100% agree. Have been saying this for some time. The whole album and Evermore. Willow, The One...for sure. "the High Line" is a park in Manhattan. Not far from the Chelsea Hotel, BTW. I bet they were there together. I still maintain that 'Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus' was originally slated for Folklore but too revealing at the time when she was in another relationship. It just fits lyrically and sonically.
I feel like they were walking and embracing on the High Line - close enough to feel his heartbeat - literally. Cardigan is one of my favorite songs, these two records are hands down the best.
@I really think she wrote COSOSOM sometime in the summer/early fall 2023. I think she was monitoring what he was doing through social media, and he was doing a LOT during that time period. He did a very public pap walk/kissing with his new girlfriend on September 5th, and Taylor went out a couple of hours later and was papped wearing almost the same outfit as his new girlfriend. It would make sense with I Look in People’s Windows too. He wouldn’t respond to her calls/texts, but she was watching. “Thought of calling you, but you won’t pick up, another Fortnight lost in America”
I recently did a deep dive on the Matty-Halsey timeline as a sidequest to trying to puzzle out Matty and Taylor's timeline. Here's what I've found: Matty and Halsey were late-2013 and 2014. A lot of news outlets say 2015, but offer no dates or citations, so I think that timeframe is incorrect. She was with Lido by the end of Nov 2014 and they were together until Aug 2015. Matty started a public relationship with Gabriella Brooks by Sep 2015. But we have pictures and poems from Halsey from 2013 and 2014. But that doesn't rule out Halsey being part of the 'chase two girls' because Matty and Taylor met in person approx 2 weeks before Halsey went public with Lido. (I'm only at the 13 min mark so I might have more info for you. I'll come back and edit if I do.) Edit: The Alchemy: Matty. I put together a bunch of reasons why with sources, down to her using the word Alchemy during one of her stage speeches before he and Matty even went public, so long before Travis. Matty interviewed Brian Eno on a podcast and spoke about alchemy as being like a beautiful interpersonal chemistry. if you're interested in more just let me know. Marked me like a blood stain = The mark thеy saw on my collarbone re: legacy Matty gave an interview in 2016 saying dating her would be emasculating. He totally bumbled trying to explain himself and issued a long explanation and even the journalist issued more explanation. The jist was that he didn't want to be known first as anyone's boyfriend above his own music. He was afraid he wouldn't have a legacy outside of dating Taylor Swift. Then in Maroon, she says she wakes with his memory and that's a real fucking legacy to leave. Then after they date and break up, she writes TTPD where she stole his aesthetic, sampled his songs, and admitted to swirling him into all her poems (sending everyone to look at his)... essentially, stealing his legacy. Making that fear come true.
What you wrote about his legacy… absolutely. This struck me pretty quickly after TTPD was released. I just couldn’t believe she did it 😮. I’m still shocked honestly.
@@ssalas7374 Same! I mean, I love the album and since I'm a nosy bitch I love that she was so damn messy and obvious with all the clues, but also still shocked. (I'm okay if my pop stars are messy, I don't expect them to have the healthiest relationships/timelines--that industry works against it, creative life works against it.)
I absolutely agree! Knowing what we now know about Taylor and Matty, I immediately thought back to “cardigan” when I heard “Peter”. In “cardigan” she mentions him “standing in her front porch light.” In “Peter” she says, “but the woman who sits by the window has turned out the light.” The first song is her (fictionally as Betty waiting for James) still hoping one day she’ll come up the driveway and he’ll be there in her front porch light. Four years later, in “Peter”, she says “as the men masqueraded, I hoped you’d return,” like in the porch light moment. But then she tells us she’s given up that dream and the light is off forever. I think that he was the one who made her feel like his favorite when her relationship with Joe was making her feel like an old cardigan under someone’s bed. He drew stars around her scars. “Now I’m bleeding” happened years later, really. 💔
so the words "you put me on" and said i was your favorite for some reason leaves me unsettled. just makes me ying yang in completely opposite directions. soooo romantic right however you put me on not taken literally kinda means being conned. really like listening to ur takes btw.
I love your deep dive on this! For a long time I've felt like Folklore was a lot less fictional than she claimed. You're thoughts/interpretations are so insightful, you always leaving me shouting "More!"
