#loml song analysis

[twopoppies]

Hi! I don’t know if you’ve answered this but do you understand what Harry means in the song love of my life when he says “you don’t know it’s lost till you find it”? Maybe I’m not understanding bc English is not my first language so if you could give your interpretation I’d appreciate it 🧡

Hi, darling. You can look through my LOML SONG ANALYSIS tag.

Harry said the song was about his love for England. I know a lot of people think he was lying, but I happen to think it makes a lot of sense, given the lyrics:

It's not what I wanted, to leave you behind (Talking about leaving England and living all over the world, rarely being at "home", no longer calling England his home)

Don't know where you'll land when you fly (Talking about becoming so successful, reaching the heights of fame, he left England and went to LA. He's talked about how as a kid that was seen as the goal, where you know you've 'made it' if you're living there).

So, with that interpretation in mind, I think that lyric means he didn't realize how much he loved England until he returned home. Not just for trips but to move there and say, "This is where I live." He didn't know what he'd lost (probably by living in California) until he found it (came home to England).

It's a play on the phrase "you don't know what you have until you've lost it"

Baby, you were the love of my life, woah Maybe you don't know what's lost 'til you find it It's not what I wanted, to leave you behind Don't know where you'll land when you fly But, baby, you were the love of my life

[foxes-that-run]

loml

Love of my life is Harry’s only track 13. More on Taylor’s loml

[shyjusticewarrior]

loml: "Should've let it stay buried"

the 1: "In my defense I have none for digging up the grave another time"

[blue-whale-supernova]

lmol analysis Malec Version from Taylor's TTPD (again this is the breakup period) I have many feelings "Oh, what a valiant roar What a bland goodbye The coward claimed he was a lion" This is the line that reminds me of Alec the most, he tried so hard to be brave, to be sure of and to commit to his relationship with Magnus. But he was so scared after all, all those years of repressing his identity and putting himself second weren't just going to go away, and he caved under Camille's temptation and manipulation. Not enough to be a betrayal, but just wavered enough to hurt his lover's heart. "In your suit and tie, in the nick of time You lowdown boy, you stand up guy Holy Ghost, you told me I'm The love of your life" THIS. THIS IS SO ALEC. Throughout the course of his relationship with Magnus and the war, he grew from a moody insecure teenager to someone who was responsible, braver, honest and much more happy with himself. Granted, he still had his insecurities, but just imagine Magnus looking at Alec in a suit at some formal event and noting how much he's grown "When your impressionist paintings of Heaven Turned out to be fakes Well, you took me to hell, too" I interpret this line as Alec's Nephilim lineage supposedly being superiorly holy, yet rendering him unable to be himself. This pains Magnus, because when the supposedly morally superior Shadowhunter turns out not be morally perfect, when the one you love most hurts you because he is weak in the places that you are weak too, that hurts. "You said I'm the love of your life About a million times" *sobs* "You talked me under the table Talking rings and talking cradles I wish I could un-recall How we almost had it all" THIS. THIS. I DONT KNOW HOW I WILL COME BACK FROM THIS. THANK GOD IT DIDNT STAY TRUE but they almost had it all *screams* Magnus I bet you talked about that under the table Imagine Alec just trying to get over how he almost had the love of his life Some comparisons- "I felt aglow like this Never before and never since" *gasp* the semi-loveatfirstsight at the party "But I felt a hole like this Never before, and ever since" YOU KNOW WHO FELT A HOLE YOU KNOW WHICH TWO PEOPLE FELT HOLES??? EVER SINCE A BREAKUP AND 'NOT LIKE THIS' BEFORE??? "If you know it in one glimpse, it's legendary You and I go from one kiss to gettin married" "If you know it in one glimpse, it's legendary What we thought was for all time was momentary" This line kills me. Magnus really considered being together with Alec forever (or ending his own mortality), and it just poof went away. And it would have seemed so short compared to the lifetime he lived, but WE ALL KNOW HOW TORN HE WAS OVER IT

"Dancing phantoms on the terrace Are they second-hand embarrassed That I can't get out of bed?" Magnus TAT TAT TAT he definitely couldn't get out of bed, and was definitely feeling like a failure for fumbling his 500 year old younger lover

"You cinephile in black and white All those plot twists and dynamite Mr. Steal your girl boy, then make her cry" Who's a cinephile and who's full of plot twists and winding stories and stole Alec's heart? A certain warlock, I think. High-key stole Alec when he was hung up on Jace. Also though I support Magnus for going no-con during breakup period, Alec probably had anxiety over his phone like the second-most in the entire series(the first being Jace bc his parabatai is trying to get himself killed every two seconds). I can't how many time bby boy was just pining over his phone

"Who's gonna tell me the truth When you blew in with the winds of fate And told me I reformed you" Alec really didn't know the weight of a relationship with an immortal entailed. Izzy and Jace and Clary all thought the relationship was great for him, which it was, to help him grow into a better person, but, no one could have warned him about the looming anxiety of becoming an insignificant piece in Magnus' long line of histories. And Magnus definitely told Alec how much he meant to him, but like Alec rightfully called him out on, didn't want to talk about the obvious gap between what Alec knew and what Magnus had experienced.

"I'm combing through the braids of lies 'I'll never leave' ..."

Alec probably thought this. Sniff sniff.

