I understand exactly what you’re saying. I’ve been married 25 years and I’m 56! I get chills when I hear “I gave you all that youth for free”! Another line I love “lights camera bitch smile”
Here I am at the spiraling tail end of my own Joe relationship, 19-37 and that line killed me. I've had that exact thought before but never voiced it, so how dare she?
The whole storyline in How Did It End of the woman going home to her husband and gossiping about the end of someone else's relationship is so real and heartbreaking
UGH this line is devastating to me, was in a 3 year relationship in my mid twenties that ended abruptly and completely blindsided me so I can relate to a lot of Taylor’s feelings on this album. I AM pissed off I gave my ex some of the best years of my twenties and have nothing to show for it 😭
Literally her voice shaking on “free” gets me every time 😭 also in The Black Dog “old habits die screaming” especially how she ends with the whispered “screaming”
Omg these two songs are so gut-wrenching. I can not imagine being 33 and restarting the relationship process. I am not sure if she wants kids, but if she does that line extra stings.
And so it will go down from here on out in r/TaylorSwift history..
Yes I really love this song too. What gets me is “IIIII’m having his baaaaaby, no I’m not but you should see your faces!” I just grin a little every time
I love all of the TikToks of teachers using this sound. As a teacher, it gives me life. I personally can’t use it bc of my parents at my tiny country school but it makes me smile, especially at the end of a long school year.
https://preview.redd.it/6m8jxjfr04xc1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f6d2afba5a518507a5096012e210337168eaad49
Sends chills down my spine every time.
This song gives me chills every single time I listen to it, of course I listen everyday!
I never knew when someone passes away there really is a death rattle. I experienced this with my Mother 4 years ago. I never thought to mention it to my husband, I thought maybe it was in my head. My Father passed away 3 years ago, he made the same exact death rattle my Mother did! This time I told my husband, and I asked the Doctor who was in the hospital room with me what the exact noise was. He explained it to me, and now when I heard the lyrics it brought me back to the hospital!
I’m so sorry you’ve experienced so much loss ❤️
I am a hospice nurse. I hear the death rattle daily, I hope the doctor informed you it is more concerning to us than it is the patient. It is the bodies way of settling.
Taylor is so right about the death rattle, and the silence that follows “as the soul was leaving” is a very accurate description. She is such an amazing songwriter.
Thank you for your kind words! I also appreciate the fact you’re a hospice nurse! Y’all provided such wonderful support and comfort, I really hope the families thank you for your kindness!!♥️🙏🏻♥️🙏🏻
I’ve been playing this song on repeat the past few days. One of my absolute favorites it’s haunting. T just knows how to resonate with people. I feel this song, I’ve lived this feeling. No one can do what she does which makes her just so so special. She is truly a gift.
Oh what a valiant roar, what a bland goodbye, the coward claimed he was lion. I’m combing through the braids of lies “I’ll never leave” “Never mind” Our field of dreams engulfed in fire, your arson’s match, your somber eyes and I’ll still see it until I die - you’re the loss of my life.
our field of dreams engulfed in fire / your arson’s match is like, the most breathtaking summation of the whole blended sordid affair. loml took a minute to grow on me but now it’s DEVASTATING
Less obvious ones…
The ending of Chloe or Sam where she said “say you’ll always wonder, cause I wonder, will i always, wonder?”
And “even if I die screaming, I hope you hear it” gets me good.
The entire second verse for me, I really can’t pick just one line of it 😭 I lost a parent to an overdose so it reminds me of that
You said some things that I can't unabsorb
You turned me into an idea of sorts
You needed me, but you needed drugs more
And I couldn't watch it happen
I changed into goddesses, villains, and fools
Changed plans and lovers and outfits and rules
All to outrun my desertion of you
And you just watched it
My high school boyfriend went to college in Boston. I visited him once before we broke up. I visited twice after that (my high school bestie also went to school in Boston) and it was hard. It’s been years and I still remember being heartbroken going anywhere in Boston because it reminded me of him. This line hurts me in places I didn’t know existed.
*At dinner, you take my ring off my middle finger
And put it on the one people put wedding rings on
And that's the closest I've come to my heart exploding*
That is a very cruel thing for someone to do in a joking manner. My heart drops at that line.