I have been doing the same thing, with hindsight, into Cardigan. I think the High Line is a double entendre because he was probably high all the time and the High Line is in Manhattan. It’s probable that they spent time there walking together. How do you get around in NYC? Train. Hudson Yards terminal is literally a subway stop from Grand Central Station that is at the High Line. Leaving on the last train, marked me like a blood stain…. ? the High Line goes through Chelsea (aka the Chelsea Hotel). Also high heals on cobblestones, she purchased her penthouses in Tribeca in 2014 on Franklin St which is a cobblestone street. From a TTPD in hindsight perspective, I think Coney Island changes too and could be worth a revisit for you. Especially with the link to the Cardigan-High Line-Hudson Yards subway stop-Grand Central Station. As we know, she references past relationships and songs In Coney Island, I’ve always thought verse 1 was a reference to Joe (delicate reference) but at the time we didn’t know what we know now. Now it completely makes sense that the delicate line is in fact about her relationship with Joe. the only one that I haven’t seen a plausible explanation for is the Gold Clock. Were you waiting at our old spot, in the tree line by Gold Clock, did I leave you hanging every single day? The Grand Central Station gold clock is one of the most famous clock’s in the entire world. So for her to reference a Gold Clock is interesting in hindsight. Especially with Cardigan now being about Matty. High line - Hudson yards train stop-Grand Central Station-Gold Clock. And outside Grand Central Station is a tree line.
Yes, I’ve never been to the High Line myself but now looking at it I think that’s exactly it, heartbeat on a high line probably a double entendre to the time spent there and the precariousness of the relationship paired with addiction. It just gets more and more interesting! Haha
I think that this has been a seismic year in our (likely) understanding of her connection with MH, and I don’t think we’re even done. I remember hearing the word maroon in one if the TTPD songs and a giant “click” like a key turning in a lock seemed to happen in my mind. It’s one of those situations where you can’t unsee something or unhear a melody. I’m kind of annoyed, to be honest, because now we partly have him to thank for such beautiful music. From the perspective of an older Swiftie, and I don’t typically say things of this nature - I wonder if he’s far enough in the rear view yet for her to truly move on. (I definitely hope so, but the heart wants what it wants, and narcissists are experts at keeping someone thinking about them. )
Yes! Once you know, you can’t unhear it. I think she intentionally provided just enough to give us a corner of a picture! Haha We don’t have much, but I also think slowly we’ll find out more.
I thought the holidays were winding down, but I guess the gifts are still giving. This opens so many boxes. The wrapping paper is littering the floor. Thank you for this gift.
That could also explain all the train references, if that was a special moment for them and trains were sort of a code/inside joke... Ever since the release of folklore, I had been wondering why she suddenly was into trains a lot. Does Matty refer to trains a lot, too?
I agree that Cardigan is about Matty. For the first verse, here is my interpretation: Sequin smile = 1989 Black lipstick = reputation Sensual politics = Lover So basically she is recalling all the time that passed while they were apart. 2,190 days of their love blackout.
Imagine if Matty stayed? I truly don't think she could have been happy with an addict. She would have been constantly trying to help him and then watch it fail. There'd be a whole different album than TTPD. I completely understand why he left. I don't think anyone is to blame. It was too much for him and if he'd stayed, too much for her. 😢
Yeah I don’t know them of course but I get the feeling that Matty avoided the situation when it became too much and ghosted her, which really left her in heartbreak. I don’t know that she even really got answers. Initially the statement left room for him to come back and potentially them stay involved and it seemed like then it became fully severed a little while later. I hope she gives us a memoir one day.
I had forgotten about the voice memo lyrics lol from first listen, I loved Cardigan. No matter who it’s about, it’s a great song and brilliant marketing on her part lol. I never bought that folklore was all fiction 😊
I’m convinced the Alchemy was written about Matty and then changed the chorus to be about Travis after she and Matty broke up. The verses do not line up with a new love.
What if half of the lyrics are him and the other half are her? Matty: vintage tee, brand new phone (that’s his look.. vintage tees). We’ve seen them in pictures happily wearing each other’s t-shirts (him: TS tee & her: The 1975 tee) Taylor: high heels on a cobblestone. We know that she loves a good high heel for those model-like long legs. Those could be the exact clothes from what they were wearing when they REALLY met. So then she switches up their order so it’s not so apparent: Taylor: Sequin smile, black lipstick (she had that very short bleach blonde hair and would wear black lipstick when she was out) I see her quite literally weaving him into the lyrics. Matty: sensual politics (he enjoys talking about politics). “Chase 2 girls, lose the one” because of Halsey and a longtime girlfriend who was an internet star (who he’s currently engaged to). Idk when he started to date his fiancé. Just some food for thought on the same track but different theories on the lyrics. 💭 Great video! 🥰👏🏻
Yesterday I was just thinking a ton about this exact topic. I went looking for a video discussing it and here I’ve found you! I’m so glad. Following immediately.
I'm a bit late but u should also add the street light effect or drunkards search for the "drunk under a street light" it's Abt looking for enlightenment or sth in exotic places or where it's easiest yeah 😊😊😊 great anylasis BTW
15:18 I always think of the Highline Park in NYC. It’s this cute, lush walking path built on top of an old abandoned subway track above ground. I always pictured “heartbeat in the highline” as a snapshot of a date they had walking in the park, probably late at night, that made her heart flutter
12:00 “Chase two girls, lose The One”…Matty was dating Halsey in 2014-5, right as he met Taylor. The Betty/James relationship with his summer fling cheating was the perfect cover for her to explore how difficult it was to be kind of the other woman. (Not that it was a real cheater situation because he and Halsey were not exclusive and their relationship timeline was not linear.)
