You should take it as a compliment
That I got drunk and made fun of the way you talk
You should think about the consequence
Of your magnetic field being a little too strong
And I got a boyfriend, he's older than us
He's in the club doing, I don't know what
You're so cool, it makes me hate you so much (I hate you so much)
And here are the original lyrics are to the song
You should take it as a compliment
That I got drunk and made fun of the way you talk
You should think about the consequence
Of your magnetic field you know it ain’t my fault
And I got a boyfriend, he’s older than us
I haven’t seen him in a couple of months
I go through phases when it comes to love/ My reputation precedes both of us
There’s not a big difference but I think it’s worthwhile mentioning. She talks about her boyfriend and how she hasn’t seen him in a couple of months. She also says she’s unaware of what her boyfriend is doing while talking to someone with a magnetic field. Sure, she’s just crushing on another guy you might say. That interpretation is valid however the rest of the song makes me feel otherwise.
Whisky on ice, Sunset and Vine
You've ruined my life by not being mine
By itself, not queer. This just shows the intensity of her desire.
You're so gorgeous
I can't say anything to your face
'Cause look at your face (Gorgeous)
And I'm so furious
At you for making me feel this way
But what can I say?
You're gorgeous
Basic chorus, nothing important to note here.
You should take it as a compliment
That I'm talking to everyone here but you (but you, but you)
And you should think about the consequence
Of you touching my hand in a darkened room (dark room, dark room)
If you got a girlfriend, I'm jealous of her
But if you're single that's honestly worse
'Cause you're so gorgeous it actually hurts
(Honey, it hurts)
Why would it be worse if her crush was single? Is it because Taylor herself has a boyfriend? Why couldn’t they break up? This song is commonly thought to be about Joe Alwyn but that makes zero sense. The entire Calvin/Tom/Joe timeline is a shitshow and it’s especially prominent in this song. How could she have met Joe and not seen her boyfriend in a couple of months? Her boyfriend prior to Joe was Tom and they only dated for 3 months in an incredible PR trip around the world. Let’s play the devil’s advocate and claim it is about Joe. There’s a slight problem, the song was written before they met. Well, that’s if you believe they met at the Kings of Leon concert in October 2016. There’s another problem though if you believe they met at the MET gala in May 2016. She was dating Calvin and not Tom at the time. Why would she break up with Calvin while entranced by Joe’s magnetic field only to date Tom, travel the world, meet his parents, have their union blessed at the Vatican and only then break up with Tom to date Joe?
Ocean blue eyes looking in mine
I feel like I might sink and drown and die
Once again showing the intensity of her desire for this magnetic force
You make me so happy it turns back to sad
There's nothing I hate more than what I can't have
And you are so gorgeous it makes me so mad (Mmh)
You make me so happy it turns back to sad (Yeah)
There's nothing I hate more than what I can't have and
Guess I'll just stumble on home to my cats (Yeugh), alone
Unless, you wanna come along? (Oh)
This doesn’t make sense to be about Joe Alwyn. I know I am placing a lot of emphasis on this fact but people claim her album Reputation is about him. There’s no reason she would have to break up with Calvin, date Tom and only then date Joe who she is so enamoured by. Why not go directly to Joe? If this song is actually about Tom why claim it’s about Joe? There is a subtle suggestion of going home together in the last line of this verse which means she’s okay with going straight to this person. Ugh the timeline is a mess.
In my opinion this song only makes sense if she’s crushing on a girl. That would perfectly explain why it’s honestly worse if her crush is single. There is that lingering question on whether or not she likes girls that would be answered if she had a girlfriend. Even if it causes jealousy. There’s a reason she hates what she can’t have. There’s a reason there would be consequences of touching her hand. There’s a reason she hates her for being so cool.