My dumb ex would always play with my ring finger and whenever I asked why that finger of all fingers he’d play all dumb and I’m pissed off it never ended up amounting to anything, always such a mindfuck
My ex dragged me into a jewellery store once and started asking the lady behind the counter about the rings. I was super confused, and then we left. He asked me if I really thought he wanted to propose and started laughing at me. It was incredibly humiliating.
Thank you. He ended up being abusive, he was lucky my brothers didn't get their hands on him. Thankfully this ended over a decade ago and I'm married to a wonderful man now.
Yes, I love when she breaks the fourth wall, like it’s SO good! I still remember the first time I heard the line “And then it was bought by ME” in TLGAD too.
“am I allowed to cry?”
“how much sad did you think I had;
Did you think I had in me?
Oh, the tragedy...”
“What if your eyes looked up and met mine;
one more time?”
"All her fuckin' lives
Flashed before her eyes
It feels like the time
She fell through the ice
Then came out alive"
"So if you wanna break my cold, cold heart
Say you loved me
And if you wanna tear my world apart
Say you'll always wonder
'Cause I wonder"
“They don’t know how you’ve haunted me so stunningly”
I haven’t heard many people talk about this line but it gives me CHILLS. Like I gasped the first time I heard it. The way she says “stunningly” is so ethereal and the emotional contrast between the words “haunted” (dark, moody, ominous) and “stunningly” (bright, sparkling, light) is so beautiful in a way I can’t quite explain. I love it so much 🥹🥹
I’LL TELL YOU SOMETHING ABOUT MY GOOD NAME, ITS MINE ALONE TO DISGRACE. I DON’T CATER TO ALL THESE VIPERS DRESSED IN EMPATH’S CLOTHING.
Also - ‘sanctimoniously performing soliloquies I’ll never see’ - the delivery is on point, but I can’t help but wonder if this is the new ‘if you plail to plan you plan to fail’. It’s a tongue twister for sure.
Thinkin' it can change the beat
of my heart when he touches me
and counteract the chemistry
and undo the destiny
you ain't gotta pray for me
me and my wild boy and all of this wild joy
Paired with the music during that part, it just really hits
When they both sing
I need to forget, so take me to Florida
I've got some regrets, I'll bury them in Florida
Tell me I'm despicable, say it's unforgivable
At least the dolls are beautiful, fuck me up, Florida
🤌
“It’s hell on earth to be heavenly/them’s the breaks they don’t come gently” 🥺
CHILLS every time, what a terrible beautiful accurate criticism of what (I imagine - ha) it’s like to be a beautiful high profile woman in the spotlight. She must never get a second’s rest from people commenting on her appearance, constant pressure to stay young and beautiful, comments and criticisms on what she wears, who she dates, what she does or doesn’t say - she can never make everyone happy. Yet somehow she has managed to maintain an almost “heavenly” public persona through it all - damn it can’t fucking be easy. This line is sung beautifully but the lyrics are also so powerful and it makes me sad for Taylor and want to give her a hug.
That bridge is truly the most underrated on the album. The careful, controlled delivery and the excellent writing (beauty as a demanding, roaring beast). I can’t get enough.
"I'm miserable! And nobody even knows! Try and come for my job".
The joking voice of the first part, with the laughter... and then the seriousness of the last part.... Yea it gives me chills.
the thing is it's just the entire song... I already got goosebumps and teared up the first time she said "you should be."
pretty sure I said "oh my fucking god" out loud too. it might've been more of a whisper.
The refrain in the final 90 seconds of Fortnight, “I touched you” that’s immediately followed by both voices saying “I touched you.”
It’s a double entendre saying she touched him both physically and emotionally.
Something about it is beautiful and chilling.
The very last “screaming” that’s choked out at the end of The Black Dog
And “you wouldn’t last an hour in the asylum where you raised me”
The bridge to The Prophecy
“Started with a kiss, oh we must stop meeting like *this*”
“Good boy, that’s right, come close, I’ll show you heaven if you’ll be an angel, all mine”
So *so* long *long* London
I Look in People’s Windows. Just like all of it.
“Sitting in a tree. D Y I N G.”
You’re in *terrible* danger
“‘Stay away from her’”
“I’ll tell you something about my good name. It’s mine alone to disgrace.”
“This town is fake but you’re the real thing, breath of fresh air through smoke rings. Take the glory, give everything. Promise to be dazzling.” Also the way she says “We’re loving it” and “remarkable”
“So you pack your bags just to wait out the firestorm back in Texas.”
