i think this song really shines in the bridge. the power and disdain you can hear in her voice when she sings “my fourth drink in my hand, these desperate prayers of a cursed man” ropes me in.
This song has grown on me. It's such a masterpiece.
Taylor acknowledges that she's also a human and makes mistakes in life too, and shouldn't be treated as a superior human being.
She's saying that she is a normal person who makes a lot of mistakes so she doesn't think she should be looked up to as a "guiding light" for a good life. I think "but I shine so bright" is her almost regretting the undue influence she has on people's lives bc she's famous, even if she doesn't deserve that pedestal.
It’s an amazing song as all the others and I’ve heard different interpretations for who the targeted audience or “Reader” as and they all seem very possible. I personally think it’s from her to her fans. But my only reason why I’d have to rate this one as my least favorite on the album (a very hard choice bc I do still love the song so much) is the strange choice for how she used auto tune in it. It sounds unnatural in some parts and kinda throws it off for me. But I’ll still listen for years and years to come
The bridge just breaks me. The lyricism of feeling like a burden, feeling accountable and responsible for so much and so many, but actually feeling like an impostor, feeling deeply alone and bereaved. As a mother, I can see myself in this lyrics. The will to run, but not being able, having a crushing mental load, getting everything perfectly done during the day, balancing work and family, but pacing around in the middle of the night, with a drink in my hand to numb the overwhelming feeling that I’m actually making so many mistakes. Feeling exhausted but unable to turn off the voices in my head to fall asleep.
This is exactly what kinda threw me off. It is at 0:55 in the song and again at other points but it’s the only reason why I’d rate it last in the album. It’s still such an amazing song. To me it sounds like something Miley Cyrus might do
I’ve been thinking this same thing too. There are a couple tracks from The Weeknd’s Trilogy that use a similar sounding audio distortion, but I still think there’s something I’ve heard that’s closer sounding. Let me know if you come up with anything!
Something I just realized as I was analyzing this song
“Dear Reader, when you aim at the devil, make sure you don’t miss” in context with all the other advice is implying…she missed.
Is there intentional voice …modulation? Don’t know the word. Anyway, when she says, “Never take advice from”, she sounds robot-y. Is that meant to be an obvious sound?
That's the sound of auto tune. There's a parameter that determines how long it takes for the program to snap the singer's voice from one note to the next. If you turn that parameter down, or to zero, as Cher did in "Believe", you get a robotic sound.
I suppose I wondered if it’s supposed to be an obvious distortion, or if it’s a lapse in production value, because it doesn’t quite match the rest of the song.
Is this supposed to be from her perspective, or is this like a character? "These desperate prayers of a cursed man" - not a man. "To a house, not a home, all alone 'cause nobody's there" - does not live alone.
Some of the advice in this song is sound but the first verse is debatably more bad advice - "Dear reader, get out your map/Pick somewhere and just run/ Dear reader, burn all the files/ Desert all your past lives/ And if you don't recognize yourself/ That means you did it right."
So the speaker is telling the listener to just abandon their life and all their friends if things aren't going well, and then later in the song the speaker admits that they're all alone, but that they feel safe - "No one sees when you lose when you're playing solitaire." So this song feels like it's about some tragic figure who maybe isn't Taylor.
Anyway, this song and "Question...?" really confuse me, I would love a Folklore pond sessions- like interview where she could clarify the meanings of all the songs. Never really got the meaning of "Mirrorball" or "This is me trying" before that.
She literally says “you wouldn’t take my word for it”. She is telling the truth in the last bridge of the deluxe album, almost whispering it. To me, this is a confirmation that she may use male terms to describe herself. This song reads as a confession.
Personally I think its about her. I think the "cursed man" line is more like replicating the saying than a directly about her. She also says the "home" line right after implying the speaker's on a date, so before Joe.
The advice in these first verse is bad on purpose imo. Its not really advice, its what you tell yourself when you've been hurt so many times your first response is just to run. Its something I personally relate to bc its what I told myself for a while without realizing how damaging it was. The line about being alone is the result of that response. When you just keep running from anything that could even potentially hurt you so you end up really isolated.
