even though i think cardigan is the most taylor swift sizzy coded song, i also find maroon veeery fitting. it’s also my favorite taylor song in general so i might be biased lmao but yeah! thought i’d do this :p
sizzy and maroon by taylor swift song analysis <3 lyrics here
the first verse reminds me of when they were dating in city of lost souls. i always thought that the vinyl shelf could be easily associated with simon's apartment because he would have lots of vinyls. and with how much time he and izzy were spending together, they fit into the "like you were my closest friend" box. and simon lived with his roommate, jordan, at this point. “your roommate’s cheap ass screw top rosé”: that scene in cols where jordan offers izzy his (cheap) tequila and she starts going on a rant on how she drunkenly realizes how much she likes simon. also, with the whole sebastian deal going on, they were together every day, "i see you every day now."
i think the second verse would be more fitting with the tales from the shadowhunters academy timeline. with taylor hinting at a conflict/fight, this would be simon and izzy during the first half of the book, where, quoting, "Every time she showed up on campus, they fought; every time, he was sorry to see her go." during their very first fight isabelle was almost crying, "sobbing with your head in your hands". i also have found two other interesting (?) associations. "carnations you had thought were roses, that's us." in city of heavenly fire, when the whole tmi gang had visions while entering the demon realm, simon felt odd throughout all of his. his mother sends him flowers, he initially sees hydrangeas, and finds it weird. then his, i'm assuming, conscience, makes him see roses (which, fun note, are also izzy’s favorite flowers). and it happens again, when he tells clary (physically present in the vision) that he loves her, he doesn't tell it to clary. he tells it to isabelle. "It snapped me out of the vision, when I said your name. Because I knew the vision was wrong. It wasn't what I really wanted." and then, "the rubies that i gave up" would be him "giving up" on his relationship with isabelle (ruby necklace) at the start of tftsa because he felt that he wasn't good enough for her.
now, the bridge is definitely isabelle. it's isabelle after simon sacrificed his memories and she realizes she doesn't even know how to move on. "It's even worse than if he were dead. If he were dead, I could grieve […] I should be happy. But I'm not happy." she continuously wakes up alone knowing what they had and that it doesn’t exist anymore, (at least, that’s what she thought.)
the chorus. it’s important to note how taylor writes “chose” in the first chorus and “lost” in the second. after they started dating, izzy kept choosing simon every time. chose to forgive him after the maia thing. chose to spend time with him. chose to stick with him in whatever plan the mission required. chose him over and over again even after she effectively lost him in cohf. and i think she realized she lost him in the first few chapters of tftsa, after they danced in new york at the wedding in the epilogue.
then red/maroon is a recurring color in their whole relationship. blood, roses, lipstick, rubies, bar lights, hearts. “the blood rushed into my cheeks” izzy’s cheeks were always betraying her, even when she wanted to look tough. rereading some scenes she was really blushing all the time when around simon it was almost hilarious. “the mark they saw on my collarbone” she still has the vampire bite scar on her neck, and the moment she got it was probably one of the most important ones in her (and their) development. “the rust that grew between telephones” im assuming izzy still had his number memorized on her phone during the gap between tftsa-cohf and it was useless. simon remained unreachable. “the lips i used to call home so scarlet” when they reconcile during pale kings and princes, simon realized the home he’d been looking for for months was really just izzy. izzy with the scarlet lips <3. “Losing himself to Izzy—could it be that this was the only way to really find himself? Could it be that this, here, was home?”
maroon (the color) is used as a metaphor for the rush of memories, memories both simon and izzy had, even in different ways. the sky being maroon is seeing those memories clearly even with eyes closed. and it’s definitely something both of them went through, during the end of cohf-first tftsa chapters.
i really wanted this to be longer but tumblr wouldn’t let me lol. enjoy me going insane in real time ! <3
