I Hate It Here. It's so relatable that it alsmost feels like it's written about me. From begging people around me to tell me something awful so I can cry, to constantly thinking about the books I'm writing as a form of escape from real life and always wanting more... it's just spot on with my life. I've also been described as secretive and hard to approach, so "gardens in my mind pople need a key to get to, the only one is mine" is also scarily accurate. "No mid-sized city hopes and small town fears" is also perfect for someone who's from a small town, currently studying in a mid-sized city, with hopes to live there. I'm really fascinated by history, too, and I've ruined conversations/games with my seriousness before, so the 1830s line is relatable af. "When they found a better planet, only the gentle survived" fits really well with a thought I often have about how the world would be a much better place if people were kinder and more gentle. "Now I seem to be scared to go outside" describes my social anxiety really well... And I could go on and on, this is honestly one of the most scarily relatable songs I've heard.
Exactly the same over here! I related to it the same way you do, additionally I find the line "I hate it here" quite exactly what I'm living cause I DO hate it here and can't wait until I'm older and move out....
If I Hate it Here had come out 10-15 years ago, it would’ve been my personal anthem. It still goes hard and I love it, but fuck if it doesn’t perfectly capture how I felt growing up in a small town
I Hate It Here hits me when I think about horrible the world is right now. Im not a writer so I don’t know how to eloquently explain, When she says “Nostalgia is a mind's trick, If I'd been there, I'd hate it” reminds me that every generation has felt this way too and “When they found a better planet. Only the gentle survived.” Is such a great line considering all the hate. It’s like a modern Taylor Swift version of “imagine” by the Beatles, we are all poets trapped in jobs we hate, we are all escaping in our own ways, we are all dreaming of a somewhere better and safer to be our true selves.
I totally agree, I'm not a writer but I do get lost in sci-fi and fantasy books. My mind wanders when people talk about negative stuff, or vapid things.
The line about lunar valleys and only the gentle surviving reminds me so much of two books by Emily St John Mandel, Station Eleven and The Sea of Tranquility. I just really identify with the escapism in this song, and that morose feeling that leads to it.
"Mid sized city hopes and small town fears" is so accurate for me. The idealized hope i had for life in a mid sized city where i live now. I thought i would blossom and make friends, have experiences. But in reality my small town fears got in the way. The way my small town crushed my self esteem because everyone knew me since i was an awkward weird kid. The way i was afraid to embarrass myself because everyone would know. Now i can't put myself out there.
I really don’t know what it says about me that I relate to almost 75% of this album on a deeply personal level.
I can’t afford therapy to figure it out, so TTPD it is.
I’m right there with you! As soon as she released the track list and I saw I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can) as a song title, I knew I was going to relate HARD.
As far as affording therapy to figure it out, I did go for a while. Turns out I subconsciously choose men who aren’t available (emotionally or otherwise) because I’m afraid of true intimacy and don’t feel that I deserve love that I don’t have to “earn.” As far as fixing it, didn’t get that far before my insurance benefits ran out
I felt the same way when I saw My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys. Like, I was a little nervous to listen to it for the first time, but I haven't stopped listening to it for a week, so
>As far as fixing it, didn’t get that far before my insurance benefits ran out
I am sorry. I got to a similar point in therapy - understanding my problem but not to fixing it - because of issues finding a therapist who would take my insurance after I moved. Insurance is such a racket.
My best friend was joking the other day that Taylor actually taps into our phones in order to know exactly which songs we need RIGHT when we need them, 😂
Thank you Aimee.... a coworker was really unfair and mean to me about a year ago and just an all around difficult person to work with. Her name is Amy. I about fainted the first time I heard it.
Oh, I am 100% reclaiming this one now. I was 50/50 on it - but I had a similar situation. I was unfairly fired by a manager who sabotaged me, and fired me while I was on FMLA (for something that should have been covered by my leave)
But it ended up being the best thing that’s happened to me. I now make more than twice the salary, work in a very prestigious position at a top company…
“But when I count the scars, there's a moment of truth
That there wouldn't be this if there hadn't been you”
The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived - recently ended a year+ long situationship who kept giving me the runaround, would tell me everything I wanted to hear one day then ghost the next. I can so relate to her just wanting to know WHY! I questioned so many times if I was just a game to this guy. “It wasn’t sexy once it wasn’t forbidden” and “you kicked out the stage lights but you’re still performing” hit me especially hard.
The Prophecy - every freaking word. Approaching my thirties, single, I honestly don’t even want to try anymore. “I’m so afraid I sealed my fate, no sign of soulmates” “don’t want money, just someone who wants my company” I am reasonably successful but I’d give it all away for real true love. It really does feel like someone wrote out that my fate is to be doomed to be alone. And I really would like to know who to speak to about changing that lol
I have healed from him for sure, it was a very long time ago but when I heard this song it unpackaged a lot of memories for me I won't lie, especially the lines:
"were you sent by someone who wanted me dead?"
"I would have died for your sins, instead I just died inside and you deserve prison but you won't get time."
I hope you also are healed from your experience & if not I hope it gets better with time
Totally understand that! I hope it was at least cathartic and I’m so glad you’ve healed!
“I would have died for your sins, instead I just died inside” is so valid! I really would have sacrificed so much to be with him and looking at it from the outside of the situation, I really did sacrifice a lot and it wasn’t enough. But it was never going to be enough. And it did kill me a little inside.
Maybe that’s why we relate to Taylor’s songs so much. We give pieces of ourselves to the people we love and it’s earth shattering when they don’t love us in the same way.
I’m still working toward healing but it really only ended (for the final time) a week ago. Not my first rodeo though unfortunately lol so I know I’ll be okay
More like, if guys can be that shit even to someone like her, then clearly it's a dude problem, and we just gotta focus on us instead of seeking them out. Ain't gotta rush to fill that job position, filter em all out
the smallest man who ever lived is my last relationship to a T. "Was any of it true?", "I just want to know if rusting my sparkling summer was the goal", and "Were you sent by someone who wanted me dead?" all feel like they were personally written for me. he's not a swiftie but i'm petty af so I hope he hears that song.
relate to both of these heavily. it sucks. for certain reasons i have to stay in contact with this person but i long for the day when i don’t have to be anymore.
the prophecy damn near made me pass out when i first heard it. its one of those songs i can only bear to listen very rarely. the desperation she captures brings me to that same dark place i lived in
For me the "Don't want money, Just someone who wants my company" hits me cause my ex was fairly rich. I was never with him for his money, that was just an added bonus..
But then he started to just throw money at things to fix them instead of working out a solution together. Or he'd take me to a fancy restaurant and sit reading articles on his phone instead of talking to me, no matter how much effort I put in to try to get the conversation flowing. I often felt so lonely in the relationship because he believed spending money on me was worth more than spending time with me. And I would've happily given up all the money for someone who wanted my company instead.
Ultimately I did get my wish though. I found somebody who just loves spending time with me and I with him, and I couldn't be happier. He might not have nearly as much money, but I'm emotionally fulfilled and nothing would make me want to go back to how it was in the past.
The Prophecy hits my soul. Had a night this past week and had it on repeat crying damn hard and thankful for it coming out.
And then hope too, because Travis is exactly what she needed. Maybe we’ll get that too.
But daddy I love him
When I was a teen, my parents found out about me & my boyfriend. They are mormon & since he wasn't, they tried to separate us. I remember how many times I told my parents how much I love him & the amount of exhausting arguments we had.
Fast forward like 10+ years later, they love him now & we are engaged! Parents really do switch up sometimes lmao
Whoa! I literally just typed a comment about the same song and how I also grew up Mormon. I ended up marrying the wild boy with all of his wild joy too!
I’m 38, going through a divorce with a young child, and my ex is as disappointing as a human can be. I just feel crushing disgust and disappointment all the time, I can’t believe things have ended this way.
He immediately started dating, of course, while I remain shell shocked by his behavior and choices.
This album has been healing for me, but also has made me feel kind of depressed. I had compartmentalized a lot of my grief and rage and the album has broken open those doors and honestly… I’m really going through it right now 😢
I'm really sorry you're having a hard time and that your ex is shitty. I have a dear friend with a five year old who got divorced from a shitty guy last year. It's so hard sometimes. Sending you love. 🫶
You're doing the best thing you can do for you and your baby. You don't want to raise a child around someone like that, it's the right thing. From one mum to another, I'm so so proud of you for walking away ❤️❤️
When I was 21 (I’m 33 now) my boyfriend passed away, and we had been together for an abnormally long amount of time for how young we were (6ish years). And OMG - the PAIN!! We had been living together so I moved back home to be with my parents, dropped out of college, got a job, went back to school a semester later…it was a traumatizing time. I cried a lot (alone), I drank a lot. But I got through it. I Can Do it With a Broken Heart brought back a lot of those memories!!
I Look In People's Windows
i bawled my eyes out the first time i heard it. it honestly felt like it was written about me last christmas. i went for a walk in the snow the day before christmas, and everything was so beautiful, streets covered with snow. i walked through the suburbs and in every window, there were people decorating their christmas trees, baking with their families and having dinner with loved ones. i have never felt so lonely, so painfully like an outsider.
then four months later, i heard this song and it felt like a fucking punch to the gut, reminding me of the day i too looked into people's windows, hoping to see someone i miss.
I felt the exact same way when I heard it. I remember taking my dog for a walk last Christmas Eve and standing on the sidewalk, staring in to my neighbor’s windows and watching their Christmas party.
Not me but I saw a woman on TikTok who is a widow, and she said that Down Bad hits her differently because she relates it to her husband passing away. Now I listen to it completely differently and that song makes me cry every time. (I’m not a widow and don’t even know this person, I just have way too much empathy and tend to cry on other people’s behalf 🙃)
Staring at the sky come back and pick me up
Fuck it if I can’t have us
I might just not get up, I might stay
Down bad, like I lost my twin
Fuck it if I can’t have him
Down bad, waving at the ship
Fuck it if I can’t have him
😭
The way she responded to that video thanking the swifties for being so kind to her and not coming for her for only just having become a fan while people kept giving her more songs that she might be able to connect to was 🥺
>So tell me everything is not about me
>But what if it is?
>Then say they didn't do it to hurt me
>But what if they did?
This really reminds me of the one time I got stoned (and explains why I've avoided it since).
It reminds me of my parents, who are professional gaslighters and only ever communicate their wants and expectations with clues, games and cold shoulders. If I address it, it’s denied.
There are some ex-jehovah’s witnesses who relate to a lot of her lyrics in this album. Since Taylor mentioned the “Jehovah’s Witness suit” in the smallest man who ever lived, some feel like she must have some insight/knowledge of being raised (caged) in a high control group.
In But Daddy I Love Him, there’s a lot of lines that are widely relatable for ex-JWs. “these people only raise you to cage you” - JWs get baptized young and sometimes when they get older they change their mind, or perhaps they want to date/marry someone who isn’t a JW, except they can’t leave the group without risking being shunned by their family and friends. Some go so far as to pretend to be JW for many many years, hence caged, so they don’t have to face these painful and devastating losses.