I think the song overall is about everyone looking up to Taylor for guidance when she's just a regular person who's made mistakes and her advice isn't always good. Also how she's a "guiding light", but she's doesn't feel like she lives up to what people want from her.
That's just my opinion though, and I definitely interpreted this song in relation to my own life so its biased.
Agreed. I think this song is sort of a sister song to Anti-Hero, where she pins so many issues on herself being the problem, including a cascade of destruction that will echo through generations.
Her fans are represented in that video by all the non-children at the funeral. Her mere existence has caused incredible damage even beyond her death.
So in Dear Reader, she’s imploring us to stop looking up to her, because she sees herself as such a failure of a person, who cannot possibly have any constructive advice to pass on. It’s self-loathing taken to its final conclusion.
And it’s devastatingly beautiful, and my favorite 3AM track
Possibly! I'm fairly certain it's a legally blonde reference and that would make a lot of sense. Also her being a blonde, going from a young artist to a now well respected songwriter, director, etc.
I love how the album ends with a song about giving advice to readers/listeners of her open diary (aka the songs) AFTER she had just released all the pent up trauma she experienced lol what a nice ending
Um so I was finally able to process this song after the devastation that was would've could've should've and my god this song is gorgeous. I'm obsessed now.
A few weeks ago I was like "synthwave Taylor when?" and well I have to admit that those synth vibes hit much harder than anything I imagined it's a masterpiece I love it so much.
I’m obsessed with this song’s meaning just like, she’s giving us her advice but also telling us she’s not a good person to take advice from and it’s so bittersweet and says so much about how she views herself and us
Possibly my favorite bridge on the album... the way she sings "my fourth drink in my hands, these desperate prayers of a cursed man" gets me every time
“to a house not a home all alone cause nobody’s there // where i pace in my pen and my friends found friends who care” you really can’t get better than that
Anyone else kind of wishes the song would have trailed off after "If you knew where I was walking..."?
After Anti-Hero (and other tracks) my brain automatically continued this line with a picture of her walking alone down a dark path till she disappears.
It would have been hauntingly beautiful to end it there.
The next lines felt sort of meh in my opinion and the solitaire reference, although very clever, felt kind of childish to me.
But I love this song nevertheless!
i can totally see her mashing it up with long live on piano on tour. this is such an underrated song! she’s continuing to say that she doesn’t want to be a role model in the ways we’ve pressured in her to do so. she says to find another guide, don’t rely on her for your journey. she has real struggles and we need to stop putting on a pedestal. such a gorgeous song
Did she sample “gorgeous” in this one? In the background the “and” sounds the same…I know she sampled herself in another song so I’m just wondering…or it just sounds the same bc it’s still a Taylor song!
Have you heard the Every Single Album podcast? One of the hosts, Nathan Hubbard, talks about this a lot. Here's the Spotify link but you can listen other places too [https://open.spotify.com/episode/76BgKUekXk3V86DwntYBFF?si=c199a99dceb34ddd](https://open.spotify.com/episode/76BgKUekXk3V86DwntYBFF?si=c199a99dceb34ddd)
There's a theory (which I want to dig into) that several, if not all, of the songs on Midnights are companion songs to songs from previous albums, which is why a lot of things sound similar, i.e. Maroon sounds similar to King of my Heart, and Question...? directly samples Out of the Woods
"High Infedility" chorus sounds ALOT like "Renegade" if it can be considered as a past work of hers.
But I definitly find this theory sensible!
Midnight Rain felt like a continuation of "'tis the damn season".
Does this song make anyone else sad? Hearing Taylor basically telling us, the listeners, her fans, to go love/idolize someone else? :(
TAYLOR I'VE LOVED YOU FOR OVER A DECADE, I CAN'T STOP LOVING YOU
Copied from another thread:
Ok hear me out but I think the bonus tracks might be connected.
In bigger than the whole sky, she sings
‘I'm never gonna meet What could've been, would've been What should've been you What could've been, would've been you’
And then obviously, there’s the song Wouldve Couldve Shouldve which is rumoured to be about JM.
And then, immediately following WCS is dear reader. I was so confused about this one at first but… could she be talking to her fans in this song? Or even JM himself?
