Queer Themes in Taylor Swift’s Music

Debut / Fearless / Speak Now / Red / 1989 / Reputation / Lover / Folklore / Evermore / Midnights / TTPD / Other

u/Alex-Chaser, Alex-Chaser, Alex Chaser

Special thanks to u/weirdrobotgrl and u/alfaragh____ for their support, suggestions and proofreading.

Phone Friendly Version

Introduction

If you found this then you’re either noticed the queer undertones in Taylor’s music, or you’re friends with someone who wants you to. People have been picking up on the subtext throughout her career, but it can be hard to quantify what exactly it is that feels queer.

This study explores some of the ideas and themes commonly found in LGBTQIA+ art.

Side note for LGBTQIA+ readers: Some of my me section introductions might come across as stating the obvious. That’s because I’ve written this assuming the reader doesn’t have our lived experience. Feel free to skip, and I’ll catch you at the club meeting next Thursday. Don’t forget it’s your turn to bring the lemon squares. 😉

Is it okay to explore queer themes in Taylor’s music when she’s never said she’s LGBTQIA+?

Firstly, there’s nothing wrong with considering if someone might be LGBTQIA+ because there is nothing wrong with being LGBTQIA+

Secondly, Taylor repeatedly aligns herself with the queer community as an ally and advocate, even referring to herself as part of the group advocating for equality. She has no problem being included in our celebration of pride, and frequently supports and performs with proudly queer artists.

For example;

• Taylor invited Tegan and Sara to perform their song “Closer” with her during her Red tour in August of 2013.

• Taylor performed Delicate with Lesbian Jesus Hayley Kiyoko at the Ally Coalition Show in May of 2018 and then invited her to perform her song “Curious” with during the Reputation tour that July.
• Taylor encouraged fans to ‘drop everything now’ and listen to Marie Ulven, aka Girl in Red’s debut album in October of 2020 and sent her handmade lyric paintings as a present.
• Taylor included Fletcher in the list of people she sent Red Taylor’s Version gifts to, and invited her to her birthday party inspiring the ‘sipped her like an Old Fashioned’ line from “girls, girls, girls.”
• In an interview with Entertainment Weekly she shared her support for King Princess saying “I love the romantic ambience of what she is doing. It is very nostalgic.” Taylor also included her song “Cheap Queen” on her Playlist by ME!
•  Inviting openly queer artists Muna, Girl in Red, Bebadoobee, Phoebe Bridgers, and Owenn to be openers for the Eras Tour.

Lastly, Taylor invites her fans to ‘come down the rabbithole’ and search for easter eggs.

🌈 Well, I found rainbow ones.

“But it’s 2022! Why wouldn’t a celebrity just come out if they’re part of the LGBTQIA+ community?”

I’ve written a number of resources exploring that question.

Disclaimer

That said, Death of the Author explains that writing can be interpreted independently of the creator’s intention. There are a long list of songs, movies and shows that weren’t specifically created with the LGBTQIA+ community in mind, but because they speak to our experience we call them queer anthems.

This study doesn’t examine any sources that haven’t been deliberately released by Taylor Swift, her friends or her team and it’s not intended to prove anything about her orientation or public or presumed relationships.

I still strongly advise against sharing this with anyone you suspect will respond with homophobia.

This project isn’t supposed to be a gotcha, if Taylor is LGBTQIA+ and signaling then it's only intended to be seen and recognised by the queer community and our allies.

I created this as a resource for queer fans of Taylor Swift’s music who are interested in respectfully examining the work for possible subtext. I hope it enables you to better explain your impressions and interpretations to friends who are allies of the Queer Community.

I don’t know Taylor Swift, and don’t claim to know the intention behind anything she’s created. All I’m able to do is share the version of the art and artist I see through the filter of my experiences as a queer woman. To reflect this, I’ll refer to ‘the narrator’ rather than Taylor Swift when sharing my interpretations.

Connections to LGBTQIA+ History / Culture

There are a lot of references in Taylor’s music to queer culture, and history. Some are explicit, especially from the Lover Era when she came out as an advocate for the LGBTQIA+ community. Others can simply be interpreted as connected to our history and culture.

‘You can want who you want, boys and boys and girls and girls’ (Welcome To New York)

Taylor said in an interview this was about New York passing the marriage equality Act in 2011.

‘Sunshine on the street at the Parade’ (You Need to Calm Down)

 Pride Parade. (Why’d you have to rain on my parade?’ (This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things)

‘Why are you mad when you could be GLAAD?’ (You Need To Calm Down)

GLAAD is a LGBTQIA+ Organisation promoting equality

‘You need to calm down, you’re being too loud’ (You Need To Calm Down)

A response to the "Don't shove it in my face" argument

‘Like a rainbow with all of the colors’ (ME!) 

Rainbows are a symbol of the LGBTQIA+ community, and the icon for ME!

‘Lived in the shade you were throwing until all of my sunshine was gone’ (I Forgot That You Existed)
‘Cause shade never made anybody less gay’ (You Need To Calm Down)

Throwing Shade is a term popularized by the drag scene in New York. Taylor’s also wished a Happy Pride to people who are still in the closet. Even if it’s shady in there, you’re no less gay.

“I want to send my love and respect to everybody in their journey and in their life who hasn’t felt comfortable enough to come out yet, and may you do that on your own time and may we end up in a world where everyone can live and love equally and no one has to be afraid to say how they feel.” ~ Taylor Swift 

‘Sit by my side in the shade, and not the kind that’s thrown, I mean the kind under where a tree has grown’ (Paris)

Doubling down, because people didn’t get the kind of shade the narrator meant in You Need to Calm Down.

Subtextual Connections to the Queer Community

‘They’ll judge us like they know about me and you’ (Ours) 

The ‘Defense of Marriage Act’ was still in place when Speak Now came out in 2010, and the courts were hearing cases to determine its constitutionality.

‘This path is reckless’ ‘This slope is treacherous’ (Treacherous)

The Slippery slope fallacy is often used to oppose LGBTQIA+ rights.

‘Too young to know it gets better’ (Forever Winter)

The It Gets Better project.  

‘He says “It’s not just a phase I’m in” (Forever Winter)

Queer people are often told that their sexuality is a phase.

‘You’ve got that James Dean daydream look in your eye’ (Style)

James Dean is a queer icon, and may have been bisexual.

‘Fell down a rabbit hole’ (Wonderland) 
‘Time, curious time’ (Invisible String)

Alice in Wonderland popularised the word ‘Queer’.The themes of non-conformity and acceptance in spite of it have long appealed to the LGBTQIA+ community who used to have their identities considered an indication of mental illness. ‘We’re all mad here.’

‘Baby, we’re the New Romantics’ (New Romantics)

The New Romantic movement is known for its significant impact on queer visibility in the late 70’s and early 80’s.

‘You’re the west village, you still do it for me, babe’ (False God)

The West Village is famous for its queer nightlife, and many significant sites of the LGBTQIA+ community, including Stonewall Inn.

‘It's like your eyes are liquor, it's like your body is gold’ (End Game)

‘More golden than gold’ was originally coined by the poet Sappho, both ‘lesbian’ and ‘sapphic’ originate from her.

‘Is it cool that I said all that? Is it chill that you’re in my head? ‘Cause I know that it’s delicate’ (Delicate)

This captures the sensitive nature of initiating a new relationship while unsure of someone’s orientation and if they’re out. Taylor dedicated Delicate to the LGBTQIA+ community in her 2018 Pride Speech. (Video)

‘When you are young, they assume you know nothing’ (Cardigan)

Queer teenagers are often told they’re too young to know their gender or sexuality.