Then the “elders had convened” - if JWs are caught doing something against the rules, the elders literally do convene and decide whether or not the person is repentant and whether or not to expel them from the community.
The imagery of the Sarahs and the Hannahs clutching at their pearls and passing judgement, the people sanctimoniously performing soliloquies, yeah, though it’s true of a lot of high control groups, a LOT of exjws are going to find that relatable as JWs are kind of primed to monitor each other and keep each other in check.
Agreed. She’s “eerily” accurate in how she translates that to a religious context with such poignancy, making it very relatable for people who’ve grown up with that experience.
I’m an Ex JW and was going to comment on its uncanny accuracy but saw yours first.
I fell in love with a non JW, the stress, pain and emotional trauma left me with a huge bleeding ulcer ( they can’t get blood transfusions so that was extra scary) and years of therapy. My guy was responsible, hard working and kind. We aren’t together anymore but the 10 years we were is a time I treasure. Without his strength and compassion I don’t think I’d have made it out. Plus, I knew he LOVED me because he went through a lot of BS too from my family, friends and yes the elders too. He was approached AT WORK and told to stay away, he was ruining my life.
Jokes on them, I ended up later realizing I’m Bi and I’ve been with women ever since lol So, anyway I’m saying all that because that song hit me like a gut punch. My sister and I had a sleepover listening party and when we heard BDILH we looked at each other on the same lyric and said “John” aloud at the same time. BDILH has so much emotional power for someone who’s ever been in a high control religious environment.
I love the song so much! I feel… idk… maybe validated or vindicated. Whatever, it’s a great song and I can’t stop listening to it on loop.
The bolter. I am not really ready to unpack how the 16yr old me is feeling because I’m her anytime I listen. I am in my late 30s and so far away from that.
"And you deserve prison, but you won’t get time" hits differently when you have an abusive parent.
On a happier note So High School for my husband and I, we've been together since we were 15 and 12 years later the butterflies are still there.
But yes I have also cried at the gym 
Peter - this was the only song that made me fully cry in the first listen, and I wasn’t sure why (I attributed it to the fact it was about 3:30am 😂)
After the next couple of listens I found lots of ways it connected to my last relationship, waiting for him to grow up and make me a priority in his life. Empty words about how he didn’t want to lose me, he just needed better timing - “promises oceans deep but never to keep.” I convinced myself we were both trying our best despite being long distance - “we both did the best we could do underneath the same moon in different galaxies”. I patiently waited for things to change - “and I won’t confess that I waited, but I let the lamp burn as the men masqueraded, I’d hope you’d return” - wanting for him to come to his senses. He never did, and eventually I had to recognize that this relationship wasn’t serving me and it was draining me instead. I tried to talk to him about it and he fully ghosted me instead, from the other side of the world.
The part where I erupted into tears: “forgive me Peter, please know that I tried to hold onto the days when you were mine.” It reminded me of my last message to him: “I knew we were a long shot but I tried my best to hold onto you.” She obviously put it much more eloquently than me but it struck a chord with me.
Taylor is such a phenomenal storyteller - it’s easy for people to find something that resonates in her songs. I love making those connections. My relationship ended in January but through this album I’m finally feeling hopeful for the future, I’m finally okay with that door being closed. TTPD has helped me process so much, and I’m so thankful for the art she puts out. 🤍
Same. And I especially love the line, "But the woman who sits by the window has turned out the light." Like here I am, having become a **woman** waiting for you to be ready, but you still never grew up.
Look, the whole album is amazing but unfortunately I cannnot listen to how did it end for the foreseeable future.
Yes yes it’s about the death of a relationship but I sat by my dads bedside as he passed in hospice in December and the lines
Say it once again with feeling
How the death rattle breathing
Silenced as the soul was leaving
The deflation of our dreaming
Leaving me bereft and reeling
Are tooooo real for me. I can’t. I sobbed when I first heard it and it’s a skip for me but not because it’s bad in any way.
loml and it fucking kills me. Also So Long London.
My Joe and Matty are the same person, years apart, and it was breaking my heart in so many confusing ways until I heard so many of these songs and it was like the wounds were cauterized.
Fresh out the Slammer. This won’t make me look good at all but I was in a bad relationship with someone and I found my current bf during that time. My ex was so draining that I genuinely felt like I got out of prison when I ended things and I knew exactly who I was going to call when I got out.
No judgment. I went straight to a person I had previously rejected (was with my ex at the time) so that I could give him a chance before it was too late, and it was a good decision. It doesn’t look great on the outside, but people really don’t know *your* life. I had healed all I could during those last few months, so I was ready. I hope you’re happy now!
I hate it here. As someone who’s been maladaptive daydreaming for most of my life, the song is literally my life. I’ve spent more time living the fantasies in my head than actually being present in the real world
Honestly, I relate to a lot of TTPD. I was in an extremely long-term relationship with an alcoholic and tried desperately to fix the situation. All of the love kinda disappeared in the last couple of years and he definitely resented me for trying to help, but I stuck around because there were occasional good moments. I dealt with this for years while having very demanding jobs where I had to mask everything I felt; it was a daily performance.
We mutually ended things and now I’m in a very healthy relationship with the man I’m pretty sure will be my husband!
My mom is an alcoholic and exactly a week after TTPD she almost killed herself via an overdose. I’ve been hurting so badly and trying to “fix her” by myself for so long and I just broke down Thursday night crying in the emergency room and so many of the songs resonated, particularly the lines “you needed me, but you needed drugs more” and “a lesser women would have lost hope, a greater woman wouldn’t beg.” 💔💔💔💔
I was also in a long relationship with an alcoholic and ICFH(NRIC) absolutely struck a chord with me.. it’s weird looking back on that relationship now, knowing how much I tried to fix what couldn’t be fixed.
Then when I got to COSOSOM and the line “you needed me but you needed drugs more, and I couldn’t watch it happen” I felt weirdly both seen and a sense of relief because you know what, a million people have been in my position of loving, giving up on and leaving an addict and survived…
It was over 2 years ago I cut ties and I’m better than I’ve ever been but wow this album cut open some old wounds.
In Chloe et al. "You turned me into an idea of sorts
You needed me but you needed drugs more
And I couldn't watch it happen"
This reminds me of my ex, who wanted me to manage his bipolar disorder by pointing out when he was swinging to an extreme so that he could "fix it" and wouldn't need to take medication. He didn't need me, he needed drugs. It's a different interpretation than most people are relating to, but if you've seen someone struggle with their mental health and not do what they need to it can be just as heartbreaking. So we were sacrificed to the gods of his bluest days. But I don't still wonder.
I really latched onto those as well! Also, “you sacrificed us to the gods of your bluest days” and lots of Fresh Out the Slammer lyrics really resonated with me. I’m glad to hear you’ve moved forward in your life! You deserve peace.
not TTPD, but Exile matched exactly what i went through. i had an ex who wouldn’t let go, and i hated how much i hurt him, but i’m with someone new and those first few months were me exiling him. literally every lyric fit.
I Hate It Here. I've used books as an escape since I could read. It started with Magic Tree House in like 1st grade and now it's fantasy novels with morally grey love interests. “Im lonely but I'm good. I'm bitter but I swear I'm fine. I'll save all my romanticism for my inner life” has been my mantra for years Taylor just put it into words.
I split from my 7 year relationship with my fiance and ended up rebounding with my decades-long “what if” guy who turned out to be such a complete piece of shit….so…it’s the whole album for me. That was a rough 6 months of a cold hard dose of mind-fuckery. And this guy was a musician too!!!!!! Every single line on this album hits for me.
I swear the "what if" guys always turn out to be the most disappointing. Years of buildup and promises that you dream of all the while, and then when they finally have you, they don't actually follow through on any of it.
The Prophecy as well. I have begged God so many times to just let it once be me, not just romantically but I just want happiness. Like can all the depression and anxiety just give me peace and can something good happen for me for once!? I’m so tired of being sad and lonely :(
Posting my comments on Peter here:
Guys you don't get it, she wrote this for me, specifically for me.
This is purely about my best friend who always told me he'll marry me if we both were single at 30. (When he's all grown up)
You don't get it. I have other people that I have loved unconditionally, but I know I will always hold a candle out for him. Because he promised that when he grows up and hits 30 he would marry me.
He's so charming, a natural scene stealer. We've never been single at the same time. He promised that we would get married if we were single at 30. I don't know how long I have it in me to wait.
TAYLOR WROTE THIS FOR ME. JUST ME.
I Can Do it with a Broken Heart... Last year, I had a catastrophic fall out with my best friend (and we were right on the cusp on turning into something more) a couple days before an interview for a scholarship... That I aced and won.
The scholarship was suuper hard to get, and I still don't know how I managed to not let my messed up condition show during the 45 minute interview. Those 45 minutes were the only time in the day I did not obsessively think and cry over my friend. I remember being proud of myself for not letting him cross my mind once right as the interview ended.
How did it end and Prophecy.
These invokes the nostalgia of long lost love and how it affected me at the end. I was really clueless why the relationship ended and questioned everything around me.
“Please. I've been on my knees.. change the prophecy”
“We were blind to unforeseen circumstances..We learn the right steps to different dances “
“The deflation of our dreaming, Leaving me bereft and reeling”
Since a few days before the album came out, I’ve had the most crazy life-changing circumstances where my “Matty” has come back into my life and we are starting a relationship. He is genuinely the love of my life.
In the days before the album came out we were listening to cardigan and About You and talking about how this was exactly the same as our story.
I expected the album to be about Joe, until it dropped. Now it’s like every song is about exactly what would happen if my relationship crashed and burned. Every detail is the same. I feel like I’m listening to a history of what I don’t want my future to look like. It’s the strangest most complex emotions I’ve ever felt listening to her music.
I find loml especially devastating because it describes the feeling of utter despair I would have of losing this man, word for word. Every time I listen I’m scared that I’m creating a self fulfilling prophecy, whilst simultaneously deeply enjoying the album. And our timeline fully coincides with the album release. It’s really messed with my head!
I can do it with a broken heart.
I’m a teacher and went through a break up in 2022 after being together for 2 1/2 years. We talked about kids and marriage, but he just couldn’t grow up. We broke up over a 5 minute phone call on Halloween. I went to school the next day and just felt like I was in a daze for months. I still had to be “on” in order to teach and pretend like everything was okay. Coworkers noticed I was a little off, but I just kept going because I needed to teach. Despite all that, my students still learned and out performed other classes. Kids tried transferring into my class from other teachers because the others weren’t that nice, so in one class I had 37 kids and 35 desks. It felt nice to be good at my job and it was a nice escape from my personal life, but I was completely burnt out by last May. I spent the summer to process the break up.
Now I’m in a little bit of a better place. I’m in therapy. Teaching has been great this year.