"Our field of dreams, engulfed in fire Your arson's match your somber eyes" DO YOU REMEMBER MAGNUS' DREAMS?! DO YOU REMEMBER THEM HUH!HOW HE DREAMT OF FIRE?? and boy does Magnus have somber eyes and their relationship went up in flames before the war started "And I'll still see it until I die You're the loss of my life"

WAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH I've said it before and I'll say it again. If one of them had somehow not survived during the war, or not have gotten back together after, they would be the loss of each other's life. This would be for Alec's mortal life and Magnus' immortal one. I said, "I don't mind, it takes time" I thought I was better safe than starry-eyed Alec, when he first met Magnus; or Magnus, when his eye was caught. They both were cautious, and were both willing to try it out slow. I don't think any of them expected it to go as far as it did, BUT THEY COULDNT HELP IT "Who's gonna stop us from waltzing Back into rekindled flames? If we know the steps anyway" YES. Please do so. Honestly I don't think even if they were still broken up after war, they could've resisted getting back together in the following years. But thank the Angel that wasn't the case. I rest my case.

THEY ARE EACH OTHER'S LOVE OF THEIR LIVES. THE END.

[dearreader]

hello fellow members of the tortured poets department.

but i would like to enter into evidence the songs for the days i missed and analyze loml as well as some parallels to chloe or sam or sophia or marcus

previous days:

fortnight; THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT; my boy only breaks his favorite toys; down bad; so long, london; but daddy i love him; fresh out the slammer+florida!!!; guilty as sin?; who’s afraid of little old me?; i can fix him (no really i can)

loml is a beautifully heartbreaking.

the song is about taylor reflecting on her past romance but finally able to see it was always bad. but there’s hints of more below the surface. with the opening line asking “who’s going to stop us from waltzing back into rekindled flames, if we know the steps anyway?” we know this relationship is one that’s constantly been revived. both parties run back to each other constantly and always look to each other as the great love that could’ve been if the stars had played out right, think the one and loosely all of the girls.

taylor believes they run back to each other because they both do love each other and they’re meant to be, “if you know it in one kiss, it’s legendary/you and i go from … to getting married” but also acknowledges that they have been here before and the relationship ended but neither can ever let it go, “you and i still alive and killing time at the cemetery/never quite buried”. but this idea is echoed much later onto the album, on one of my favorite songs, chloe or sam or sophia or marcus.

i made a post discussing how that song is about a love both parties can’t let go of and even when they come back together and it falls apart taylor still can’t let it go. she’s still wondering if something played out differently maybe it would’ve worked out. because of that and obvious parallels such as “dancing phantoms on the terrace/are they second hand embarrassed that i can’t get out of bed/because something counterfeit is dead?” (also playing back into taylor realizing she can’t fix the con man she fell for in i can fix him no really i can) and how in chloe et al. taylor wonders if the relationship is better in hindsight, “can we watch our phantoms like watching wild horses?/cooler in theory but not if you force it?”, and that maybe their love was so great and is so wonderful to look back at because it already passed and trying to regain and control it will only end with people getting hurt, “i wish i could unrecall how we almost had it all.”

but even with that love still unable to leave taylor there’s anger she holds in both songs that she knows led to the end, “she shut talked me under tables/talking rings and rocking cradles” and “

t’s her admitting that both parties are at fault because they both know that their relationship and love is broken or killing them but they still know the steps and movements. but this still feels more like taylor is trying to grapple with the breakup and is angry and upset. she’s trying to figure it out and is heartbroken, still cursing his name and what he did to her, “she shit talked me under tables/talking rings and rocking cradles” and “you said some things that i can’t unabsorb/you turned me into an idea of sorts”, because he really did hurt her and their love. but even inspite all that she still calls him the lose of her life because she really felt something with him and could see a future unfold and is now cursed to forever wonder if something could’ve happened if things had played differently. and her only real hope she had of getting over it is watching him finally move on and have a family so she knows it was just her and could give her some closure.

but even with all this constant back and forth, this pulling within her over their love and what was and could’ve been, she still considers him the lose of her life because she couldn’t make it last…

[kaylorstree]

TTPD Gaylor Lyric Analysis

Because there are so many songs, I’m only analysing the gayest ones.

SORRY FOR TAKING SO LONG TO POST THIS!!!!!!

But Daddy I Love Him

Possibly Taylor’s gayest song EVER.

‘These people only raise you to cage you’

A lot of this is about her team, handlers and parents wanting her to stay closeted.

‘These people try to save you because they hate you’

This references judgemental religious people, to whom if she ever came out would want to save her, and pray for her, out of faux concern.

‘Sarahs and Hannahs in their Sunday best’

Again, religious Bible names, but also could reference American conservatives.

‘Told my parents and they came around’

This has to be about being gay. I really doubt her parents wouldn’t have a HUGE problem or be able to influence her that much in terms of problematic men, since she has dated many previously, such as John Mayer and Jake Gylenhall.

‘Tell him to floor it through the fences’

This references Getaway Car, but I also think it references the YNTCD fences, and the other fence meme.

‘I’d rather burn my whole life down’ Dating a man would never ‘burn down’ her entire life.

Down Bad

‘Crying at the gym’

Taylor and Karlie went to the gym all the time. There is so much photographic evidence of this.

Side note (which I think I have previously posted about): I’ve always found it odd how they would be so dressed up for the gym, particularly Taylor. It makes me think they were having lunch or hanging out in secret, for some privacy from the paparazzi maybe?

‘Like I just lost my twin’

Do I really need to elaborate this line?