‘Tried to change the ending, Peter losing Wendy’ (Cardigan)

Peter Pan is usually played by a woman.

‘Free of women with madness, their men, and bad habits’ (The Last Great American Dynasty) 

Rebekah Harkness’s fourth husband was a gay ballet performer. 

‘I think I’ve seen this film before, and I didn’t like the ending’ (Exile) 

Many stories about LGBTQIA+ characters frame them as villains, or end with the bury your gays trope.

‘You’re the hero flying around saving face and if I’m dead to you why are you at the wake?’ (My Tears Ricochet)

Saving Face and Dead To Me are both shows with LGBTQIA+ relationships. 

‘You are not like the regulars, the masquerade revelers’ (Mirrorball)

Masquerade Balls, also known as drag balls are a significant part of New York City’s queer history. 

‘They called off the circus, burned the disco down’

Disco started as gay nightlife in NYC in the 1960’s.

‘Love you to the moon and to Saturn’ (Seven) 

Saturn is a queer deity.

‘Sweet tea in the summer’

Seven seems to reference, Sweet Tea and God's Graces and Me and Britney which are unreleased Taylor songs about intense childhood friendships, an experience queer women often relate to.

‘Passed down like folk songs, the love lasts so long’

Unfortunately stories about queer people are rarely told, sometimes even being deliberately erased. However folklore, myths and fairy tales are still places we can find queer stories.

‘I was so ahead of the curve, the curve became a sphere’ (This Is Me Trying)

Ahead of the Curve was a film released in 2020 about Franco Stevens, the woman who started the most successful lesbian magazine in the world.

‘I tried to take the road less traveled by’ (The Outside) 
‘Take the road less traveled by’ (Illicit Affairs)
‘The road not taken looks real good now’ (‘Tis the Damn Season)

This reference to the Robert Frost Poem captures the feeling of having to choose between being quiet and accepted, or honest about our identity and face social rejection.

‘And some things you just can’t speak about’ (Epiphany)

While homosexuality was decriminalised, the Don’t ask, don’t tell order remained in place in the US Military until 2010. 

‘I want to watch wisteria grow’ (The Lakes)
‘I feel the lavender haze creeping up on me’ (Lavender Haze)

Wisteria is lavender, which became a symbol of LGBTQIA+ resistance and the fight for visibility. It’s often used in LGBTQIA+ weddings. The only usage of Lavender & love or relationships in the 50’s was to infer that someone was queer as an insult.  

‘No deal, the 1950’s shit they want from me’ (Lavender Haze)

The lavender scare began in 1950, which was was a moral panic about homosexual people in the United States government which led to their mass dismissal from government service. As noted by this article released following Midnights, that’s an awfully big coincidence given the context of the song.

‘My knuckles were bruised like violets’ (The Great War)

Like Lavender, violets have significant ties to the LGBTQIA+ community, specifically they’re a sapphic symbol dating back to Sappho.

‘I know my love should be celebrated, but you tolerate it’ (Tolerate it)

Taylor used this phrase during an interview when she voiced support for her LGBTQIA+ friends and fans.

‘Weird, but fuckin’ beautiful’ (Snow on the Beach)

“Weird” is a word commonly used to insult LGBTQIA+ people and their relationships, often synonomously with Queer. Weird but beautiful reads as a way to reclaim that. Much like the queer community reclaimed the terms queer and lavender.

‘Summer went away, still the yearning stays’ (You’re on Your Own, Kid)

Queer yearning is a key part of the LGBTQIA+ experience, especially in art as it was censored and unable to be explored openly for a long time.

‘Did you ever have someone kiss you in a crowded room?’ (Question..?)

Has more weight for two people of the same sex, especially if they’re closeted.  

‘All that bloodshed, crimson clover’ (The Great War)

Crimson and Clover is a song about a woman, Joan Jett popularised, without changing the pronouns. When later pressed to disclose her sexuality, she told people the music said it all.

Songs used in queer shows

Ivy in Dickinson following a love scene between Emily and Sue

In Taylor’s Songwriter of the Year speech she referenced Emily Dickinson when quoting Ivy.

Invisible String in Good Witch where it plays during Joy and Zoe’s first date.

Seven in Heartstopper when Tara and Darcy say I love you

Stonewall

‘Repeating history…So we've been outnumbered, raided and now cornered, it's hard to fight when the fight ain't fair…Tonight we'll stand, get off our knees, fight for what we've worked for all these years, and the battle was long, it's the fight of our lives, but we'll stand up champions tonight. It was the night things changed, can you see it now? These walls that they put up to hold us back fell down. It's a revolution, throw your hands up 'cause we never gave in and we'll sing hallelujah’ (Change)

“Expecting to easily disperse the crowd of people society viewed as weak, the police were completely caught off guard when the protesters fought back. Pioneering transgender activist Sylvia Rivera was a part of Friday night’s uprising, which she would later describe as a turning point in her life. When a friend tried to convince her to leave, she said, “Are you nuts?! I’m not missing a minute of this — it’s the revolution!” Article about the Stonewall Riots

‘People throw rocks at things that shine’ (Ours)

'Cause baby, I could build a castle out of all the bricks they threw at me’ (New Romantics)

‘I swear you could hear a hairpin drop’ (Right Where You Left Me)
‘Your finger on my hairpin triggers’ (The Great War)

Stonewall was called the ‘Hairpin drop heard around the world’

Ryan Reynolds painting Stonewall Inn (You Need To Calm Down music video)

Taylor Swift’s Surprise Stonewall Inn Performance (15th June 2019)

Using the official Stonewall VTC Marsha font for the Lavender Haze merchandise.

Similar Lyrics

‘Girls love girls and boys, and love is not a choice’ (Girls/Girls/Boys) Panic! At the Disco 

‘Don't tell me, tell me what I feel, I'm real and I don't feel like boys…girls like girls, like boys do, nothing new’ (Girls Like Girls) Hayley Kiyoko

‘Thought she was James Dean for a day’ (Walk on the Wild Side) Lou Reed

Written in 1972, about the queer scene.

‘Young James Dean, some say he looks just like his father, but he could never love somebody's daughter’ (New Americana) Halsey

‘As long as you're not too loud, she’s the acceptable volume at which you can be queer and proud’ (RuPaul’s Frack Race) Dog Park Dissidents

‘Walk in the room they throwing shade left to right’ (Q.U.E.E.N.) Janelle Monáe

‘So say that I'm a rainbow and tell me that I’m bright’ (Rainbow) Dodie

‘It’s not a phase, the way I want you.’ (Not a Phase) Jessie Paege

‘No, this is not a phase’ (girls) Girl in Red

‘I told my mom it's not a phase’ (girls, girls, girls) Fletcher

“This is just a phase you're gonna outgrow" (The Village) Wrabel

‘It's not a phase but I just don't know how to phrase it’ (Pink) Anna Akana

More in my You're Being Too Loud Playlist. (Youtube / Spotify)

Queer Wordplay

These lyrics play off common turns of phrase or jokes within the queer community.

‘We team up, then switch sides like a record changer’ (New Romantics) 
‘Til I switched to the other side’ (Getaway Car)

Switching Teams is a term for coming out as gay, see also: Playing for the Other Team.

‘We’re a crooked love in a straight line down’ (I Wish You Would)

Crooked’s definition is ‘not straight’.

