Re: the patriarchy line, I read a fantasic interpretation on Reddit. Just wanted to share! "A lot of people have talked about it, but the “Fuck the patriarchy” line is used in irony, and is supposed to come from the man’s persona in the lyrics, not Taylor’s. The previous line, “You were tossing me the car keys,” ties in with “‘Fuck the patriarchy’” (official lyrics are in quotes, I might add) because it initially leads you to believe that because this man is letting a younger woman take the wheel (both literally in terms of the car and figuratively in terms of their relationship), the man must be a feminist and ahead of his time. This image of this feminist man is immediately subverted in the next descriptive line “Keychain on the ground, we were always skipping town.” Reading only the previous line would make you think he tossed the car keys directly to her hands. In truth, he tossed the keychain to the ground, which is important imagery because then it implies the girl had to get down on her knees and pick up from the ground whatever sort of power the man haphazardly tossed (not gifted, not even handed) to her. Giving the girl the chance to drive the car is merely a facade of giving her power in the relationship. Whether it’s because of her age or his misogyny, he did not see her as an equal. He gave her what she wanted in the relationship but only on his terms."
I think "I've never been good at telling jokes, but the punchline goes: I get older but your lovers stay my age" has a few references. First, in Begin Again she says "I think it's strange that you think I'm funny, cause he never did" (he being Jake Gyllenhaal), so she's already throwing a barb there. It's a joke that his lovers stay her age because earlier in the song Jake tells her "if we had been closer in age maybe things would have been fine". But his current girlfriend is 25ish now and was 22 when they started dating sooooo clearly 'age' wasn't the issue
@@Evelyn208 In all seriousness though, I'm not sure. He was dating a 25 year old in 2012 (TS was 22, JG was 32), so could be a reference to that, but I don't know the exact timeline. Could also be a more open-ended lyric representing her general skepticism of the sentiment that age was the limiting factor for their relationship. Or maybe she sprinkled that part in when she re-recorded... Any way you slice it it's cutting and I love it.
@@Evelyn208 that's the point too 😐 Taylor grew up and became more mature while he is STILL dating young girls, like you have to wonder why he has this pattern? It really makes you think.
The “ you held my lifeless frame” I think eludes to the “til we were dead and gone and buried” line. And the “after three months in the grave.” The entire second half of the verse is filled with death references.
The lifeless frame line, to me, completes the “death” imagery from those few lines… “you never called it what it was, 'Til we were dead and gone and buried, Check the pulse and come back swearing it's the same after 3 months in the grave” -instead of just saying “you only said I love you after we broke up” she’s giving us this vivid image of him coming back to her after the relationship has been dead for 3 months, and expecting to feel a pulse and restart the relationship like nothings changed. “And then you wondered where it went to as I reached for you, But all I felt was shame and you held my lifeless frame” -again, here hes thinking simply coming back to her and professing his true feelings will magically fix everything, but it’s done on her end. She’s so damaged by the relationship, all she can feel is shame with him (probably from him telling her she was the problem, being too young) so she’s essentially dead in the relationship-a lifeless frame. The same one he checked for pulse for in the earlier line.
“Til we were dead and gone and buried, check the pulse, come back swearing it’s the same, after 3 months in the grave” gives me chills every time I hear it 🤯🤩🥶
The twin flames is a reference to her and Jake both having fire astrological signs. It’s also referenced in “State of Grace” by the lyrics “just two twin signs, four blue eyes”
This could also very well simply have been they were actual twin flames. As twin flame relationships are often passionate and fiery but incredibly toxic and tumultuous and usually don’t last. I think it eludes to both, the astrological signs and the twin flame relationship. Taylor is famous for using more than one meaning behind a lyric.
I love how all her songs link - the title track on Lover she sings ‘all’s well that ends well to end up with you’ kinda nice that she’s moved on to that from ‘all’s well that ends well but I’m in a new hell’ 🥰
I know what "held my lifeless frame" means. I had that moment. He wants to give you a final hug, a real hug because it's goodbye, but you can't hug him back because what's happening does not add up. Your body is lifeless, being held, but you are just there, vacant, not participating. You never forget how empty and separate you felt at that moment.
