#taylor swift in the bear

[turbulenthandholding]

Richie as Director Avatar and Taylor Swift…in Season 4

After Season 3 came out, I wrote a little meta interpreting the use of Taylor Swift songs in The Bear seasons 2 and 3 through the lens of Richie as Director Avatar, inspired by lots of other metas (like this and this and lots of others).  Now that we’re getting close to the release of Season 4, I am expecting another TS song and I thought it would be fun to speculate what it might be.

In Richie as Director Avatar, I posit that they are using Taylor Swift songs to have Richie tell us things about the overall story of The Bear

In Season 2, Richie told us that The Bear is a Love Story, ostensibly with Syd.

In Season 3, Richie told us that the history of The Beef and the building of The Bear, and the found family they are in the process of creating, are important and worth being remembered.  (There is also a possible reference, in the same vein as the Fairest Creatures name being a reference, to Carmy’s future family, again, ostensibly with Syd).

A few things to frame my thinking:

Any song they pick will work both in the context of the scene and with the layering of Richie telling us something about the story.  Also I think it would be at minimum a fan favorite if not a single.

Tiff is canonically a huge TS fan (she wears a 1989 during Fishes and has passed her enjoyment on to her daughter), so it makes sense to me that we would encounter the TS song during Tiff’s wedding

Because we know Tiff is a big enough fan of 1989 to wear the shirt, and because the Taylor’s Version of 1989 is slated to come out a few months from where we are at in canon, I think it’s most likely the song comes from that album

I think the song would have a title, like Love Story and Long Live that is descriptive of RIchie’s underlying direction/message…

My Prediction: How You Get the Girl

The song could be interpreted as Richie literally directing Carmy HOW TO GET THE GIRL (and fix his multi-layered relationship with Syd) as the narrator is telling the listener how to repair a fractured relationship:

The song starts by laying out a fraught 6 month situation (sound familiar?):

Stand there like a ghost, shaking in the rain

She’ll open up the door and say, “Are you insane?”

Say it’s been a long six months

And you were too afraid to tell her what you want, want

That’s how it works, that’s how you get the girl

Then there’s some wedding imagery, which could work well if the song is played at Tiff’s reception or in a similar situation:

And then you say

“I want you for worse or for better

I would wait for ever and ever

Broke your heart, I'll put it back together

I would wait for ever and ever”

And that's how it works

That's how you get the girl

And this part:

Tell her how you must've lost your mind

When you left her all alone and never told her why, why

And that's how it works

That's how you lost the girl

Honorable mention songs:

Out of the Woods (1989)

Remember when we couldn't take the heat?

I walked out, I said, "I'm setting you free"

But the monsters turned out to be just trees

When the sun came up you were looking at me

You were looking at me, oh

You were looking at me

Are we out of the woods yet?, are we out of the woods yet?, are we out of the woods yet?, are we out of the woods?

I remember

Are we in the clear yet?, are we in the clear yet?, are we in the clear yet?, in the clear yet, good

I Wish You Would (1989)

I wish we could go back

And remember what we were fighting for

Wish you knew that

I miss you too much to be mad anymore

And

You always knew how to push my buttons

You gave me everything and nothing

This mad, mad love makes you come running

Stand back where you stood, I wish you would

Lover (Lover)

This one feels a little too on-the-nose and while it works very well for Tiff’s wedding, it doesn’t work nearly as well for the Richie-as-Director-Avatar aspect.  But if the Taylor Swift songs aren’t being intentionally chosen to be conduits of Richie’s perspective…this is probably what they’ll go with.

[itwaslegendary]

Taylor Swift (and Travis Kelce) - The Eras Tour, London N3

[ivynightshade]

fatima aamer bilal, excerpt from moony moonless sky’s ‘i mother it, the absence of her ii. i was hard to bear from the very start.’

[text id: my sadness is a fire that i built to keep my hands warm on lonely nights. // art by sivan roshianu // i keep my misery bared between my teeth. i refuse to let her leave. / i am nothing without this obsession of mine.]

[livelovecaliforniadreams]

[mmemirrorball]

debut and reputation stuck in the vault together :(

[animusrox]

The Bear 2.03 x 2.07

[arabellas]

#green flags

[lunar-years]

As much as it’s a bummer there wasn’t a t party/club red/loft 1989/rep room equivalent with eras, because it was always fun logging on and seeing peoples pictures with Taylor the next day… boy did we dodge a bullet in terms of our ongoing collective enjoyment in the online fandom space

[kdogreads]

Love Story

Richie Jerimovich x f!reader fun flirty blurb where your friends are visiting you in Chicago 🤪🫶

Just fluffy funsies here but still 18+ as always bc why not. Love yous all💕

———————

The restaurant is mostly void of customers as the busy Saturday dinner service winds down. You look up from your glass as the last sweet drops of whatever wine Richie picked for you tonight dance onto your tongue. That sweet smile you love so much comes into view.