‘I'm so in love that I acted insane’ (That’s the Way I Loved You)
‘This mad, mad love makes you come running’ (I Wish You Would)
‘And in the end, in Wonderland we both went mad’ (Wonderland)
‘Don't blame me, love made me crazy’ (Don’t Blame Me)
‘You are so gorgeous it makes me so mad’ (Gorgeous)

Throughout the 19th Century Homosexuality was considered a mental illness.

‘Too in love to think straight’ (Wonderland) 
‘Hahaha, I can't even say it with a straight face!’ (This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things)

I’m so gay, I can’t even think straight is an extremely common joke, but I always find it funny.

‘Haven’t you heard what becomes of curious minds?’ (Wonderland)
‘Time, curious time, gave me no compasses, gave me no signs’ (Invisible String)

Bi-curious is a term for someone interested in exploring their sexuality.

‘You make me so happy, it turns back to sad’ (Gorgeous)

Gay’s second definition is happy.

Original Lyrics: ‘And I’m so curious, your mind’s got me feeling some type of way, hey what can I say? You’re Gorgeous’ / ‘and I’m so curious, What’s it like making me feel this way?’ / 'I go through phases when it comes to love, I'm nothing that you want’

‘I can’t decide if it’s a choice getting swept away’ (Treacherous) 

The Nature / Nurture Debate about whether sexuality is innate or a choice.

‘After plaid shirt days and nights when you made me your own’ (All Too Well)

Wearing plaid is a common lesbian stereotype.

‘He’s got my heartbeat, skipping down 16th Avenue’ (I think He Knows) 

16th Avenue is also the name of the Street from the YNTCD Music Video.

‘He’s got that boyish look that I like in a man’ (I Think He Knows)

Gay men with a ‘boyish look’ are called Twinks.

‘Hey, kids! Spelling is fun!’

A joke sometimes made about the LGBTQIA+ acronym, like alphabet club, and alphabet mafia.

‘As if you were a mythical thing’ (Willow)

Unicorns are mythical things. (See pictures in next section)

‘Checkmate, I couldn’t lose’ (Mastermind)

Chess is lost if your King is captured. If you’re only playing with Queens, then you can’t lose.

😺+🧲 = pussy magnet.

Autostraddle is a news and ‘girl on girl’ culture magazine.

It explodes into butterflies, ‘cause she’s done with one-eyed snakes.

‘I want to transport you somewhere where the culture’s clever…confess my truth in swooping, sloping, cursive letters’ (Paris)

Seems to refer to this scene of the ME! music video.
Where she wanted to confess something- perhaps who her lover is.

Karma Music Video

Similar Lyrics

‘I'm on the right track, baby, I was born this way’ (Born this Way) Lady Gaga

‘Love is not a choice’ (Girls/Girls/Boys) Panic! At the Disco
‘It’s not like I get to choose, who I love’ (Girls) Girl in Red

The answer to the nature/nurture debate.

‘Pynk like the folds of your brain, crazy, pynk as we all go insane’ (PYNK) Janelle Monáe
‘And is it true we're all insane? And I just tell 'em, "No we ain't" and get down’ (Q.U.E.E.N.) Janelle Monáe
‘This crazy feeling clouds my mind, I won't ignore what's deep inside’ (I Want Her) Blind Truth
‘She got me goin' crazy talkin' to the talkin' to the moon’ (Coming Out)

References to queerness making you crazy.

‘They're happy this way. Oh, gay!’ and ‘love is love’ (The Coming Out Song) Ally Hills

‘Not gay as in happy, but queer as in fuck you’ (Queer As In Fuck You) Dog Park Dissidents

Some ‘happy = gay’ jokes.

‘If plaid and flannels are her go to thing’ (How To Know If A Girl Is A Lesbian) Ally Hills

🎵 Then she’s probably a lesbian. 🎶

‘If you know what I mean, you on the team’ (Hymn) Kesha

‘Switch hitter, you know she plays the field’ (Baby Blue) Joan Jett

The LGBTQI - A Team. 😏

‘I’m just curious, is it serious?’ (Curious) Hayley Kiyoko

‘I’m a little curious too’ (Cool for the Summer) Demi Lovato

‘I’m curious for you’ (I Kissed A Girl) Katy Perry
‘'Cause I tried my best, but God damn, was I curious’ (Normal) Katie Pruitt

There are tons of ‘curious’ references, but these are my favorites.

‘I can’t think straight, I’m so gay’ (Secrets) Mary Lambert

‘Was such a bad idea 'cause I can't think straight’ (Bad Idea!) Girl in Red

‘I can't think straight at night’ (I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend) Discovery

‘Can't think straight nowadays, you're all I wanna do’ (Eyes Wide Open) Beatrice Eli

‘Some days the line I walk, turns out to be straight, other days the line tends to deviate’ (In or Out) Ani DiFranco

‘I'm not exactly gay but sure as hell ain't straight, sis’ (Pink) Anna Akana
‘Or a line that is straight and confined to your fate’ (Daughter of God) Phemiec

Long list of these too.

More in my You're Being Too Loud Playlist. (Youtube / Spotify)

Color

Like our pride flags, the queer community often use colour as a metaphor for gender and sexuality. After coming out we’re living in color, instead of black and white.

‘Black and white, saw a '30s bride and school lovers laughin' on the porch of their first house… and it's so hard to explain but in those photos, I saw us instead’ (Timeless)

        Finding it hard to explain comparing her relationship to black and white couples from the past.

‘The rest of the world was black and white but we were in screaming color’ (Out of the Woods)

See also; ‘I screamed so loud but no one heard a thing’ (Clean) / ‘You’re being too loud’ (YNTCD)

‘I’ve loved in shades of wrong’ (State of Grace)

‘I once believed love would be (Black and white) but it's golden’ (Daylight)

‘You showed me colors you know I can’t see with anyone else’ (Illicit Affairs)

‘Gave me the blues, and then purple pink skies’ (Invisible String)

In the Bisexual Flag blue represents attraction to genders other than your own, while pink refers to genders similar to your own, with purple blending both.

Similar Lyrics

‘Cause boy it’s cool if you got the blue, we got the pynk’ (PYNK) Janelle Monáe

A song from Janelle Monáe’s coming out album.

‘I've been so blue, ashamed and afraid but when I look at you, can't think straight 'cause I like pink’ (Pink) Anna Akana

Used in a melancholy song about coming to terms with attraction to girls.

‘I was seeing black and white, but now I'm living in color’ (Coming Out) Jessie Paege

Making a joke of it.

‘Baby, you're a firework, come on, let your colors burst’ (Firework) Katy Perry

A song Katy wrote in support of the queer community before addressing her own sexuality.

‘When I close my eyes, I dream in color. My life's in black and white’ (Monochromatic) Mary Lambert

‘Now all I paint is grey skies, a rainbow washed in turpentine, it left me in black and white’ (Colourblind) Peach PRC

Both songs use color in contrast as a metaphor for living with depression.

More in my You're Being Too Loud Playlist. (Youtube / Spotify)

Code Words

Throughout our history queer people came up with covert ways to signal each other that they were part of the queer community. These had to be subtle enough to fly under the radar of mainstream society, so they were often clothes, accessories, slang, styles, or small tattoos that could easily be covered up. We still use versions of this today, such as ‘Do you listen to girl in red?’

‘Betty’ (Betty)

Betty is an old code word for a woman who likes women.

‘Rosè flowing with your chosen family’ (The 1)

Chosen Family originated in the queer community, for the friendship families we form when rejected by our biological kin, and is still commonly used today. It’s also a queer code word. 