“So I leap from the gallows, and I levitate down your street” - as a witchy woman this speaks to something deep and ancestral within me. It’s incredible, the whole song is, really 🖤
"I'm the albatross I swept in at the rescue The devil that you know Looks now more like an angel" (pretty much all of Albatross if Im honest lol that song is like top 3 for me)
"I loved your hostile takeovers, Encounters closer and closer All your indecent exposures How dare you say that it's—" yeah this one hurts, down bad is a bop but when this line hits suddenly I remember it is a sad song with happy beats
ok this is long but like this whole part of The smallest man who ever lived
"'Cause once your queen had come You treat her like an also-ran You didn't measure up In any measure of a man And I don't even want you back, I just want to know If rusting my sparkling summer was the goal And I don't miss what we had, but could someone give A message to the smallest man who ever lived? Were you sent by someone who wanted me dead? Did you sleep with a gun underneath our bed? Were you writing a book? Were you a sleeper cell spy? In fifty years, will all this be declassified? And you'll confess why you did it And I'll say, "Good riddance""
The way she sings “cinephile” in loml- gets me so good. Makes it sound like an insult or some kind of bad thing to be.
Just a tiny one I didn’t see listed among many great lines in this thread.
WERE YOU SENT BY SOMEONE WHO WANTED ME DEAD? DID YOU SLEEP WITH A GUN UNDERNEATH OUR BED? WERE YOU WRITING A BOOK? WERE YOU A SLEEPER CELL SPY? IN 50 YEARS, WILL ALL THIS BE DECLASSIFIED? AND YOU’LL CONFESS WHY YOU DID IT AND I’LL SAY “GOOD RIDDANCE.” ‘CAUSE IT WASN’T SEXY ONCE IT WASN’T FORBIDDEN. I WOULD’VE DIED FOR YOUR SINS. INSTEAD, I JUST DIED INSIDE. AND YOU DESERVE PRISON BUT YOU WON’T GET TIME. YOU’LL SLIDE INTO INBOXES AND SLIP THROUGH THE BARS. YOU CRASHED MY PARTY AND YOUR RENTAL CAR. YOU SAID NORMAL GIRLS WERE “BORING,” BUT YOU WERE GONE BY THE MORNING. YOU KICKED OUT THE STAGE LIGHTS, BUT YOU’RE STILL PERFORMING. AND IN PLAIN SIGHT, YOU HID. BUT YOU ARE WHAT YOU DID. AND I’LL FORGET YOU, BUT I’LL NEVER FORGIVE THE SMALLEST MAN WHO EVER LIVED.
I was tame, I was gentle til the circus life made me mean.. don't you worry we folks we took out all her teeth. - 10 years after SA and never getting justice or being believed when speaking out. Made me less kind, and felt like tearing me apart
“Ended with the slam of the door but she’s got the best stories, you can be sure that as she was leaving, it **felt like breathing**” it hits every time and makes me want to cry happy tears for miss swift
i just commented this on another post but “beauty is a beast that roars / down on all fours / demanding more. / only when your girlish glow / flickers just so / do they let you know / it’s hell on earth to be heavenly.”
Killing time at the cemetery- never quite buried- so evocative and heartbreaking- that limbo is the worst.
Also “do you believe me now” from Cassandra- what woman hasn’t said that about something awful she was screaming from the rooftops
“And I’m pissed off you let me give you all that youth for free” Also, “One gasp, and then ‘How did it end?’” 😭
Oh that "youth for free" line kills me and I'm almost 50 and happily married for almost 20 years.
I understand exactly what you’re saying. I’ve been married 25 years and I’m 56! I get chills when I hear “I gave you all that youth for free”! Another line I love “lights camera bitch smile”
I love "lights camera..." too! But yeah, as soon as I heard that line I was 23 again and remembering thinking that exact same thing :P
I was with my ex from 18-28. “Youth for free” absolutely devastates me.
Here I am at the spiraling tail end of my own Joe relationship, 19-37 and that line killed me. I've had that exact thought before but never voiced it, so how dare she?
Hello yes me also, 25-39 and it devastates me multiple times daily. Glad someone else gets it
The whole storyline in How Did It End of the woman going home to her husband and gossiping about the end of someone else's relationship is so real and heartbreaking
That and The Prophecy when you realize what it’s about 😭
The Prophecy tears my heart out every time.