‘Fuck it if I can’t have him’

I genuinely see no way Taylor couldn’t date any man she really wanted. The only way she REALLY couldn’t have someone would have to be a HUGE reason.

‘Did you take all my old clothes, just to leave me here naked and alone?’

A man wouldn’t take a woman’s clothes, Also, Taylor and Karlie shared a load of clothes back in the day.

Guilty As Sin?

The religious undertones continue, along with the references to heaven and angels.

‘Written mine on my upper thigh, only in my mind’

‘What if the way you hold me, is the thing that’s holy’

‘Without touching his skin, how can I be guilty as sin’

Surely it isn’t a sin by any standards to THINK about having sex with a man? But a woman, YES.

‘I keep my longest locked, in lower case inside a vault’.

This was suggest she has repressed longings she needs to hide, but also suggests ‘loml’ and ‘iwannagetyouback’ are important to listen to and decipher.

Fresh Out The Slammer

‘Fresh out the slammer, I’m running back home to you’

This suggests being imprisoned or trapped. To consider a 6 year relationship as being a prison would be offensive to Joe, but would make sense if this was just another fake relationship she’s trapped in until she can finally be with the person she has been waiting for.

Clara Bow

‘You look like Stevie Nicks, in ‘75, the hair and lips’

At first I didn’t understand why this reference jumped out at me- I then realised that there was this tweet comparing Karlie to Steve Nicks’ ex, Linsday Buckingham.

‘You look like Clara Bow in this life, remarkable’

She sings about women and their features throughout this song.

‘Half moonshine, full eclipse’

Karlie is always referred to the sunshine, hiding the sun would be an eclipse.

Peter

‘In closets like cedar, preserved from when we were just kids’

‘You said you were gonna grow up, then you were gonna come find me’

This suggests waiting for someone when they can finally be together.

‘As the men masqueraded, I hope you’d return’

Men masquerading suggests acting or pretending, just as her beards have been until she can be in a real relationship with the person she actually wants to be with.

iwannagetyouback

‘Wait til you fix your face’

Only a girl would need to fix their face. This also aligns with The 1975 song ‘Girls’, the one that was playing when Taylor and Karlie famously kissed.

‘Curse you out, or pull you into the closet’

I mean, again, when does someone ever literally pull some into a closet? Only figuratively.

Chloe Or Sam Or Sophia Or Marcus

The premise of the song is talking about someone bisexual. It’s impossible to decipher it any other way.

So, she’s outing and implicating one of her previous boyfriends which would be EXTREMELY problematic.

On the other hand, if she was singing about a bisexual woman, that would make sense. There is less stigma surrounding bisexual women compared to men, by some extent.

The Prophecy

‘Don’t want money, just someone who really loves me’

Again, this doesn’t make sense to attribute to a man. Why would she lose money by being in a relationship? Only if it was incredibly controversial, like a queer one.

Also, ‘The Prophecy’ suggests that this is the way things have to be, have been and will be. However, if she changes this it will not be expected for others in the future.

‘I got cursed like Eve got bitten’

‘Was it punishment?’

This alludes once again to sin and religious imagery, but also about how being LGBT can feel like a curse or something unwanted.

‘Looked to the sky’

This suggests God is responsible for the prophecy itself.

‘Pat around when I get home’ alludes to crime and accusations. Perhaps growing up her family were maybe onto her concerning where she’s been and who she’s been with.

Who’s Afraid Of Little Old Me?

‘You don’t get to tell me about sad’

‘You wouldn’t last a year in the asylum where they raised me’

As discussed online, Taylor didn’t grow up with any particular trauma or a bad childhood by any stretch of the imagination. However, the concept of her being closeted on a global scale, to constantly having to lie in order to keep her livelihood is pretty traumatic in my opinion.

A lot of people wouldn’t be able to survive that.

Please tell me what your interpretations are! 🌼🌈

[the--last-great-american-dynasty]

apparently we’re supposed to introduce ourselves on this thing so

hi

my name is elise rebekah 👋

i’m a 19 year old nursing student. my pronouns are she/her (i’m good with they/them too) and i’m a lesbian (Andrew Garfield is my exception). i probably have adhd but i’m a 19 year old woman who’s gotten straight A’s her whole life so i don’t have a diagnosis. besides, who has time to go to therapy? (that’s a joke, please go to therapy)

i’m honestly pretty boring so idk really what to put. i am good at making lists though, so imma just do that.

LIKES:

the colors pink and purple

reading

pastel interior design

cozy cottages in the woods

daydreaming

wishing i had magic powers

both dogs and cats

chocolate and coffee

doing cool lab experiments

thai and vietnamese food

the 2005 Pride & Prejudice movie

pretty flowers

women

converse

cult documentaries

colorful pens

biology and anatomy

musicals

fashion analysis videos despite the fact that I know nothing about fashion

going on walks

those gold ornate vintage mirrors

pretty pictures

daydreaming again (it’s how i spend most of my time)

FANDOMS:

stranger things

pjo and hoo

harry potter (but NOT jkr)

dead boy detectives

heartstopper

legendborn

bridgerton

loads more but my brain doesn’t work rn

FAV SHIPS:

byler (will byers x mike wheeler)

jancy (jonathan byers x nancy wheeler)

percabeth (percy jackson x annabeth chase)

lumax (lucas sinclair x max mayfield)

steddie (steve harrington x eddie munson)

wolfstar (sirius black x remus lupin)

payneland (edwin payne x charles rowland)

also loads more but my brain still isn’t working

MUSICIANS:

noah kahan (fav song: part of me)

taylor swift (fav song: the prophecy)

chappell roan (fav song: california)

hozier (fav song: talk)

grace power (fav song: water worship pray)

dove cameron (fav song: sand)

conan gray (fav song: people watching)