‘Hide in the closet’ (Seven) 

In the Closet or closeted is the term for hiding your sexuality. Mentioning your closet is a way to let someone know you’re LGBTQIA+  but not out.

‘You got shiny friends since you left town… if you’re ever tired of being known for who you know, you know you’ll always know me, Dorothea’ (Dorothea)

Friend of Dorothy is a code term inspired by The Wizard of Oz and the subtle queer undertones apealed to the queer community both then and now.

‘Takes one to know one’

Queer people can spot each other with Gaydar, especially if someone is..

‘Sending signals’

.. to subtly alert other queer people that you’re part of the community.

‘I swear you could hear a hairpin drop’ (Right Where You Left Me)

Dropping Hairpins is the slang term for comments signaling that you’re queer.

Look What You Made Me Do Music Video

“Dykes on Bikes” (DOB) is a chartered lesbian motorcycle club active since San Fransico Pride 1976. These outfits seem to be based on Leather Daddies.

The BDSM community is another part of leather subculture, both have been part of Pride since the beginning of the queer visibility movement following Stonewall.

Gorgeous Lyric Video

Pink Triangles are a reclaimed queer symbol.

Reputation Tour

“Loie Fuller’s act was queer in its very nature, performing her identity in a dual game of revelation and dissimulation. Being openly queer yet hiding in plain sight on stage.” Taylor’s performance for Dress is inspired by Loie’s transformative style, complete with pink, purple and blue bisexual lighting.

You Need To Calm Down Music Video

The symbol for ME! being protested by a homophobic mob.

The Sherriff of the Gay Trailer Park, complete with bisexual flag hair and a gold star badge.

Mean Music Video

Here’s a gold star used in an earlier video, alongside a queer coded boy being bullied by the football team.

Lifted onto the shoulders of gay men at a pride parade, with a rainbow shining down on her alone.

And again, dancing in the rain dripping with color and a moonbow in the background.

In Miss Americana, Taylor lists off the things she wants in the ME! Music video, including riding a unicorn.

Pastel suits were worn by lesbians at Post-Stonewall rallies for queer visibility.

All Too Well Music Video

The O’s in TOO are linked like the Linear Icon, for lesbian marriage.

Anti Hero

The narrator’s insides are the same color that Hayley Kiyoko, (aka Lesbian Jesus) an out lesbian artist wears openly. The narrator tries to hide this first by making a mess of the queer-coded dinner party by using their table cloth to try to hide from them and then using a political activism pin.

Bejeweled

So the Narrator doesn’t want the ring, the title or the D***, she wants the castle full of women doing fan dances in bisexual lighting.

Honestly, this isn’t even queer coding. It’s explicit.

As is putting blue, purple and pink in her hair again after getting dragged for it the first time.

Marie Antoinette had romantic relationships with her ladies in waiting, which made her the subject of mockery during her lifetime and were one of the convictions that ultimately led to her beheading. “Have you heard the rumours about Marie Antoinette?” became coded language for sapphics to covertly identify themselves to one another.

Pride Dresses

Closets

Glass Closets

Glass closeting is when the sexual orientation or gender identity of a LGBTQ person is known to many but not publicly acknowledged.

& A Portal to Another World- like the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe which is another closet.

Similar Lyrics

‘You are, you are, my chosen, chosen family’ (Chosen Family) Rina Sawayama

A song about how family is about acceptance, not DNA.

‘She'll be a Betty, a friend of Dorothy’ (Lesbian Code) Alix Dobkin

Funny, those two being right next to each other in this song.. By a NYC Folksinger.

‘Secrets collecting dust but never forget, skeletons come to life in my closet’ (Coming Clean) Green Day

Skeletons in the closet used in a coming out song.

‘But why'd you go back in the closet? All the heavy things live in it’ (Haunted) Madeline The Person

A lament to losing a first love, who decided not to come out.

‘They're gonna lock me in the closet but I'm coming out’ (Strawberry Lipstick) YUNGBLUD

Suprisingly, closet references aren’t that common in songs by openly queer artists. I think we stop wanting to dwell on that stage of life as soon as we’re free.

More in my You're Being Too Loud Playlist. (Youtube / Spotify)

Gender Expression

I included songs using ‘boy’ or ‘man’ in the ‘Male Pronouns’ totals for the chart, and removed A Place In This World, The Best Day, Mean, Never Grow Up, Innocent, Castles Crumbling, The Lucky One, Starlight, Girl At Home, Ronan, Forever Winter, Bad Blood, I Forgot That You Existed, Soon You’ll Get Better, You Need To Calm Down, The Last Great American Dynasty, Mirrorball, Epiphany, No Body No Crime, Marjorie, Vigilante Shit, Karma and Bigger Than the Whole Sky from the totals as they’re not about romantic relationships.

Over 80% of the songs already use gender neutral ‘you’ pronouns. Those that use ‘he’ or have a masculine name added are usually songs that are more likely to cause questions without them.  Teardrops on my Guitar, Stay Beautiful, Call it What You Want To and You Are In Love being some of them.

Gender Ambiguity

Closeted queer people often avoid references to gender altogether, saying things like; "I went out last night with someone I've been dating for a few weeks. We went to a movie in their neighborhood. We talked about the possibility of going to the beach next weekend." Allowing anyone listening to assume they’re in a heterosexual relationship.

‘I hope you think that little black dress, think of my head on your chest, and those old faded blue jeans’ (Tim McGraw)

Is she wearing jeans and a little black dress or is her muse the one in the dress?

‘Spinning like a girl in a brand new dress’ (Holy Ground)

Does her muse remind her of a girl spinning in a dress?

‘You used to be a little kid with glasses in a twin sized bed’ (All Too Well)

Why not a little boy with glasses?

‘Didn’t read the note on the Polaroid picture, they don’t know how much I miss her you’ (The Very First Night)

It could have been ya and still rhymed. Feels deliberate.

‘Long night with your hands up in my hair’ (Delicate)

Do men normally dance with their hands up around a woman’s neck? Sounds fruity.

‘Getting caught up in a moment, lipstick on your face’ (So It Goes)

Smudges or is the muse wearing it?

‘Only bought this dress so you could take it off’ (Dress)

Again, who’s wearing the dress? If it's the narrator, wouldn’t ‘I only wore this dress so you could take it off’ make more sense?

‘Cause all the boys in their expensive cars, with their Range Rovers and their Jaguars, never took me quite where you do’

The boys don’t? But this muse does? Sure the narrator could be saying they’re a man, but in the same album there’s ‘acts like such a man’ (Ready for It) and in the next album the narrator uses ‘wrap your arms around me baby boy’ (Paper Rings)

‘Vintage tee, brand new phone, high heels on cobblestones…Sequin smile, black lipstick sensual politics’ (Cardigan)

Who’s she describing?

‘Standing in your cardigan, kissin' in my car again’ (Betty)

Who’s wearing the cardigan?

‘Till someone’s on their knees and asks you’ (Champagne Problems)

Until he’s on his knees and asks you would have worked just as well, no?

‘Do you wish you could still touch her? Did you realize out of time she was on your mind with some dickhead guy that you saw that night?... fuckin’ politics and gender roles’ (Question..?)

While it could be a question the narrator is asking someone else, the level of detail gives more of an ‘asking for a friend’ vibe.

‘I don’t dress for women, I don’t dress for men, lately I’ve been dressing for revenge’ (Vigilante Shit)

Would dressing for women and men have the same intention for the narrator?