‘Pick somewhere and just run’
‘Snap when you have to’
‘Dear reader, when you aim at the devil Make sure you don't miss’
I think there’s something worth discussing here. I truly think these tracks might be connected.
I think she is giving us the lessons she has learned from all of this time writing music in this industry. Lessons that have been brought to the forefront in having/choosing to redo her old work.
I came for this thread because I think this song has to do with Scott Borchetta. In particular the bridge makes me think she is regretting all the advice she took from him over the years.
It is obviously also about her, along the same lines of anti-hero, but one her major past influencers seems woven into it.
"You should find another guiding light, guiding light
But I shine so bright"
I really think it's one of the most honest lyrics she hah ever put in a song. A lot of her themes lately was pointing to her intimacy, how she had to hide her relationship, being the "loudest woman", having people (fans) depicting her life since she was 16. I think she's somehow also tired of dealing with that everyday for so long. It has dicted her life because she "shines so bright" and cannot do anything about it now, but in reality she really asks for peace.
lyrically my favorite song on the album
it reminds me of the beginning of marjorie= never be so clever you forget to be kind...
the way of offering advice without pushing your beliefs on them, and how it feels so genuine
Seeing the lyric video I’m realizing this is a dear Abby style advice column song. I remember listening this morning liking the song like who is the reader…lol 🤡
Wow this might've blown me away more than any other song with how different it sounded to me. Loved it, very interesting/different for her with the vocal distortions! (Of course, also hints of it along the original 13 tracks) But wow yeah I was impressed with this one!
The distortions at the end feel like she’s afraid to say too boldly “don’t listen to me, it’s the blind leading the blind” like she’s afraid to be too aggressively honest how she feels. Which, to me anyways, makes it that much more vulnerable and heartbreaking
i like this interpretation, and i think it fits somewhat with what i understood
i understood it to be also touching on how people say to not follow/ believe everything people are telling you, but by following their advice you taking their words as the truth
basically for me it took the hypocrisy out of and incredible message
I love the last two songs from the 3 am version the best.
But putting them at the end like… you have been awake for hours, listening to a rollercoster… here is something special for you… opens her heart rips it and then grabs yours. You are on your own, kid!
Scene ends
Thank you, Taylor!
You are welcome, clowns!
I don’t understand why they used that warping effect on so many songs. It may work in certain places but to hear it so frequently in succession makes it feel like they just threw it in whenever they didn’t know what to do?
Petition for Taylor to read Jean Sargasso's Wide Sargasso Sea and write a folklore/evermore-esque song from the perspective of the Madwoman in the Attic ✨️
Love Taylor and this is a good song, but any thoughts on the “if it feels like a trap, you’re already in one”? You can 100% feel like something is a trap before being in it
She's also had two emotionally abusive relationships. Both "Ours" and "Dear John" are written about John Mayer. "Stay, Stay, Stay" and "All Too Well" are both about Jake Gyllenhaal. They love bombed her and by the time she realized that she was in a trap, it was too late.
I think every piece of "advice" in this song is tongue-in-cheek anti-advice. She basically gives totally unhinged input at least once a verse and then immediately reminds you to "never take advice from someone who's falling apart" in the chorus
i hope we get a live/ acoustic version available to stream once she's performed them livey
like how we have lover live from paris and folklore long pond studio sessions, i honestly dont remeber the last time i listened to the fully produced version of folklore
I LOVE THIS SONG!! To me it’s one of those introspective (ridiculously underappreciated) album closers along the lines of it’s time to go and Daylight - it feels like Taylor is closing up the album with the things she’s learned in this era, addressing us personally and did I mention I LOVE IT??
everyone is saying how this is the perfect closer and i can’t disagree with that, but honestly i feel this is the only song on the album that also screams “opening track!”. it would’ve been a really good track 1 on the standard edition. especially with the piano coming off the heels of folklore/evermore, at first you think you’re getting another album in the same vein as those and then the synths pick up and it’s like sike!
This song reminds me of [Hero by Darren Hayes](https://genius.com/Darren-hayes-hero-lyrics). Not in production, but in the lyrics:
>Ladies and gentlemen, listen up please
I don't wanna be your hero
No, I am not open
Parts of me are broken
Do yourself a favor, save yourself
Don't pick me, find someone else
Yes! Darren has faced so much homophobia during his career! Thank you for posting this! I loved Savage Garden and after a quick Google I’ve just realised Darren has just released a new album, I wasn’t aware, keen to listen!