MUSICALS:

hamilton

wicked

dear evan hansen

six

les miserables

in the heights

the greatest showman

newsies

tick, tick, boom (shout out to andrew garfield, loml)

BOOKS:

pjo and hoo

emily wilde’s encylopedia of faeries

legendborn

acotar

the cruel prince

the house in the cerulean sea

cultish: the language of fanaticism

the inheritance games

a hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy

six of crows

the hunger games

paula

bridgerton

there’s a million more books i could put here

also my tbr list is ridiculously long

MOVIES & SHOWS:

the 2005 pride and prejudice

knives out (my comfort movie!!!)

greta gerwig’s little women

stranger things

dead boy detectives

anne with an e

derry girls (my comfort show!!!)

brooklyn 99

new girl

heartstopper

bridgerton

red notice

oceans 8 (and oceans 11)

do revenge

wine country

wednesday

my lady jane

abbot elementary

tick, tick, boom!

marvel movies

the hunger games

in the heights

i could go on forever

i’m a college student, work in the ER, am an introvert, and am chronically online, which means i have no life and am perpetually single.

guess that’s about it

you should follow me, it makes me feel good about myself

XOXO

your friendly neighborhood lesbian

elise rebekah

[mastermindmp3]

loml analysis

(Almost 2 Days late), but I’d like to jot some thoughts down about this song. Honestly, I like this song, but it’s definitely lower in my ranking of TTPD. I’m a professed lover of lines people hate, but even I’m a little turned away by Mr. Steal Your Girl and make her cry.

But, I will give it credit, this line is a very good summation at the song. The narrator, lured and seduced away from a long relationship, into promises made by a “con man” who says he can give her everything she wants; Implied to be what her current lover cannot. Talking rings and talking cradles, I wish I could unrecall how we almost had it all.

The conman, as we’ll call him, is an old lover. We embroidered the memories of the time I was away, preserving them as a memento, and moving on to her love with him. The main refrain of you said I’m the love of your life, about a million times ties us back into other songs. The love bombing of Down Bad, the specificity of “you said” in a rather accusatory tone. The speaker is throwing it in her new lover’s face. You said you loved me.

loml paints a specific, sad portrait. Sworn to have changed, the conman plays the exact same role he always has, selling the narrator on his view of heaven (with her,) and then, once he’s made his metaphorical coin, leaving her high and dry. I think it’s so sad; she cries that they should’ve let it stayed buried.

I think a lot of people have talked about the line dancing phantoms on the terrace, are they secondhand embarrassed that I can’t get out of bed ‘cause something counterfeit’s dead? I… love it. Again, we see that “album in conversation with itself.” idea, with the fact that the narrator’s previous relationship is always represented by death. Her beloved ghost, the funeral bells in So Long London, they all tie into this. The "good" relationship the speaker feels she should be mourning, the idea of the wholesome life, cringes at her crying over a thief.

It may have been counterfeit, but it still died, and the narrator wants to mourn. There’s a lot, in this album, about things that only appear to be the real, and how cherishing the fake can still have the same impacts as if it were real.

After all… he’s the loss of [her] life.

I’d also like to point out the idea that the second love is a mirror of the first. The conman promised everything the narrator wanted with the lover she leaves in London, and hurtled her towards the same end: lonely, pining, and hurt.

[taylortruther]

Can I know what is your interpretation/analysis of loml?

i want to but admittedly it is hard when i feel like the song is pretty straightforward. are there lyrics you need help with or want to discuss?

i feel this stanza encapsulates the message of the song:

Who's gonna tell me the truth when you blew in with the winds of fate And told me I reformed you?

= you told me you'd changed for me, and no one could even try to convince me otherwise, because i felt it was fate

When your impressionist paintings of heaven turned out to be fakes Well, you took me to hell too

= you spun me a lie (saying you'd changed, saying you wanted to get married and have children with me, you wanted a future) and it ruined my life

And all at once, the ink bleeds A con man sells a fool a get-love-quick scheme

= all at once the ugly realization sets in: i was so desperate for love, and to make up for lost time in my last relationship, that i was duped by an obvious con artist. your promises to be better, to marry me and have a family with me (which is what i waited so long for in my last relationship), were just obvious lies. and i was a fool for believing it.

But I've felt a hole like this Never before and ever since

= this hurt me like nothing else ever has or will

[9w1ft]

Yeah ever since TTPD dropped my brain has been like "In a crowded room a few short years ago, and sometimes there's no proof, you just know" -> "If you know it in one glimpse, it's legendary, You and I go from one kiss to getting married" whenever I listen to loml and it's been making feel insane and feral like I'm about to start howling at the moon at any second and I feel like the alleged Timeless that was supposed to be on reputation would make me feel even more feral and insane so I want it as a reputation TV vault track so bad 🫠

for me the current thing on my mind is the peace parallels, like

“you paint dreamscapes on the wall, i talk shit with my friends” and “give you a child” with “when your impressionist paintings turned out to be fakes well you took me to hell too” and “you shit talked me under the table talking rings and talking cradles”

and like

“i never had the courage of my convictions as long as danger is near” with “oh what a valiant roar what a bland goodbye the coward claimed he was a lion”

sometimes i wonder if taylor keeps a spreadsheet or table or notes as to what keywords or metaphors belong to what perspective because it’s usually consistent but sometimes there’s overlap or inconsistency and i find the confusion all very funny. not to say of course that two people cant feel the same way about something sometimes.