You are wrapping up an evening out with some close friends visiting Chicago. As perfectly timed as always, Richie approaches your party.

“Ladies,” Richie practically sings as he nears the table occupied by you and two of your closest friends, “It’s been my sincere pleasure serving you tonight, and watching you get my lady wine drunk.”

Giggles erupt as your (also slightly wine drunk) friends make heart eyes at you and Richie.

“Richie!” You screeched in mock-anger, “I am not that drunk, thank you very much. Even if I were… That’s on our host for over-serving meeee.”

More giggles dance from your table as your friends enjoy the show you and Richie are putting on.

“You’re right, sweetheart,” He winks your way, loving this game you play, “My apologies to our distinguished guests.”

Wine-fueled cackling erupts as you and your friends eat up every minute Richie spends with you. He really does make you swoon even when he isn’t trying to.

“One last thing before I turn you lovely ladies loose on the town,” The lilt in his voice has you all exchanging looks of excitement, “Dinner is on us tonight. Thank you for being here tonight and showing my girl such a good time.”

Richie’s hands cross over his chest, his gratitude on full display for the world to see. A series of happy sounds and light cheers fill your ears but all you can focus on is how damn blue Richie’s eyes are. How sincere his expression is.

You and your friends clink your wine glasses in a celebration and shrill “cheers!”

None other than the Neil Fak passes behind Richie and slips him a note during your toast. He glances down at it, smirks slightly, and flips it so you can see:

A scrawled out “last guests :)” in black ink. They are professionals to the minute.

Richie’s demeanor changes immediately. He loosens his tie and unbuttons the top button of his crisp white dress shirt. The way his strong shoulders relax slightly let you know that now he can be just be Richie, not maître d’ Richie.

Servers begin cleaning up around you but Richie shows no sense of urgency to leave. He pulls up a chair next to you and takes a sip of your wine, silently nodding to himself at his excellent choice. You shake your head at him teasingly but lean in to kiss his plush lips anyway.

Someone turns up the chill house music and your group settles into comfortable, lively conversation. Carmy and Syd come out to say hi while Fak brings yet another bottle of wine out for you to enjoy. It’s only then that it hits you: Richie is turning the restaurant into a private little nightclub for you and your girls to enjoy. Swoon.

“You look real pretty, baby,” He whispers in your ear and leaves a tender kiss on your temple, “Beautiful.”

Heat rises in your chest as you smile over at him, “So do you, Richie.”

You slide a finger over his exposed neck and find yourself practically drooling at the warm, smooth skin you find.

Richie sees the fire in your eyes and smirks back at you, one eyebrow cocked. He wraps his strong arms around you and pulls you close, his warm body sending goosebumps dancing across your skin.

“Patience, baby,” he whispers deeply in your ear. You pout jokingly for a beat before nodding your head slightly with a giggle. You know he’ll be worth the wait.

You begin to settle into his embrace when you realize the beginning to Love Story (Taylor’s Version, of course) is playing from the hidden speakers. Richie literally gasps in excitement, jolting you slightly before pulling you onto your feet.

“Hell yeah! We love T Swizzle! Right, baby?” The way he lets the joy radiate off of him sends butterflies to your stomach. It’s infectious you think as your closest friends join you in dancing along to this classic love song.

God, you love this man.

You feel the wine and the excitement and the love as you float around the room with Richie. By now, most everyone from the kitchen has joined your group. All you can see around you is a collection of your favorite people having so much fun and living in this very moment.

Your eyes feel watery as Richie tilts your head towards his and smiles warmly. The look of love his face filling your heart up to the very brim.

He gives you small, inquisitive look — silently checking in and making sure you’re okay. You nod and lift your lips in a smile to let him know that you’re perfect. This is perfect.

Richie twirls you around gently as your friends belt out the chorus: Romeo take me somewhere we can be alone.

You swear someone replaced Romeo with Richie and you’re 95% it was the goofy man himself.

“Thank you for this, Romeo,” You whisper to your man, adoration oozing from your lips. You’re lost in his kind eyes as he leans in for a quick kiss.

“Anything for you, my Juliet.”

———

The night slips away slowly, sweetly.

You spend hours just dancing, talking, enjoying the company around you, snacking on whatever Carmy or Sydney or Marcus want you to try next. All around you are your favorite people just having fun and being together.

While The Bear won’t be debuting its new nightclub hours anytime soon, this one-night-only event sneaks its way into your core memories. It’s fun, and comfortable, and happy.

You realize at some point, lost in the music and the emotions just how lucky you are to get to do all of this with Richie.

It hits you suddenly and wholly that you are so, so in love with Richie Jerimovich.

It’s a love story, baby just say ‘yes.’