I feel like I found my people here! I am so intrigued or more like obsessed with their relationship. This is stuff of Hollywood movies. I love making connections my listening to these songs. I think Somebody Else by 1975 is about Taylor. His comment about “you’re looking in your phone as you leave with somebody else” was Taylor leaving with Calvin Harris. I think this was also mentioned in her song Question ?. “With some dickhead guy that you saw that night, but you were on something”. Same event they were at. It’s fascinating how they have been playing this out in their art under our noses for years! When you feel like you’re living in a fishbowl and nothing is private they take their power back by doing this. I think they both loved and admired each other, but were meant to be muses for each other, not lovers forever. I would love for you to deconstruct Somebody Else or another Taylor inspired song. Your analysis goes deep and thoughtful. I love the connections you make. You are teaching us how to go deeper in our analysis. Please keep em coming! You are awesome! ❤
I think Taylor just compiles lots of situations / people together in most of her songs. It keeps her lore going in a never ending loop and we all will never stop talking about it and trying to figure it all out! It will go on Forever! 😅😅😅
I think most of her songs are pretty specific and fewer are compilations. But we do go in loops to figure things out. I wonder what she thinks as she sees fans trying to make sense of it all. She sometimes embraces what fans think even if it isn't what she originally intended, like with The Alchemy. I also wonder if she goes thru songs with Travis to show him her history. I think I would.
In the folklore long pond sessions she talks about Aaron telling her that a song "hoax" could be about two different people. I feel like she's been doing that often. I believe the alchemy is about both Matty and Travis.
The Alchemy is 100% about Matty - to think otherwise is to be in denial. Also, The High Line is a park in NYC and I think that’s what’s she’s referring to here. They were likely there together, close enough to feel his heart beat, so potentially dancing…in NY…no shoes…
I kind of feel like it might be an allegory about her “relationship” with her fame. She had broken up with her fame because it was hurting her but made up with it because her real self is being a superstar performing at the eras tour. I think we’ve seen her fall back in love with being the world’s greatest pop star. She’s no longer hiding behind “fictional” stories and she’s no longer literally hiding from public life either. I think she was lead to believe that her fame was killing her like heroin, but she is actually the heroine of her own story. Her success is a once in a lifetime story. She’s our generation’s Beatles, Elvis, Aretha Franklin, etc. The song to me is such word salad at times that it seems like a stream of consciousness where she’s pontificating on abstract ideas and she’s speaking to her own fame as if it was the love of her life and also her adversary. Orrr I am just grasping at straws as usual and I try to convince myself her lyrics are deeper than they are. All the songs can’t be about a dumb boy, right?
I know most of The Alchemy is about Matty but, I wonder if then, when Travis came along, she mashed up some new lyrics about him at the end. I'm not sure if she had time to do that since the vinyl records had to be created. Of course So Highschool was just digital so it could be added at the last minute.
Respectfully disagree…first time I heard the heroin(e) line, I thought Travis. Strikes me the kind of corny joke he would make. He’s saying her most recent relationship was heroin (she describes Matty as being like a drug…and then there’s his addiction…then Travis smiles and says “but this time with an”E”. He lifts her up and celebrates her…she’s the heroine)
didn't taylor live near the high line park in new york? the place at cornelia street, in the village, is not too far from the high line. and the chelsea hotel, which she also references in ttpd.
“I knew you’d miss me once the moment died” is also very interesting in context of The 1975’s song “she’s American.” In it, Matty says “don’t fall in love with the moment and think you’re in love with the girl.”
@@cemcalex yes!!! And I think she’s American is why she says she’s the girl of his dreams”American dreams!” In Fresh Out the Slammer! Because she’s American. 😉
I believe the trio song are older taylor(cardigan), message to matty(betty) and thats why it's so similar to how to get the girl or an apology to joe, younger taylor(august)
I get what you mean with ‘The Alchemy’ - the first bit at the start could totally be about Matty BUT it has so many references to American football and that surely can’t be a coincidence! Maybe, it’s a dig at Matty to say “Yeah I loved you and you might think this song is about you but screw you, I’ve now got a hot sporty boyfriend AND he shows up for me!” 😂😂😂
Actually just adding to that (I know we’re not discussing The Alchemy in this vid) she talks about coming back to where she belonged - she’d been living in London for a long time, coming back to the US. Maybe it’s a bridge between Matty and Travis… there’s so much! I’ll save it 😂
So does this mean that taylor is betty and matty is james? Then who is august? Also, doesn't joe have writing credits on betty which from james perspective? I'm still confused😅
I’ll be doing a video on the teenage love triangle but I think it’s a lot more fluid than just each representing one specific person. I think there’s a lot with it to explore for sure! ❤️
@@NinasNookI look forward to it. The triangle has elements that confuse me - will he still call her (August narrator) when he’s back at school? So do Betty and James go to a different school than the August narrator ? I had the sense from Cardigan that James was a bit if a runaround because she talks about being his “favorite” cardigan - one of at least a few or several. So more than one “other” person he has toyed with. And they are “under the bed” - discarded or hidden. can see Mh in this light. And he goes slinking back to Betty just to see if she’ll take him back, not because he actually wants her back.