Three months in a relationship is just a blink in time. In reflection she realized what had occurred to her...the humiliation... the betrayal of trust - your entire being ...body & soul. Thought about it...wrote about it...sang about it ... Then served it to "him" on a silver platter in front of the whole world to see. Strength = Endurance!
I think the scarf is a metaphor for her virginity. If you listen to the song that way it hits even harder. She was saving her self for the one she thought was going to be her future. He can’t give back the scarf (which smells like innocence) because he can’t. Her shame because she fell for a man who was ashamed to be with her and used her and he wasn’t the special, worthy man she thought he was to give her virginity to. This song is a masterpiece.
Concur. Imagine if you are someone saving yourself for that truly special partner - Taylor was rumored to be waiting for marriage, but who knows - and then the relationship flames out in a short 2-3 month period? With so much gaslighting and obnoxiousness mixed in? It would be very unpleasant. Even if someone doesn't view their virginity as something extraordinary, no one wants to 'lose it' to a Jake-ass [sic]. Because that person is always going to be your first.
How about now with the line "Give me back my girlhood - it was mine first," from her latest track Would've, Could've, Should've? I feel like John really made her fe like sh*t based on how she sang and from how the words were written.
How do I tell you a lot of other songs feel like they're complete now that we have vault songs????!!!! Sad Beautiful Tragic: words how little they mean when you're little too late??!!! Didn't she just sing in All Too Well 10MV that he never called it what it was? 🥺 and then said it to her after they were already 3months in the grave!!! I also find references of their relationship in the song Tolerate it..
Also in lover she says “All's well that ends well to end up with you” which i assume has a connotation to the “alls well that ends well but im in a new hell every time”
"And did the twin flame bruise paint you blue?" A twin flame is a strong soul connection, sometimes known as a "mirror soul," that is supposed to be a person's other half. It is predicated on the belief that one soul can be split into two bodies at times. A twin flame connection will be both demanding and healing, which is one of its key features.
I loved your reaction! so much to unpack in this song. I love her lyrics “an ever needy, ever lovely jewel whose shine reflects on you” like he was concerned with what she could do for him or like she was this trophy wife figure to him. And I’ve also seen people who’ve brought up that the words “I was there i remember it all too well” could be reminiscent of the relationship, but ALSO after the extra lyrics and the film, it’s her response to being gaslit during the relationship. Like his indifference or carelessness makes it seem like he doesn’t even believe it happened, or like he’s convincing her it didnt. She’s saying no i was there and i remember it
6:14 I believe that this lyric “and you held my lifeless frame” doesn’t reference a previous part of the song, but is an image used to foreshadow the reason why she felt shame for getting back together with this person. We find out about a love affair later in the song which one could logically assume she did not take part in. This is all happening after three months of being apart and having been cheated on. This lyric strikes me like no other as she told herself not to go back and is now kicking herself realizing that what they once had will never be the same. The shame she feels in that moment is in my opinion the saddest part and her most grief filled lyric due to the fact that the person she was the hardest on was herself. In realizing she has forever lost what they once had, she also realizes she lost herself too and wonders if that too will be lost forever. This is the catalyst for 1989 in which we follow the journey of Taylor finding out that though she would never be the same, the answer would ultimately be an unequivocal no.
I don't think he cheated on her. He just left, then tried to come back or at least called to check on her later. Thus "And you call me up again just to break me like a promise, so casually cruel in the name of being honest" and her eventual response ..."We are never, ever, ever, getting back together."
@@clarkbarrett6274 yes, that and “there we are again when nobody had to know”. It seems like they tried to get back together but she was aware at that point of his red flags so it wasn’t the same for either of them. I wonder if her “lifeless frame” and “returning half her weight” is hinting towards her eating disorder
@@Istandinthesun943 @Clark Barret Both of you make great points that are worth considering! Very interesting idea about “returning half her weight”. Though it’s not my place to speculate, I believe body image was a challenge for Taylor during 1989, so maybe it was her first acknowledgment of her struggles. That also reminds me of the lyric in Tolerate It “gain the weight of you and lose it, believe me I could do it.”