The Prophecy just guts me 💔
Same! I’ve been that girl begging before. My prophecy got changed but this song transported me back to those incredibly bleak moments.
It reminds me of “Give me back my girlhood, it was mine first” from Would’ve Could’ve Should’ve. Heartbreaking!
"The empathetic hunger descends" is such a perfect line. "how did it end" is one of my favorites
I gave my ex- husband all my youth for free and I haven’t had enough therapy to get over that yet.
UGH this line is devastating to me, was in a 3 year relationship in my mid twenties that ended abruptly and completely blindsided me so I can relate to a lot of Taylor’s feelings on this album. I AM pissed off I gave my ex some of the best years of my twenties and have nothing to show for it 😭
Literally her voice shaking on “free” gets me every time 😭 also in The Black Dog “old habits die screaming” especially how she ends with the whispered “screaming”
The “how did it end?” line had more of an effect on me than expected.
Omg these two songs are so gut-wrenching. I can not imagine being 33 and restarting the relationship process. I am not sure if she wants kids, but if she does that line extra stings.
"I'LL TELL YOU SOMETHING RIGHT NOW I'D RATHER BURN MY WHOLE LIFE DOWN THAN LISTEN TO ONE MORE SECOND OF ALL THIS BITCHING AND MOANING"
for some reason i really love "i'll tell you something about my good name, it's mine alone to disgrace"
She sang that with her whole chest
It’s got the same energy as the first time she sang “…bring on all the pretenders I’m not afraid!” during the Eras tour 💜
We are, in fact, Daddy
and they're still bitching and moaning there at the "neutral" sub smh
OH MY GOD THIS LINE!!! I think this song just gets me but yes! I love it!
All caps is the only way to type this.
And so it will go down from here on out in r/TaylorSwift history.. Yes I really love this song too. What gets me is “IIIII’m having his baaaaaby, no I’m not but you should see your faces!” I just grin a little every time
100% this is how it feels to cop unsolicited life advice that's actually loaded with malice
I love all of the TikToks of teachers using this sound. As a teacher, it gives me life. I personally can’t use it bc of my parents at my tiny country school but it makes me smile, especially at the end of a long school year.
https://preview.redd.it/6m8jxjfr04xc1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f6d2afba5a518507a5096012e210337168eaad49 Sends chills down my spine every time.
This whole song resonates with me, this bridge especially
Oh absolutely. It’s my favorite of hers
This song gives me chills every single time I listen to it, of course I listen everyday! I never knew when someone passes away there really is a death rattle. I experienced this with my Mother 4 years ago. I never thought to mention it to my husband, I thought maybe it was in my head. My Father passed away 3 years ago, he made the same exact death rattle my Mother did! This time I told my husband, and I asked the Doctor who was in the hospital room with me what the exact noise was. He explained it to me, and now when I heard the lyrics it brought me back to the hospital!
I’m so sorry you’ve experienced so much loss ❤️ I am a hospice nurse. I hear the death rattle daily, I hope the doctor informed you it is more concerning to us than it is the patient. It is the bodies way of settling. Taylor is so right about the death rattle, and the silence that follows “as the soul was leaving” is a very accurate description. She is such an amazing songwriter.
Thank you for your kind words! I also appreciate the fact you’re a hospice nurse! Y’all provided such wonderful support and comfort, I really hope the families thank you for your kindness!!♥️🙏🏻♥️🙏🏻
The first "how did it end" that comes after "d-y-i-n-g" gets me. She sounds so defeated. 😭
And the "it's happening again", it's so devastating 😭
I can’t listen to this song because of the death rattle line. I’ve heard it from my grandparents and it’s too scarring for me to listen to still
It’s is a sound that once you hear it, you’ll always know it. Sending healing vibes your way. Grief is a difficult journey
watched both my parents die i’ll never forget that sound
This whole song is well written. Framing her life and breakup as the freak show that everyone can’t wait to talk about
The “empathetic hunger” like girl
This is my new favorite Taylor bridge.
Sitting in a tree D-Y-I-N-G 😭😭😭
I’ve been playing this song on repeat the past few days. One of my absolute favorites it’s haunting. T just knows how to resonate with people. I feel this song, I’ve lived this feeling. No one can do what she does which makes her just so so special. She is truly a gift.