Sometimes I wonder if the lyric in Fortnight is referring to Cardigan: "And for a fortnight there, we were together Run into you sometimes, comment on my sweater" Anyway, l love your videos! None of my friends are really into Taylor so it's nice to have someone to go down the rabbit hole with. I'd love to hear your analysis of "Florida!"
Oh that’s def possible!! Or you could listen to When We Are Together by The 1975 which I believe is about Taylor (at least partly inspired by her) and has parallels to Fortnight-‘You ask about the cows wearing my sweater/ It’s something about the weather that makes ‘em lie down’❤ btw there are more ’proof’ in the song that may indicate the girl he’s talking about is Taylor, such as the line-‘I like socks with sandals, she’s more into scented candles’ & the fact that they were ‘searching New York for a fancy new apartment’ is quite interesting when looking back in hindsight, we have this one, ‘You left your typewriter at my apartment straight from the tortured poets department’👀 Matty once posted one pic about the typewriter (and other stuff like vinyls) ten years ago :)
@@lenubfiattp813 I love ‘When We Are Together”, and I agree. Also, the line “I’m better at writing was just a way to get you biting oh, the truth is that our egos are absurd.”
The high line refers to where they met up. Vintage tea (old news), brand new phone (the story continues) high heels on cobblestones (meat packing district on a he was to meeting on the high line)….she is telling a secret. They had a thing that she left behind and after Joe…well, we know what Matt the rat did.
You mention the reference to "lifetimes" in both Cardigan and The Alchemy. It continues to strike me how obvious it is that Taylor very much believes in reincarnation. How many different songs contain the word "lifetimes?" She has a whole song dedicated to it: Timeless. And if you think about it, the entire concept of soulmates requires reincarnation, unless you are willing to do some some pretzel logic to explain it in some other way. But the idea of reincarnation is still not accepted in this culture the way it is in the East. And I have not really seen it discussed in the context of Taylor's work.
I am def open to the idea that ‘The Alchemy’ is about Matty as well. The way Travis loves that song sm is a little telling too, maybe Tay told him personally “yes it’s your song” or “it’s about you” - but that opens it up to her not saying it’s also (blank)‘s song and it’s 50% about you.. and that’s ok. It’s just a song.
Travis doesn't love The Alchemy He loves So High School, he's said it a couple of times and each time he says that he is biased and that's why it's his favourite song a.k.a the song is about him Never seen him mentioned The Alchemy
100% agree. Have been saying this for some time. The whole album and Evermore. Willow, The One...for sure. "the High Line" is a park in Manhattan. Not far from the Chelsea Hotel, BTW. I bet they were there together. I still maintain that 'Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus' was originally slated for Folklore but too revealing at the time when she was in another relationship. It just fits lyrically and sonically.
I feel like they were walking and embracing on the High Line - close enough to feel his heartbeat - literally. Cardigan is one of my favorite songs, these two records are hands down the best.
@@missydemeanors1760 it’s very possible! When Chloe or Sam was written is a mystery I would love to know! Haha
@I really think she wrote COSOSOM sometime in the summer/early fall 2023. I think she was monitoring what he was doing through social media, and he was doing a LOT during that time period. He did a very public pap walk/kissing with his new girlfriend on September 5th, and Taylor went out a couple of hours later and was papped wearing almost the same outfit as his new girlfriend. It would make sense with I Look in People’s Windows too. He wouldn’t respond to her calls/texts, but she was watching. “Thought of calling you, but you won’t pick up, another Fortnight lost in America”
Ooh, I like this! I look in people's windows would make sense. Plus another fortnight lost in America.@@ssalas7374
I recently did a deep dive on the Matty-Halsey timeline as a sidequest to trying to puzzle out Matty and Taylor's timeline. Here's what I've found: Matty and Halsey were late-2013 and 2014. A lot of news outlets say 2015, but offer no dates or citations, so I think that timeframe is incorrect. She was with Lido by the end of Nov 2014 and they were together until Aug 2015. Matty started a public relationship with Gabriella Brooks by Sep 2015. But we have pictures and poems from Halsey from 2013 and 2014. But that doesn't rule out Halsey being part of the 'chase two girls' because Matty and Taylor met in person approx 2 weeks before Halsey went public with Lido.
(I'm only at the 13 min mark so I might have more info for you. I'll come back and edit if I do.)
Edit:
The Alchemy: Matty. I put together a bunch of reasons why with sources, down to her using the word Alchemy during one of her stage speeches before he and Matty even went public, so long before Travis. Matty interviewed Brian Eno on a podcast and spoke about alchemy as being like a beautiful interpersonal chemistry. if you're interested in more just let me know.
