taylor-swift-as-a-sacred-text

[taylor-swift-as-a-sacred-text]

Track: Don't Blame Me

Album: reputation

Reading Guide: Guigo's ladder

1. What's literally happening?

Intro/Chorus: the narrator is using love as an excuse for doing something 'crazy.' Love is a drug to her that she's going to keep using. If love doesn't make you crazy, you aren't loving right.

Verse 1: The narrator defines herself as a heartbreaker, playing with guys' feelings (especially older guys). But something new happened in a dark place, and she feels like she needs the muse (love interest in this song).

Pre-Chorus 1: She would do anything for her muse, to the point where other people would say that she went too far.

Verse 2: She doesn't care what the muse calls her; she's just going to call them "mine." She calls herself insane, with the muse's name echoing inside her head. Her good image hides her obsession of the muse. She used to be a poisonous plant, but at least to the muse, she's a flower.

Pre-Chorus 2: The narrator is willing to fall from grace to simply touch the muse; if the muse left, she would beg them to stay.

Bridge: The muse's love makes the narrator feel high, especially when the muse is touching her.

2. What allegorical images, stories, songs, or metaphors show up for you?

obviously the metaphor here is drug use

the poison ivy line is interesting because the rest of the lyrics feel very linked to drug usage, but that line...isn't?

at least one website claims that "in the victorian era, daisies symbolised innocence, loyalty and an ability to keep things secret" which...is interesting here, especially because other lyrics associated with the muse talk about hiding away and keeping the love secret

poison ivy can harm people through touching them, so maybe the narrator felt like she would hurt anyone who touched her, but now the muse sees the narrator as someone they can trust with secrets

Interesting that despite all of the claims that the muse is someone the narrator is obsessed with there's also the continued refrain of "Lord, save me"

It feels like an unhealthy relationship, all-consuming and obsessive

i just like the sound of the line "halo hidin' my obsession"

3. What experiences have you had in your own life that come to mind?

Feeling insecure in a relationship led to me feeling more obsessed and clinging on tighter to something because I could feel it slipping away. The best relationship I've had doesn't make me feel crazy, but rather more centered and at peace.

4. What action are you being called to take?

Where do my obsessions cross into unhealthy territory, even if they aren't obsessions about relationships? Am I obsessed with things because I'm anxious about the idea of losing them?

[taylor-swift-as-a-sacred-text]

Track: evermore

Album: evermore

Reading Guide: Guigo's ladder

1. What's literally happening?

did y’all know there were bird sounds at the beginning of this track (right after I’ve been down since July)?

verse one has the narrator describing her depression. She’s trying to understand why she feels like this, and she assumes it’s her fault. She’s writing letters that she has no intention of sending.

in the chorus, the narrator is looking out an open window in November (as mentioned in verse one), so it’s chilly outside. While staring, she feels like she’s going to feel like this forever.

verse two moves the narrator on to December. Things feel very uncertain for her, and again, she replays things trying to figure out where things went wrong. She can’t get past that moment where she and someone else seem to have been able to fully communicate with each other.

chorus talks about the narrator running around barefoot out in the winter cold, rather than staring out the window. It’s a bit more active than the first chorus, but she’s still feeling pain, and still feeling like she’ll always feel that pain.

the bridge is interesting because now we have two narrators. The male narrator is wanting a break in all of the hard things that they’re going through together. He tries to assure her that things will be okay, whether that happens soon in the “frost” months or much later in the hot summer months. He explains that right now he’s going through some really hard things by describing himself as being tossed in ocean waves. I’m not fully sure what Is there a line that I could just go cross? is supposed to mean. Maybe wondering if there’s a finish line to all of this hardship.

the bridge continues with the female narrator and the male talking over each other. The male narrator repeats his concerns and assurances. The female narrator talks about how when she went through a really difficult time, one as lonely as being shipwrecked, she used thoughts of the male narrator to stay hopeful. Her thoughts of him felt real enough to get her through the struggle. She seems to be trying to reassure herself that he was actually there for her during that time.

the next iteration of the chorus has both narrators saying the same thing together, finally united. The narrators find themselves in a cabin, able to take a break from the harsh winter, and it feels like the pain they’re might not actually last forever.

