The Next Chapter

announcing a re-recording in nashville, where big machine resides, is such a power move. I hope scooter braun and scott borchetta have a horrible night. get fucked.

champagne problems

The definition of “champagne problems” is that this expression is used to refer to a problem that’s insignificant… worthless, compared to so many other worse situations (such as world hunger, wars, a pandemic).

My view of this song is that Taylor used problems she experienced involving marriages that, at first, seemed to have ended her world. But even though they were troubled moments, she realized after a while that they were not so bad compared to so many other problems in life.

The song portrays 3 times that Taylor was personally involved in thing relative to weddings. 1) The wedding blow that KK had to participate in (white letters); 2) Once Tay refused a marriage proposal (red letters); 3) Confirmation that Taylor and Karlie are married (yellow letters).

That’s what happened after Karlie told Taylor personally about the marriage maneuver. What is obvious, at first, must have triggered a HUGE fight between them.

This is Taylor’s reaction after the news. She seems to have been shocked and then they fought. Tay returned her engagement/wedding ring to Kar. And apparently, after KK left for some other home their, when Tay was calmer, she seems to have realized that she wasn’t the only one who was suffering from what was going to happen, and Taylor kind of regretted having “dropped” Karlie’s hand at a time that must have been one of the most distressing in her life (can you imagine how terrifying it must have been for her? Probably KK must have been “cornered” to participate in this scam and thought that because of this, she would lose her fiancee/wife). Taylor then realized that, in the grand scheme of things in the world, this was nothing more of a “champagne problems” compared to so many other things that they, or even people close to them, have already gone through in life.

Karlie told the family everything that happened, the future wedding coup that she would have to do, the fight with Taylor and nobody was happy with what would happen. I think Kaptain Kimby got drunk with sadness that the girls were in that situation.

Taylor is recalling an ex-girlfriend’s proposal that she once refused. And talking about the reaction of people close to this ex who commented that Tay’s refusal was nothing big. Just a silly “champagne problem”.

I don’t know if you capture that same vibe that I do, but the first times I heard this excerpt, it seems that the person who is proposing marriage is someone who is always surrounded by friends, someone who is the center of attention of the group, a person popular. It also seems that this ex-girlfriend took it for granted that Taylor would accept her engagement proposal. And after being refused, the girl wanted to know why Taylor had said “no”, but Tay did not know the reason for her negative response to this proposal. Taylor just knew it was “no”.

This passage is the most interesting and revealing to me.

“Midas touch” is an expression used to refer to someone who can make something prosper.

Chevy is short for Chevrolet, the famous car brand. Do you know what awards Chevrolet sponsored in 2017 and even had a commercial with Luke Bryan? Link

The 51st CMA Awards. The one in which KK participated and presented the music award of the year, which went to TS’s “Better Man”. That is, Taylor thinks she only won that prize, because KK was presenting and brought her good luck. And I believe that Tay put this moment here, to try to show us, when more or less this fight because the wedding blow happened. Sometime in 2017. OMG! That woman’s mind… 🤯;

Taylor reveals how her insecurities were on edge when she made a joke that she was crazy. Because after so many people said that to her, and other bad things, Tay believed them for a while (pre reputation period);

She also talks about how loyal and true their friends are, and that, from that moment on, they could no longer say “our friends” (feud’s public narrative was in progress) and soon these friends will be decorating the corridors (the friends will participate in the fake wedding to try to give credibility to the coup) that they’ve already crossed;

THEY’RE MARRIED!; 🥰♥️🥰

Taylor mentions the two stunts, and how she was never ready for that to happen, despite knowing that this blow was coming;

Once again, Tay remembers the refused marriage proposal, now justifying to the ex that sometimes, all you know is that you need to say “no”. Until you meet the right person who will make the proposal;

Taylor remembers again that she was called crazy for having refused the proposal and consoles her ex-girlfriend, saying that the ex will find the real thing, from experience.

Taylor reassures that there’s still hope for her ex to find the one, her true love. That special person that will be there to collect/mend your “pieces” when you’re broken. Just as Taylor found Karlie. And when that person arrives, Tay’s refusal will just be “champagne problems” in ex’s life.