Marked me like a blood stain = The mark thеy saw on my collarbone
re: legacy
Matty gave an interview in 2016 saying dating her would be emasculating. He totally bumbled trying to explain himself and issued a long explanation and even the journalist issued more explanation. The jist was that he didn't want to be known first as anyone's boyfriend above his own music. He was afraid he wouldn't have a legacy outside of dating Taylor Swift. Then in Maroon, she says she wakes with his memory and that's a real fucking legacy to leave. Then after they date and break up, she writes TTPD where she stole his aesthetic, sampled his songs, and admitted to swirling him into all her poems (sending everyone to look at his)... essentially, stealing his legacy. Making that fear come true.
What you wrote about his legacy… absolutely. This struck me pretty quickly after TTPD was released. I just couldn’t believe she did it 😮. I’m still shocked honestly.
@@ssalas7374 Same! I mean, I love the album and since I'm a nosy bitch I love that she was so damn messy and obvious with all the clues, but also still shocked.
(I'm okay if my pop stars are messy, I don't expect them to have the healthiest relationships/timelines--that industry works against it, creative life works against it.)
re: legacy - this is why she says he turned her into an idea of sorts
Nina, you can talk about any song and I will happily watch. I want your channel to grow.
Me too!! ❤
I love your saying "I'm just reading lyrical tea leaves" 😊 Quite a suitable quote for merch at some point, by the way 🤭
@@mb-k6466 LOL I have had this thought in my Wildest Dreams! 😉😂😂
Its my interpretation of 'high line' is a reference to the High Line in Manhattan. I think so much of their history took place in New York.
I absolutely agree! Knowing what we now know about Taylor and Matty, I immediately thought back to “cardigan” when I heard “Peter”. In “cardigan” she mentions him “standing in her front porch light.” In “Peter” she says, “but the woman who sits by the window has turned out the light.” The first song is her (fictionally as Betty waiting for James) still hoping one day she’ll come up the driveway and he’ll be there in her front porch light. Four years later, in “Peter”, she says “as the men masqueraded, I hoped you’d return,” like in the porch light moment. But then she tells us she’s given up that dream and the light is off forever. I think that he was the one who made her feel like his favorite when her relationship with Joe was making her feel like an old cardigan under someone’s bed. He drew stars around her scars. “Now I’m bleeding” happened years later, really. 💔
And in "Fresh out the slammer" she says - To the house where you still wait up, and that porch light gleams.
so the words "you put me on" and said i was your favorite for some reason leaves me unsettled. just makes me ying yang in completely opposite directions. soooo romantic right however you put me on not taken literally kinda means being conned. really like listening to ur takes btw.
I love your deep dive on this! For a long time I've felt like Folklore was a lot less fictional than she claimed. You're thoughts/interpretations are so insightful, you always leaving me shouting "More!"
I have been doing the same thing, with hindsight, into Cardigan. I think the High Line is a double entendre because he was probably high all the time and the High Line is in Manhattan. It’s probable that they spent time there walking together. How do you get around in NYC? Train. Hudson Yards terminal is literally a subway stop from Grand Central Station that is at the High Line. Leaving on the last train, marked me like a blood stain…. ? the High Line goes through Chelsea (aka the Chelsea Hotel). Also high heals on cobblestones, she purchased her penthouses in Tribeca in 2014 on Franklin St which is a cobblestone street.
From a TTPD in hindsight perspective, I think Coney Island changes too and could be worth a revisit for you. Especially with the link to the Cardigan-High Line-Hudson Yards subway stop-Grand Central Station. As we know, she references past relationships and songs In Coney Island, I’ve always thought verse 1 was a reference to Joe (delicate reference) but at the time we didn’t know what we know now. Now it completely makes sense that the delicate line is in fact about her relationship with Joe. the only one that I haven’t seen a plausible explanation for is the Gold Clock. Were you waiting at our old spot, in the tree line by Gold Clock, did I leave you hanging every single day? The Grand Central Station gold clock is one of the most famous clock’s in the entire world. So for her to reference a Gold Clock is interesting in hindsight. Especially with Cardigan now being about Matty. High line - Hudson yards train stop-Grand Central Station-Gold Clock. And outside Grand Central Station is a tree line.
Yes, I’ve never been to the High Line myself but now looking at it I think that’s exactly it, heartbeat on a high line probably a double entendre to the time spent there and the precariousness of the relationship paired with addiction. It just gets more and more interesting! Haha
You make sense of it all...Taylor is an expert at weaving her stories!
@@tannenbaumgirl3100 she truly is a Mastermind!