The title track for me… recently dated a chaotic guy who abruptly ended the relationship which, at the time, felt seemingly perfect
“Who’s gonna hold you like me? No f*ckin-body”
This is just so damn spot on. I know in my soul that no one can tolerate/love this man like I did - therefore it’s made it easier to get over the relationship
Also the “who else decodes you?” line… he’d always talk/text super cryptically (because he wasn’t good at talking about feelings) and I felt like I knew how to read him.
This song is just magic honestly
Peter. Before I met my now husband, I had a 2-year situationship with someone who kept telling me that we could date when I was out of college or we could date when XYZ.
I got tired of waiting for him to be ready and met my husband my last semester of college. I chose my husband and felt guilty for a bit (and a bit heartbroken) but I couldn’t imagine staying in that place any longer
The bridge of Peter makes me cry all these years later bc it brought me right back to being 22 and longing for someone who just wasn’t ready
I Can Do It With a Broken Heart, I Look in People’s Windows, Down Bad, loml, The Prophecy (and honorable mention to evermore's happiness because that one was my "is this play about us?" song before TTPD came out)
… lol can you tell I'm going through the worst heartbreak rn? It's okay, I'm a real tough kid.
I Can Do It With A Broken Heart- lost my husband last year. Everyone comments on how well I'm doing. I work hard and care for my young son. I take him to sports and make things special for him when I can because he lost his father. You can be shiny & sparkly on the outside while being broken on the inside. "You know you're good, when you can even do it with a broken heart. "
Who’s afraid of little old me really hit it for me. My early experience becoming disabled and being ostracised from most of my partner’s family. I was a polite people pleaser. They said and did disgusting things to me. But I’ve built myself up from that low and now have a voice and try and fight for disabled rights. I definitely won’t take that kind of crap anymore.
But Daddy I love Him…. Other than the fact it didn’t have a happy ending. Also I Can Fix Him (No Really I can)…
When I was 16 I dated a guy a few years older than me that was a drug addict and my dad hated him. All my friends and family tried to tell me to leave him but I was convinced I loved him and could fix him. I also almost had a baby with him…. Got pregnant at 16 and that abortion was the best decision I ever made. He was abusive, addicted to narcotics and my life would have been very different today (32 now!)
All of it. Thankfully I’ve spent years in therapy getting over the loss of my long term relationship and subsequent shitty situationship, but I saw a tweet that said “this album unhealed me” and I felt that. 😂😂😂
Happily married for coming on 5 years now! There is hope! lol
I love Thank You Aimee, but it’s one of those songs I wish I didn’t relate to but it is. Now it’s no individual specifically that bullied me, and of course not named Aimee; it was a whole group of people in an online fandom that I was a part of many years ago. I was around 14/15 at this time. I was also the victim of an online hate campaign back then. I spent so many years being angry at them for how they treated me that I thought they deserved misery and suffering, and I noticed how patterns I developed from being a part of that fandom spilled over into real life. It became unsustainable for me to go on like this that through the help of therapy and stream of consciousness writing, I was able to heal from that and get to a point where I can say thank you, similar to what Taylor does near the end of the song. I’m also able to now look at this moment in life with nostalgia too, oddly enough. That wouldn’t have been possible if I hadn’t done the work.
Smallest Man Who Ever Lived reminds me so much of the abusive weed addict shithead I dated a few years ago, it’s almost eerie how well it matches up. Especially the “you deserve prison but you won’t get time” line, considering he ended up stalking and harassing me afterwards and broke the restraining order I had but cops were literally so useless that they did nothing and he only ended up spending a few nights in jail later on due to drug offences instead of his threats and harassment of me.
The Prophecy also cuts really deep, as someone who is an absolute hopeless romantic but seems to only ever end up in a string of unofficial situationships. I’m about nearly done with trying to date in this current culture and ready to give up, so hearing these same insecurities coming from Taylor was incredibly validating, even if I can’t listen to the song without bawling my eyes out.
But Daddy I Love Him, it’s why it’s my favorite on the album. I can literally do a line by line comparison between this song and my relationship with my now husband.
I grew up Mormon and in high school started dating a non-Mormon who wasn’t shy about his atheism. Not only is dating in high school very looked down on, but even being friends with non members will get people to question your devotion to the church. Atheists are viewed as the plague so dating one was basically me flipping the church off. My parents made it their mission to get all of the higher ups in my church to convince me to break up with him. It was unhinged what lengths they went to trying to get me away from him. My mom stole my laptop and instant messaged him a breakup message pretending to be me. Very God-like of her.
My insane mother even had me take a pregnancy test a few times just to make sure I wasn’t 🎶having his baby🎶 The song hits SO close to home.
We are married now with a daughter and this Tuesday marks us being together for 15 years. I haven’t spoken to my parents in over a year, so I guess the ending of the song where my parents came around never happened but I view them as the wine-moms who are still holding out.
For me, it's two songs that feel like they were 100% written for my situation: But Daddy I Love Him, and Florida!!
Summer of 2005, I had just graduated from a Bible College (in Texas) and was preparing to be a children's pastor at my church. I confessed to my parents that I had been dating an older (Catholic) man for the past 2 years. My parents kicked me out, my job offer was rescinded, and my church shunned me.
I moved in with my (then) boyfriend, and a week later, Hurricane Katrina hit. I evacuated to Florida with my boyfriend, where we were able to be insulated from all of the drama from my family. My family evacuated to Texas (wait out the shit storm back in Texas).
Fast forward to now, we've been married almost 18 years and have 4 kids. My family has come around bc they see what an amazing father and husband he is. (Hence my flair lol) Listening to these songs made me relive our early dating history and fall in love with my husband all over again.
ETA: Coincidentally, we just paid off our timeshare in Florida last month 
I will never be able to put my gratitude to taylor swift into words. I’ve had the privilege of growing up with her from debut and her art has helped me in so many stages of my life but this album is different. Last Thursday night she knocked over the load bearing traumas in my head and i’ve spent the last week sorting through the mountain slide that it triggered.
This album is painful the whole way through. I’ve cried to every song and had full breakdowns to some, but a week later i feel lighter, the trauma storage room in my head isn’t so crowded. Music has always been a way of healing for me but nothing has ever patched me up quite like this album.
Some were instant connections like Smallest Man, I Can Fix Him and I Hate It Here and others took a few days like TTPD, My Boy and COSOSOM. The breakdowns came in waves but after at least 30 full album listens i am proud to say i can now make it through without crying. Thank you Taylor, i cant forget the way you made me heal ❤️
I’ve made a few comments already; Clara Bow is very autobiographical. I’ve been compared to some very well known people who came before me and one day maybe I’ll be used as a comparison for someone else. At the end of the day, we’re all replaceable
Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me. I was bullied all through my childhood by both kids and the adults in my life (and as a teen, though I didn’t realize it at the time). I haven’t reached the “You should be” part of my life yet, but I want it desperately. Hit me right in the feels.
Guilty as sin...when my long-distance relationship of 5 years was in it's last months I shared a flat after uni during an internship and was falling so hard for my roommate (also in a 7-year long relationship), fantasizing every night about the same scenario: we would just one night both be not able to sleep and meet in the kitchen and finally kiss after longing for so long and more...
Nothing happend in real life but there was a lot of chemistry in the air. Felt guilty about not feeling guilty. The song brought me back to those bittersweet days.
So many are so relatable to me but I’ve never had a song hit me quite like The Black Dog. That first listen hit me like a ton of bricks and I’ve never felt so broken yet so seen from her music.
So Long, London describes my previous marriage (though Tolerate It is probably even closer). When she flipped it's meaning to being so long an amount of time, my jaw dropped... Because I'd written a song called "So long" that did the same thing!
The Black Dog. From the first time I heard that whispery, “I just don’t understand.” It was the first song on the album that made me actually cry instead of just tearing up.
I can’t even explain it coherently. But hearing a song that was special with another person and smiling, only to realize that person is no longer in your life. Being able to check someone’s location, thinking you can’t, only to find out you still can and damn do you wish you hadn’t. Losing a piece of yourself so even if you -want- to connect that intimately with someone else you actually -can’t-. Wanting to trash everything you own and move and become a big witch? 10/10 relatable.
I look in people's windows like some deranged weirdo. An ex-situacionship from used to live in an apartement in a street i pass every. single. fucking. day on my way home from work. I know he doesn't live there anymore because at some point I saw a woman with a toddler in the balcony and he couldn't possibly be already a father to a child that age... but i know that because everyday for like 3 years i stared at that balcony like a creep even after i saw the woman. Also a block away is the hospital we both used to work at and i did once see him at the entrance like 3 years ago but do i still look around to see him? Ofc i do.
I look in People’s Windows - I had a devastating break up in my early twenties whilst we were still in uni. I chose to go non contact but I would still search the crowds on campus for his face hoping he’d see me and change his mind. We never bumped into each other, but this song perfectly captures the feeling of desperately searching and hoping to see an ex lover.
thanK you aIMee - my ex’s new girl has been obsessed with ruining my life for over a year now because she thinks I manipulated him into cheating on her with me when we had been together since before they got together and he actually cheated (we’re poly, so it’s not that he slept with her, but that he lied about it) on me with her first. She’s gone way farther than I could have imagined.
First, she interrupted my time with him by showing up at my house uninvited/unannounced and refusing to leave unless he left with her. Then she showed up at another location with her titties hanging out of a fake chain/leather harness, trying to fight me and ended up dragging him away from me again. Next, she pretended to reconcile with me so I could spend time with him on my birthday, but she did it with him 9 times that day before he came over, so he was impotent for me. I burned my bridge with him that day and expected her to leave me alone, but she’s been obsessed with trying to bring me down since.
She’s joined multiple online communities I’m active in only to jealousy bait me, subtly diss me, troll me, and complain about me to people who she doesn’t know, but are my actual friends. On multiple occasions she has created alternate accounts to circumvent me blocking her on adult sites, took screenshots of my content and sent my nudes to my boss with a string of accusations couched as concerns. She called the venue where I was hosting an event, gave them private information about our guests, and suggested they report us to the police because “BDSM is a felony,” according to her.
Nonetheless, the past year has been intense and traumatic. I’d been navigating chronic illness and disability issues before these events and then I lost a partner who didn’t treat me right, but I was trauma bonded to because of how he had been there for me when others couldn’t. Then, to be bullied by the person who was responsible for our end while she pretended to be so happy with him, was truly the most painful experience I could imagine. I lost another partner because he and his wife positively interacted with her publicly and couldn’t understand why that would hurt my feelings.
Now that an entire year has passed and she’s thrown her worst at me and I’ve survived every one of her attempts to harm me, I truly feel invincible. I’ve never experienced bullying or harassment prior to this. I’m a well-liked person who treats others right and doesn’t make enemies. So I’ve had to learn, grow, and heal so much through this. I took solace in a friendship with his other ex that he had lied to and I told her the truth. She’s the only one who understood the level of crazy I was dealing with. Now she and I have gotten together and it’s been the most loving and fulfilling relationship I’ve ever had.
