LETS FUCKING GO

i really like the idea of fifteen (2008) and you’re on your own kid (2022) as being in discussion with one another. they approach similar ideas from completely opposite directions. in one, taylor is in her teens talking about her life and her friends and her dreams. in the other, taylor is looking back at all the years in between and appraising those dreams she had. 

both songs start with summer ending: “it’s the morning of your very first day” vs. “summer went away” and both start with a yearning to be noticed: “hoping one of those senior boys will wink at you and say ‘you know i haven’t seen you around before’” vs “still the yearning stays […] i wait patiently, he’s gonna notice me”. it’s the start of something new, something hopeful: a new year, and all a young girl wants is to be noticed by a guy. even if she doesn’t actually want it, she think its what should happen, what she should want. 

in fifteen, abigail and taylor laugh at “the other girls who think they’re so cool” but in YOYOK, taylor admits “i play it cool with the best of them”. and in both cases, whether taylor admits to trying to be cool or pretends to have never wanted it, she wants to leave her small town: “we’ll be out of here soon as we can” vs. “i didn’t choose this town, i dream of getting out”.

the difference here is that while, in fifteen, taylor doesn’t know for certain that she’s getting out, in YOYOK, taylor has been gone for more than a decade. yet in both, taylor dreams of the perfect fairytale kiss. in fifteen, she thinks its reality, saying “your first kiss makes your head spin round”, while in YOYOK she knows it was misguided all along: “like i’d be saved by a perfect kiss”. sure, at one point, taylor thought this heterosexual romance was her whole world and it was perfect, but now she knows: it was a farce all along. 

in fact, there was always more waiting for taylor. in fifteen, she describes this as “back then, i swore i was gonna marry him someday/but i realized some bigger dreams of mine”. in YOYOK, these dreams are full realized: “i picked the petals, he loves me not/something different bloomed, writing in my room”. both lyrics portray a realization that that guy from your hometown who maybe showed interest in you is not forever; he’s not a measure of your worth, and it doesn’t matter if he doesn’t love you: you have bigger dreams, and they are blooming as we speak. 

in fifteen, taylor implies that she learns shes alone: “when you’re fifteen and somebody tells you they love you, you’re gonna believe them” with the clear implication that the guy doesn’t love her, she’s alone again. in YOYOK, taylor comes back to this notion that she’s on her own in the title: you’re on your own, kid! you always have been! more than this, she references hometown friends who might have left by now: “my friends from home don’t know what to say”. 

taylor’s younger self speaks to being healed from the pain she has faced (“i’ve found time can heal most anything”) and this pain leads to something positive (“you just might find who you’re supposed to be”). in YOYOK, taylor reiterates this idea (“you’ve got no reason to be afraid”), with full knowledge of everything she has experienced and what she gained from it (“there were pages turned with the bridges burned” and “everything you lose is a step you take”), but this time she has something more: not just knowledge of who she is, but “something they can’t take away”. taylor has the fame, the money, the not-so-rare dreams fully formed. 

and so what this older version of taylor has to tell her younger self is “make the friendship bracelets, take the moment and taste it”. essentially, live in the moment you’re in right now. the dreams will be realized, playing in the parking lot will pay off. laugh with your friends, grab life by the shoulders, and soak it all in. give the blood, sweat, and tears; you won’t regret it. because one day you’ll have something they can never take away. 

ultimately, what the conversation between fifteen and you’re on your own kid is, is one of reassurance. the older taylor says: look at me. we are the same. we took the same path, i’m just further along. sure, the taylor who wrote fifteen tells herself “look before you fall” and “take a deep breath”, but this version of herself hardly knew what the future held. the taylor narrating YOYOK does know, and when she says “you can face this”, she knows its true.

Peter by Taylor Swift / Peter Pan by Kelsea Ballerini / Wendy by Maisie Peters

The Eras Tour new outfits

like/reblog if you save x

updates for swifties just logging on

The order of the eras changed (so far lover - fearless - red - speak now - reputation - folklore/evermore - 1989 - TTPD - surprise songs - midnights)

The Evermore and Folklore sets are now combined

Cardigan is the new roof folklore song

Songs cut so far: the archer, long live, tlgad, tis the damn season, tolerate it, the 1

new outfits: orange lover suit/blazer, new silver fearless dress, folkmore dress is yellow, new speak now dress, new 1989 outfit, new surprise song outfit

TTPD setlist: But Daddy I Love Him, So High School, Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me, Down Bad, Fortnight, The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived, I Can Do It With a Broken Heart

Surprise songs (now after TTPD set): Paris on guitar and loml on piano)

TAYLOR SWIFT The Eras Tour - Paris, France - May 9th, 2024. Photographed by Getty Images.

swagrman: Swiftie for life ❤️🐶 @taylorswift

#taylorswift #swiftie #coachella

V.E. Schwab, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

The killatravification of cowboy like me is insane 😵‍💫

so much of debut is about taylor observing the people in her life. tied together with a smile, stay beautiful, mary’s song, even cold as you to an extent tell the stories of others, and they’re placed alongside extremely personal songs like a place in this world, the outside, and tim mcgraw among others. you’re seeing someone slowly go from watching others go through life to developing her own emotions and identity—all while immortalizing them and younger versions of herself in her music.

“Old habits die screaming…”

File Name: The Black Dog 🖤

Pre-order the final new edition of THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT with exclusive bonus track “The Black Dog” on my website now

https://taylor.lnk.to/thetorturedpoetsdepartment

📷: Beth Garrabrant

The black dog is about her btw

I decided to listen to And Every Morning The Way Home Gets Longer and Longer audiobook while I was working out today. Anyway now I’m crying in the gym

Next Chapter

Taylor swift was so right when she wrote shake it off like you don’t get it

Anyway I just realized that I’m not 25