one thing though in the postmodern post- dear reader world that has eased my analysis paralysis a bit is that i think she’s more aware of how people pick away at the meat and bones of her songs like a thanksgiving turkey and i don’t think she’s above messing with people. therefore i no longer look for a 100% hit rate with things i track in her music.

smokescreens and the like have always been the case throughout her career but i do think that in recent times there’s less of a definitive truth hidden within her music to be conquered by True Fans. not none, but less, it’s like a puzzle with some extraneous pieces or a mystery with unnecessary information added in. it’s a different level difficulty of puzzle. nobody is truly above the traps. but i think that’s actually comforting sometimes.

[midnightsslut]

i really enjoyed seeing your analysis about which songs likely point to which muse, i hope it's okay that i give my interpretation because i've been itching to analyze it/talk about it and haven't had anyone to talk to. lol

joe and matty are definitely both all over ttpd but i think midnights was the joever album. i think we just didn't know it at the time it came out.

in my mind, the songs mostly about joe: mbobhft, so long london, how did it end, i hate it here (with shades of matty), i look in people's windows

mostly about matty: fortnight (pining over him), ttpd, down bad, bdilh (but has shades of travis!*), fresh out the slammer (leaving joe), guilty as sin, i can fix him, loml, tsmwel, chloe et al, peter

about both: florida, icdiwabh, the black dog (i think this starts as a song about joe in the first verse but becomes more about matty after), imgonnagetyouback

about neither: waolom, the alchemy (travis), clara bow, the albatross, so high school (travis), thank you aimee, the prophecy (this feels like it's about her overall relationship history), cassandra, the bolter, robin, the manuscript (another more general song about her relationships)

and about bdilh: i think this one started as a matty song, but the "we came back when the heat died down" line is particularly interesting to me, because that didn't happen. he ran off and ghosted her. it makes me wonder if that part is inspired by her new relationship with travis - "we" didn't come back, but she did, alone, with a new man, and everyone "just loves him."

alternatively: it could just be her daydreaming about a life where everyone did get over her relationship with matty because "time, doesn't it give some perspective."

anyway, thanks for letting me ramble. lmao

absolutely! feel free to send in any asks in this vein at any time. I love talking about this too lol.

I’ve always seen the last part of bdilh as a daydream that never realized, especially because she keeps repeating the chaotic lines that make it such a distinctive matty song.

i actually think peter is mostly joe, but the bridge is matty. it’s one of the few songs on the album with lines that are somehow exclusive to both muses. ‘I won’t confess that I waited, but I let the lamp burn’ is 100% matty, but the tenderness of ‘we both did the best we could do underneath the same moon in different galaxies’ and ‘life was always easier on you than it was on me’ feel very how did it end-adjacent to me.

i actually think the black dog is entirely about joe but i could see some of the rage in the last verse/bridge being about matty tbh.

[twopoppies]

In love of my life song, can you please tell me what does these lyrics mean? I mean it is clear that it's for louis and was confirmed based on 'just coordinates' as that pointed to louis when you are home shared those coordinates. But what does these mean--

- 'I don't know you half as well as all my friends'?? If they've been together for so long, they would know each other well right??

- 'don't know where you land when you fly' ?? If I take it literally, in this Era of network how can one not know where the other person is? You just gotta text..🤔

- 'you WERE the love of my life'?? Even if we go by H answer that this is about England, how can it be in past tense.. why was he pointing everything to louis and saying he WERE his Loml.. he could've gone with his logic(england) and just mention you ARE the love of my life.. does that mean they are done for good?

Please ignore if its too much..

Personally, I don’t think the song is about Louis. And that’s why those lyrics don’t make sense to you. I do think it’s about England. I personally think the song is about home. Louis is a part of that, but I don’t see this as a song about him.

“It’s just coordinates” can be about any location — their shared home, England, etc. I don’t see it as “proof” it’s about Louis.

“I don’t know you half as well as all my friends” — to me, that makes perfect sense if the song is about England. He left years ago, he lives there part time, he’s always traveling, many of his friends live there full time and never left. They know it better than he does. And when he talks about “your creases and your ends” — ends could mean neighborhoods.

“Don’t know where you’ll land when you fly” — to me, he’s talking about his career, his life. We often talk about children leaving home as “leaving the nest”. He left home and never could have imagined where that flying away from home would take him (away from England, away from everything he knew).

“You were the love of my life” — he sings this as someone rediscovering something. You don’t know what you’ve lost till you find it. I think he’s talking about rediscovering his love of England, his home — as in, “I hadn’t realized how much I loved you until I left”. To me, it’s not at all a song about losing something (or someone), it’s about rediscovering how much you love something (or someone).

Hope that helps.

[foxes-that-run]

loml

The title of this song refers to both love of my life and loss of my life. Harry's only track 13 is Love of My Life. Like Harry's LOML, loml is a song about letting a long held love go. Both are regretful of love lost but neither over it. As a song about a long museship the references to both Taylor and Harry's work is dense, so this post is long. A shorter TLDNR is here. The nature of the relationship Taylor is describing is one that should have a lot of references, and it does. Each chorus refers to a different song where Harry professed love.