‘Dreams of your hair and your stare…bet I could still melt your world, argumentative, antithetical dream girl’ (Hits Different)

Who’s the dream girl? The muse she’s dreaming of, or is it supposed to suddenly be herself now when she’s spent the whole song telling us what a drunk, heartbroken mess she is?

‘All of the girls you loved before, made you the one I've fallen for’ (All of the Girls)

‘Made you the man I’ve fallen for’ would have fit just as well. In a sentence with two objects, the second one is always going to be in reference to the first one unless it's specified as something else.

eg) Of all the kittens, I like this one the best.

Grammatically, ‘the one’ is one of ‘the girls’.

Missing Rhymes

‘Didn’t read the note on the Polaroid picture, they don’t know how much I miss you her’ (The Very First Night)

This is a classic example of a subverted rhyme, which is the suggestion of a rhyme left unsaid and must be inferred by the listener. A tool writers use when they’re unable or unwilling to say something explicitly.

‘Knew he she was a killer, first time that I saw him her’ (Are You Ready For It?)

        Her rhymes with killer which makes the verse punchier.

‘Your mom’s ring in your pocket, my picture in your locket wallet’ (Champagne Problems)

There are two other times where pocket was rhymed with locket. ‘And the note from the locket, you keep it in your pocket’ (Run) / ‘Could've spent forever with your hands in my pockets, picture of your face in an invisible locket’ (Dancing with Our Hands Tied)

Sapphic Undertones

‘I was just thinking how we don’t have a song’ (Our Song)

There’s still limited representation of queer relationships in music, and there was a lot less before Debut was released in 2006.

‘It's 2:00 AM, feelin' like I just lost a friend’ (Breathe)

The line between friendship and romance can be very thin. The intensity of this comes across more like a breakup song than a friendship ending, especially this line.

‘The lingering question kept me up, 2:00 AM, who do you love?’ (Enchanted) 

Wondering if the muse likes women.

‘Between me and you, sometimes I wish I was her’ (When Emma Falls In Love)

Questioning if you want to be with a woman or be her is a common experience for sapphic women.

‘I stood right by the tracks, your face in a locket, good girls, hopeful they'll be and long they will wait’ (Sad Beautiful Tragic)

Plural. Is she just comparing herself to the other ‘good girls’. Or is her muse specifically another good girl trying to wait? The rest of the song definitely implies the muse was waiting and trying to fix it too.

‘We broke the status quo, then we broke each other’s hearts’ (The Very First Night)

Breaking the status quo is built right into a WLW relationship.

‘There’s a chain round your throat, piece of paper where I wrote “I’ll wait for you”, there’s a key on a chain, there’s a picture in a frame, take it with you’ (Run)

Sounds like a locket to me, like the one mentioned in the next verse ‘and the note from the locket, you keep it in your pocket, since I gave it to you’. It’s also hanging in the center of the lyric video. So the muse is wearing the locket.

“Fuck the Patriarchy” keychain on the ground’ (All to Well 10MV)

A woman is more likely to have a keychain like that, especially in 2012.

‘Put your lips close to mine, as long as they don’t touch, out of focus eye to eye, until the gravity’s too much’ (Treacherous)

Women commonly pose cheek to cheek for photos, but I’ve never seen a man and a woman pose like that. Are we supposed to believe the narrator took a photo like that with a man she doesn’t want people to know she’s with?

‘You’ve been out and about with some other girl’ ‘I’ve been there too a few times’ (Style)

The narrator has also been out and about with another girl?

‘The rest of the world was black and white, but we were in screaming color’ (Out of The Woods)

Like a rainbow or a pride flag?

‘You and me we’d be a big conversation’ (End Game)

Coming out as LGBTQIA+ would be a big conversation.

‘For you I would cross the line’ (Don’t Blame Me)

‘For you I would fall from grace, just to touch your face’ (Don’t Blame Me)

‘You should think about the consequence of you touching my hand in the darkened room’ (Gorgeous)

The ‘consequence’ would be being recognised as a couple. Being outed is much more likely to cause a ‘fall from grace’ than being with even a questionable male suitor.

‘You’re so gorgeous, I can’t say anything to your face, cause look at your face’ (Gorgeous)

This feels like the way a woman might describe another woman.

‘What’s it like to brag about raking in dollars and getting bitches and models?’ (The Man)

Is the narrator jealous of men for ‘getting’ girls, or that they can ‘brag about’ it?

‘My heart’s been borrowed and yours has been blue’ (Lover)

Those are both bridal traditions.

‘I have this dream you're doing cool shit, having adventures on your own, you meet some woman on the internet and take her home’ (The 1)

The narrator thinks meeting a woman on the internet is cool shit?

‘Time curious time, gave me no compasses, gave me no signs, were there clues I didn’t see?’ (Invisible String)

Recognising things that should have clued you in to your sexuality is common after coming out. 

‘Will you kiss me on the porch in front of all your stupid friends?’ (Betty)

This would be significant if the relationship had been closeted.

‘You knew the password, so I let you in the door’ (Hoax)

Could mean you were queer too, so I came out to you. Similar lines include ‘if he’s a ghost then I can be a phantom’, ‘if he’s a thief then he can join the heist’, ‘my magician’, ‘your illusionist’, ‘you’re a cowboy like me’)

‘The rubies that I gave up’ (Maroon)

“A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies.” Proverbs 31:10

Feminisation of Muse

Examples where the love interest is described with the male gaze, framing them as the object of desire. There are also repeated uses of typically feminine descriptors like ‘beautiful’ and ‘flawless’, and diminutive terms of endearment like ‘Darling’, ‘Baby’, and ‘Honey’.

‘There he goes so perfectly, the kind of flawless I wish I could be’ (Teardrops on my Guitar)

‘Seems the only one who doesn't see your beauty, is the face in the mirror looking back at you, you walk around here thinking you’re not pretty, but that’s not true’ (Tied Together with A Smile)

‘You’re beautiful, every little piece, love’ (Stay Beautiful)

‘Your eyes still shined like pretty lights’ (Mary’s Song)

‘We could be a beautiful miracle, unbelievable, instead of just invisible’ (Invisible)

‘I can’t help it if you look like an angel’ (Hey Stephen)

‘The way you walk, way you talk, way you say my name, it’s beautiful, wonderful, don't you ever change’ (Hey Stephen)

‘That face of an angel’ (White Horse)

‘You smile that beautiful smile’ (Superstar)

‘Sweet, sweet Superstar’ (Superstar)

‘With your face and the beautiful eyes’ (The Other Side of The Door)

‘And I broke down crying, was she worth this mess? After everything and that little black dress’ (The Other Side of The Door)

‘Your silhouette’ (Enchanted)

‘So, I’ll go sit on the floor wearing your clothes’ (Last Kiss)

‘So don't you worry your pretty little mind’ (Ours)

‘I miss your tan skin, your sweet smile, so good to me, so right’ (Back to December)

‘Tall, dark and beautiful’ (Superman)

‘I could see you up against the wall with me’ (I Can See You)

‘Spinning like a girl in a brand new dress’ (Holy Ground)

‘Good girls, hopeful they’ll be and long they will wait’ (Sad Beautiful Tragic)

‘There’s a heart on your sleeve, I’ll take it when I leave’ (Run)

‘And the fella over there with the hella good hair’ (Shake it Off)

‘Your kiss, my cheek’ (This Love)

‘Pictures in frames of kisses on cheeks’ (How You Get The Girl)