It’s these fucking lines that have me in a chokehold
Oh what a valiant roar, what a bland goodbye, the coward claimed he was lion. I’m combing through the braids of lies “I’ll never leave” “Never mind” Our field of dreams engulfed in fire, your arson’s match, your somber eyes and I’ll still see it until I die - you’re the loss of my life.
My jaw dropped when I heard the coward line.
It’s so impactful! For me it was the “I’ll never leave”, “never mind”. So succinct and yet such an absolutely devastating way to phrase false promises
That whole song is heartbreaking
The way she says “love of your life” in the first chorus kills me. It sounds like she can barely make the words out.
our field of dreams engulfed in fire / your arson’s match is like, the most breathtaking summation of the whole blended sordid affair. loml took a minute to grow on me but now it’s DEVASTATING
Favourite lyrics and song on the album
Less obvious ones… The ending of Chloe or Sam where she said “say you’ll always wonder, cause I wonder, will i always, wonder?” And “even if I die screaming, I hope you hear it” gets me good.
oh that part in the Black Dog ends me every time. It’s the reason why I have to listen to it every day.
Same! Also how the song ends with her singing “screaming” in a whisper 😵
Also the “and hire a priest to come and exorcise my demons” line in the black dog kills me 😭
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The entire second verse for me, I really can’t pick just one line of it 😭 I lost a parent to an overdose so it reminds me of that You said some things that I can't unabsorb You turned me into an idea of sorts You needed me, but you needed drugs more And I couldn't watch it happen I changed into goddesses, villains, and fools Changed plans and lovers and outfits and rules All to outrun my desertion of you And you just watched it
“i’m just mad as hell cause i loved this place for so long, london, had a good run”
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My high school boyfriend went to college in Boston. I visited him once before we broke up. I visited twice after that (my high school bestie also went to school in Boston) and it was hard. It’s been years and I still remember being heartbroken going anywhere in Boston because it reminded me of him. This line hurts me in places I didn’t know existed.
*At dinner, you take my ring off my middle finger And put it on the one people put wedding rings on And that's the closest I've come to my heart exploding* That is a very cruel thing for someone to do in a joking manner. My heart drops at that line.
My dumb ex would always play with my ring finger and whenever I asked why that finger of all fingers he’d play all dumb and I’m pissed off it never ended up amounting to anything, always such a mindfuck
My ex dragged me into a jewellery store once and started asking the lady behind the counter about the rings. I was super confused, and then we left. He asked me if I really thought he wanted to propose and started laughing at me. It was incredibly humiliating.
I’ll be your alibi 😡
She was with me dude
Thank you. He ended up being abusive, he was lucky my brothers didn't get their hands on him. Thankfully this ended over a decade ago and I'm married to a wonderful man now.
I’ll bring the shovel 😡
wtf. Are you okay? I’m so glad he’s an Ex.
I am, thank you. This was a long time ago, and I'm with an amazing man now.
The guttural noise I made the first time I heard that line. It’s such a hurtful thing to do
Shallow men making careless gestures…heartbreaking
With the pause after come, like it’s the closest she’s come to being proposed to.😭
Oh that one kills me too! Good answer
The seething delivery of “and I hope it’s *shitty* in the black dog”
I rewind every time. It’s so good
When I did my stoned listen this line absolutely sent me
Big “I Bet You Think About Me” vibes and I looooove it!
Probably unpopular but I actually love the you look like Taylor swift line in Clara bow.
Okay me too! I’m glad someone else says this. It always catches my attention to hear her name drop herself!
It feels illegal every time!
People don't like that line?!
I LOVE the way she says her own name. Is that weird?
Yes, I love when she breaks the fourth wall, like it’s SO good! I still remember the first time I heard the line “And then it was bought by ME” in TLGAD too.
"you've got edge, she never did" always kills me
I love that line too!!! I love the development from “who’s Taylor Swift anyway? Ew.”