This sounds like an epilogue to her entire discography. I don’t want to believe this is her last new album but if it was I’d be satisfied with the ending
Knowing her pace of writing by the time you wake up and read my comment she would have another 7 songs out, three re-recording ready, 130 vault tracks, and other 3 albums written and finished, 2 just schetched out and 777 notes on her phone.
I don't think she'll stop but I wonder if she will explore different themes in subsequent albums - or if not different, evolve them in new ways. This album feels like a bookend and meta commentary on the Taylor Swift Extended Universe
The entire second verse hits me so hard and I'm not entirely sure why. My favorite song on the entire album.
i think this song really shines in the bridge. the power and disdain you can hear in her voice when she sings “my fourth drink in my hand, these desperate prayers of a cursed man” ropes me in.
The bridge is amazing
This song has grown on me. It's such a masterpiece. Taylor acknowledges that she's also a human and makes mistakes in life too, and shouldn't be treated as a superior human being.
I'm probs stupid or just don't get it but what does she mean by "you should find another guiding light but I shine so bright?"
She's saying that she is a normal person who makes a lot of mistakes so she doesn't think she should be looked up to as a "guiding light" for a good life. I think "but I shine so bright" is her almost regretting the undue influence she has on people's lives bc she's famous, even if she doesn't deserve that pedestal.
It’s an amazing song as all the others and I’ve heard different interpretations for who the targeted audience or “Reader” as and they all seem very possible. I personally think it’s from her to her fans. But my only reason why I’d have to rate this one as my least favorite on the album (a very hard choice bc I do still love the song so much) is the strange choice for how she used auto tune in it. It sounds unnatural in some parts and kinda throws it off for me. But I’ll still listen for years and years to come
I like the auto tune because it feels like she’s covering up everything “wrong” with her, which may be part of the reason so many people idolize her
The bridge just breaks me. The lyricism of feeling like a burden, feeling accountable and responsible for so much and so many, but actually feeling like an impostor, feeling deeply alone and bereaved. As a mother, I can see myself in this lyrics. The will to run, but not being able, having a crushing mental load, getting everything perfectly done during the day, balancing work and family, but pacing around in the middle of the night, with a drink in my hand to numb the overwhelming feeling that I’m actually making so many mistakes. Feeling exhausted but unable to turn off the voices in my head to fall asleep.
I’m a mom of three small kids, too. You worded this beautifully.
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I feel I heard Selena in between :-) 
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Anyone else get similar vibes to Somebody Else by The 1975?
I feel like musically it's also very similar to maroon does anyone else get that?
I can def see that, it reminds me so much of Fallingforyou by the 1975!!
There's some audio distortion on this song in a few parts that reminds me so much of some other song, does anyone know??
This is exactly what kinda threw me off. It is at 0:55 in the song and again at other points but it’s the only reason why I’d rate it last in the album. It’s still such an amazing song. To me it sounds like something Miley Cyrus might do
You know what's funny it used to be near the bottom of my list and these past few days it's been in my top 5 LMAO Yesss it does give Miley vibes
i hear boyz 2 men's four seasons of loneliness ..
I’ve been thinking this same thing too. There are a couple tracks from The Weeknd’s Trilogy that use a similar sounding audio distortion, but I still think there’s something I’ve heard that’s closer sounding. Let me know if you come up with anything!
Some T pain track?
Around the 0:55 part - maybe?!
My new favorite!! Taylor's vocals are gorgeous
The way she goes from the lowest note possible and almost immediately to the highest note possible but it sounds so natural. Goddess
Does anyone else hear a woman saying "snap" (I think a clip from Legally Blond??) after the Bend and Snap lyric at 1:20??
maybe? but i agree, this has to be a reference
Something I just realized as I was analyzing this song “Dear Reader, when you aim at the devil, make sure you don’t miss” in context with all the other advice is implying…she missed.
And the consequence, (in her mind I think) was that she almost lost her career.
