❈ ✼ ❈ TAYLOR SWIFT’S “FOLKLORE” (2020) STARTERS
the 1
‘ i’m doing good, i’m on some new shit. ’
‘ been saying ‘yes’ instead of ‘no’. ’
‘ i thought i saw you at the bus stop... i didn't though. ’
‘ i hit the ground running each night. ’
‘ you know the greatest films of all time were never made. ’
‘ i guess you never know. ’
‘ if you wanted me, you really should have showed. ’
‘ if you never bleed, you're never gonna grow. ’
‘ it’s alright now. ’
‘ we were something, don't you think so? ’
‘ if my wishes came true, it would have been you. ’
‘ in my defense, i have none. ’
‘ never leaving well enough alone. ’
‘ it would’ve been fun if you would’ve been the one. ’
‘ i have this dream you're doing cool shit, having adventures on your own. ’
‘ we were making it count. ’
‘ you know the greatest loves of all time are over now. ’
‘ it's another day waking up alone. ’
‘ i persist and resist the temptation to ask you. ’
‘ if one thing had been different, would everything be different today? ’
cardigan
‘ high heels on cobblestones. ’
‘ when you are young they assume you know nothing. ’
‘ but i knew you. ’
‘ i knew you. ’
‘ baby, kiss it better. ’
‘ when i felt like i was an old cardigan under someone's bed, you put me on and said i was your favorite. ’
‘ a friend to all is a friend to none. ’
‘ chase two girls, lose the one. ’
‘ playing hide-and-seek and giving me your weekends. ’
‘ once in twenty lifetimes. ’
‘ to kiss in cars and downtown bars was all we needed. ’
‘ you drew stars around my scars. ’
‘ now i’m bleeding. ’
‘ marked me like a bloodstain. ’
‘ i knew you tried to change the ending. ’
‘ i knew you'd linger like a tattoo kiss. ’
‘ i knew you'd haunt all of my what-ifs. ’
‘ i knew everything when i was young. ’
‘ i knew I'd curse you for the longest time. ’
‘ chasing shadows in the grocery lines. ’
‘ i knew you’d miss me once the thrill expired. ’
‘ i knew you’d come back to me. ’
‘ you put me on and said I was your favorite. ’
the last great american dynasty
‘ the wedding was charming, if a little gauche. ’
‘ there’s only so far new money goes. ’
‘ the party was tasteful, if a little loud. ’
‘ it must have been her fault his heart gave out. ’
‘ there goes the last great american dynasty. ’
‘ who knows, if she never showed up what could have been? ’
‘ there foes the maddest woman this town has ever seen. ’
‘ she had a marvelous time ruining everything. ’
‘ filled the pool with champagne and swam with the big names. ’
‘ blew through the money on the boys and the ballet. ’
‘ there goes the most shameless woman this town has ever seen. ’
‘ they say she was seen on occasion pacing the rocks, staring out at the midnight sea. ’
‘ in a feud with her neighbor, she stole his dog and dyed it key lime green. ’
‘ fifty years is a long time. ’
‘ free of women with madness, their men and bad habits. ’
‘ who knows, if i never showed up what could have been? ’
‘ i had a marvelous time ruining everything. ’
‘ i had a marvelous time... ’
exile
‘ I can see you standing, honey, with his arms around your body. ’
‘ laughing, but the joke’s not funny at all. ’
‘ it took you five whole minutes to pack us up and leave me with it. ’
‘ i think i’ve seen this film before, and i didn’t like the ending. ’
‘ you’re not my homeland anymore. ’
‘ what am i defending? ’
‘ you were my town, now i’m in exile. ’
‘ i can see you staring, honey. ’
‘ like you'd get your knuckles bloody for me. ’
‘ those eyes add insult to injury. ’
‘ i'm not your problem anymore. ’
‘ so who am I offending now? ’
‘ you were my crown, now I'm in exile. ’
‘ i’m leaving out the side door. ’
‘ there is no amount of crying i can do for you. ’
‘ you didn’t even hear me out. ’
‘ i never learned to read your mind. ’
‘ i couldn’t turn things around. ’
‘ you didn’t even see the signs. ’
‘ you never gave a warning sign. ’
my tears ricochet
‘ we gather here, we line up, weepin' in a sunlit room. ’
‘ if i’m on fire, you’ll be made of ashes too. ’
‘ even on my worst day, did I deserve all the hell you gave me? ’
‘ cause i loved you. ’
‘ i swear i loved you ‘til my dying day. ’
‘ we gather here, we line up, weepin' in a sunlit room. ’
‘ if I'm dead to you, why are you at the wake? ’
‘ look at how my tears ricochet. ’
‘ you know i didn't want to have to haunt you... but what a ghostly scene. ’
‘ when i'd fight, you used to tell me i was brave. ’
‘ cursing my name, wishing i stayed. ’
‘ i can go anywhere i want, just not home. ’
‘ you can aim for my heart, go for blood. ’
‘ you would still miss me in your bones. ’
‘ i still talk to you when i'm screaming at the sky. ’
‘ when you can't sleep at night, you hear my stolen lullabies. ’
‘ you had to kill me, but it killed you just the same.’