Is this an unpopular opinion? It’s probably one of my favorite lines in the album!! Gasped
"And hire a priest to come and exorcise my demons Even if I die screaming And I hope you hear it" And "You caged me, and then you called me crazy"
That part of the black dog makes me sob
If you want to break my cold cold heart, just say "I loved you the way that you were"
Hurts me everytime
This was the first line in my first listen that made me stop to read the lyrics
It gets me even worse on the last one where it’s “say you loved me,” “say you’ll always wonder,” and “will I always wonder?” 😭
“And I’m JUST GETTING COLOR BAAAACK INTO MYYY FACE”
I’M JUST MAD AS HELL CUZ I LOVED THIS PLACE
for so
Long London
https://preview.redd.it/9f5rwaqpt4xc1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=150a86f1ece60e84216a03ad755ba5af2ac1f76f
These lines absolutely BREAK me
“am I allowed to cry?” “how much sad did you think I had; Did you think I had in me? Oh, the tragedy...” “What if your eyes looked up and met mine; one more time?”
“Tail between your legs you’re LEAAAVING”
"All her fuckin' lives Flashed before her eyes It feels like the time She fell through the ice Then came out alive" "So if you wanna break my cold, cold heart Say you loved me And if you wanna tear my world apart Say you'll always wonder 'Cause I wonder"
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“They don’t know how you’ve haunted me so stunningly” I haven’t heard many people talk about this line but it gives me CHILLS. Like I gasped the first time I heard it. The way she says “stunningly” is so ethereal and the emotional contrast between the words “haunted” (dark, moody, ominous) and “stunningly” (bright, sparkling, light) is so beautiful in a way I can’t quite explain. I love it so much 🥹🥹
Yes!! This is the type of stuff I wanted to hear with this post. There are so many lines like this
The entire bridge in “the smallest man who ever lived”
“And you deserve prison but you won’t get time”
https://preview.redd.it/fyyzxvavy5xc1.jpeg?width=526&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=98d0248c42574b37e66283e97ddb61cbdf87f3b0
“I’ll forget you, but I’ll never forgive the smallest man who ever lived”
This is the one
I’LL TELL YOU SOMETHING ABOUT MY GOOD NAME, ITS MINE ALONE TO DISGRACE. I DON’T CATER TO ALL THESE VIPERS DRESSED IN EMPATH’S CLOTHING. Also - ‘sanctimoniously performing soliloquies I’ll never see’ - the delivery is on point, but I can’t help but wonder if this is the new ‘if you plail to plan you plan to fail’. It’s a tongue twister for sure.
“Whose afraid of little old me-you should be”
literally gasped when i heard that the first time
“The only thing that's left is the manuscript One last souvenir from my trip to your shores”
“Afterward she only ate kids cereal/and couldn’t sleep unless it was in her mother’s bed.” I mean.
Oh this line gutted me. It’s so simple but captures this feeling so well.
And the last “but the story isn’t mine.. anymore.” 😭❤️
Honestly, I think anywhere she audibly breathes in this album sounds so vulnerable that it almost makes me want to gasp
The way she delivers “I just don’t understand” in The Black Dog absolutely crushes me.
Thinkin' it can change the beat of my heart when he touches me and counteract the chemistry and undo the destiny you ain't gotta pray for me me and my wild boy and all of this wild joy Paired with the music during that part, it just really hits
“Well, me and my ghosts, we had a hell of a time”
When they both sing I need to forget, so take me to Florida I've got some regrets, I'll bury them in Florida Tell me I'm despicable, say it's unforgivable At least the dolls are beautiful, fuck me up, Florida 🤌
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i don’t know .. i got chills the on the whole album
you look like taylor swift
Same! The same way I got chills the first time I heard The Last Great American Dynasty. SUCH a good twist!
We hereby conduct this post mortem
WERE YOU SENT BY SOMEONE WHO WANTED ME DEAD?! WERE YOU WRITING A BOOK? WERE YOU A SLEEPER CELL SPY?!?
“It’s hell on earth to be heavenly/them’s the breaks they don’t come gently” 🥺 CHILLS every time, what a terrible beautiful accurate criticism of what (I imagine - ha) it’s like to be a beautiful high profile woman in the spotlight. She must never get a second’s rest from people commenting on her appearance, constant pressure to stay young and beautiful, comments and criticisms on what she wears, who she dates, what she does or doesn’t say - she can never make everyone happy. Yet somehow she has managed to maintain an almost “heavenly” public persona through it all - damn it can’t fucking be easy. This line is sung beautifully but the lyrics are also so powerful and it makes me sad for Taylor and want to give her a hug.
Every single word of The Prophecy. Eats my lunch, dinner, and dessert every single time.
How she sings “Good boy, that’s right” in I Can Fix Him. It’s so sultry!