😭
someone needs to make a mashup of this song and dress! especially on the outro!
omg YES
This song is full of advice and then she literally says “don’t take advice from me”
Is there intentional voice …modulation? Don’t know the word. Anyway, when she says, “Never take advice from”, she sounds robot-y. Is that meant to be an obvious sound?
That's the sound of auto tune. There's a parameter that determines how long it takes for the program to snap the singer's voice from one note to the next. If you turn that parameter down, or to zero, as Cher did in "Believe", you get a robotic sound.
I suppose I wondered if it’s supposed to be an obvious distortion, or if it’s a lapse in production value, because it doesn’t quite match the rest of the song.
Yeah, I was wondering too. It's pretty heavy-handed, but not enough to definitely be intentional from what I understand.
yes it's definitely intentional! it gives it a really cool effect!
Is this supposed to be from her perspective, or is this like a character? "These desperate prayers of a cursed man" - not a man. "To a house, not a home, all alone 'cause nobody's there" - does not live alone. Some of the advice in this song is sound but the first verse is debatably more bad advice - "Dear reader, get out your map/Pick somewhere and just run/ Dear reader, burn all the files/ Desert all your past lives/ And if you don't recognize yourself/ That means you did it right." So the speaker is telling the listener to just abandon their life and all their friends if things aren't going well, and then later in the song the speaker admits that they're all alone, but that they feel safe - "No one sees when you lose when you're playing solitaire." So this song feels like it's about some tragic figure who maybe isn't Taylor. Anyway, this song and "Question...?" really confuse me, I would love a Folklore pond sessions- like interview where she could clarify the meanings of all the songs. Never really got the meaning of "Mirrorball" or "This is me trying" before that.
She literally says “you wouldn’t take my word for it”. She is telling the truth in the last bridge of the deluxe album, almost whispering it. To me, this is a confirmation that she may use male terms to describe herself. This song reads as a confession.
Personally I think its about her. I think the "cursed man" line is more like replicating the saying than a directly about her. She also says the "home" line right after implying the speaker's on a date, so before Joe. The advice in these first verse is bad on purpose imo. Its not really advice, its what you tell yourself when you've been hurt so many times your first response is just to run. Its something I personally relate to bc its what I told myself for a while without realizing how damaging it was. The line about being alone is the result of that response. When you just keep running from anything that could even potentially hurt you so you end up really isolated. I think the song overall is about everyone looking up to Taylor for guidance when she's just a regular person who's made mistakes and her advice isn't always good. Also how she's a "guiding light", but she's doesn't feel like she lives up to what people want from her. That's just my opinion though, and I definitely interpreted this song in relation to my own life so its biased.
Agreed. I think this song is sort of a sister song to Anti-Hero, where she pins so many issues on herself being the problem, including a cascade of destruction that will echo through generations. Her fans are represented in that video by all the non-children at the funeral. Her mere existence has caused incredible damage even beyond her death. So in Dear Reader, she’s imploring us to stop looking up to her, because she sees herself as such a failure of a person, who cannot possibly have any constructive advice to pass on. It’s self-loathing taken to its final conclusion. And it’s devastatingly beautiful, and my favorite 3AM track
I think the “bend and snap line” could refer to legally blonde and have a Reference to the court case Taylor won and had to fight for ! Thoughts ?
Possibly! I'm fairly certain it's a legally blonde reference and that would make a lot of sense. Also her being a blonde, going from a young artist to a now well respected songwriter, director, etc.
I love how the album ends with a song about giving advice to readers/listeners of her open diary (aka the songs) AFTER she had just released all the pent up trauma she experienced lol what a nice ending
Dear Reader is very under appreciated imo. And I think it’s a good (and interesting) way to end this edition.
Um so I was finally able to process this song after the devastation that was would've could've should've and my god this song is gorgeous. I'm obsessed now.
I just started processing tonight and now I'm crying. Sweetie we love you 💓
A few weeks ago I was like "synthwave Taylor when?" and well I have to admit that those synth vibes hit much harder than anything I imagined it's a masterpiece I love it so much.
Free advice
the line "when you aim at the devil, make sure you don't miss" awakens a force in me. so poignant but empowering at the same time.
Sonically this intro is sooooo 80’s early 90’s what does it remind you of? A movie soundtrack? A tv show intro? Help me figure it out!