The initial Spotify Canvas was of Taylor in a sweater looking emotional. After Fortnight was released it was replaced with Taylor and Post inside the Style-head reading Story of Us on the road. Taylor played loml once as a surprise song on piano in Paris, with Paris in the first show after their release on 9 May 2024.

Lyrics

[Verse 1] Who’s gonna stop us from waltzing back into rekindled flames If we know the steps anyway? We embroidered the memories of the time I was away Stitching, “We were just kids, babe”

The first verse establishes that Taylor is singing to an old muse at the end of a breakup, or false start. She refers to them being together in their youth, of wistful memories and that the love is irreplaceable. It is full of references:

Waltzing back into rekindled flames, Taylor refers to dance as a kind of subconscious action in several songs, this reminds me most closely of 'Dancing around it' in High Infidelity and 'Dancing is a dangerous thing' in Cowboy Like Me - where the dance is also tempting a romantic relationship, they know the steps - as in they have fallen into this before.

Embroidering memories touches on the Haylor theme of stitches. 'Away is in a lot of Taylor's songs. 'Taylor' embroiders in EHC and LK posted about embroidery after TTPD

'While I was away' reminds me of AYHTS "People like you always want back the love they gave away" and Midnight Ran's "the life I gave away" - a similar idea that she was absent.

Stitching 'We were just kids babe' is a reference to Patti Smith's Biography 'Just Kids' which is her memories about her time with fellow artist Robert Mapplethorpe who died of Aids. Taylor also refers to this time in Patti Smith's life in TTPD. Patti thanked Taylor for the callout with posting a photo of her reading Dylan Thomas' biography. This line establishes this muse is a fellow young artist who Taylor had an important relationship with when they were young. Taylor & Harry have likened themselves to famous couples

I said, “I don’t mind, it takes time” I thought I was better safe than starry-eyed I felt aglow like this Never before and never since

'I don't mind, it takes time', this idea is referred to in Peter also and other Haylor songs:

Run: Piece of paper where I wrote, “I’ll wait for you”

How You Get The Girl: I would wait forever and ever

“Slut!”: Everyone wants him, that was my crime, the wrong place at the right time

Say Don’t Go: The waiting is a sadness fading into madness

"I thought I was better safe than starry-eyed" - the prologue describes three muses, as does the Fortnight MV. One has celestial imagery that links to Satellite, such as stars, comets, orbit, planet and whole sky. Starry-eyed is in a few songs including:

CIWYW - Starry eyes sparking up my darkest night

Cowboy like me - Eyes full of stars

High Infidelity - Do I really have to chart the constellations in his eye

Better safe than starry eyed also reminds me of "How dare you think it's romantic / Leaving me safe and stranded" in Down Bad that refers to New Romantics "Please leave me stranded"

'Never felt aglow like this', 'never before and never since' is a glowing irreplaceable connection. Taylor described similar in:

This Love - This love is glowing in the dark

Question...? - Does it feel like everything's just like second best after that meteor strike?

[Chorus 1] If you know it in one glimpse, it’s legendary You and I go from one kiss to getting married Still alivе, killing time at the cemеtery Never quite buried

I knew from one glimpse, it was legendary, we go from one kiss to getting married is a reference to Holy Ground:

“Back to a first glance feeling on New York time/ Back when you fit my poems like a perfect rhyme/ Took off faster than a green light, go : Yeah, you skip the conversation when you already know”

A similar line is also in Glitch - "Five seconds later, I'm fastening myself to you with a stitch"

‘Still alive at the cemetery’ is similar to The 1: “In my defense, I have none / For digging up the grave another time” which in turn is a reference to the OOTW/LAWYMMD music video link where Taylor from the end of 1989 is Taylor at the start of the next video.

In your suit and tie, in the nick of time

‘In your suit and tie’ is dressed for a wedding. Arriving ‘in nick of time’ is the muse interrupting a wedding saying “don’t do this there’s still time!” Which Taylor said of Harry, when describing the muse of Style and 1989 Taylor said she expected this. Here she is saying she was fooling herself.

You low-down boy, you stand-up guy You Holy Ghost, you told me I’m the love of your life You said I’m the love of your life About a million times

“Low down boy; you stand up guy” is a person who has been in Taylor’s life since they were a boy (with a dirty mouth) who has grown to be a stand up guy. They are now grown but not with her.

Taylor then refers to Harry’s music, Holy Ghost refers to Two Ghosts and refers to Love of My Life by name. In which Harry says it 5 times, he’s performed it 102 times to around 700k fans, so yeah, a lot. Note it's “said” not “told me”.

[Verse 2] Who’s gonna tell me the truth when you blew in with the winds of fate And told me I reformed you? When your impressionist paintings of heaven turned out to be fakes

Taylor refers to truth often, but usually her telling or seeing a truth, But in the Alcott the muse tells her the truth and she says she she has fallen back in love with the muse. I imagine in Taylors life many do not tell the truth, but this muse can and does. Here Taylor asks if they will still tell the truth if they are together.

The muse told Taylor she reformed them. Harry says this in Stockholm Syndrome, that he "used to sing about being free but now he has changed his mind". On 13 May 2023 Harry added Stockholm Syndrome to the HSLOT set for the last 18 shows. A song he he wrote for Taylor when they were dating and had not performed since 2018.