‘You’re still all over me, like a wine-stained dress I can’t wear anymore’ (Clean)

‘I said, "It might blow up in your pretty face"’ (Slut)

‘Drinking on a beach with you all over me’ (End Game)

‘It’s like your eyes are liquor, it’s like your body is gold’ (End Game)

‘Lipstick on your face’ (So It Goes)

‘Come here, dressed in black now’ (So It Goes)

‘You’re so gorgeous, I can’t say anything to your face’ (Gorgeous)

‘Now you try on calling me “Baby” like trying on clothes’ (King of My Heart)

‘Up on the roof with a schoolgirl crush’ (King of My Heart)

‘There’s an indentation in the shape of you’(Dress)

‘Starry eyes sparking up my darkest night’ (Call it What You Want To)

‘My baby’s fit like a daydream, walking with his head down, I’m the one he’s walking to’ (Call it What You Want To)

‘The shape of your body’ (Cruel Summer)

‘There’s a dazzling haze, a mysterious way about you dear’ (Lover)

‘My heart’s been borrowed, and yours has been blue’ (Lover)

‘Lyrical smile, indigo eyes, hand on my thigh’ (I think He Knows)

 ‘Wrap your arms around me, baby boy’ (Paper Rings)

‘Baby, I get mystified by how this city screams your name’ (Cornelia Street)

‘Quiet my fears with a touch of your hand’ (Death by a Thousand Cuts)

‘There’s a lot of cool chicks out there’ (ME!)

‘Baby doll’ (ME!)

‘Girl, there ain’t no I in team’ (ME!)

‘Something gave you the nerve to touch my hand’ (It's Nice To Have a Friend)

‘High heels on cobblestone’ (Cardigan)

‘Sequin smile, black lipstick, sensual politics’ (Cardigan)

‘You wear the same jewels that I gave you, as you bury me’ (My Tears Ricochet)

‘I’ll get you out on the floor, shimmering beautiful’ (Mirrorball)

‘Your braids like a pattern, love you to the moon and to Saturn’ (Seven)

‘Just like a folk song, our love will be passed on’ (Seven)

‘Pack your dolls and a sweater’ (Seven)

‘Leave the perfume on the shelf, that you picked out just for him’ (Illicit Affairs)

‘Not without my muse’ (Peace)

‘Like you were a trophy, or a champion ring’ (Willow)

‘Gleaming, twinkling eyes like sinking ships on waters’ (Gold Rush)

‘Everybody wants you’ ‘Walk past, quick brush’ ‘slow motion, double vision in a rose blush’ (Gold Rush)

‘What must it be like to grow up that beautiful? With your hair falling into place like dominoes’ (Gold Rush)

‘The stars in your eyes shined brighter in Tupelo’ (Dorothea)

‘Did I close my fist around something delicate? Did I shatter you?’ (Coney Island)

‘Sorry for not making you my centerfold’ (Coney Island)

‘If you were too polite to leave me’ (Coney Island)

‘My pain fits in the palm of your freezing hand, taking mine but it’s been promised to another’ (Ivy)

‘He’s in the room, your opal eyes are all I wish to see, he wants what’s only yours’ (Ivy)

‘The lips I used to call home, so scarlet, it was maroon’ (Maroon)

‘Karma is my boyfriend…Karma is a queen’ (Karma)

‘Lightning strikes every time she moves, and everybody’s watching her but she’s looking at you’ (This Is What You Came For)

Religious Guilt / Love Replacing Religion

Religious Language, and themes of right and wrong, feature in 112 of the 196 songs on the Debut - Midnights albums, over 57%. Of those 112 songs, 98 frame the narrator, her muse, or their relationship in a negative way.

Society tells LGBTQIA+ people that our identity and relationships are ‘sinful’ and ‘wrong’. For those of us who are raised religious, breaking that mindset takes a lot of time and work. Many of us have had to choose between love and the faith we were raised in. So our relationships and community become a surrogate for the religious structure we once believed in. Much like reclaiming words like queer that were once used to insult us, equating love and sexuality with religion is an empowering act of rebellion.

Music by heterosexual artists also frequently compare sex and intimacy to a religious experience, like Justin Bieber’s “Holy” for example. While other songs like “Bad Things” by Jace Everett use lines like ‘I wanna do bad things with you’ as a euphemism. What makes the queer expression of religious trauma unique is the lingering sense of shame, or defiance and rejection of shame. It will also be expressed in other areas of the relationship than purely focused on sexuality, and usually reoccurs throughout the artist’s body of work. King Princess for example has three songs that explicitly relate relationships with religion - Holy, 1950 and Pussy is God. Similarly Zolita frequently uses good and evil, heaven and hell to explore her relationships, clearest in her songs Evil Angel, Drag Me to Hell, Like Heaven, and Holy.

In this Analysis, I explore the theme of Religious Trauma, and how the narrator subverts good and bad when describing what she desires. That’s the Way I Loved You is one of the clearest early examples of this, with the narrator wanting a relationship she describes as ‘frustrating, intoxicating’, ‘complicated’ and ‘insane’ compared to one she describes as ‘better’ but doesn’t leave her ‘feeling anything at all.’ Similarly in Haunted she says ‘He will try to take away my pain and he just might make me smile, but the whole time, I'm wishing he was you instead’.

King Princess said about her song Holy “there is something extremely fucked up and fun about being the antithesis of a belief system. Gay people always have existed in the religious community, but never in a way that’s respectful.”

More recently Fletcher said she “grew up in the catholic church, so [writing Her Body Is Bible] is me reclaiming / redefining what I was taught I’d go to hell for.”

Similarly, in the Miss Americana documentary, Taylor Swift said ‘People decided I was wicked, and evil and conniving, and not a good person’ and ‘I had to deconstruct an entire belief system for my own personal sanity’ both of which line up with the feelings expressed by the narrator here.

The two songs that most clearly explore themes of religious trauma are Don’t Blame Me, which has been compared to Hozer’s ‘Take me to Church’ and more explicitly False God.

‘Thankin' God that you weren't here to see me like that’ (Tim McGraw)

‘I'll be strong, I'll be wrong, oh, but life goes on’ (A Place In This World)

‘And when I got home, 'fore I said, "Amen" asking God if he could play it again’ (Our Song)

‘We could be a beautiful miracle, unbelievable’ (Invisible)

‘I can't help it if you look like an angel, can't help it if I wanna kiss you in the rain’ (Hey Stephen)

‘Say you're sorry, that face of an angel comes out just when you need it to’ (White Horse)

‘It's 2 a.m. and I'm cursing your name, I'm so in love that I acted insane’ (That’s The Way I Loved You)

‘I was a scarlet letter’ (Love Story)

‘We show off our different scarlet letters’ (New Romantics)

The Scarlet Letter is a novel where the main character is forced to wear a bright red ‘A’ as a physical manifestation of shame and visual reminder of her public humiliation.

Recalling the story of Adam and Eve in the garden, the main character’s sin results in expulsion and suffering, as well as the knowledge of what it means to be immoral.

“She contemplates casting it off to obtain her freedom from an oppressive society and a checkered past as well as the absence of God. Because the society excludes her, she considers the possibility that many of the traditions upheld by the Puritan culture are untrue and are not designed to bring her happiness.”