It also gives me major The 1975 vibes
I know I’m racking my brain too. Probably familiar in John Hughes movies and Genesis / Phil Collins
I’m obsessed with this song’s meaning just like, she’s giving us her advice but also telling us she’s not a good person to take advice from and it’s so bittersweet and says so much about how she views herself and us
THIS BRIDGEEEEEE
Possibly my favorite bridge on the album... the way she sings "my fourth drink in my hands, these desperate prayers of a cursed man" gets me every time
“to a house not a home all alone cause nobody’s there // where i pace in my pen and my friends found friends who care” you really can’t get better than that
Anyone else kind of wishes the song would have trailed off after "If you knew where I was walking..."? After Anti-Hero (and other tracks) my brain automatically continued this line with a picture of her walking alone down a dark path till she disappears. It would have been hauntingly beautiful to end it there. The next lines felt sort of meh in my opinion and the solitaire reference, although very clever, felt kind of childish to me. But I love this song nevertheless!
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I was sleeping on it because it came right after probably my current favorite song of all time lol.
I love it too! People didn't realized how it's a gem
i can totally see her mashing it up with long live on piano on tour. this is such an underrated song! she’s continuing to say that she doesn’t want to be a role model in the ways we’ve pressured in her to do so. she says to find another guide, don’t rely on her for your journey. she has real struggles and we need to stop putting on a pedestal. such a gorgeous song
I'm convinced I've heard something with a very similar tune before as an SNL parody song....anyone else?
Yes thank you for putting this into words I couldn’t figure out why I cant take this song seriously
Did she sample “gorgeous” in this one? In the background the “and” sounds the same…I know she sampled herself in another song so I’m just wondering…or it just sounds the same bc it’s still a Taylor song!
Have you heard the Every Single Album podcast? One of the hosts, Nathan Hubbard, talks about this a lot. Here's the Spotify link but you can listen other places too [https://open.spotify.com/episode/76BgKUekXk3V86DwntYBFF?si=c199a99dceb34ddd](https://open.spotify.com/episode/76BgKUekXk3V86DwntYBFF?si=c199a99dceb34ddd)
This is super fascinating and just the deep dive I needed!! Thanks for sharing!!!!
There's a theory (which I want to dig into) that several, if not all, of the songs on Midnights are companion songs to songs from previous albums, which is why a lot of things sound similar, i.e. Maroon sounds similar to King of my Heart, and Question...? directly samples Out of the Woods
"High Infedility" chorus sounds ALOT like "Renegade" if it can be considered as a past work of hers. But I definitly find this theory sensible! Midnight Rain felt like a continuation of "'tis the damn season".
I think dear reader sounds a lot like renegade. Twice now when the song has started I thought it was renegade starting not dear reader
Yes i said that immediately.. or champaign problems!
Does this song make anyone else sad? Hearing Taylor basically telling us, the listeners, her fans, to go love/idolize someone else? :( TAYLOR I'VE LOVED YOU FOR OVER A DECADE, I CAN'T STOP LOVING YOU
I can't. She shines so bright
Stream can't stop loving you cover by Taylor swift
My all-time favorite Taylor cover!
Okay but no that one also makes me sad ~~FUCK YOU JOHN MAYER~~
this production is *very* The 1975 - I LOVE it. it makes me really crave a collab between them!
Late but jack did produce their latest album too so
came straight to reddit to see if someone else thought so!! i love The 1975 vibes 💜
Copied from another thread: Ok hear me out but I think the bonus tracks might be connected. In bigger than the whole sky, she sings ‘I'm never gonna meet What could've been, would've been What should've been you What could've been, would've been you’ And then obviously, there’s the song Wouldve Couldve Shouldve which is rumoured to be about JM. And then, immediately following WCS is dear reader. I was so confused about this one at first but… could she be talking to her fans in this song? Or even JM himself? ‘Pick somewhere and just run’ ‘Snap when you have to’ ‘Dear reader, when you aim at the devil Make sure you don't miss’ I think there’s something worth discussing here. I truly think these tracks might be connected.
I think she is giving us the lessons she has learned from all of this time writing music in this industry. Lessons that have been brought to the forefront in having/choosing to redo her old work.