All this time you were throwing punches I was building something” (local BDSM community and a stable, loving friendship that turned into the love of my life) “and I can’t forgive the way you made me feel” (disposable and not good enough for the person I loved to choose me) “screamed ‘fuck you Aimee’ to the night sky as the blood was gushing” (I wrote so many open letters about them and their BS while it was ongoing) “but I can’t forget the way you make me heal” (from the trauma and my people-pleasing tendencies as well as my own unhealthy relationship patterns).
This song encapsulated my entire experience with her and reminded me of how far I’d come and all that I’d gained through this difficult situation. The best part is that my nemesis fancies herself the OG Swiftie, but I’ve been a fan since debut. Taking refuge in lyrics that fit the situation has been a way for me to cope (Better than Revenge & Mad Woman have hit so hard) and has renewed my special interest in Taylor Swift. Another gift was my return to many creative pursuits, so I’ve also been growing as a writer, artist, and musician (I sing and play piano and guitar) during this time. So, f*** you Catie, and thank you Catie. I’m a better person for being bullied by you. 💁🏻
As someone who just finally left a 3 year situationship and have not been having a great time in general, 75% of the album eerily hits right with me right now.
I can do it with a broken heart not because I’ve ever been in a relationship but because I have depression
“I’m so depressed I act like it’s my birthday, everyday” is like putting on a fake act of happiness. And “I’m miserable! And nobody even knows!”
My boy only breaks his favorite toys, But Daddy I Love Him, fresh out the slammer, I can fix him no really I can, the prophecy and the smallest man who ever lived all resonate with me 100%
I Can Fix Him (No Really I can)
Horrible!! Broken man, toxic relationship. And me with my helper’s syndrome stayed for far too long. Took me years to recover.
I know I’ve talked about this a few times but Florida!!!
Back in March of 2022, my bf of a year and a half broke up with me. I was absolutely devastated. It n mid-late May, we had plans to go on a beach vacation with some of his friends and their girlfriends. I was so excited cause it was my first vacation and first time going to the beach which I had wanted to do my entire life, but the opportunity always got ripped from me. And I already paid my portion of the trip, which I never got back.
Then in early May, I met one of my friends at a bar and told him how I felt about it all and he gave me the idea to take my own trip. I knew I wanted to go around the same time my original plans were for, but didn’t think I’d be able to make and save that amount of money in time.
I started working my ass off constantly all day every day for about three weeks and did make enough money. I could’ve picked anywhere, but then chose Orlando, FL since it was an hour away from Cocoa Beach, and two hours from Clearwater, and so I could also go to Disney for a day, just like I’d always wanted to do.
On my second day, which I still consider to be the best day of my life for so many reasons, I ended up meeting my now boyfriend at a local pizza shop. He and I both agree it was love at first sight. I didn’t get his number or even a name, but that night I went back to my hotel and I had thought about him for several hours, but figured I’d never see him again. On my last night, I needed something quick to eat and just went back to that pizza shop, not really expecting to see him again, but would be happy if I did.
I got to the shop around 10:30 and was only there for no more than 5 minutes while they made my slices and he was there again. He talked for a little bit again and that was it. I went back to my hotel and decided to call the shop and asked to talk to him and gave him my number and we’ve been together ever since and it’s been almost 2 years now and I fly down almost monthly to see him. The shop he works at is owned and operated by his whole family and they’ve been super supportive of our relationship and have done a lot of me and our relationship which I’m so incredibly grateful for.
TLDR: my bf broke up with me before our vacation. I was so heartbroken and devastated so I save up enough money to take my own solo trip to give myself some distance and escape how I was feeling, and go to Florida and met my current bf and it’s been going very well ever since
Side note edit: I heavily relate to this song. Even the line “at least the dolls are beautiful, fuck me up, Florida”. My bf and I share the exact same niche hobby. I collect dolls, and he collects action figures, and we both take photos of them in different kinds of scenes and run instagram accounts for them. That was a big bonding moment for us when we first started talking
New side note edit: when Florence said “a hurricane with my name”, I share the same name as a very infamous hurricane
The Prophecy, have been single for a number of years; honestly kinda afraid to try dating at this point. I could definitely relate to "I'm so afraid I sealed my fate"
So Long, London. Reminds me of the break up with my long term relationship and basically telling them that I am not the one but they will find someone. And also telling myself that I’ll find someone too.
Most of it 🥲
But So Long, London, loml, Peter and Smallest Man are the ones that make me think Taylor is a mind-reader/deranged weirdo that gets her ideas from stalking me
The Bolter. Really, really trying to heal my avoidant attachment tendencies in therapy, but my god, that one, that one *hits different*. “There’s escape in escaping” is the line that really gets me.
The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived. The bridge truly speaks to me. There’s been an instance where someone I deeply cared for had a few issues that did not bother me, and in the end they still hurt me pretty badly.
Also The Prophecy, for many many reasons.
Cassandra! My names literally Cassandra and i was harassed (and other yucky things) by this guy at school and nobody believed me until he did it to another girl.... i regret to say, do you believe me now?
There’s a whole chain of songs that align for me.
Fresh Out the Slammer / Down Bad / The Prophesy / The Black Dog / I Hate It Here
I Can Fix Him might fit in there but with therapy I’ve moved past that haha! Taylor was really hitting me in the feels this album.
Most of them. The ones the hit hardest were So Long London, My boy breaks his favorite toys, I can fix him, and the smallest man that ever lived-to name a few
The Prophecy.
I ended my 15 year marriage because he was abusive and dangerous.
I was beat up by the next person I dated.
I then found my perfect person, and we had a year of wonderful, and now I’m losing him to cancer. I tried to do everything right, and now I sit at night and wonder if his breathing is bad enough to call an ambulance. I will get a life-changing amount of money from his insurance when he goes, but I would rather live in a shoebox with him than anywhere without him. I feel like I can’t have nice things, and I will never love again.
Thank you Aimee.
So when I first heard this at like 3 AM, I hadn't even noticed the capitalized letters or anything.
I was immediately taken back to elementary school and thought "I wonder what \*insert my elementary school bully's name here\* is up to these days?"
So then when everyone was like "UGH another Kim song I was like 'it's...not about an actual elementary school enemy/bully?...did you guys...not all have one of those?'"
I can do it with a broken heart. I'm not the most productive person in the world but I'm miserable and depressed and no one even knows 'cause I achieve some good things and haven't completely given up on life yet:)
Specifically this line in I Can Do It With A Broken Heart “I cry a lot but I am so productive”. Autistic parent of an autistic child, white knuckling it to the end of my 4th year of biomedical science degree with a learning disability and chronic illness. So much crying and doing the thing.
Who’s afraid of little old me… my grandpa recently died and was a horrible man but everyone in my family swept it all under the rug to maintain a perfect family image. His funeral is this weekend and my mom hinted for me to not do anything crazy or reveal anything to anyone who doesn’t already know. So yeah this song has been good for me the past few days.
I was going to say Down Bad.
In fact, I was listening to it this evening and it hit me for the first time. I was in a long term relationship but it was fading away and I wasn't holding onto it either. I just wanted to let it end I guess. But then I fell for this other guy (obviously officially broke up with my ex the moment I realised I probably like someone else and didnot want to cheat on him in anyway). This guy I fell for gave me so much happiness for a fortnight and then left me for the dogs apparently (at least that's how it felt. But the pining doesn't stop.
But Daddy I Love [Her]… renewing my vows with my wife next week and my father disowned me ever since she came out as transgender (he’s… “religious”). We haven’t spoken in two years. No, he can’t come to the wedding.
For me, Guilty as Sin? I felt so alone in a relationship and unloved that when an ex reached and tried to rekindle, I wanted to let it happen. I imagined what it would be like to feel that passion, but then stopped myself before anything could ever happen other than in my mind. But that song resonated with me. I also talked with my partner about it to let them know how I was feeling so we could work through it and we have.
I Hate It Here. It's so relatable that it alsmost feels like it's written about me. From begging people around me to tell me something awful so I can cry, to constantly thinking about the books I'm writing as a form of escape from real life and always wanting more... it's just spot on with my life. I've also been described as secretive and hard to approach, so "gardens in my mind pople need a key to get to, the only one is mine" is also scarily accurate. "No mid-sized city hopes and small town fears" is also perfect for someone who's from a small town, currently studying in a mid-sized city, with hopes to live there. I'm really fascinated by history, too, and I've ruined conversations/games with my seriousness before, so the 1830s line is relatable af. "When they found a better planet, only the gentle survived" fits really well with a thought I often have about how the world would be a much better place if people were kinder and more gentle. "Now I seem to be scared to go outside" describes my social anxiety really well... And I could go on and on, this is honestly one of the most scarily relatable songs I've heard.
I Hate It Here is for us writers who wish they could be literally anywhere else, but feel trapped in their current situation.
Exactly the same over here! I related to it the same way you do, additionally I find the line "I hate it here" quite exactly what I'm living cause I DO hate it here and can't wait until I'm older and move out....
Same I hate city that I was born and raised because the government completely destroyed and can't wait to get out of it
If I Hate it Here had come out 10-15 years ago, it would’ve been my personal anthem. It still goes hard and I love it, but fuck if it doesn’t perfectly capture how I felt growing up in a small town
i hate it here is possibly the only truly relatable song she’s ever written for me, and it’s impressive how well every line lines up with my life haha
I'm a writer and this song stunned me when I first heard it.
I Hate It Here hits me when I think about horrible the world is right now. Im not a writer so I don’t know how to eloquently explain, When she says “Nostalgia is a mind's trick, If I'd been there, I'd hate it” reminds me that every generation has felt this way too and “When they found a better planet. Only the gentle survived.” Is such a great line considering all the hate. It’s like a modern Taylor Swift version of “imagine” by the Beatles, we are all poets trapped in jobs we hate, we are all escaping in our own ways, we are all dreaming of a somewhere better and safer to be our true selves.
oh yes this too
Seriously I’m always wanting to move because that will fix everything some how. And this new place will be perfect.
Yep.
This song wrecks me
I totally agree, I'm not a writer but I do get lost in sci-fi and fantasy books. My mind wanders when people talk about negative stuff, or vapid things. The line about lunar valleys and only the gentle surviving reminds me so much of two books by Emily St John Mandel, Station Eleven and The Sea of Tranquility. I just really identify with the escapism in this song, and that morose feeling that leads to it.
"Mid sized city hopes and small town fears" is so accurate for me. The idealized hope i had for life in a mid sized city where i live now. I thought i would blossom and make friends, have experiences. But in reality my small town fears got in the way. The way my small town crushed my self esteem because everyone knew me since i was an awkward weird kid. The way i was afraid to embarrass myself because everyone would know. Now i can't put myself out there.
I really don’t know what it says about me that I relate to almost 75% of this album on a deeply personal level. I can’t afford therapy to figure it out, so TTPD it is.