The impressionist paintings may refer to the Two Ghosts music video, which was or became tour screens. (Thank you @notoriousbeb) The reference to fakes is where an overture of love did not come through.

Well, you took me to hell too And all at once, the ink bleeds A con man sells a fool a get-love-quick scheme But I’ve felt a hole like this Never before and ever since

The second half of this verse links back to past writing to each other

'And all at once, the ink bleeds' I LOVE this line so much. It has a double meaning, the ink bleeds as Taylor writes music inspired by a museship that has featured in so much of her work. The ink bleeds like emotion bleeds as the bleeding love theme.

"A conman sells a fool a get love quick scheme" this line is dense:

In Why She Disappeared, the poem played before Getaway Car in the Reputation Stadium Tour included "Wary of phone calls and promises, Charmers, dandies and get-love-quick-schemes"

Harry and Taylor have referred to each other as robbers, thieves, cowboys and now a conman see thief theme

Harry and Taylor have both referred to themselves as a fool many times for being stuck on each other.

Never felt a hole like this before or since is crushing, it reminds me of Questions...?'s "Does it feel like everything's just like second-best after that Meteor strike?"

[Chorus 2] If you know it in one glimpse, it’s legendary What we thought was for all time was momentary Still alive, killing time at the cemetery Never quite buried You cinephile in black and white All those plot twists and dynamite Mr. Steal Your Girl, then make her cry You said I’m the love of your life

In the second chorus Taylor again refers to songs by Harry, but changes which ones:

Mr Steal Your Girl refers to One Directions Steal My Girl.

B&W Cinephile may refer to when Harry kept his Instagram B&W for 2 years from when 1989 was released with the line 'the rest of the world was in screaming color' it may also refer to the Treat People With Kindness music video in B&W and widescreen. Harry is also a cinephile, both in being a fan of cinema and appearing in more recent films than her actor partner at the time.

[Bridge] You shit-talked me under the table Talking rings and talking cradles I wish I could un-recall How we almost had it all Dancing phantoms on the terrace Are they second-hand embarrassed That I can’t get out of bed ‘Cause something counterfeit’s dead? It was legendary It was momentary It was unnecessary Should’ve let it stay buried

Taylor acts this lyric out in fortnight in the eras tour.

Shit-talking can mean either disparaging remarks or saying something untrue and going on about it. Talking, (or drinking) someone under the table is doing so in excess. So I take this first line 'shit-talked me under the table' to mean the muse went on saying untrue things for ages, in the context of the rest of the verse I think that is making statements of love they were not yet willing to follow through on.

Taylor sees they were so close, a similar line is in TTPD there is a similar line of 'litany of reasons we could have played for keeps this time' Taylors muse has professed love and that they are endgame but not followed through.

In the Only Angel Demo Harry sang "I must admit I married you a thousand times. Had to change my tune when I found out what it'd be like."

Counterfeit is also in Glitch "It must be counterfeit, I think there's been a glitch"

The shit-talk is rings and cradles, in a time that Taylor was disappointed a long term relationship ended another long term muse flirted with settling down but did not. Harry wore the Peace Ring and Haylor ring for years, they seemed as possible promise rings which these lines remind me of. As do songs of both which may refer to the other. The Haylor ring is featured in merchandise for TTPD and Taylor wears it in the Fortnight Music Video so it is likely this ring.

[Final Chorus] Oh, what a valiant roar What a bland goodbye The coward claimed he was a lion I’m combing through the braids of lies “I’ll never leave,” “Never mind” Our field of dreams engulfed in fire Your arson’s match, your somber eyes And I’ll still see it until I die You’re the loss of my life

The final chorus reads as a bitter disappointment of Taylors muse has meekly said they will not be with her.

Stockholm Syndrome - which Harry readded to his setlist 13 March 2023 (gone since 2018) has the line "Baby, I'll never leave if you keep holding me this way, oh o-oh" Here Taylor has compared it to what looks like a goodbye statement from someone who doesn't want to talk about it.

It is the loss of Taylor's life, one she felt at the time of writing this song was not one she would get over.

Valiant Roar

The 'valiant roar' is likely a reference to Harry's Gucci Lion ring which he has worn since 2018 and briefly lost in April 2022 at Coachella. It attracted a lot of attention until it's return when it was learned it has an inscription of 'second time's the charm'. Taylor also wore a Gucci Lion ring at Electric Lady Studios on 12 April 2023 (before heading to Florida). At that time the 1975 were in Australia and Harry was in the US after a golf tournament in Augusta. This line also reminds me of this scene in DWD which OW described as a 'primal roar' to Rolling Stone in 2022.

[jonismitchell]

it's a common take that ttpd is a chronological story, detailing the end of a long-term relationship that flows into a messy, unfulfilling rebound. as a reminder, here's my personal interpretation of that saga:

the big question when you read ttpd as a chronological story of going from one man to another is: what the fuck is guilty as sin? doing as track 9? ostensibly the first relationship is over in fresh out the slammer -> grieved in florida!!! -> and now we're back to the fantasies that entertained the narrator in the first relationship?

this song however, perfectly slots into my narrative of ttpd... if you assume it's about a woman.

as always, disclaimer before we get into the meat of the analysis: these songs were once about taylor swift's life, they are now about mine.

she sent me "downtown lights" while i was in a relationship with a man that was supposed to exonerate/save/keep me safe from my gay desire... it had been a while since i'd felt attraction, hence the boredom. the cage of heterosexuality was once just fine (but as referenced in my loml analysis, impossible to stay in when you know what the alternative is). am i allowed to be sad if this is what i chose?