I think that this has been a seismic year in our (likely) understanding of her connection with MH, and I don’t think we’re even done. I remember hearing the word maroon in one if the TTPD songs and a giant “click” like a key turning in a lock seemed to happen in my mind. It’s one of those situations where you can’t unsee something or unhear a melody. I’m kind of annoyed, to be honest, because now we partly have him to thank for such beautiful music. From the perspective of an older Swiftie, and I don’t typically say things of this nature - I wonder if he’s far enough in the rear view yet for her to truly move on. (I definitely hope so, but the heart wants what it wants, and narcissists are experts at keeping someone thinking about them. )
Yes! Once you know, you can’t unhear it. I think she intentionally provided just enough to give us a corner of a picture! Haha We don’t have much, but I also think slowly we’ll find out more.
I thought the holidays were winding down, but I guess the gifts are still giving. This opens so many boxes. The wrapping paper is littering the floor. Thank you for this gift.
“There’s glitter on the floor after the party…”
So happy you enjoyed it! 🥰🥰
@@NinasNook so much glitter, I really feel sorry for Joe, but he gets paid for his writing on some of these songs so I don't feel that bad for him
The high line is in NYC. It's a 1.5 mile renovated train track that is now a beautiful walk. In my opinion, this is what she is referring to.
That could also explain all the train references, if that was a special moment for them and trains were sort of a code/inside joke... Ever since the release of folklore, I had been wondering why she suddenly was into trains a lot. Does Matty refer to trains a lot, too?
26:00 check out the lyrics to Hits Different - that song ties with Fortnight so closely, its definitely Matty coded 😅
I agree that Cardigan is about Matty. For the first verse, here is my interpretation:
Sequin smile = 1989
Black lipstick = reputation
Sensual politics = Lover
So basically she is recalling all the time that passed while they were apart. 2,190 days of their love blackout.
I love this thought! I’m so glad you enjoyed the video! ❤️❤️
Imagine if Matty stayed? I truly don't think she could have been happy with an addict. She would have been constantly trying to help him and then watch it fail. There'd be a whole different album than TTPD. I completely understand why he left. I don't think anyone is to blame. It was too much for him and if he'd stayed, too much for her. 😢
Yeah I don’t know them of course but I get the feeling that Matty avoided the situation when it became too much and ghosted her, which really left her in heartbreak. I don’t know that she even really got answers. Initially the statement left room for him to come back and potentially them stay involved and it seemed like then it became fully severed a little while later. I hope she gives us a memoir one day.
@@NinasNook
"How dare you think it's romantic
Leaving me safe and stranded"
"Told me I'm better off
But I'm not" 😢
I had forgotten about the voice memo lyrics lol from first listen, I loved Cardigan. No matter who it’s about, it’s a great song and brilliant marketing on her part lol. I never bought that folklore was all fiction 😊
I’m convinced the Alchemy was written about Matty and then changed the chorus to be about Travis after she and Matty broke up. The verses do not line up with a new love.
Such a great deep dive thank you for making it! 🙏🏼
Thank you so much!!
What if half of the lyrics are him and the other half are her?
Matty: vintage tee, brand new phone (that’s his look.. vintage tees). We’ve seen them in pictures happily wearing each other’s t-shirts (him: TS tee & her: The 1975 tee)
Taylor: high heels on a cobblestone. We know that she loves a good high heel for those model-like long legs.
Those could be the exact clothes from what they were wearing when they REALLY met.
So then she switches up their order so it’s not so apparent:
Taylor: Sequin smile, black lipstick (she had that very short bleach blonde hair and would wear black lipstick when she was out)
I see her quite literally weaving him into the lyrics.
Matty: sensual politics (he enjoys talking about politics).
“Chase 2 girls, lose the one” because of Halsey and a longtime girlfriend who was an internet star (who he’s currently engaged to). Idk when he started to date his fiancé.
Just some food for thought on the same track but different theories on the lyrics. 💭
Great video! 🥰👏🏻
Great job, Christina! I can’t watch to see your channel grow in 2025! ♥️💕❤️👍Wowwww! You teach me so much!
I am so glad you liked it! 🥰
If they had been connected during 2014, which is all but confirmed, she wore that sequin-y snake dress and basically black red lipstick. 🤷🏻♀️
I love it!
Yesterday I was just thinking a ton about this exact topic. I went looking for a video discussing it and here I’ve found you! I’m so glad. Following immediately.
Yay! I’m so glad you found me! We have many, many videos to come! ❤️
I enjoy your deep dives ❤ Very thoughtful and well-articulated
Thank you so much! I’m so glad you like it!
Thanks!
Thank you so much! I am so glad you enjoyed it! 🫶🫶
Amazing as always!! You always find these amazing connections… and those voice memos 😮💨
I'm a bit late but u should also add the street light effect or drunkards search for the "drunk under a street light" it's Abt looking for enlightenment or sth in exotic places or where it's easiest yeah 😊😊😊 great anylasis BTW
I love your content! Can’t wait to watch this ❤
@@jenniferbeckman3652 thank you so much! I hope you love it!