In other words, the main theme of the song, talks about how, at certain times in our life, there’re situations that seem to be the worst thing that has ever happened to us, or that is going to happen to us, but then you realize that it was a “champagne problems” compared to so many other worst realities in the world, such as the pandemic we’re experiencing, for example. And Kaylor is still together.

👸🏼♥️☀️

P.S.: I only came to the conclusion that this disagreement occurred in 2017, after I tried to think of a time when Taylor was using a “flannel cure” + a moment of prosperity that occurred in November + and that Kar was present (since Midas is associated to gold, and the gold color is attributed to Karlie). It was then that I remembered the video of Tay watching Kar giving a CMA award for “Better Man”.

And despite this disagreement, because of the marriage scam, it seems to be, and maybe it’s classified by the girls as, the worst fight of their relationship, I think that they never ended it. I think they probably fought for a few days. But they didn’t go to the extreme of finishing their relationship.

As soon as I started peeking at the fandom in 2014, at times, some Kaylor blogs would comment more frequently on questions regarding Taylor’s possible ex girlfriends, or direct people to blogs that specifically talked about the subject or a certain “ship”. I confess that I was never interested in knowing about the subject and, therefore, I never entered these blogs to learn more.

So, about the identity of the ex-girlfriend who had her marriage proposal rejected by Taylor, I believe it’s Dianna Agron.

Because someone commented to me about it once (in person), and I remember reading it a few times, on a kaylor blog, that the Swiftgrons (is that how you write it?) believed that after many comings and goings in their troubled relationship (apparently toxic), and full of betrayals by Dianna (I’m not sure about that), at a time when they were separated, Dianna in a final attempt of Taylor getting back with her, proposed to Tay. Which of course, now seems to have been confirmed that such an event actually happened through the letters of “champagne problems”, and Taylor refused DA’s proposal. As I said before, I’m not sure if this is true or not, because I never tried to confirm what I heard and read a few times. But perhaps someone who knows more aboutthis whether this can confirm if my assumption is real or not, in the comments.

Cuddling naked under the blankets on a cold day just feeling each other’s warmth would fix me

I don’t like a gold rush, gold rush

I don’t like anticipating my face in a red flush

I don’t like that anyone would die to feel your touch

Everybody wants you, everybody wonders what it would be like to love you

Walk past

Quick brush

I don’t like slow motion, double vision in rose blush

I don’t like that falling feels like flying

‘Til the bone crush

Everybody wants you

But I don’t like a gold rush

“So with Phoebe I reached out and I sent her this song called Nothing New which I wrote when I was 22, and it’s really really special to me because it was the first time I was not a shiny new artist. I was on my fourth album and I felt like — I think this happens a lot of artists where they have their breakthrough moment and then the moment after that is really hard for them because they’re just not getting the same [attention].” —Taylor Swift on Nothing New (x)

“I just was thinking, “Okay, so we have mirrorballs in the middle of a dance floor because they reflect light. They are broken a million times, and that’s what makes them so shiny. We have people like that in society. They hang there, and every time they break, it entertains us.” And when you shine a light on them, it’s this glittering, fantastic thing, but then a lot of the time when the spotlight isn’t on them they’re just still there, up on a pedestal, but nobody’s watching them.” —Taylor Swift talking about mirrorball on lpss

Taylor Swift x Fame

Hiii can you do the pronouns percentage with lover and folklore in? I've just seen the one with rep included but FOLKLORE IS SO GAY. Also you're doing gods work thank you so much 💕

Hi! I’ve updated the charts to include Folklore - there is actually already a post which includes the pronouns from Lover (here) if you’re interested to see what has and hasn’t changed.

As always, the songs not included in these charts are those from Taylor’s unreleased catalogue; those for which Taylor is credited as co-writer, but which were released by another artist (e.g. Kellie Pickler’s ‘Best Days of Your Life’); and her OSTs (Eyes Open, Safe and Sound, Sweeter Than Fiction, I Don’t Wanna Live Forever and Beautiful Ghosts).

The charts are organised as follows below.