i dream of escaping the cage by any means necessary (there's a lot of reference in this verse to the depression that comes as a result of forcing oneself to be with a man you're not attracted to/don't want). crashing into her is a paradox because i've convinced myself i don't want her, and i'm not supposed to.

yet here come the visions...

pretty self-explanatory fantasy, worth it to note that the idea of homosexual desire/attraction is commonly considered sinful. the hedge maze -> what i left behind when i left my partner/queer relationship/only real love i've ever had. the real desire i swore off.

i keep my real feelings in lowercase, as small as they can be, locked up where they can't hurt me. the idea that it's fine to be gay as long as you don't act on it is literally standard homophobic rhetoric. and then the idea that the fantasies are fatal, both because i feel like i might die if i have to shake off the shackles of comphet to accept myself again and because of the existing relationship with a man that's supposed to be your forever.

then, of course, the vow is the idea that someone will help you escape said shackles.

the grave is for the heterosexual, normal, acceptable version of myself i died—the waves are bringing me back to life. which is all very interesting in the context of the song's death imagery.

rolling the stone away, in the bible, is proof that jesus is who he says he is. similarly, if i roll away the heterosexual performance for who i really am, i'll be crucified—but i would be if this man didn't work out. and then the rest of this establishes a queer relationship as the real religion, haunting (as something once dead would...) and stunning.

[lipslikethegardensofbabylon]

#ttpd analysis day five - So Long, London

when i first listened to TTPD i was surprised that this was track five when loml is…… right there, but it definitely grew on me and i do think that it’s a brilliant choice for a track five. they’re typically the sadder/more heartfelt tracks but i loooove that it has an underlying pulse of rage from being wronged. it’s so good

i don’t know who first did it, but i’ve seen a lot of people comment on how the opening production mimics the chime of big Ben and i love that, it’s one of those perfect little taylor-isms we know and love. the fairy lights through the mist is such a sad line, it makes me think of desperate sailors looking for the lighthouse lights, but also the use of an ocean/boat metaphor reminds me of something my grandma used to say - like ships passing in the night. it kind of paints the picture that this was a gradual separation, sort of slowly and then all at once.

verse two has some of my favorite lyrics like - i founded the club she’s heard great things about. first of all, sick burn. it could be taken a lot of ways, i think a popular perception is taylor is a big name and brought attention to the muse but i like to think that this is another way of saying i spent years helping you heal and now this other person gets to meet this you, and not the one i had. kind of like olivia rodrigo’s i guess that therapist i found for you, she really helped / now you can be a better man for your brand-new girl

the stitches undone two graves one gun was something that at first i was just like oooh that’s good, but the more i listened it reminds me so much of you had to kill me but it killed you just the same. just. oy vey. i saw someone else say that both graves could have been for the narrator too, like killing her past and present self. idk if i agree with that but that is what i love about her songwriting, there’s so many ways it could go and reaches everyone for a different reason

one thing that is a huge theme overall in the song is how much sad did you think i had? like you can’t help but recall collabs - exile, champagne problems, coney island. i think taylor likes writing sad songs as much as the next person but also if that’s all you have in common that’s not sustainable, at least not in a healthy way.

the had a good run a moment of warm sun is another oof moment. so long, daylight

[bookns]

My favorite lyrics from the original album:

Fortnight: all my mornings are Mondays stuck in an endless February

The tortured poets department: We're modern idiots OR I choose this cyclone with you (side note: I thought it was modern DAY idiots)

My boy only breaks his favorite toys: I'm the queen of sand castles he destroys

Down Bad: Everything comes out teenage petulance

So Long London: (side note: The beginning sounding like a wedding bell BURNS ME) my friends say it isn't right to be scared every day of a love affair

But Daddy I love him: (side note: this song is HARD to choose from since it means so much to me) I just learned that these people only raise you to cage you OR dutiful daughter, all my plans were laid OR Growing up precocious sometimes means not growing up at all OR I'll tell you about my good name it's mine alone to disgrace OR He was chaos, he was revelry OR If all you want is gray for me, then it's just white noise, and it's my choice

Fresh out the slammer: Swirled you in all my poems

Florida!!!: little did you know your home's really only a town you're just a guest in

guilty as sin: the fatal fantasy give way to labored breath

who's afraid of little old me: (side note: this song is so me. truly it took a few listens to understand it and now I cry each time I listen) At all costs, keep your good name OR Is it a wonder I broke? OR let's hear one more joke, then we could all just laugh until I cry OR I was tame, I was gentle 'til the circus life made me mean OR You wouldn't last an hour in the asylum where they raised me OR you caged me and then you called me crazy

I can fix him (no really I can): maybe I can't

loml: if you know in one glance, it's legendary OR Holy Ghost, you told me I'm the love of your life about a millions times

I can do it with a Broken Heart: try and come for my job

the smallest man who ever lived: did you sleep with a gun under our bed OR you didn't measure up in any measure of a man

the alchemy: he jokes that it's heroin with an e

Clara bow: no one in my small town thought I see the light of Manhattan

yeah so I adore this album. It does not beat midnights but oh honey, it's so good. I can't wait to analysis the anathogy but atlas me and @crystalheart11 both need to listen (side note: having memories with her and every Taylor album is a post that I wish I write (maybe I will).