‘God smiles on my little brother, inside and out he's better than I am’ (The Best Day)

‘It's a revolution, the time will come for us to finally win, we sing hallelujah’ (Change)

‘This is wrong, but I can't help but feel like there ain't nothing more right, babe’ (Superstar)

‘After everything I must confess, I need you’ (The Other Side of the Door)

‘Had you, got burned, Held out, and held on, God knows, too long’ (You All Over Me) (Vault)

‘I want you bad, but it's come down to nothing’ (Bye Bye Baby) (Vault)

‘I confess, baby, in my dreams you’re touching my face’ (I Almost Do)

‘For you I would fall from grace, just to touch your face, if you ever were to walk away, I’d beg you on my knees to stay’ (Don’t Blame Me)

‘My mind forgets to remind me you're a bad idea’ (Sparks Fly)

‘Just wrong enough to make it feel right’ (Sparks Fly)

‘Praying the floor won't fall through, again, my mother accused me of losing my mind, but I swore I was fine’ (Dear John)

‘This is me praying that this was the very first page, not where the story line ends’ (Enchanted)

‘She's not a saint, and she's not what you think, she's an actress, whoa’ (Better than Revenge)

‘Who you are is not what you did, you're still an innocent…Lost your balance on a tightrope, oh, it's never too late to get it back’ (Innocent)

‘Something's gone terribly wrong, you're all I wanted’ (Haunted)

‘Can't breathe whenever you're gone, can't turn back now, I'm haunted’ (Haunted)

‘I fear I have fallen from grace’ (Castles Crumbling)

‘You don't want to know me, I will just let you down’ (Castles Crumbling)

‘Foolish one, sittin' 'round waiting for confessions of love’ (Foolish One)

‘You were never a saint, and I’ve loved in shades of wrong’ (State of Grace)

‘This slope is treacherous and I, I, I like it’ (Treacherous)

‘Passionate as sin’ (Red)

‘Once upon a time, a few mistakes ago’ (I Knew You Were Trouble)

‘I realize the blame is on me, ‘cause I knew you were trouble when you walked in so shame on me now’ (I Knew You Were Trouble)

‘You look like bad news, I gotta have you’ (22)

‘Right there where we stood was holy ground’ (Holy Ground)

‘How you took the money and your dignity and got the hell out’ (The Lucky One)

‘All I know is a newfound grace’ (Everything has Changed)

‘Sacred prayer and we’d swear to remember it all to well’ (All to Well)

‘You’ve got your demons and, darling they all look like me’ (Sad Beautiful Tragic)
‘Chains around my demons’ (Invisible String)

‘All I felt was shame and you held my lifeless frame’ (All too Well 10MV)

‘I could show you incredible things; magic, madness, heaven, sin’ (Blank Space)

‘I can make the bad guys good for a weekend’ (Blank Space)

‘So it’s gonna be forever, or it’s gonna go down in flames’ (Blank Space)

I went through this in my Blank Space Analysis.

‘Could end in burning flames or paradise’ (Style)

‘I got that good girl faith and a tight little skirt’ (Style)

‘I thought heaven can’t help me now, nothing lasts forever, but this is gonna take me down’ (Wildest Dreams)

‘He's so tall and handsome as hell, he's so bad, but he does it so well’ (Wildest Dreams)

‘This love is good; this love is bad’ (This Love)

‘Took a wrong turn and we fell down a rabbit hole’ (Wonderland)

‘I’ll pay the price you won’t’ (Slut)

‘And if they call me a slut, you know it might be worth it for once’ (Slut)

‘Everyone wants him, that was my crime, the wrong place at the right time’ (Slut)

‘You part the crowd like the Red Sea, don't even get me started’ (Now That We Don’t Talk)

‘And you kissed me in a way that's gonna screw me up forever’ (Suburban Legends)

‘You dream of my mouth before it called you a lying trator’ (Is It Over Now?)

‘I heard about you, you like the bad ones, too’ (End Game)

‘And I can’t let you go, your handprints on my soul’ (End Game)

‘Don't blame me, love made me crazy, if it doesn't, you ain't doin' it right’ (End Game)

‘I can feel the flames on my skin’ (I Did Something Bad)

‘I did something bad, so why’s it feel so good?’ (I Did Something Bad)

‘They’re burning all the witches even if you aren’t one, so light me up’ (I Did Something Bad)
‘Women like hunting witches too’ (Mad Woman)

Women were often labeled witches because they didn’t fit traditional gender roles and sexualities. Many queer women still connect with witchcraft and paganism as a way to reclaim their power and community. As recently as 1962 it was illigal to be homosexual in the USA. The Lavender Scare during the 50’s was a witch-hunt of queer people working for the US government.

‘Don't blame me, love made me crazy, if it doesn't, you ain't doin' it right’ (Don’t Blame Me)

‘Something happened for the first time, in the darkest little paradise’ (Don’t Blame Me)

‘Oh, Lord, save me, my drug is my baby’ (Don’t Blame Me)

‘Echoes of your name inside my mind, halo hiding my obsession’ (Don’t Blame Me)

‘This ain't for the best, my reputation's never been worse’ (Delicate)

‘You know I’m not a bad girl, but I do bad things with you’ (So it Goes)

‘I knew it from the first Old Fashioned we were cursed’ (Getaway Car)

‘King of my heart, body and soul’ (King of my Heart)

‘And I know I make the same mistakes every time, bridges burn, I never learn, at least I did one thing right’ (Call It What You Want To)

“Inescapable, I'm not even gonna try and if I get burned, at least we were electrified.” (Dress)

‘No rules in breakable heaven’ (Cruel Summer)

‘Devils roll the dice, angels roll their eyes’ (Cruel Summer)

“I love you”, ain’t that the worst thing you ever heard?’ (Cruel Summer)

‘He looks up grinning like a devil’ (Cruel Summer)

My Cruel Summer Analysis explores this.

‘Getting bitches and models? And it's all good if you're bad’ (The Man)

‘I'd be a bitch, not a baller, they'd paint me out to be bad so it’s okay that I’m mad’ (The Man)

‘The room is on fire, invisible smoke’ (The Archer)

‘I want you, bless my soul’ (I Think He Knows)

‘I think he knows he’d better lock it down or I won’t stick around ‘cause good ones never wait’ (I Think He Knows)

‘They whisper in the hallway, "She's a bad, bad girl" (Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince)

‘Barefoot in the kitchen, sacred new beginnings, that became my religion’ (Cornelia Street)

‘We’d bless the rains on Cornelia Street’ (Cornelia Street)

‘My time, my wine, my spirit, my trust: trying to find a part of me you didn’t take up’ (Death by a Thousand Cuts)

‘Gave up on me like I was a bad drug, now I'm searching for signs in a haunted club’ (Death by a Thousand Cuts)

‘Desperate people find faith, so now I pray to Jesus too’ (Soon You’ll Get Better)

‘They say the road gets hard and you get lost when you're led by blind faith’ (False God)

‘Religion’s in your lips… the altar is my hips’ (False God)

‘Even if it’s a false god, we’d still worship this love’ (False God)

‘I know heaven’s a thing, I go there when you touch me, honey, hell is when I fight with you’ (False God)

‘Make confessions and we’re begging for forgiveness, got the wine for you’ (False God)

‘I'm to blame…I'm the one who burned us down’ (Afterglow)

‘There are so many lines that I've crossed unforgiven’ (Daylight)

‘Trouble's gonna follow where I go’ (ME!)