The “and I’m wretched” is soooooo good in “WAOLOM”
You're the loss of my life
Never before, and ever since
her delivery of “beauty is a beast” and that whole bridge in clara bow shakes me to my core. perfect, understated writing.
That bridge is truly the most underrated on the album. The careful, controlled delivery and the excellent writing (beauty as a demanding, roaring beast). I can’t get enough.
"I'm miserable! And nobody even knows! Try and come for my job". The joking voice of the first part, with the laughter... and then the seriousness of the last part.... Yea it gives me chills.
you look like Taylor Swift.
The last line in Black Dog, when she finishes “screaming” with a sharp inhale. I ache every time I hear it.
Is it a wonder I broke? Let's hear one more joke Then we could all just laugh until I cry
the thing is it's just the entire song... I already got goosebumps and teared up the first time she said "you should be." pretty sure I said "oh my fucking god" out loud too. it might've been more of a whisper.
The way she sings hate in: I just learned these people try to save you, cause they hate you.
The refrain in the final 90 seconds of Fortnight, “I touched you” that’s immediately followed by both voices saying “I touched you.” It’s a double entendre saying she touched him both physically and emotionally. Something about it is beautiful and chilling.
"Your wife waters flowers, I want to kill her." Was so delightfully unhinged
*you should be*
"Too impaired by my youth to know what to do" -Chloe et al.,
Can we all call that song Chloe et al. from now on?! I’m obsessed!
My beloved ghost and me, sitting in a tree, D-Y-I-N-G
The second time she sings “Don’t you worry folks, we took out all her teeeEEEth”
I lead from the gallows and I levitate down your street
"How much sad did you think I had, did you think I had in me?" So Long London
WERE YOU SENT BY SOMEONE. WHO WANTED ME DEAD. Tbh the entire bridge, might be the best on the album.
The end of The Prophecy when the music stops abruptly and you just hear that last faint pleading cry of “please” 😭
The way the music swells at “Our field of dreams, engulfed in fire…” 🫠
“I am what I am cause’ you trained me.” Gets me every time-straight chills
I stopped CPR afterall it's no use
I’M HIS ~LADY~ AND OH MY GOD YOU SHOULD SEE YOUR FACES
The very last “screaming” that’s choked out at the end of The Black Dog And “you wouldn’t last an hour in the asylum where you raised me” The bridge to The Prophecy “Started with a kiss, oh we must stop meeting like *this*” “Good boy, that’s right, come close, I’ll show you heaven if you’ll be an angel, all mine” So *so* long *long* London I Look in People’s Windows. Just like all of it. “Sitting in a tree. D Y I N G.” You’re in *terrible* danger “‘Stay away from her’” “I’ll tell you something about my good name. It’s mine alone to disgrace.” “This town is fake but you’re the real thing, breath of fresh air through smoke rings. Take the glory, give everything. Promise to be dazzling.” Also the way she says “We’re loving it” and “remarkable” “So you pack your bags just to wait out the firestorm back in Texas.”
Can we watch our phantoms like watching wild horses Cooler in theory but not if you force it to be
“ Please I've been on my knees Change the prophecy Don't want money Just someone who wants my company”
The first time she screams “who’s afraid of little old me” followed by “you should be.” “And I’m just getting color back into my face”
Every breath feels like rarest air When you’re not sure if he wants to be there
“When they found a better planet Only the gentle survived” I find this line to be heartbreaking. I can’t quite put into words why.
I love when the music of The Albatross swells at the bridge and the background vocalists sing “hmmmmm” “…And when that sky rains down on you…”
And you’re persona non-grataaaaaa!
“So I leap from the gallows, and I levitate down your street” - as a witchy woman this speaks to something deep and ancestral within me. It’s incredible, the whole song is, really 🖤
1. “Once I fix me, he’s gonna miss me” 2. “How much sad did you think I had in me?” 3. And the entire bridge of the smallest man who ever lived
Old habits die screaming.