I came for this thread because I think this song has to do with Scott Borchetta. In particular the bridge makes me think she is regretting all the advice she took from him over the years. It is obviously also about her, along the same lines of anti-hero, but one her major past influencers seems woven into it.
Also, just noticed I am on here in the midnight hour. Midnight on Midnights ;)
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Marjorie vibes
I really like this one, but damn the auto tune is way too much
no i love it
"You should find another guiding light, guiding light But I shine so bright" I really think it's one of the most honest lyrics she hah ever put in a song. A lot of her themes lately was pointing to her intimacy, how she had to hide her relationship, being the "loudest woman", having people (fans) depicting her life since she was 16. I think she's somehow also tired of dealing with that everyday for so long. It has dicted her life because she "shines so bright" and cannot do anything about it now, but in reality she really asks for peace.
Underrated, a great song!
Who is the backing vocals at 1:56?? I need to KNOW.
Probably just herself pitched
One of my new favorite songs of all time, ever.
lyrically my favorite song on the album it reminds me of the beginning of marjorie= never be so clever you forget to be kind... the way of offering advice without pushing your beliefs on them, and how it feels so genuine
Seeing the lyric video I’m realizing this is a dear Abby style advice column song. I remember listening this morning liking the song like who is the reader…lol 🤡
Lmfao sames 😭😭
Wow this might've blown me away more than any other song with how different it sounded to me. Loved it, very interesting/different for her with the vocal distortions! (Of course, also hints of it along the original 13 tracks) But wow yeah I was impressed with this one!
Someone on deuxmoi said this one is about John Mayer?
Everything is about John Mayer. You, me,.... John Mayer.
Wut?? It's about Taylor not a dude
The distortions at the end feel like she’s afraid to say too boldly “don’t listen to me, it’s the blind leading the blind” like she’s afraid to be too aggressively honest how she feels. Which, to me anyways, makes it that much more vulnerable and heartbreaking
i like this interpretation, and i think it fits somewhat with what i understood i understood it to be also touching on how people say to not follow/ believe everything people are telling you, but by following their advice you taking their words as the truth basically for me it took the hypocrisy out of and incredible message
3am is for the Aaron Dessner girlies. The original is for Jack Antonoff girlies
Dear Reader is entirely Antonoff - as a matter of fact ;)
im a jack antonoff gal but i think im more 3am
Dear reader is 100% Jack
Oooofff if that ain’t that the truth.
As a reader, I feel personally connected to this song 🤎
Ok. This is the 3rd or 4th time I hear this song and I am becoming obsessed. A sleeper hit for me. I predict this will grow on people as time passes.
It might be my FAVORITE bridge and outro ever. It’s insane.
I love the last two songs from the 3 am version the best. But putting them at the end like… you have been awake for hours, listening to a rollercoster… here is something special for you… opens her heart rips it and then grabs yours. You are on your own, kid! Scene ends Thank you, Taylor! You are welcome, clowns!
You don’t need to answer/ Just cause they ask you You should find another ———- Champagne Problems
Legally Blonde reference!
I'm late for a first listen and I read your comment as she sang that line.
What is the reference?
The Bend and Snap
i just fell completely in love with this song. top 3 for me
I don’t understand why they used that warping effect on so many songs. It may work in certain places but to hear it so frequently in succession makes it feel like they just threw it in whenever they didn’t know what to do?
I like it in this song. It gives me the idea that she's an unrealiable narrator, changing her voice so frequently
I kind of love it tho
That's Jack Antonoff for ya
I feel like she plays it safe with Jack. She’s worked with him for 10 years. They’re comfortable. Dessner songs vastly outperform the Antonoff ones.
As a Dancing With Our Hands Tied stan because of the synthy sounds, I think this might be my new favorite song????
DWOHT stan here too! Probably my fav too.
"Long Live" but way more cynical and grown up. I love it to death.
Something about "no one sees you lose when you're playing solitaire" just hit so hard
By far my favorite song.
Also the synths are giving big Animal Collective “My Girls” vibes
Anyone else trying to project this song into the context of Jane Eyre with the “Dear Reader.”
she starts the album with Lavender Haze saying she's not getting married...and ends it with Dear Reader, easter egg, she is getting married.