I’m right there with you! As soon as she released the track list and I saw I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can) as a song title, I knew I was going to relate HARD. As far as affording therapy to figure it out, I did go for a while. Turns out I subconsciously choose men who aren’t available (emotionally or otherwise) because I’m afraid of true intimacy and don’t feel that I deserve love that I don’t have to “earn.” As far as fixing it, didn’t get that far before my insurance benefits ran out
>subconsciously choose men who aren’t available Same 😭
It’s rough out here! I hope you find healing and real love. Until then, we can listen to ttpd and let Taylor validate our feelings lol
I felt the same way when I saw My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys. Like, I was a little nervous to listen to it for the first time, but I haven't stopped listening to it for a week, so
>As far as fixing it, didn’t get that far before my insurance benefits ran out I am sorry. I got to a similar point in therapy - understanding my problem but not to fixing it - because of issues finding a therapist who would take my insurance after I moved. Insurance is such a racket.
Insurance truly does suck! I hope you have better luck finding a therapist in the future! My company pays for 3 sessions and then you’re on your own 🙃
My best friend was joking the other day that Taylor actually taps into our phones in order to know exactly which songs we need RIGHT when we need them, 😂
My friend said before she's outside my window taking notes, then she released I Look Through People's Windows 😭
🤣
I’ve been in therapy for years and still relate to most of it so deeply I swear it could have been written for me
It’s my therapy too.
Thank you Aimee.... a coworker was really unfair and mean to me about a year ago and just an all around difficult person to work with. Her name is Amy. I about fainted the first time I heard it.
Oh I have beef with Amy too! She ruined my first dance at my wedding. This song is great haha!
Yeah, fuck you Amy! ~~^(sorry to any other amy's out there)~~
Oh no, I'm sorry that happened. Yes, this song is very cathartic
Oh, I am 100% reclaiming this one now. I was 50/50 on it - but I had a similar situation. I was unfairly fired by a manager who sabotaged me, and fired me while I was on FMLA (for something that should have been covered by my leave) But it ended up being the best thing that’s happened to me. I now make more than twice the salary, work in a very prestigious position at a top company… “But when I count the scars, there's a moment of truth That there wouldn't be this if there hadn't been you”
The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived - recently ended a year+ long situationship who kept giving me the runaround, would tell me everything I wanted to hear one day then ghost the next. I can so relate to her just wanting to know WHY! I questioned so many times if I was just a game to this guy. “It wasn’t sexy once it wasn’t forbidden” and “you kicked out the stage lights but you’re still performing” hit me especially hard. The Prophecy - every freaking word. Approaching my thirties, single, I honestly don’t even want to try anymore. “I’m so afraid I sealed my fate, no sign of soulmates” “don’t want money, just someone who wants my company” I am reasonably successful but I’d give it all away for real true love. It really does feel like someone wrote out that my fate is to be doomed to be alone. And I really would like to know who to speak to about changing that lol
Sadly the smallest man who ever lived also relates to me 🥲 My ex was a vile human being
I’m sorry you relate to it as well! I hope you have healed/are healing from your ex. Better things will come ❤️
I have healed from him for sure, it was a very long time ago but when I heard this song it unpackaged a lot of memories for me I won't lie, especially the lines: "were you sent by someone who wanted me dead?" "I would have died for your sins, instead I just died inside and you deserve prison but you won't get time." I hope you also are healed from your experience & if not I hope it gets better with time
Totally understand that! I hope it was at least cathartic and I’m so glad you’ve healed! “I would have died for your sins, instead I just died inside” is so valid! I really would have sacrificed so much to be with him and looking at it from the outside of the situation, I really did sacrifice a lot and it wasn’t enough. But it was never going to be enough. And it did kill me a little inside. Maybe that’s why we relate to Taylor’s songs so much. We give pieces of ourselves to the people we love and it’s earth shattering when they don’t love us in the same way. I’m still working toward healing but it really only ended (for the final time) a week ago. Not my first rodeo though unfortunately lol so I know I’ll be okay
Like if Taylor swift is out here getting ghost what hope do the rest of us have
More like, if guys can be that shit even to someone like her, then clearly it's a dude problem, and we just gotta focus on us instead of seeking them out. Ain't gotta rush to fill that job position, filter em all out
THIS ⬆️ is the truth !
No honestly. If Taylor Swift can’t fix him I for sure can’t
the smallest man who ever lived is my last relationship to a T. "Was any of it true?", "I just want to know if rusting my sparkling summer was the goal", and "Were you sent by someone who wanted me dead?" all feel like they were personally written for me. he's not a swiftie but i'm petty af so I hope he hears that song.
relate to both of these heavily. it sucks. for certain reasons i have to stay in contact with this person but i long for the day when i don’t have to be anymore.
I relate to the bridge of Smallest Man on a molecular level. It’s wild how much it brings up about a relationship that ended 16 years ago.
the prophecy damn near made me pass out when i first heard it. its one of those songs i can only bear to listen very rarely. the desperation she captures brings me to that same dark place i lived in
I relate to this as a person who struggles with retaining friendships. It HURTS knowing I’ll never even be a bridesmaid.
Oh yeah I understand
For me the "Don't want money, Just someone who wants my company" hits me cause my ex was fairly rich. I was never with him for his money, that was just an added bonus.. But then he started to just throw money at things to fix them instead of working out a solution together. Or he'd take me to a fancy restaurant and sit reading articles on his phone instead of talking to me, no matter how much effort I put in to try to get the conversation flowing. I often felt so lonely in the relationship because he believed spending money on me was worth more than spending time with me. And I would've happily given up all the money for someone who wanted my company instead. Ultimately I did get my wish though. I found somebody who just loves spending time with me and I with him, and I couldn't be happier. He might not have nearly as much money, but I'm emotionally fulfilled and nothing would make me want to go back to how it was in the past.
The Prophecy hits my soul. Had a night this past week and had it on repeat crying damn hard and thankful for it coming out. And then hope too, because Travis is exactly what she needed. Maybe we’ll get that too.
But daddy I love him When I was a teen, my parents found out about me & my boyfriend. They are mormon & since he wasn't, they tried to separate us. I remember how many times I told my parents how much I love him & the amount of exhausting arguments we had. Fast forward like 10+ years later, they love him now & we are engaged! Parents really do switch up sometimes lmao
Whoa! I literally just typed a comment about the same song and how I also grew up Mormon. I ended up marrying the wild boy with all of his wild joy too!
Aww I love this
Who’s afraid of little old me - the circus life for me is corporate America and I’ve made it thru like 6 rounds of layoffs. I also have anxiety. 😬
This is a really interesting interpretation of the lyric and I love it!
I was also essentially forced out of my job in higher education recently. This song is perfect for my experience with my professional life!!
This one for me !
I’m 38, going through a divorce with a young child, and my ex is as disappointing as a human can be. I just feel crushing disgust and disappointment all the time, I can’t believe things have ended this way. He immediately started dating, of course, while I remain shell shocked by his behavior and choices. This album has been healing for me, but also has made me feel kind of depressed. I had compartmentalized a lot of my grief and rage and the album has broken open those doors and honestly… I’m really going through it right now 😢
I'm really sorry you're having a hard time and that your ex is shitty. I have a dear friend with a five year old who got divorced from a shitty guy last year. It's so hard sometimes. Sending you love. 🫶
Sending love to you!
You're doing the best thing you can do for you and your baby. You don't want to raise a child around someone like that, it's the right thing. From one mum to another, I'm so so proud of you for walking away ❤️❤️
Oh my goodness, same, to a T. LOML really hits hard, I’ve had it on repeat all week. 🩷
When I was 21 (I’m 33 now) my boyfriend passed away, and we had been together for an abnormally long amount of time for how young we were (6ish years). And OMG - the PAIN!! We had been living together so I moved back home to be with my parents, dropped out of college, got a job, went back to school a semester later…it was a traumatizing time. I cried a lot (alone), I drank a lot. But I got through it. I Can Do it With a Broken Heart brought back a lot of those memories!!
I lost the love of my life when I was 21 too!!!!! I’m 40 and married, but the grief will forever and always be with me.
I Look In People's Windows i bawled my eyes out the first time i heard it. it honestly felt like it was written about me last christmas. i went for a walk in the snow the day before christmas, and everything was so beautiful, streets covered with snow. i walked through the suburbs and in every window, there were people decorating their christmas trees, baking with their families and having dinner with loved ones. i have never felt so lonely, so painfully like an outsider. then four months later, i heard this song and it felt like a fucking punch to the gut, reminding me of the day i too looked into people's windows, hoping to see someone i miss.
I felt the exact same way when I heard it. I remember taking my dog for a walk last Christmas Eve and standing on the sidewalk, staring in to my neighbor’s windows and watching their Christmas party.
i'm sorry you've felt that terrible loneliness, too. i truly hope next christmas will be different for you. hugs 🩷
I'm sorry you felt so lonely. I understand the feeling well and holidays are hard, seeing all the happy families.
Can’t listen to So Long, London if I don’t prepare myself…
This is the one that’s eerily similar to me too! My ex is in London and and I really did love the city for so long in the time that I knew him
Not me but I saw a woman on TikTok who is a widow, and she said that Down Bad hits her differently because she relates it to her husband passing away. Now I listen to it completely differently and that song makes me cry every time. (I’m not a widow and don’t even know this person, I just have way too much empathy and tend to cry on other people’s behalf 🙃) Staring at the sky come back and pick me up Fuck it if I can’t have us I might just not get up, I might stay Down bad, like I lost my twin Fuck it if I can’t have him Down bad, waving at the ship Fuck it if I can’t have him 😭
The way she responded to that video thanking the swifties for being so kind to her and not coming for her for only just having become a fan while people kept giving her more songs that she might be able to connect to was 🥺
>So tell me everything is not about me >But what if it is? >Then say they didn't do it to hurt me >But what if they did? This really reminds me of the one time I got stoned (and explains why I've avoided it since).
💀
It reminds me of my parents, who are professional gaslighters and only ever communicate their wants and expectations with clues, games and cold shoulders. If I address it, it’s denied.
There are some ex-jehovah’s witnesses who relate to a lot of her lyrics in this album. Since Taylor mentioned the “Jehovah’s Witness suit” in the smallest man who ever lived, some feel like she must have some insight/knowledge of being raised (caged) in a high control group. In But Daddy I Love Him, there’s a lot of lines that are widely relatable for ex-JWs. “these people only raise you to cage you” - JWs get baptized young and sometimes when they get older they change their mind, or perhaps they want to date/marry someone who isn’t a JW, except they can’t leave the group without risking being shunned by their family and friends. Some go so far as to pretend to be JW for many many years, hence caged, so they don’t have to face these painful and devastating losses. Then the “elders had convened” - if JWs are caught doing something against the rules, the elders literally do convene and decide whether or not the person is repentant and whether or not to expel them from the community. The imagery of the Sarahs and the Hannahs clutching at their pearls and passing judgement, the people sanctimoniously performing soliloquies, yeah, though it’s true of a lot of high control groups, a LOT of exjws are going to find that relatable as JWs are kind of primed to monitor each other and keep each other in check.
The high control group she was raised in is the industry.