Songs with unqualified “male” (pro)nouns — “he” functions as Taylor’s primary romantic interest:

Tim McGraw

Teardrops on My Guitar

Stay Beautiful

I'd Lie

Fifteen

Hey Stephen

Forever & Always

I’m Only Me When I’m With You – “Just a small-town boy and girl”

Today Was a Fairy-tale – ‘You were the prince/ I used to be a damsel in distress’

Dear John

Better Than Revenge

Superman

Red

I Knew You Were Trouble

The Moment I Knew

Girl at Home

Blank Space — “You're the King, baby, I'm your Queen”

Style

Shake It Off

Wildest Dreams

You Are in Love

…Ready for It

I Did Something Bad

King of my heart – “King of my heart, body and soul”

Call It What You Want

Better Man — “I wish you were a better man”

Cruel Summer – “He looks up grinning like a devil”

Lover – “I take this magnetic force of a man to be my lover”

I Think He Knows

Paper Rings – “Wrap your arms around me, baby boy”

London Boy

Songs with qualified “male” pronouns:

Tied Together with a Smile — not autobiographical.

Our Song — uses reversed perspective.

Love Story — uses reversed perspective.

The Way I Loved You – constructs an opposition between ‘he’ and the gender non-specific ‘you,’ who is the true romantic interest.

Haunted — constructs an opposition between ‘he’ and the gender non-specific ‘you,’ who is the true romantic interest.

Speak Now — uses reversed perspective.

Starlight — not autobiographical.

Begin Again — constructs an opposition between ‘he’ and the gender non-specific ‘you,’ who is the true romantic interest.

New Romantics — it is (arguably) unclear whether the single male pronoun refers to a romantic interest of Taylor’s own (or of her fellow new romantics).

Don’t Blame Me — Taylor’s primary romantic interest is the gender non-specific ‘you,’ however note: ‘I’ve been breakin' hearts a long time, and/toyin’ with them older guys.’

Gorgeous — constructs an opposition between ‘he’/ ‘a boyfriend’ and the gender non-specific ‘you,’ who is the true romantic interest.

Getaway Car —constructs an opposition between ‘he’ and the gender non-specific ‘you,’ who is the true romantic interest.

Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince – it is not only arguable that the ‘heartbreak prince’ is independently a gender-neutral epithet (as claimed by Halsey) but also that “me” and “the heartbreak prince” is the proper syntactic pair (“it’s you and me…Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince”)

Songs with “female” (pro)nouns:

 A Place in This World — ‘girl’ is self-referential. The song’s subject is not romantic in nature.

Should've Said No — ‘her’ refers to the third party in Taylor’s relationship with a romantic interest whose gender is non-specific (you).

Mary's Song (Oh My My My)

Invisible — ‘she’ refers to Taylor’s rival for the affection of a romantic interest whose gender in non-specific (you).

The Other Side of the Door — ‘she’ refers to the third party in Taylor’s relationship with a romantic interest whose gender is non-specific (you).

White Horse — ‘she’ refers to the third party in Taylor’s relationship with a romantic interest whose gender is non-specific (you).

You Belong with Me — ‘she’ refers to the third party in Taylor’s relationship with a romantic interest whose gender is non-specific (you).

Mine — uses reversed perspective; ‘she’ is self-referential. Taylor’s romantic interest is gender non-specific (you).

How You Get the Girl — ‘her’ may refer either to Taylor herself or to her romantic interest.

This is what you came for

Babe — ‘her’ refers to the third party in Taylor’s relationship w/ a romantic interest whose gender is non-specific (you).

End Game — ‘girl’ occurs only in the featured parts. Taylor’s own romantic interest is gender non-specific (you).

The Man – “what’s it like to brag about…getting bitches and models.”  

ME! – “baby girl when it comes to a lover.” Note that “you’re the kind of guy the ladies want” is implicitly contrasted with “and there’s a lot of cool chicks out there” which is the “one of these things” that “is not like the others, like a rainbow with all of the colours.” Taylor has further stated that ME! Is her first song about “baby chickens.”

The Last Great American Dynasty — “she” refers to Rebekah Harkness, the biographical subject.  

Mad Woman — “she” is the wife of the subject “you,” rather than a romantic interest of the persona “I”.