Tagging some friends just for fun! 🫶 @foreveraimingtowardsthesky @ankhmutes @thebearer @potato-with-hair

[carmenberzattosgf]

WHAT IF HE’S WRITTEN “MINE” ON MY UPPER THIGH ONLY IN MY MIIIIIINNNNNNNDDDD

[carmyscigs]

the story of us is so sydcarmy s2 (i miss my parents)

[turbulenthandholding]

Richie as Director Avatar and Taylor Swift

I was talking with @thoughtfulchaos773 earlier today and something occurred to me about Richie singing Love Story in Forks. There has been a lot of really wonderful meta lately touching on Richie's role in the show. There's @currymanganese's excellent point that Richie is Storer's avatar as well as all of @thoughtfulchaos773's posts about Filmmaking and Season 3/Richie as Director (Part 1 / Part 2).

Anyway, previously I hadn't thought much about Love Story being the Taylor Swift song that they had Richie sing. It's well known, it's a song that would make sense that his young daughter would gravitate towards and would have exposed him to. There's a purity and joy to it that fits with the earnestness he gains in his journey throughout the action of Forks. However, with the context of all of the other great meta out there, it occurred to me that if we think of Richie as Director and Observer of Carmy's Love Life (as thoughtfulchaos773 called him in Filmmaking Meta Part 1), the choice of Love Story as the song is a LOT more significant. Richie is telling viewers what the story of The Bear is...it's a love story. And it's a love story with Sydney as opposed to the horror/haunting story that's being laid out with Claire (here and here and probably others I'm not finding right now).

I've also been trying to make sense of the use of Long Live, which plays in the background of the conversation that Richie has with Frank in Violet. I was expecting to get another Taylor Swift song in Season 3, but all of the guesses I had made were more directly tied to Richie's plot and story (This is Me Trying was my main prediction). So I was very surprised that the song they picked was Long Live. But in considering Richie as Director Surrogate, this choice starts to make a lot of sense.

I don't think the choice of song is trying to say anything about Richie and Tiff's relationship, or Richie getting over her, or his maturity in handling the conversation with Frank. Long Live is a song that Taylor Swift wrote for her band, in celebration of her first headlining tour (for Fearless). In our chat, @thoughtfulchaos773 suggested that Long Live is a reference to Richie's looking back and reflecting at The Beef (and contrasting the experience of working at The Beef with the experience of working at The Bear) and hoping that sense of comradery and joy is able to be found at The Bear eventually -- and I think that makes a lot of sense.

I said remember this feeling I passed the pictures around Of all the years that we stood there on the sidelines Wishing for right now We are the kings and the queens You traded your baseball cap for a crown When they gave us our trophies And we held them up for our town And the cynics were outraged Screaming, "This is absurd" 'Cause for a moment, a band of thieves In ripped up jeans got to rule the world

There are a couple of other things that stand out to me in the song:

I was screaming, "Long live all the magic we made" And bring on all the pretenders, I'm not afraid

Magic and sleight-of-hand are themes that come up in Season 3, and it may be because I have Unreasonable Hospitality on the brain, but it is important to Richie, who lists the dream weave as one of his non-negotiables. Will Guidara writes in UH that for a while at Eleven Madison Park, they used a literal magic trick to reveal dessert to guests during one of their courses. And EMP also employed an entire team of Dreamweavers whose sole responsibility was to make hospitality personal and special for their guests (seen in Season 3 in the scene with the Surprise with the cake and Richie singing happy birthday in Spanish). I don't necessarily think they picked the song to make this reference but there is a through line there, even if unintended -- and I do think that, dropped fork notwithstanding, Richie's journey towards Unreasonable Hospitality genuinely has become his purpose.

The second thing that stands out to me, which might well be more of an intentional reference, comes from the last verse (which plays as Richie asks Frank about how he got his house):

Will you take a moment? Promise me this That you'll stand by me forever But if, God forbid, fate should step in And force us into a goodbye If you have children someday When they point to the pictures Please tell them my name Tell them how the crowds went wild Tell them how I hope they shine

I am reminded of this very excellent meta of @currymanganese's which posits the name of the restaurant Fairest Creatures alludes to one of Shakespeare's procreation sonnets. I think this verse alludes to (or directs our attention towards):

Season 3's theme of legacy

The hope of reconciliation between Richie and Carmy

An allusion to Carmy's future children and sharing the legacy of The Beef/The Bear with them

[add1ctedt0you]

'An explicit guide on how to react to your crush being mean to you' by jiang cheng and jiang yanli

[ivynightshade]

fatima aamer bilal, excerpt from moony moonless sky’s ‘i mother it, the absence of her ii. i was hard to bear from the very start.’

[loganswdc]

hi y'all after a super long hiatus i come with the news that apparently logan was at the eras tour with riley on london night 8 aka the same night taylor played florida!!! ft. florence & the machine .

i am so unwell . she actually played that for him . no bc i'm genuinely near tears that makes me so sad but also so happy and i'm so . MY HEART Y'ALL .

[mmemirrorball]