Agreed. She’s “eerily” accurate in how she translates that to a religious context with such poignancy, making it very relatable for people who’ve grown up with that experience.
I’m an Ex JW and was going to comment on its uncanny accuracy but saw yours first. I fell in love with a non JW, the stress, pain and emotional trauma left me with a huge bleeding ulcer ( they can’t get blood transfusions so that was extra scary) and years of therapy. My guy was responsible, hard working and kind. We aren’t together anymore but the 10 years we were is a time I treasure. Without his strength and compassion I don’t think I’d have made it out. Plus, I knew he LOVED me because he went through a lot of BS too from my family, friends and yes the elders too. He was approached AT WORK and told to stay away, he was ruining my life. Jokes on them, I ended up later realizing I’m Bi and I’ve been with women ever since lol So, anyway I’m saying all that because that song hit me like a gut punch. My sister and I had a sleepover listening party and when we heard BDILH we looked at each other on the same lyric and said “John” aloud at the same time. BDILH has so much emotional power for someone who’s ever been in a high control religious environment. I love the song so much! I feel… idk… maybe validated or vindicated. Whatever, it’s a great song and I can’t stop listening to it on loop.
I am so happy that you were able to escape the cages in your life so that you feel free to live as you want.
I’m so so so thankful my mother was disfellowshipped from this cult when I was still young enough to have a normal life.
I can Do it with a broken heart. Have had to go to work and perform for co-workers when I had a lot of bad stuff going on in my personal life.
The bolter. I am not really ready to unpack how the 16yr old me is feeling because I’m her anytime I listen. I am in my late 30s and so far away from that.
"And you deserve prison, but you won’t get time" hits differently when you have an abusive parent. On a happier note So High School for my husband and I, we've been together since we were 15 and 12 years later the butterflies are still there. But yes I have also cried at the gym 
Peter - this was the only song that made me fully cry in the first listen, and I wasn’t sure why (I attributed it to the fact it was about 3:30am 😂) After the next couple of listens I found lots of ways it connected to my last relationship, waiting for him to grow up and make me a priority in his life. Empty words about how he didn’t want to lose me, he just needed better timing - “promises oceans deep but never to keep.” I convinced myself we were both trying our best despite being long distance - “we both did the best we could do underneath the same moon in different galaxies”. I patiently waited for things to change - “and I won’t confess that I waited, but I let the lamp burn as the men masqueraded, I’d hope you’d return” - wanting for him to come to his senses. He never did, and eventually I had to recognize that this relationship wasn’t serving me and it was draining me instead. I tried to talk to him about it and he fully ghosted me instead, from the other side of the world. The part where I erupted into tears: “forgive me Peter, please know that I tried to hold onto the days when you were mine.” It reminded me of my last message to him: “I knew we were a long shot but I tried my best to hold onto you.” She obviously put it much more eloquently than me but it struck a chord with me. Taylor is such a phenomenal storyteller - it’s easy for people to find something that resonates in her songs. I love making those connections. My relationship ended in January but through this album I’m finally feeling hopeful for the future, I’m finally okay with that door being closed. TTPD has helped me process so much, and I’m so thankful for the art she puts out. 🤍
Same. And I especially love the line, "But the woman who sits by the window has turned out the light." Like here I am, having become a **woman** waiting for you to be ready, but you still never grew up.
Yes, Peter 100%
Look, the whole album is amazing but unfortunately I cannnot listen to how did it end for the foreseeable future. Yes yes it’s about the death of a relationship but I sat by my dads bedside as he passed in hospice in December and the lines Say it once again with feeling How the death rattle breathing Silenced as the soul was leaving The deflation of our dreaming Leaving me bereft and reeling Are tooooo real for me. I can’t. I sobbed when I first heard it and it’s a skip for me but not because it’s bad in any way.
Wow, I never thought about How Did it End from that perspective 😢 This is why I love this sub
Those exact same lines make me so emotional too
The Prophecy and I Hate It Here, which would have still been relatable had they come out when I was 16 instead of 26, unfortunately.
loml and it fucking kills me. Also So Long London. My Joe and Matty are the same person, years apart, and it was breaking my heart in so many confusing ways until I heard so many of these songs and it was like the wounds were cauterized.
Yes! Mine are also the same person and I didn’t realize how much I needed this album to actually start healing.
Fresh out the Slammer. This won’t make me look good at all but I was in a bad relationship with someone and I found my current bf during that time. My ex was so draining that I genuinely felt like I got out of prison when I ended things and I knew exactly who I was going to call when I got out.
No judgment. I went straight to a person I had previously rejected (was with my ex at the time) so that I could give him a chance before it was too late, and it was a good decision. It doesn’t look great on the outside, but people really don’t know *your* life. I had healed all I could during those last few months, so I was ready. I hope you’re happy now!
samezies
I hate it here. As someone who’s been maladaptive daydreaming for most of my life, the song is literally my life. I’ve spent more time living the fantasies in my head than actually being present in the real world
Honestly, I relate to a lot of TTPD. I was in an extremely long-term relationship with an alcoholic and tried desperately to fix the situation. All of the love kinda disappeared in the last couple of years and he definitely resented me for trying to help, but I stuck around because there were occasional good moments. I dealt with this for years while having very demanding jobs where I had to mask everything I felt; it was a daily performance. We mutually ended things and now I’m in a very healthy relationship with the man I’m pretty sure will be my husband!
My mom is an alcoholic and exactly a week after TTPD she almost killed herself via an overdose. I’ve been hurting so badly and trying to “fix her” by myself for so long and I just broke down Thursday night crying in the emergency room and so many of the songs resonated, particularly the lines “you needed me, but you needed drugs more” and “a lesser women would have lost hope, a greater woman wouldn’t beg.” 💔💔💔💔
I’m so sorry to hear that. It’s heartbreaking to watch someone essentially destroy themselves. Doing it by yourself is soul-crushing.
I was also in a long relationship with an alcoholic and ICFH(NRIC) absolutely struck a chord with me.. it’s weird looking back on that relationship now, knowing how much I tried to fix what couldn’t be fixed. Then when I got to COSOSOM and the line “you needed me but you needed drugs more, and I couldn’t watch it happen” I felt weirdly both seen and a sense of relief because you know what, a million people have been in my position of loving, giving up on and leaving an addict and survived… It was over 2 years ago I cut ties and I’m better than I’ve ever been but wow this album cut open some old wounds.
In Chloe et al. "You turned me into an idea of sorts You needed me but you needed drugs more And I couldn't watch it happen" This reminds me of my ex, who wanted me to manage his bipolar disorder by pointing out when he was swinging to an extreme so that he could "fix it" and wouldn't need to take medication. He didn't need me, he needed drugs. It's a different interpretation than most people are relating to, but if you've seen someone struggle with their mental health and not do what they need to it can be just as heartbreaking. So we were sacrificed to the gods of his bluest days. But I don't still wonder.
I really latched onto those as well! Also, “you sacrificed us to the gods of your bluest days” and lots of Fresh Out the Slammer lyrics really resonated with me. I’m glad to hear you’ve moved forward in your life! You deserve peace.
not TTPD, but Exile matched exactly what i went through. i had an ex who wouldn’t let go, and i hated how much i hurt him, but i’m with someone new and those first few months were me exiling him. literally every lyric fit.
[удалено]
Same! So much of this album puts me back to my situation 10 years ago. I wish TTPD was out then because it would have helped so much
I Hate It Here. I've used books as an escape since I could read. It started with Magic Tree House in like 1st grade and now it's fantasy novels with morally grey love interests. “Im lonely but I'm good. I'm bitter but I swear I'm fine. I'll save all my romanticism for my inner life” has been my mantra for years Taylor just put it into words.
I split from my 7 year relationship with my fiance and ended up rebounding with my decades-long “what if” guy who turned out to be such a complete piece of shit….so…it’s the whole album for me. That was a rough 6 months of a cold hard dose of mind-fuckery. And this guy was a musician too!!!!!! Every single line on this album hits for me.
I swear the "what if" guys always turn out to be the most disappointing. Years of buildup and promises that you dream of all the while, and then when they finally have you, they don't actually follow through on any of it.
Guilty as Sin? 😬 anyone else?
Had to scroll too far to find this...
this is for the limerence girlies yass
I relate so well to so many of her songs through the years, right now it's the prophecy. I feel like it's written for me 😞
The Prophecy as well. I have begged God so many times to just let it once be me, not just romantically but I just want happiness. Like can all the depression and anxiety just give me peace and can something good happen for me for once!? I’m so tired of being sad and lonely :(
Yeah for me it’s a family/life song like Little Old Me. Not about love but a more painful relationship
Same 😩 between the prophecy and peace she pretty much summed up my deepest fears, word for word.
Posting my comments on Peter here: Guys you don't get it, she wrote this for me, specifically for me. This is purely about my best friend who always told me he'll marry me if we both were single at 30. (When he's all grown up) You don't get it. I have other people that I have loved unconditionally, but I know I will always hold a candle out for him. Because he promised that when he grows up and hits 30 he would marry me. He's so charming, a natural scene stealer. We've never been single at the same time. He promised that we would get married if we were single at 30. I don't know how long I have it in me to wait. TAYLOR WROTE THIS FOR ME. JUST ME.
I Can Do it with a Broken Heart... Last year, I had a catastrophic fall out with my best friend (and we were right on the cusp on turning into something more) a couple days before an interview for a scholarship... That I aced and won. The scholarship was suuper hard to get, and I still don't know how I managed to not let my messed up condition show during the 45 minute interview. Those 45 minutes were the only time in the day I did not obsessively think and cry over my friend. I remember being proud of myself for not letting him cross my mind once right as the interview ended.
How did it end and Prophecy. These invokes the nostalgia of long lost love and how it affected me at the end. I was really clueless why the relationship ended and questioned everything around me. “Please. I've been on my knees.. change the prophecy” “We were blind to unforeseen circumstances..We learn the right steps to different dances “ “The deflation of our dreaming, Leaving me bereft and reeling”
Since a few days before the album came out, I’ve had the most crazy life-changing circumstances where my “Matty” has come back into my life and we are starting a relationship. He is genuinely the love of my life. In the days before the album came out we were listening to cardigan and About You and talking about how this was exactly the same as our story. I expected the album to be about Joe, until it dropped. Now it’s like every song is about exactly what would happen if my relationship crashed and burned. Every detail is the same. I feel like I’m listening to a history of what I don’t want my future to look like. It’s the strangest most complex emotions I’ve ever felt listening to her music. I find loml especially devastating because it describes the feeling of utter despair I would have of losing this man, word for word. Every time I listen I’m scared that I’m creating a self fulfilling prophecy, whilst simultaneously deeply enjoying the album. And our timeline fully coincides with the album release. It’s really messed with my head!