15:18 I always think of the Highline Park in NYC. It’s this cute, lush walking path built on top of an old abandoned subway track above ground. I always pictured “heartbeat in the highline” as a snapshot of a date they had walking in the park, probably late at night, that made her heart flutter
Yes! I think this makes sense!
I’ve been waiting for this video!!
Yay! Thank you for watching! I hope you liked it!
12:00 “Chase two girls, lose The One”…Matty was dating Halsey in 2014-5, right as he met Taylor. The Betty/James relationship with his summer fling cheating was the perfect cover for her to explore how difficult it was to be kind of the other woman. (Not that it was a real cheater situation because he and Halsey were not exclusive and their relationship timeline was not linear.)
I feel like I found my people here! I am so intrigued or more like obsessed with their relationship. This is stuff of Hollywood movies. I love making connections my listening to these songs. I think Somebody Else by 1975 is about Taylor. His comment about “you’re looking in your phone as you leave with somebody else” was Taylor leaving with Calvin Harris. I think this was also mentioned in her song Question ?. “With some dickhead guy that you saw that night, but you were on something”. Same event they were at.
It’s fascinating how they have been playing this out in their art under our noses for years!
When you feel like you’re living in a fishbowl and nothing is private they take their power back by doing this. I think they both loved and admired each other, but were meant to be muses for each other, not lovers forever.
I would love for you to deconstruct Somebody Else or another Taylor inspired song. Your analysis goes deep and thoughtful. I love the connections you make. You are teaching us how to go deeper in our analysis. Please keep em coming! You are awesome! ❤
I think Taylor just compiles lots of situations / people together in most of her songs. It keeps her lore going in a never ending loop and we all will never stop talking about it and trying to figure it all out! It will go on Forever! 😅😅😅
I think most of her songs are pretty specific and fewer are compilations. But we do go in loops to figure things out. I wonder what she thinks as she sees fans trying to make sense of it all. She sometimes embraces what fans think even if it isn't what she originally intended, like with The Alchemy. I also wonder if she goes thru songs with Travis to show him her history. I think I would.
Happy new year 🎉 Love ur analysis as always 🫶
Happy new year! Thank you so much!!
In the folklore long pond sessions she talks about Aaron telling her that a song "hoax" could be about two different people. I feel like she's been doing that often. I believe the alchemy is about both Matty and Travis.
@@777jamiejames it’s possible!
Exactly my thoughts on The Alchemy. And But Daddy I Love Him.
The Alchemy is 100% about Matty - to think otherwise is to be in denial. Also, The High Line is a park in NYC and I think that’s what’s she’s referring to here. They were likely there together, close enough to feel his heart beat, so potentially dancing…in NY…no shoes…
@@Grux9645 ooooh yes High Line park! That may very well be it!
It is. Heroine this time with an E. Only one person would say that.
I kind of feel like it might be an allegory about her “relationship” with her fame. She had broken up with her fame because it was hurting her but made up with it because her real self is being a superstar performing at the eras tour. I think we’ve seen her fall back in love with being the world’s greatest pop star. She’s no longer hiding behind “fictional” stories and she’s no longer literally hiding from public life either. I think she was lead to believe that her fame was killing her like heroin, but she is actually the heroine of her own story. Her success is a once in a lifetime story. She’s our generation’s Beatles, Elvis, Aretha Franklin, etc. The song to me is such word salad at times that it seems like a stream of consciousness where she’s pontificating on abstract ideas and she’s speaking to her own fame as if it was the love of her life and also her adversary. Orrr I am just grasping at straws as usual and I try to convince myself her lyrics are deeper than they are. All the songs can’t be about a dumb boy, right?
I know most of The Alchemy is about Matty but, I wonder if then, when Travis came along, she mashed up some new lyrics about him at the end. I'm not sure if she had time to do that since the vinyl records had to be created. Of course So Highschool was just digital so it could be added at the last minute.
Respectfully disagree…first time I heard the heroin(e) line, I thought Travis. Strikes me the kind of corny joke he would make. He’s saying her most recent relationship was heroin (she describes Matty as being like a drug…and then there’s his addiction…then Travis smiles and says “but this time with an”E”. He lifts her up and celebrates her…she’s the heroine)
didn't taylor live near the high line park in new york? the place at cornelia street, in the village, is not too far from the high line. and the chelsea hotel, which she also references in ttpd.
“I knew you’d miss me once the moment died” is also very interesting in context of The 1975’s song “she’s American.” In it, Matty says “don’t fall in love with the moment and think you’re in love with the girl.”
@@cemcalex yes!!! And I think she’s American is why she says she’s the girl of his dreams”American dreams!” In Fresh Out the Slammer! Because she’s American. 😉
There’s a high line park in NYC. They may have spent some time there together
I believe the trio song are older taylor(cardigan), message to matty(betty) and thats why it's so similar to how to get the girl or an apology to joe, younger taylor(august)
I feel like "You put me on..." is referencing lying when he "...said I was your favorite."