Betty — uses reversed perspective, although the argument can also be made that actually “James” is a girl/Taylor herself.

Songs with gender-neutral pronouns:

Picture to Burn

Cold as You

The Outside

A Perfectly Good Heart

Jump Then Fall

Untouchable

Come in with the Rain

Superstar

Fearless

Breathe

Tell Me Why

You're Not Sorry

The Best Day — the lyrics are not romantic.

Change — the lyrics are not romantic.

Beautiful Eyes

I heart?

Sparks Fly

Back to December

Mean — the lyrics are not romantic.

The Story of Us

Never Grow Up — the lyrics are not romantic.

Enchanted

Innocent

Last Kiss

Long Live

Ours

If This Was a Movie

Crazier

Christmases When You Were Mine

Christmas Must Be Something More

State of Grace

Treacherous

All Too Well

22

I Almost Do

We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together

Stay Stay Stay

The Last Time

Holy Ground

Sad Beautiful Tragic

The Lucky One

Everything Has Changed

Come Back... Be Here

Welcome to New York – note, however: “you can want who you want, boys and boys and girls and girls.”

Out of the Woods

All You Had to Do Was Stay

I Wish You Would

Bad Blood

This Love

I Know Places

Clean

Wonderland

Look What You Made Me Do

So It Goes

Delicate

Dancing with Our Hands Tied

Dress

This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things — the lyrics are not romantic.

New Year’s Day

I Forgot That You Existed

The Archer

Cornelia Street

Death by a Thousand Cuts

Soon You’ll Get Better – the lyrics are not romantic

False God

You Need to Calm Down – (i.) the lyrics are not romantic and (ii.) both “my gown” and “his gown” are subsumed by “our gowns.”

Afterglow

It’s Nice to Have a Friend

Daylight

Christmas Tree Farm

Only the Young – the lyrics are not romantic.

The 1

Cardigan

Exile  — in lyrical terms, the love interest is gender neutral (“you”); the pronoun “he” describes this “you’s” new lover.

My Tears Ricochet

Mirrorball

Seven — the pronouns are gender neutral (“you”) but the love interest is, arguably, female coded. Thus “your braids like a pattern” and “pack your dolls and a sweater.”

August

This is me trying

Illicit Affairs —  the love interest’s pronouns are gender neutral (“you”). However, they are arguably female coded. Thus, “leave the perfume on the shelf that you picked out just for him.”

Invisible String — the love interest’s pronouns are gender neutral (“you”). Note, however, “for the boys who broke my heart.”

Epiphany — the lyrics are not romantic

Peace

Hoax

The Lakes

I hope next year treats you kindly, but above all else, I hope you treat you kindly.

taylor nations post oh my god "looking the sun and the mirror right in the eye" ... karlie aka sunshine looking camp right in the eye... the mirror... i-

OH MY GOD this is so loud 😭👀

Taylor Swift really said “oh, this private life you’ve been watching? Yeah, its never not a performance from inside my fish bowl!” when she blew this popsicle stand.

“The only way for me to disappear (even while in said endless fishbowl that my life has become) is for me to envelop myself in this lavender haze.”

(Which she tells us is synonymous with her melancholia… so, sometimes that haze can loom over her as persistent sadness and ill-founded fears…)

But Taylor has been telling us that despite the sadness, fear, and sense of doom that comes with it, being with her star-crossed lover is the only shade of blue for her.

And gang, she recently framed this singular blue for us. It’s a “midnight blue,” according to Taylor.

Everyone lost their minds after she said the glitter puke and blood in the “Anti-hero” music video is “midnight blue,” but it wasn’t exactly just gaslighting.

It’s Taylor meditating on a theme in her life and art—a blue, a sadness,a melancholia that she feels most deeply in the dead of night, lying awake wondering about love, life, and who she is.

It’s also a blue in which she is submerged, in a fishbowl, in a haze, that is the only thing she really believes in despite the big hoax surrounding her (the idea that her lover’s love is faithless being the “Hoax”).

It’s the “true blue” of someone who knows her for her, is loyal, and dives into this life with her despite it all.

It’s the true blue she bleeds and the true blue that pours out when she spills her guts or the walls come down.

And it’s lavender.