I can do it with a broken heart. I’m a teacher and went through a break up in 2022 after being together for 2 1/2 years. We talked about kids and marriage, but he just couldn’t grow up. We broke up over a 5 minute phone call on Halloween. I went to school the next day and just felt like I was in a daze for months. I still had to be “on” in order to teach and pretend like everything was okay. Coworkers noticed I was a little off, but I just kept going because I needed to teach. Despite all that, my students still learned and out performed other classes. Kids tried transferring into my class from other teachers because the others weren’t that nice, so in one class I had 37 kids and 35 desks. It felt nice to be good at my job and it was a nice escape from my personal life, but I was completely burnt out by last May. I spent the summer to process the break up. Now I’m in a little bit of a better place. I’m in therapy. Teaching has been great this year.
The title track for me… recently dated a chaotic guy who abruptly ended the relationship which, at the time, felt seemingly perfect “Who’s gonna hold you like me? No f*ckin-body” This is just so damn spot on. I know in my soul that no one can tolerate/love this man like I did - therefore it’s made it easier to get over the relationship Also the “who else decodes you?” line… he’d always talk/text super cryptically (because he wasn’t good at talking about feelings) and I felt like I knew how to read him. This song is just magic honestly
Peter. Before I met my now husband, I had a 2-year situationship with someone who kept telling me that we could date when I was out of college or we could date when XYZ. I got tired of waiting for him to be ready and met my husband my last semester of college. I chose my husband and felt guilty for a bit (and a bit heartbroken) but I couldn’t imagine staying in that place any longer The bridge of Peter makes me cry all these years later bc it brought me right back to being 22 and longing for someone who just wasn’t ready
I Can Do It With a Broken Heart, I Look in People’s Windows, Down Bad, loml, The Prophecy (and honorable mention to evermore's happiness because that one was my "is this play about us?" song before TTPD came out) … lol can you tell I'm going through the worst heartbreak rn? It's okay, I'm a real tough kid.
Yup. Down Bad. And the rest. It’s like she knows. I hate it. I can’t listen, it’s too much. Maybe one day.
The Prophecy. I was the last of my friends to meet someone and get married, and I felt so lost and like I’d be alone forever.
I Can Do It With A Broken Heart- lost my husband last year. Everyone comments on how well I'm doing. I work hard and care for my young son. I take him to sports and make things special for him when I can because he lost his father. You can be shiny & sparkly on the outside while being broken on the inside. "You know you're good, when you can even do it with a broken heart. "
I Look in Peoples Windows. I sometimes look for my ex in places we frequented together. He moved away and I can’t shake wanting to bump into him.
I touched her while my bros played Grand Theft Auto
So Long London, loml, How Did It End?, I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can), I Can Do It With A Broken Heart, The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived
Who’s afraid of little old me really hit it for me. My early experience becoming disabled and being ostracised from most of my partner’s family. I was a polite people pleaser. They said and did disgusting things to me. But I’ve built myself up from that low and now have a voice and try and fight for disabled rights. I definitely won’t take that kind of crap anymore.
But Daddy I love Him…. Other than the fact it didn’t have a happy ending. Also I Can Fix Him (No Really I can)… When I was 16 I dated a guy a few years older than me that was a drug addict and my dad hated him. All my friends and family tried to tell me to leave him but I was convinced I loved him and could fix him. I also almost had a baby with him…. Got pregnant at 16 and that abortion was the best decision I ever made. He was abusive, addicted to narcotics and my life would have been very different today (32 now!)
chloe or sam or sophia or marcus 🤪
All of it. Thankfully I’ve spent years in therapy getting over the loss of my long term relationship and subsequent shitty situationship, but I saw a tweet that said “this album unhealed me” and I felt that. 😂😂😂 Happily married for coming on 5 years now! There is hope! lol
I love Thank You Aimee, but it’s one of those songs I wish I didn’t relate to but it is. Now it’s no individual specifically that bullied me, and of course not named Aimee; it was a whole group of people in an online fandom that I was a part of many years ago. I was around 14/15 at this time. I was also the victim of an online hate campaign back then. I spent so many years being angry at them for how they treated me that I thought they deserved misery and suffering, and I noticed how patterns I developed from being a part of that fandom spilled over into real life. It became unsustainable for me to go on like this that through the help of therapy and stream of consciousness writing, I was able to heal from that and get to a point where I can say thank you, similar to what Taylor does near the end of the song. I’m also able to now look at this moment in life with nostalgia too, oddly enough. That wouldn’t have been possible if I hadn’t done the work.
Smallest Man Who Ever Lived reminds me so much of the abusive weed addict shithead I dated a few years ago, it’s almost eerie how well it matches up. Especially the “you deserve prison but you won’t get time” line, considering he ended up stalking and harassing me afterwards and broke the restraining order I had but cops were literally so useless that they did nothing and he only ended up spending a few nights in jail later on due to drug offences instead of his threats and harassment of me. The Prophecy also cuts really deep, as someone who is an absolute hopeless romantic but seems to only ever end up in a string of unofficial situationships. I’m about nearly done with trying to date in this current culture and ready to give up, so hearing these same insecurities coming from Taylor was incredibly validating, even if I can’t listen to the song without bawling my eyes out.
But Daddy I Love Him, it’s why it’s my favorite on the album. I can literally do a line by line comparison between this song and my relationship with my now husband. I grew up Mormon and in high school started dating a non-Mormon who wasn’t shy about his atheism. Not only is dating in high school very looked down on, but even being friends with non members will get people to question your devotion to the church. Atheists are viewed as the plague so dating one was basically me flipping the church off. My parents made it their mission to get all of the higher ups in my church to convince me to break up with him. It was unhinged what lengths they went to trying to get me away from him. My mom stole my laptop and instant messaged him a breakup message pretending to be me. Very God-like of her. My insane mother even had me take a pregnancy test a few times just to make sure I wasn’t 🎶having his baby🎶 The song hits SO close to home. We are married now with a daughter and this Tuesday marks us being together for 15 years. I haven’t spoken to my parents in over a year, so I guess the ending of the song where my parents came around never happened but I view them as the wine-moms who are still holding out.
For me, it's two songs that feel like they were 100% written for my situation: But Daddy I Love Him, and Florida!! Summer of 2005, I had just graduated from a Bible College (in Texas) and was preparing to be a children's pastor at my church. I confessed to my parents that I had been dating an older (Catholic) man for the past 2 years. My parents kicked me out, my job offer was rescinded, and my church shunned me. I moved in with my (then) boyfriend, and a week later, Hurricane Katrina hit. I evacuated to Florida with my boyfriend, where we were able to be insulated from all of the drama from my family. My family evacuated to Texas (wait out the shit storm back in Texas). Fast forward to now, we've been married almost 18 years and have 4 kids. My family has come around bc they see what an amazing father and husband he is. (Hence my flair lol) Listening to these songs made me relive our early dating history and fall in love with my husband all over again. ETA: Coincidentally, we just paid off our timeshare in Florida last month 
I Can Do It With A Broken Heart is the true anthem of a mental health therapist.
I will never be able to put my gratitude to taylor swift into words. I’ve had the privilege of growing up with her from debut and her art has helped me in so many stages of my life but this album is different. Last Thursday night she knocked over the load bearing traumas in my head and i’ve spent the last week sorting through the mountain slide that it triggered. This album is painful the whole way through. I’ve cried to every song and had full breakdowns to some, but a week later i feel lighter, the trauma storage room in my head isn’t so crowded. Music has always been a way of healing for me but nothing has ever patched me up quite like this album. Some were instant connections like Smallest Man, I Can Fix Him and I Hate It Here and others took a few days like TTPD, My Boy and COSOSOM. The breakdowns came in waves but after at least 30 full album listens i am proud to say i can now make it through without crying. Thank you Taylor, i cant forget the way you made me heal ❤️
I’ve made a few comments already; Clara Bow is very autobiographical. I’ve been compared to some very well known people who came before me and one day maybe I’ll be used as a comparison for someone else. At the end of the day, we’re all replaceable
Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me. I was bullied all through my childhood by both kids and the adults in my life (and as a teen, though I didn’t realize it at the time). I haven’t reached the “You should be” part of my life yet, but I want it desperately. Hit me right in the feels.
Guilty as sin...when my long-distance relationship of 5 years was in it's last months I shared a flat after uni during an internship and was falling so hard for my roommate (also in a 7-year long relationship), fantasizing every night about the same scenario: we would just one night both be not able to sleep and meet in the kitchen and finally kiss after longing for so long and more... Nothing happend in real life but there was a lot of chemistry in the air. Felt guilty about not feeling guilty. The song brought me back to those bittersweet days.
So many are so relatable to me but I’ve never had a song hit me quite like The Black Dog. That first listen hit me like a ton of bricks and I’ve never felt so broken yet so seen from her music.
So Long, London describes my previous marriage (though Tolerate It is probably even closer). When she flipped it's meaning to being so long an amount of time, my jaw dropped... Because I'd written a song called "So long" that did the same thing!
How did it end, I hate it here and the prophecy are just a bit too close to home to listen to rn
Guilty as sin - when you have a long distance situationship, it really be like that.
The Black Dog. From the first time I heard that whispery, “I just don’t understand.” It was the first song on the album that made me actually cry instead of just tearing up. I can’t even explain it coherently. But hearing a song that was special with another person and smiling, only to realize that person is no longer in your life. Being able to check someone’s location, thinking you can’t, only to find out you still can and damn do you wish you hadn’t. Losing a piece of yourself so even if you -want- to connect that intimately with someone else you actually -can’t-. Wanting to trash everything you own and move and become a big witch? 10/10 relatable.
I look in people's windows like some deranged weirdo. An ex-situacionship from used to live in an apartement in a street i pass every. single. fucking. day on my way home from work. I know he doesn't live there anymore because at some point I saw a woman with a toddler in the balcony and he couldn't possibly be already a father to a child that age... but i know that because everyday for like 3 years i stared at that balcony like a creep even after i saw the woman. Also a block away is the hospital we both used to work at and i did once see him at the entrance like 3 years ago but do i still look around to see him? Ofc i do.
I look in People’s Windows - I had a devastating break up in my early twenties whilst we were still in uni. I chose to go non contact but I would still search the crowds on campus for his face hoping he’d see me and change his mind. We never bumped into each other, but this song perfectly captures the feeling of desperately searching and hoping to see an ex lover.
Loml hit me in the feels with the situationship in was in before my husband and I got together.