‘ you turned into your worst fears. ’
‘ you're tossing out blame, drunk on this pain. ’
mirrorball
‘ i want you to know. ’
‘ i’ll show you every version of yourself tonight. ’
‘ i’ll get you out on the floor. ’
‘ when i break, it’s in a million pieces. ’
‘ when no one is around, my dear, you'll find me on my tallest tiptoes, spinning in my highest heels, love, shining just for you. ’
‘ i know they said the end was near. ’
‘ i can change everything about me to fit in. ’
‘ you are not like the regulars. ’
‘ the masquerade revelers, drunk as they watch my shattered edges glisten. ’
‘ they called off the circus, burned the disco down. ’
‘ i’m still on that tightrope. ’
‘ i’m still trying everything to get you laughing at me. ’
‘ i’m still a believer, but i don’t know why. ’
‘ i’ve never been natural, all i do is try. ’
‘ i’m still trying everything to keep you looking at me. ’
‘ i’m a mirrorball. ’
seven
‘ please picture me in the trees. i hit my peak at seven. ’
‘ i was high in the sky. ’
‘ are there still beautiful things? ’
‘ though I can’t recall your face, i still got love for you. ’
‘ love you to the moon and to saturn. ’
‘ i've been meaning to tell you, i think your house is haunted. ’
‘ i think you should come live with me. ’
‘ then you won’t have to cry. ’
‘ just like a folk song, our love will be passed on. ’
‘ i used to scream ferociously any time i wanted. ’
‘ cross my heart, won’t tell no other. ’
‘ our love lasts so long. ’
august
‘ i never needed anything more. ’
‘ are you sure? ’
‘ never have i ever before. ’
‘ i can see us lost in the memory. ’
‘ cause it was never mine. ’
‘ i can see us twisted in bedsheets. ’
‘ cause you were never mine. ’
‘ will you call when you're back at school? ’
‘ i remember thinking i had you. ’
‘ august slipped away into a moment in time. ’
‘ back when we were still changin' for the better, wanting was enough. ’
‘ for me, it was enough to live for the hope of it all. ’
‘ canceled plans just in case you'd call. ’
‘ so much for summer love and saying "us"
‘ cause you weren’t mine to lose. ’
‘ august sipped away like a bottle of wine. ’
this is me trying
‘ cross my heart, won’t tell no other. ’
‘ i didn't know if you'd care if i came back. ’
‘ i have a lot of regrets about that. ’
‘ could've followed my fears all the way down. ’
‘ maybe i don’t quite know what to say. ’
‘ i’m here in your doorway. ’
‘ i just wanted you to know that this is me trying. ’
‘ they told me all of my cages were mental. ’
‘ i got wasted like all my potential. ’
‘ my words shoot to kill when I'm mad. ’
‘ i was so ahead of the curve, the curve became a sphere. ’
‘ i ended up here, pouring out my heart to a stranger. ’
‘ it’s hard to be at a party when i feel like an open wound. ’
‘ it’s hard to be anywhere these days. ’
‘ all i want is you. ’
‘ at least i’m trying. ’
illicit affairs
‘ make sure nobody sees you leave. ’
‘ keep your eyes down. ’
‘ take the road less traveled by. ’
‘ tell yourself you can always stop. ’
‘ what started in beautiful rooms ends with meetings in parking lots. ’
‘ that’s the thing about illicit affairs, clandestine meetings and longing stares. ’
‘ it’s born from just one single glance. ’
‘ it dies and it dies and it dies a million little times. ’
‘ leave the perfume on the shelf. ’
‘ so you leave no trace behind, like you don’t even exist. ’
‘ take the words for what they are --- a dwindling, mercurial high. ’
‘ they show their truth one single time, but they lie and they lie and they lie a billion little times. ’
‘ don't call me "kid," don't call me "baby". ’
‘ look at this godforsaken mess that you made me. ’
‘ you showed me colors you know i can't see with anyone else. ’
‘ look at this idiotic fool that you made me. ’
‘ you taught me a secret language i can't speak with anyone else. ’
‘ you know damn well. ’
‘ for you, i would ruin myself a million little times. ’
invisible string
‘ i used to think i would meet somebody there. ’
‘ time, curious time, gave me no compasses, gave me no signs. ’
‘ were there clues i didn’t see? ’
‘ isn’t it just so pretty to think: all along, there was some invisible string tying you to me? ’
‘ you ate at my favorite spot for dinner. ’
‘ she said i looked like an american singer. ’