2. What allegorical images, stories, songs, or metaphors show up for you?

replay my footsteps echoes a lot of other songs that talk about pacing back and forth (Hits Different, for one)

okay those bird sounds remind me of I Look In People’s Windows

whoa. This chorus talks about staring out of windows, whereas ILIPW talks about staring into windows.

cabin imagery reminds me of folklore.

I love phrasing of the violence of the dog days. I hate summer heat.

the overlapping singing in the bridge replicating the crossed signals of the second verse

Lots of ocean/water imagery, stuff that shows up in the cardigan music video

the bridge is also interesting because the male narrator seems to have a lot more rhymes in his lyrics than the female narrator. Almost makes him seem more grounded, even when he claims to be tossed by ocean waves.

writing letters shows up in other songs, as early as the debut album

rhyme of July/light/fire is chef’s kiss

3. What experiences have you had in your own life that come to mind?

I think about walking around my college campus in the wintertime. I think I felt a lot like this during those days, especially right after one of the most significant breakups I had that happened at the end October. Like, could I have done anything differently.

Also, I really like winter. I find it better to try to get warmer than be unable to get any cooler. Winter does kind of feel like a time to reevaluate and take stock of where I want to be in the upcoming spring.

4. What action are you being called to take?

I feel called to pay attention to other people’s concerns. I don’t have a lot more elaborate thoughts on that, just that this song feels like one or both of the narrators not fully listening to the other.

[taylor-swift-as-a-sacred-text]

I'm going to start off with one of my favorites:

Track: this is me trying

Album: folklore

Reading Guide: Guigo's ladder

1. What's literally happening?

The narrator seems to be standing in a doorway, explaining herself to someone else. While it could be a love interest, there's nothing explicit in the text about it. She's not really apologizing, but is trying to explain why she did what she did.

2. What allegorical images, stories, songs, or metaphors show up for you?

hard time adjusting reminds me of school starts, or other big transition periods

shiniest wheels, now they're rusting - rust isn't just a cosmetic issue--it's breaking down the material itself

pulled the car off the road to the lookout - I've been on tons of road trips and driven past tons of lookouts, but I don't actually remember stopping at many of them

could've followed my fears all the way down - fears sounds like tears to me; I also think of songs like Is It Over Now or hoax where she talks about standing on the edge of a cliff

I'm here in your doorway - big wet cat vibes for me on this

they told me all of my cages were mental - thinking about that cage in the Look What You Made Me Do music video; reminds me of my own struggle with depression

I got wasted like all my potential - I've never been drunk but I just love this line so much. Love the double use of wasted here

words shoot to kill when I'm mad - kill two birds with one stone comes to mind (obviously doesn't make a ton of sense here)

I was so ahead of the curve, the curve became a sphere / Fell behind all my classmates - also love this line and the double "curve" use. Really felt this way for a long time post-mono and it wasn't until I found something to be enthusiastic about that I stopped feeling so "behind"

But I didn't pour the whiskey - think this ties back to the wasted like potential line, though it's always thrown me off a bit. maybe whiskey being her life circumstances?

feel like an open wound - interesting that it's not feeling like she has an open wound, but rather that she is one. Maybe something people would rather ignore but look at her out of the corner of their eye anyways out of morbid curiousity

3. What experiences have you had in your own life that come to mind?

Kinda did some of this in step 2, but on we go!

I constantly feel like I'm trying but I'm not giving as much as I want to. I had mono in 2016 that triggered some bad depression and fatigue that I only figured out a partial treatment option for last year. Before that I was extremely outgoing, busy, and on top of things (most of the time. I still had PMDD to cope with). And then I suddenly didn't have energy to do what I wanted to do, or more things hurt to think about. I kept feeling like I was saying "this is me trying" to everyone around me, because I wasn't who I had been before.

4. What action are you being called to take?

I think I need to be better at admitting when I'm wrong. Even in a short phrase of "I'm sorry, that wasn't a kind thing for me to say" is something that I feel like I need to get into the practice of doing.

[taylor-swift-as-a-sacred-text]

Steps of Guigo II's Scala Claustralium:

1. What’s literally happening in the narrative? Where are we in the story?

2. What allegorical images, stories, songs, or metaphors show up for you?

3. What experiences have you had in your own life that come to mind?

4. What action are you being called to take?