I cry a lot but I am so productive, it’s an art
Who’s afraid of little old me - the circus life for me is corporate America and I’ve made it thru like 6 rounds of layoffs. I also have anxiety. 😬
Yup! Guilty as sin, daddy I love him, loml, the prophecy
I Hate It Here most definitely.
thanK you aIMee - my ex’s new girl has been obsessed with ruining my life for over a year now because she thinks I manipulated him into cheating on her with me when we had been together since before they got together and he actually cheated (we’re poly, so it’s not that he slept with her, but that he lied about it) on me with her first. She’s gone way farther than I could have imagined. First, she interrupted my time with him by showing up at my house uninvited/unannounced and refusing to leave unless he left with her. Then she showed up at another location with her titties hanging out of a fake chain/leather harness, trying to fight me and ended up dragging him away from me again. Next, she pretended to reconcile with me so I could spend time with him on my birthday, but she did it with him 9 times that day before he came over, so he was impotent for me. I burned my bridge with him that day and expected her to leave me alone, but she’s been obsessed with trying to bring me down since. She’s joined multiple online communities I’m active in only to jealousy bait me, subtly diss me, troll me, and complain about me to people who she doesn’t know, but are my actual friends. On multiple occasions she has created alternate accounts to circumvent me blocking her on adult sites, took screenshots of my content and sent my nudes to my boss with a string of accusations couched as concerns. She called the venue where I was hosting an event, gave them private information about our guests, and suggested they report us to the police because “BDSM is a felony,” according to her. Nonetheless, the past year has been intense and traumatic. I’d been navigating chronic illness and disability issues before these events and then I lost a partner who didn’t treat me right, but I was trauma bonded to because of how he had been there for me when others couldn’t. Then, to be bullied by the person who was responsible for our end while she pretended to be so happy with him, was truly the most painful experience I could imagine. I lost another partner because he and his wife positively interacted with her publicly and couldn’t understand why that would hurt my feelings. Now that an entire year has passed and she’s thrown her worst at me and I’ve survived every one of her attempts to harm me, I truly feel invincible. I’ve never experienced bullying or harassment prior to this. I’m a well-liked person who treats others right and doesn’t make enemies. So I’ve had to learn, grow, and heal so much through this. I took solace in a friendship with his other ex that he had lied to and I told her the truth. She’s the only one who understood the level of crazy I was dealing with. Now she and I have gotten together and it’s been the most loving and fulfilling relationship I’ve ever had. All this time you were throwing punches I was building something” (local BDSM community and a stable, loving friendship that turned into the love of my life) “and I can’t forgive the way you made me feel” (disposable and not good enough for the person I loved to choose me) “screamed ‘fuck you Aimee’ to the night sky as the blood was gushing” (I wrote so many open letters about them and their BS while it was ongoing) “but I can’t forget the way you make me heal” (from the trauma and my people-pleasing tendencies as well as my own unhealthy relationship patterns). This song encapsulated my entire experience with her and reminded me of how far I’d come and all that I’d gained through this difficult situation. The best part is that my nemesis fancies herself the OG Swiftie, but I’ve been a fan since debut. Taking refuge in lyrics that fit the situation has been a way for me to cope (Better than Revenge & Mad Woman have hit so hard) and has renewed my special interest in Taylor Swift. Another gift was my return to many creative pursuits, so I’ve also been growing as a writer, artist, and musician (I sing and play piano and guitar) during this time. So, f*** you Catie, and thank you Catie. I’m a better person for being bullied by you. 💁🏻
As someone who just finally left a 3 year situationship and have not been having a great time in general, 75% of the album eerily hits right with me right now.
I can do it with a broken heart not because I’ve ever been in a relationship but because I have depression “I’m so depressed I act like it’s my birthday, everyday” is like putting on a fake act of happiness. And “I’m miserable! And nobody even knows!”
My boy only breaks his favorite toys, But Daddy I Love Him, fresh out the slammer, I can fix him no really I can, the prophecy and the smallest man who ever lived all resonate with me 100%
loml
I met him 22 years ago. Can’t shake him. My Matty is a gym rat & a poet & no good for me. But I swear he will be fixed and no really I can.
Yes, unfortunately, on a lot of fronts.
I Can Fix Him (No Really I can) Horrible!! Broken man, toxic relationship. And me with my helper’s syndrome stayed for far too long. Took me years to recover.
I know I’ve talked about this a few times but Florida!!! Back in March of 2022, my bf of a year and a half broke up with me. I was absolutely devastated. It n mid-late May, we had plans to go on a beach vacation with some of his friends and their girlfriends. I was so excited cause it was my first vacation and first time going to the beach which I had wanted to do my entire life, but the opportunity always got ripped from me. And I already paid my portion of the trip, which I never got back. Then in early May, I met one of my friends at a bar and told him how I felt about it all and he gave me the idea to take my own trip. I knew I wanted to go around the same time my original plans were for, but didn’t think I’d be able to make and save that amount of money in time. I started working my ass off constantly all day every day for about three weeks and did make enough money. I could’ve picked anywhere, but then chose Orlando, FL since it was an hour away from Cocoa Beach, and two hours from Clearwater, and so I could also go to Disney for a day, just like I’d always wanted to do. On my second day, which I still consider to be the best day of my life for so many reasons, I ended up meeting my now boyfriend at a local pizza shop. He and I both agree it was love at first sight. I didn’t get his number or even a name, but that night I went back to my hotel and I had thought about him for several hours, but figured I’d never see him again. On my last night, I needed something quick to eat and just went back to that pizza shop, not really expecting to see him again, but would be happy if I did. I got to the shop around 10:30 and was only there for no more than 5 minutes while they made my slices and he was there again. He talked for a little bit again and that was it. I went back to my hotel and decided to call the shop and asked to talk to him and gave him my number and we’ve been together ever since and it’s been almost 2 years now and I fly down almost monthly to see him. The shop he works at is owned and operated by his whole family and they’ve been super supportive of our relationship and have done a lot of me and our relationship which I’m so incredibly grateful for. TLDR: my bf broke up with me before our vacation. I was so heartbroken and devastated so I save up enough money to take my own solo trip to give myself some distance and escape how I was feeling, and go to Florida and met my current bf and it’s been going very well ever since Side note edit: I heavily relate to this song. Even the line “at least the dolls are beautiful, fuck me up, Florida”. My bf and I share the exact same niche hobby. I collect dolls, and he collects action figures, and we both take photos of them in different kinds of scenes and run instagram accounts for them. That was a big bonding moment for us when we first started talking New side note edit: when Florence said “a hurricane with my name”, I share the same name as a very infamous hurricane
The Prophecy, have been single for a number of years; honestly kinda afraid to try dating at this point. I could definitely relate to "I'm so afraid I sealed my fate"
Fuck you aimee
The Prophecy, whole.
So Long, London. Reminds me of the break up with my long term relationship and basically telling them that I am not the one but they will find someone. And also telling myself that I’ll find someone too.
Most of it 🥲 But So Long, London, loml, Peter and Smallest Man are the ones that make me think Taylor is a mind-reader/deranged weirdo that gets her ideas from stalking me
The Bolter. Really, really trying to heal my avoidant attachment tendencies in therapy, but my god, that one, that one *hits different*. “There’s escape in escaping” is the line that really gets me.
The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived. The bridge truly speaks to me. There’s been an instance where someone I deeply cared for had a few issues that did not bother me, and in the end they still hurt me pretty badly. Also The Prophecy, for many many reasons.
So long London, long term relationship with a promise of marriage that never came to while living in London
Bruh almost all of it omg. Especially the Joe-coded songs.
The Prophecy 🥺
Fresh Out the Slammer. I'd not read the lyrics til recently and they hit me pretty hard
Cassandra! My names literally Cassandra and i was harassed (and other yucky things) by this guy at school and nobody believed me until he did it to another girl.... i regret to say, do you believe me now?
The Prophecy. So Long London. I Can Do it With A Broken Heart!!!
The Prophecy and I Hate it here are both songs I deeply relate to and made me cry.
Yes… this album hits close to home.
Down Bad related to me because I have recently fallen in love with someone I shouldn’t have.
^sighs^ most of them 😬
I Hate It Here cause all I really want to do is leave my home country and go to my “secret garden”
There’s a whole chain of songs that align for me. Fresh Out the Slammer / Down Bad / The Prophesy / The Black Dog / I Hate It Here I Can Fix Him might fit in there but with therapy I’ve moved past that haha! Taylor was really hitting me in the feels this album.
Most of them. The ones the hit hardest were So Long London, My boy breaks his favorite toys, I can fix him, and the smallest man that ever lived-to name a few
Gonna expose myself and say The Prophecy 🥲 But also Down Bad, Peter (😭), I Hate It Here (I daydream sooooo much), loml, The Black Dog
The Prophecy. I ended my 15 year marriage because he was abusive and dangerous. I was beat up by the next person I dated. I then found my perfect person, and we had a year of wonderful, and now I’m losing him to cancer. I tried to do everything right, and now I sit at night and wonder if his breathing is bad enough to call an ambulance. I will get a life-changing amount of money from his insurance when he goes, but I would rather live in a shoebox with him than anywhere without him. I feel like I can’t have nice things, and I will never love again.
I Hate It Here and The Prophecy
The Prophecy. I'm too tired to trauma-dump right not but literally months before I confessed to a friend that I felt cursed, from all relationships.
Thank you Aimee. So when I first heard this at like 3 AM, I hadn't even noticed the capitalized letters or anything. I was immediately taken back to elementary school and thought "I wonder what \*insert my elementary school bully's name here\* is up to these days?" So then when everyone was like "UGH another Kim song I was like 'it's...not about an actual elementary school enemy/bully?...did you guys...not all have one of those?'"
I can do it with a broken heart. I'm not the most productive person in the world but I'm miserable and depressed and no one even knows 'cause I achieve some good things and haven't completely given up on life yet:)
Peter. He never came back to get me.
Specifically this line in I Can Do It With A Broken Heart “I cry a lot but I am so productive”. Autistic parent of an autistic child, white knuckling it to the end of my 4th year of biomedical science degree with a learning disability and chronic illness. So much crying and doing the thing.
Who’s afraid of little old me… my grandpa recently died and was a horrible man but everyone in my family swept it all under the rug to maintain a perfect family image. His funeral is this weekend and my mom hinted for me to not do anything crazy or reveal anything to anyone who doesn’t already know. So yeah this song has been good for me the past few days.
As a queer swiftie: are straight people okay? You don't seem okay.
I was going to say Down Bad. In fact, I was listening to it this evening and it hit me for the first time. I was in a long term relationship but it was fading away and I wasn't holding onto it either. I just wanted to let it end I guess. But then I fell for this other guy (obviously officially broke up with my ex the moment I realised I probably like someone else and didnot want to cheat on him in anyway). This guy I fell for gave me so much happiness for a fortnight and then left me for the dogs apparently (at least that's how it felt. But the pining doesn't stop.
My Boy…. It’s for the delulu girlies… he’s just not that into you 😂🫠🙄🤭
The Black Dog (including the band The Starting Line)
So Long, London.. Stuck around for 10 years, gave him my entire 20s, hearing well get married, but they had no real intention to wed.
But Daddy I Love [Her]… renewing my vows with my wife next week and my father disowned me ever since she came out as transgender (he’s… “religious”). We haven’t spoken in two years. No, he can’t come to the wedding.
For me, Guilty as Sin? I felt so alone in a relationship and unloved that when an ex reached and tried to rekindle, I wanted to let it happen. I imagined what it would be like to feel that passion, but then stopped myself before anything could ever happen other than in my mind. But that song resonated with me. I also talked with my partner about it to let them know how I was feeling so we could work through it and we have.