I love this thought!!
I get what you mean with ‘The Alchemy’ - the first bit at the start could totally be about Matty BUT it has so many references to American football and that surely can’t be a coincidence! Maybe, it’s a dig at Matty to say “Yeah I loved you and you might think this song is about you but screw you, I’ve now got a hot sporty boyfriend AND he shows up for me!” 😂😂😂
Actually just adding to that (I know we’re not discussing The Alchemy in this vid) she talks about coming back to where she belonged - she’d been living in London for a long time, coming back to the US. Maybe it’s a bridge between Matty and Travis… there’s so much! I’ll save it 😂
I think the references to American football are both a misdirect and giving people what they are expecting to hear
I just had the thought: maybe birdcage is where Joe keeps her. Isn’t “bird” Brit slang for woman?
Can you about you to see how it could relate to Taylor
::::::creeps in::::::thankyouforbringingupthealchemy:::::creeps out::::::
Hahaha you’re welcome! I’m sure it will be discussed further soon!
So does this mean that taylor is betty and matty is james? Then who is august?
Also, doesn't joe have writing credits on betty which from james perspective? I'm still confused😅
I’ll be doing a video on the teenage love triangle but I think it’s a lot more fluid than just each representing one specific person. I think there’s a lot with it to explore for sure! ❤️
@@NinasNookI look forward to it. The triangle has elements that confuse me - will he still call her (August narrator) when he’s back at school? So do Betty and James go to a different school than the August narrator ? I had the sense from Cardigan that James was a bit if a runaround because she talks about being his “favorite” cardigan - one of at least a few or several. So more than one “other” person he has toyed with. And they are “under the bed” - discarded or hidden. can see Mh in this light. And he goes slinking back to Betty just to see if she’ll take him back, not because he actually wants her back.
Sometimes I wonder if the lyric in Fortnight is referring to Cardigan: "And for a fortnight there, we were together
Run into you sometimes, comment on my sweater"
Anyway, l love your videos! None of my friends are really into Taylor so it's nice to have someone to go down the rabbit hole with. I'd love to hear your analysis of "Florida!"
Omg, I never noticed that weather turned to sweater...
Oh that’s def possible!! Or you could listen to When We Are Together by The 1975 which I believe is about Taylor (at least partly inspired by her) and has parallels to Fortnight-‘You ask about the cows wearing my sweater/ It’s something about the weather that makes ‘em lie down’❤ btw there are more ’proof’ in the song that may indicate the girl he’s talking about is Taylor, such as the line-‘I like socks with sandals, she’s more into scented candles’ & the fact that they were ‘searching New York for a fancy new apartment’ is quite interesting when looking back in hindsight, we have this one, ‘You left your typewriter at my apartment straight from the tortured poets department’👀 Matty once posted one pic about the typewriter (and other stuff like vinyls) ten years ago :)
@@lenubfiattp813 I love ‘When We Are Together”, and I agree. Also, the line “I’m better at writing was just a way to get you biting oh, the truth is that our egos are absurd.”
@@ssalas7374 YEEP
I think Taylor wrote blue for Halsey. Matty was her “what if”…he never did grow up like he promised. Compare red to blue. Hmmm
The high line refers to where they met up. Vintage tea (old news), brand new phone (the story continues) high heels on cobblestones (meat packing district on a he was to meeting on the high line)….she is telling a secret. They had a thing that she left behind and after Joe…well, we know what Matt the rat did.
You mention the reference to "lifetimes" in both Cardigan and The Alchemy. It continues to strike me how obvious it is that Taylor very much believes in reincarnation. How many different songs contain the word "lifetimes?" She has a whole song dedicated to it: Timeless.
And if you think about it, the entire concept of soulmates requires reincarnation, unless you are willing to do some some pretzel logic to explain it in some other way.
But the idea of reincarnation is still not accepted in this culture the way it is in the East. And I have not really seen it discussed in the context of Taylor's work.
I definitely think she is interested in spiritual things to an extent, so I’m sure she has done research on all of that with karma!
@NinasNook Agreed! That's another song in this vein: Karma. 🔥✨
I am def open to the idea that ‘The Alchemy’ is about Matty as well. The way Travis loves that song sm is a little telling too, maybe Tay told him personally “yes it’s your song” or “it’s about you” - but that opens it up to her not saying it’s also (blank)‘s song and it’s 50% about you.. and that’s ok. It’s just a song.
Travis doesn't love The Alchemy
He loves So High School, he's said it a couple of times and each time he says that he is biased and that's why it's his favourite song a.k.a the song is about him
Never seen him mentioned The Alchemy
@ yes, he does love So High School! But he has mentioned The Alchemy a few times, in interviews when he’s asked and on his podcast with his brother :)
100% about Matty, unfortunately! 🤣🫶🏻
I was in denial when the leaks came out! I didn’t believe it could be true, but here we are and it’s become my favorite code to crack! 😂😂