almost always uses poems and riddles to describe her feelings. But now, she is just saying what she means.
Wood
Opening up with some “I Want You Back” style guitar, this song looks like it will be a sing-songy fun tune. The references to unlucky things show us that she believes that in the past bad luck has always followed her. Admitting she has been superstitious wishing for someone to change all this. Now that she has someone, she does not believe in bad luck and proves it by saying she “ain’t got to knock on wood.” She claims that worrying about superstitions and luck never helped her. The post chorus section is a weird way to enable a converstation about her love interests’ dick and their sex life. I don’t really care about Travis Kelce’s dick…Anyways.
CANCELLED!
This track opens with a kind of cheesy knockoff of a Reputation sound. There are more millennial sounding lyrics like “did you girl-boss too close to the sun?” to show a sort of resentment and vendetta against her era of hate on the internet. The chorus is a materialistic comeback saying that she likes her friends in “Gucci” and the same negative light as herself because it gives them character. She says this I assume because she wants it to be known that she likes when her friends can relate to her in a traumatic way. Saying “At least you know exactly who your friends are” is a way to tell people that loyal friends will stick by your side even in dark times. The next verse is a pitiful way to describe what happened to her in the past and how one wrong move could ruin a reputation and career. The lyric “Did you make a joke only a man could?” points out her views on toxic masculinity in the music business and the double standard women face. She goes on to say that everyone in the industry has things to hide and to not be proud of. But she reiterates that she has respect and relation to the people around her that are “Too much to handle.” She sees them as friends because they either have similar experiences or made her experiences their own and stood by her.
Honey
The first ring of the piano and the metronome in the back sets up for a simple song. Her message in this first verse is that everyone called her pet names in a passive aggressive and disrespectful way which made her turned off to these names. But now, she is okay with her lover calling her these names because she knows he means it in an endearing way. She explains that when he says these names he gives them new meaning and reminds her of happy times. The rest of the track is a full devotion and praise of her lover and the way he makes her feel good.
The Life of a Showgirl (Feat. Sabrina Carpenter)
This track opens up with a boom clap and the start of a story of a girl “Kitty.” She is describing this woman as a famous performer that got really big but then torn down because people thought she went about everything the wrong way. She then describes all the admiring fans and their cravings for her attention and autographs. When the showgirl is told that she is living a dream come true her response is a bit troubling. She is thankful for all the attention but warns against the life she lives for it is filled with catches and tiring feelings. After the chorus, Sabrina Carpenter comes in describing the childhood of this showgirl. The girl that came from a rough family situation and waited for her big break because anything would be better than what she already had. The bridge kicks up into a full tempo and beat change. Taylor’s voice enters back into conversation with Sabrina. They seem to be in agreement in that they had to give pieces of themselves to gain fame. At the end of the bridge they share the lines that the people wish she “would hurry up and die.” I assume this refers to those in the world that have hating tendencies, but unfortunately for them all of the hard work that has gone into the music and art produced by artists make them “immortal” because their legacy lives on forever. The sudden break into the acoustic guitar version of the chorus followed by a production explosion shows that these showgirls are proud of how far they have come and they know very well what being a showgirl means. Admitting that they “wouldn’t have it any other way” shows their love and appreciation for the life they live and the little regard they have for people that try to knock them down.
lyricritic 
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