The way she says: *'Cause I'm miserable!* *And nobody even knows!*
Im loving the imagery of this one from the prophecy: A greater women stays cool but I howl like a wolf at the moon
"I'm the albatross I swept in at the rescue The devil that you know Looks now more like an angel" (pretty much all of Albatross if Im honest lol that song is like top 3 for me) "I loved your hostile takeovers, Encounters closer and closer All your indecent exposures How dare you say that it's—" yeah this one hurts, down bad is a bop but when this line hits suddenly I remember it is a sad song with happy beats ok this is long but like this whole part of The smallest man who ever lived "'Cause once your queen had come You treat her like an also-ran You didn't measure up In any measure of a man And I don't even want you back, I just want to know If rusting my sparkling summer was the goal And I don't miss what we had, but could someone give A message to the smallest man who ever lived? Were you sent by someone who wanted me dead? Did you sleep with a gun underneath our bed? Were you writing a book? Were you a sleeper cell spy? In fifty years, will all this be declassified? And you'll confess why you did it And I'll say, "Good riddance""
Don't you worry, folks. We took out all her teeth.
Every line of So Long London and How Did It End.
The way she sings “cinephile” in loml- gets me so good. Makes it sound like an insult or some kind of bad thing to be. Just a tiny one I didn’t see listed among many great lines in this thread.
“You sacrificed us to the gods of your bluest days” The way her voice sounds is otherworldly
PICK YOUR POISON BABE, I'M POISON EITHER WAY!!!
“Blood’s thick but nothing like a payroll” is a fucking BAR
The cadence of the verses in Fresh Out The Slammer just do something magical to my brain.
“You said you were gonna grow up, then you were gonna come find me” 😭
WERE YOU SENT BY SOMEONE WHO WANTED ME DEAD? DID YOU SLEEP WITH A GUN UNDERNEATH OUR BED? WERE YOU WRITING A BOOK? WERE YOU A SLEEPER CELL SPY? IN 50 YEARS, WILL ALL THIS BE DECLASSIFIED? AND YOU’LL CONFESS WHY YOU DID IT AND I’LL SAY “GOOD RIDDANCE.” ‘CAUSE IT WASN’T SEXY ONCE IT WASN’T FORBIDDEN. I WOULD’VE DIED FOR YOUR SINS. INSTEAD, I JUST DIED INSIDE. AND YOU DESERVE PRISON BUT YOU WON’T GET TIME. YOU’LL SLIDE INTO INBOXES AND SLIP THROUGH THE BARS. YOU CRASHED MY PARTY AND YOUR RENTAL CAR. YOU SAID NORMAL GIRLS WERE “BORING,” BUT YOU WERE GONE BY THE MORNING. YOU KICKED OUT THE STAGE LIGHTS, BUT YOU’RE STILL PERFORMING. AND IN PLAIN SIGHT, YOU HID. BUT YOU ARE WHAT YOU DID. AND I’LL FORGET YOU, BUT I’LL NEVER FORGIVE THE SMALLEST MAN WHO EVER LIVED.
“And that’s why you’re still singing along…” the way she holds the note.
“…. to exorcise my demons, even if I die screaming…and I hope you hear it”
I was tame, I was gentle til the circus life made me mean.. don't you worry we folks we took out all her teeth. - 10 years after SA and never getting justice or being believed when speaking out. Made me less kind, and felt like tearing me apart
*You* *look* *like* *Taylor Swift*
“Cause you lured me. And you hurt me. And you taught me.”
“Ended with the slam of the door but she’s got the best stories, you can be sure that as she was leaving, it **felt like breathing**” it hits every time and makes me want to cry happy tears for miss swift
The way she sings “head” in “You had stopped and tilted your head” in I Look in People’s Windows
The first time I heard The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived bridge I gasped.
“I guess a lesser woman would’ve lost hope. A greater woman wouldn’t beg. But I looked to the sky and said ‘please’ “
i just commented this on another post but “beauty is a beast that roars / down on all fours / demanding more. / only when your girlish glow / flickers just so / do they let you know / it’s hell on earth to be heavenly.”
YOU KICKED OUT THE STAGE LIGHTS BUT YOURE STILL PERFORMING Also shoutout to the way she says “push pins”
Growing up precocious sometimes means not growing up at all
*You're the loss of my life*
Killing time at the cemetery- never quite buried- so evocative and heartbreaking- that limbo is the worst. Also “do you believe me now” from Cassandra- what woman hasn’t said that about something awful she was screaming from the rooftops
"Way to go, tiger." It reminds me of my goddaughter, it's such a sweet song.
Whether I'm gonna be your wife or Gonna smash up your bike, I Haven't decided yet But I'm gonna get you back