‘ time, mystical time, cutting me open, then healing me fine. ’
‘ something wrapped all of my past mistakes in barbed wire. ’
‘ one single thread of gold tied me to you. ’
‘ cold was the steel of my axe to grind for the boys who broke my heart. ’
‘ now i send their babies presents. ’
‘ hell was the journey but it brought me heaven. ’
‘ time, wondrous time, gave me the blues and then purple-pink skies. ’
‘ it’s cool, baby, with me. ’
‘ all along, there was some invisible string tying you to me. ’
mad woman
‘ what did you think i’d say to that? ’
‘ does a scorpion sting when fighting back? ’
‘ you know i will. ’
‘ what do you sing on your drive home? ’
‘ does she smile? or does she mouth, "fuck you forever"? ’
‘ every time you call me crazy, I get more crazy. ’
‘ when you say I seem angry, I get more angry. ’
‘ what a shame she went mad. ’
‘ no one likes a mad woman. ’
‘ you made her like that. ’
‘ you'll poke that bear 'til her claws come out. ’
‘ and you find something to wrap your noose around. ’
‘ there’s nothing like a mad woman. ’
‘ i breathe flames each time i talk. ’
‘ they say "move on," but you know i won't. ’
‘ women like hunting witches too. ’
‘ it's obvious that wanting me dead has really brought you two together. ’
‘ there’s nothing like a mad woman. ’
‘ i’m taking my time. ’
‘ you took everything from me. ’
‘ good wives always know. ’
‘ she should be mad, should be scathing like me. ’
epiphany
‘ keep your helmet, keep your life, son. ’
‘ just a flesh wound, here’s your rifle. ’
‘ sir, i think he’s bleeding out! ’
‘ some things you just can't speak about. ’
‘ with you I serve, with you I fall down. ’
‘ watch you breathe in, watch you breathing out. ’
‘ someone's daughter, someone's mother. ’
‘ doc, i think she’s crashing out! ’
‘ you dream of some epiphany. ’
‘ just one single glimpse of relief to make some sense of what you've seen. ’
‘ i fall down. ’
betty
‘ i won’t make assumptions... but i think it’s cause of me. ’
‘ when i passed your house, it was like i couldn’t breathe. ’
‘ you can’t believe a word she says. ’
‘ this time it was true. ’
‘ the worst thing i ever did was what i did to you. ’
‘ would you have me? would you want me? ’
‘ would you tell me to go fuck myself? ’
‘ i don’t know anything... but i know i miss you. ’
‘ i know where it all went wrong. ’
‘ i hate the crowds, you know that. ’
‘ i saw you dance with him. ’
‘ i was walking home on broken cobblestones, just thinking of you. ’
‘ those days turned into nights. ’
‘ i dreamt of you all summer long. ’
‘ i’m here on your doorstep. ’
‘ right now is the last time i can dream about what happens when you see my face again. ’
‘ the only thing i wanna do is make it up to you. ’
‘ will you have me? will you love me? ’
‘ if you kiss me, will it be just like i dreamed it? ’
‘ will it patch your broken wings? ’
‘ you know i miss you. ’
peace
‘ our coming-of-age has come and gone. ’
‘ i never had the courage of my convictions. ’
‘ it’s just around the corner, darling. ’
‘ no, i could never give you peace. ’
‘ i'm a fire and i'll keep your brittle heart warm. ’
‘ all these people think love’s for show. ’
‘ i would die for you in secret. ’
‘ the devil's in the details, but you got a friend in me. ’
‘ would it be enough if i could never give you peace? ’
‘ your integrity makes me seem small. ’
‘ it's like I'm wasting your honor. ’
‘ i’d give you my wild, give you a child. ’
‘ i’d give you the silence that only comes when two people understand each other. ’
‘ there’s robbers to the east, clowns to the west. ’
‘ i’d give you my sunshine, give you my best. ’
‘ the rain is always gonna come if you’re standing with me. ’
‘ is it enough? ’
hoax
‘ this had broken me down. ’
‘ this has frozen my ground. ’
‘ give me a reason! ’
‘ your faithless love’s the only hoax i believe in. ’
‘ don’t want no other shade of blue but you. ’
‘ no other sadness in the world would do. ’
‘ i am ash from your fire. ’
‘ you know i left a part of me back in ______ ’
‘ you know it still hurts underneath my scars. ’
‘ you knew the password so i let you in the door. ’
‘ you knew you won, so what’s the point of keeping score? ’
‘ from when they pulled me apart. ’
‘ but what you did was just as dark. ’
‘ darling, this was just as hard. ’
‘ you have beaten my heart. ’