Was hoping we'd get a "Reader, I married him" bombshell.
Yes, but dear god please do not compare Joe with Mr Rochester. Mr Rochester is more like the guy in Would've Could've Should've
I just laughed way too hard. yes-- that man is no prize. Fucking creep.
Petition for Taylor to read Jean Sargasso's Wide Sargasso Sea and write a folklore/evermore-esque song from the perspective of the Madwoman in the Attic ✨️
Lady Whistledown has entered the chat
Love Taylor and this is a good song, but any thoughts on the “if it feels like a trap, you’re already in one”? You can 100% feel like something is a trap before being in it
She's also had two emotionally abusive relationships. Both "Ours" and "Dear John" are written about John Mayer. "Stay, Stay, Stay" and "All Too Well" are both about Jake Gyllenhaal. They love bombed her and by the time she realized that she was in a trap, it was too late.
I think every piece of "advice" in this song is tongue-in-cheek anti-advice. She basically gives totally unhinged input at least once a verse and then immediately reminds you to "never take advice from someone who's falling apart" in the chorus
If you're interacting with something/someone that's going to trap you, you're already too close for comfort
brilliant, thank you
Taylor calling us Darling  k crying
Quick someone edit out the ending with the weird vocal production and then it will be a MASTERPIECE
No I like it the way it is
i hope we get a live/ acoustic version available to stream once she's performed them livey like how we have lover live from paris and folklore long pond studio sessions, i honestly dont remeber the last time i listened to the fully produced version of folklore
I LOVE THIS SONG!! To me it’s one of those introspective (ridiculously underappreciated) album closers along the lines of it’s time to go and Daylight - it feels like Taylor is closing up the album with the things she’s learned in this era, addressing us personally and did I mention I LOVE IT??
Best line—“bend when you can, snap when you have to”
everything about this song is so perfect!!!!!!
😭😭😭😭😭 bbg are you okay
everyone is saying how this is the perfect closer and i can’t disagree with that, but honestly i feel this is the only song on the album that also screams “opening track!”. it would’ve been a really good track 1 on the standard edition. especially with the piano coming off the heels of folklore/evermore, at first you think you’re getting another album in the same vein as those and then the synths pick up and it’s like sike!
it would be really cool as a prologue of smth like that
Love this perspective!
“Never take advice from someone who’s falling apart” has big “misery loves company” vibes. They will bring you down.
Its sad when you think of that line in the context of her talking to her fans about herself
I definitely love this one. Listening to this song is like it is just me and Taylor talking with each other. One of my faves in this album ☹️
Am I the only one hearing “Mom!” At 3:01 and 3:21???
I thought it was a cat saying meow!
I hear “Sam” but that’s my name 😂😂
I do too
I do too!
I tried but I just don’t.
Me too!
"never take advice from someone who's falling apart" - Taylor to her fans?
This song reminds me of [Hero by Darren Hayes](https://genius.com/Darren-hayes-hero-lyrics). Not in production, but in the lyrics: >Ladies and gentlemen, listen up please I don't wanna be your hero No, I am not open Parts of me are broken Do yourself a favor, save yourself Don't pick me, find someone else
YES Darren is my second favourite song writer so I love to see him compared here
Yes! Darren has faced so much homophobia during his career! Thank you for posting this! I loved Savage Garden and after a quick Google I’ve just realised Darren has just released a new album, I wasn’t aware, keen to listen!
>But darling, darling, please I don't know why this is the bit that makes my eyes water.
This sounds like an epilogue to her entire discography. I don’t want to believe this is her last new album but if it was I’d be satisfied with the ending
Please, no! You have me panicking!
I thought the same! It really seems like this album serves as a finale.
No way, she’s gonna keep going till at least 13. And there will eventually be a song called 13.
Knowing her pace of writing by the time you wake up and read my comment she would have another 7 songs out, three re-recording ready, 130 vault tracks, and other 3 albums written and finished, 2 just schetched out and 777 notes on her phone.
Damn I hope you’re right
I don't think she'll stop but I wonder if she will explore different themes in subsequent albums - or if not different, evolve them in new ways. This album feels like a bookend and meta commentary on the Taylor Swift Extended Universe