@@clarkbarrett6274 actually he admitted to have cheated on her I believe I saw that but it’s been a long time now so can’t remember where I saw it 🤷🏻♀️
@@clarkbarrett6274 "Since you admitted it I keep picturing, her lips on your neck I can't unsee it I hate that because of you I can't love you babe" Plus on the sugarland babe video, Taylor was a redhead just like in All too well short film 😳 Plus ikywt "that you never loved me, or HER, or anyone or anything"
You always have the best reactions! I think the other amazing part of the Shakespeare quote is that she used that line later in Lover in a completely difference context. The fact that she finally found that one and only instead of the pain she felt here. "Ladies and gentlemen, will you please stand? With every guitar string scar on my hand I take this magnetic force of a man to be my lover My heart's been borrowed and yours has been blue *All's well that ends well* to end up with you"
She is definitely a Master at her Craft. I especially love ‘DoubleCross my Mind’. It’s that brief thought of him that hurts her. That feeling of betrayal. The next one that gets me beside the lovers don’t age. 😏 is the, ‘…But you keep my old scarf from that very first week 'Cause it reminds you of innocence and it smells like me. You can't get rid of it…’ A reference to her age, maybe virginity? Her Naivety?..’
Had to pause around 3 mins in, before the song has even started, just to say that highlighter is beautiful. Either that or you have extra glowing skin, either way it looks gorgeous 😍
Sher, I have some observations about the new parts, maybe it'll be nice if we can discuss! PS: Sorry for the big comment! When Taylor talks about the car keys, it sounds to me that the car keys are related to who is in control of the relationship, almost like the "subject" is throwing all the responsibilities into her, whose can't handle all of it and kinda let it all fall down, so that's why the keychain is on the ground: 'cause she couldn't grab/hold it. Right after that, when she mentions the lifeless frame, she's talking about herself, as her being the lifeless frame, once all her feelings left her when the relationship was coming to an end. About the secret and oath part, I agree with all you said. While he holds her like a secret to break her later on (as she states in "then you call me up again just to break me like a promise"), she holds him like an oath, which is viewed as this holy swear that cannot be broken whatsoever. When she says about double-crossing, is tottaly about when the subject goes through her mind and returns every time, and that's hell for her, 'cause she can't handle the feelings! About the age situation, media always talked about their difference in age. The Moment I Knew reference: loved it too! But note that she talks about the subject telling self-effacing jokes to her dad while sipping coffee, being the desirable son-in-law. In regards of the joke: the subject's lovers staying her age way back when tells everything, almost showing that he only cares about the age, and not the feelings (until he realizes what he felt). Besides she telling that it's a joke, it's not funny, more likely bitter and sad; the punchline for me sounds more like just the punch in her face, instead of a real punchline. I think that the snow is showing about the first drop of problem in their relationship? Before it was all sunny and shiny and perfect, but when the first fall of snow dropped, it all started to crumble and just perished.
I get older but your lover stays my age- she's like cursing him cause he said their relationship won't work because of the big gap between their age. And I think the cursed is working her ass up cause jake current gf was 25 years old and he was 40.
she write all to well 10 minutes long, she cut the part With the party for short version, but then she extinde the ideea în the song the moment i knew.
well said, especisally since she waited so long to re relelease it. She was 20 goining in21, he 29 Its Jake Gylenhall who has said hes afrarid of comittment, They were together 4 months so to him it wasnt a big deal
Have you listened to Tori Amos? I saw that you love Regina Spektor (I do too!!!) and I feel like you would like Tori as well. Her lyrics are beautiful and take a while to digest, but once you understand them, they are quite impactful. I love watching these reactions, thanks for posting them and sharing your thoughts with us!!!!!
Does anyone know any poems that have the same theme, topic, or genre as all too well? I'm doing this for an English class so it would be helpful if someone could let me know
I think when she said anytime now he'll call it love but he wouldnt say what if was, is her saying that she asked him if this is real or a fling, was it just a moment in time or do you love me but he wouldn't answer her, he wouldn't call it what it was. So yeah ......