‘I persist and resist the temptation to ask you’ (The 1)

‘I knew I'd curse you for the longest time’ (Cardigan)

Original lyrics: ‘I knew you, laughing like a damn fool, breaking every damn rule’

‘"There goes the most shameless woman this town has ever seen… I had a marvelous time ruinin' everything" (The Last Great American Dynasty)

‘I'm not your problem anymore, so who am I offending now?’ (Exile)

‘And if I'm on fire, you'll be made of ashes, too. Even on my worst day, did I deserve babe, all the hell you gave me?’ (My Tears Ricochet)

‘And I still talk to you, when I’m screaming at the sky’ (My Tears Ricochet)

‘I’m still a believer, but I don’t know why’ (Mirrorball) 

‘Cross your heart, won’t tell no other’ (Seven)

‘And my words shoot to kill when I'm mad, I have a lot of regrets about that’ (This Is Me Trying)

‘Look at this godforsaken mess that you’ve made me’ (Illicit Affairs)

‘And you know damn well for you I would ruin myself a million little times’ (Illicit Affairs)

‘Out of all the wrong arms’ (Invisible String)

‘Hell was the journey but it brought me heaven’ (Invisible String)

I covered this in my Invisible String Analysis.

‘Does a scorpion sting when fighting back? They strike to kill, and you know I will’ (Mad Woman)

‘What a shame she went mad, no one likes a mad woman’ (Mad Woman)

‘Would you tell me to go straight to hell or lead me to the garden?’ (Betty) [Non-explicit version]

‘The devils in the details, but you’ve got a friend in me’ (Peace)

‘I never had the courage of my convictions, as long as danger is near, and it’s just around the corner, darling, because it lives in me, no I could never give you peace’ (Peace)

Recalls ‘We need love but all we want is danger’ (New Romantics)

‘Your faithless love’s the only hoax I believe in’ (Hoax)

‘My barren land, I am ash from your fire’ (Hoax)

‘My only one, my kingdom come undone’ (Hoax)

A play on The Lord's Prayer - ‘thy kingdom come, thy will be done’

‘Tis the damn season, write this down’ (Tis the Damn Season)

‘I made you my temple, my mural, my sky’ (Tolerate it)

‘I guess it’s the price I paid for seven years in heaven’ (Happiness)

May refer to the game ‘seven minutes in heaven’, a game with a definitive end point.

‘Past the blood and bruise, past the curses and cries’ (Happiness)

‘But are you still the same soul I met under the bleachers?’ (Dorothea)

‘Break my soul in two, looking for you but you’re right here’ (Coney Island)

‘Do you miss the rogue, who coaxed you into paradise and left you there?’ (Coney Island)

‘Will you forgive my soul?’ (Coney Island)

‘Oh Godamn, my pain fits in the palm of your freezing hand’ (Ivy)

‘I’d meet you where the spirit meets the bones, in a faith forgotten land’ (Ivy)

‘I wish to know the fatal flaw that makes you long to be magnificently cursed’ (Ivy)

Recalls the references to being a ‘scarlet letter’, which is also related to an affair.

‘So yeah, it's a fire, it's a goddamn blaze in the dark and you started it’ (Ivy)

‘Fell from the pedestal, right down the rabbit hole, long story short, it was a bad time’ (Long Story Short)

‘Guilty, guilty, reaching out across the sea’ (Closure)

‘Motion capture, put me in a bad light’ (Evermore)

‘That old familiar body ache, the snaps from the same little breaks in your soul’ (It’s Time to Go)

‘Someone screams out “She’s laughing up at us from hell!” (Anti-Hero)

‘I'm damned if I do give a damn what people say’ (Lavender Haze)

‘You did some bad things, but I'm the worst of them’ (Vigilante Shit)

‘Baby boy, I think I've been too good of a girl’ (Bejeweled)

‘Uh oh, I'm falling in love’ (Labyrinth)

 ‘This is the first time, I’ve felt the need to confess’ (Mastermind)

‘Spineless in my tomb of silence’ (The Great War)

A metaphor for being closeted.

‘Did some force take you because I didn’t pray?’ (Bigger Than The Whole Sky)

‘Cursed you as I sleep talked, spineless in my tomb of silence… We're burned for better, I vowed’ (The Great War)

‘Did some force take you because I didn't pray?’ (Bigger than the Whole Sky)

‘Confess my truth in swooping, sloping, cursive letters’ (Paris)

‘I would have stayed on my knees, and I damn sure never would have danced with the devil at nineteen, and the god’s honest truth is the pain was heaven’ (Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve)

‘But lord you made me feel important… and then you tried to erase us’ (Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve)

‘Oh, god rest my soul, I miss who I used to be’ (Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve)

‘When you aim at the devil, make sure that you don’t miss’ (Dear Reader)

‘Oh, Carolina knows why for years they’ve said, that I was guilty as sin and sleep in a liar’s bed’ (Carolina)

Similar Lyrics

I recommend listening to the playlist, because the angst can’t be expressed just by quoting the lyrics.

‘It felt so wrong, it felt so right’ and ‘it’s not what good girls do’ (I Kissed a Girl) by Katy Perry

Katy Perry talked about how growing up religious left her feeling like she had to ‘pray away the gay’ in this interview.

‘But fuck it, here's my confession, I'm kinda hooked on you’ (Somebody I Fucked Once) Zolita

‘Don't want to be a good girl 'cause I am so in love with her…I confess that I want her, forbidden love’ (I Want Her) by Blind Truth

‘Love is a place where she touches your face’ (Daughter of god) Phemiec

‘Evil evil angel got me caught up in a lie’ (Evil Angel) Zolita

‘I know you wanna be so unholy with me’ (Unholy) by Hollie Col

‘I'm not fazed, only here to sin, if Eve ain't in your garden, you know that you can’ (Montero) Lil Nas X

‘The demons in my head, I bring em' all to bed…Lover haven’t you heard, the devil was an angel first’  (Pray) by Xana

‘I'll give my soul, sacrifice me, cause your love is holy’ (Holy) Zolita

‘But there's one thing I won't quit, if loving her is a sin, I'd go to hell for it’ (Go to Hell) Luhx

‘So call me Satan’s mistress, I’ll be your Lilith, we’ll burn together forever’ (Drag Me to Hell) Zolita

‘I know I'm headed for hell but it feels like heaven with you’ (Like Heaven) Zolita

‘Amen, oh, her body is Bible, the only Heaven that I know’ (Her Body is Bible) Fletcher

‘I'll be your deity, fall to your knees, oh, honey, pray to me between the sheets’ (Deity) Valeree

‘I mean I don't mind sinning if it's with you’ (Sin) Tomberlin

‘If I’m gon' sin, it’s with you, tattoo your love on my heart, let the rumors be true’ (Don’t Judge Me) Janelle Monáe

‘You're rolling the devils dice’ (Complex) Xana

‘They called me a sinner when I was a saint’ (If It’s Not God) Maddie Zahm

‘She's no angel, but she is my religion’ (She’s my Religion) Pale Waves

‘This is heaven in hiding’ (Heaven in Hiding) Halsey

‘Turns out I'm going to Hell if I keep on being myself…this Hell is better with you, we're burning up together’ (This Hell) Rina Sawayama

‘Well you know I'm not religious, but your lovin' is bible…Take me to your holy places, treat you like an idol, confessing all my secrets to you with no denial’ (Lovin is Bible) The Aces

More in my Even if it's a False God Playlist. (Youtube / Spotify)

Villainization

Another expression of religious guilt is shown in the narrator's literal ‘confessions’ to lying, and her comparison of herself and her muse to romanticized villains and performers. Many LGBTQIA+ stories frame us as villains, romanticizing those villains is a way of trying to turn around internalized homophobia and feel better about yourself.

‘There is nothing I do better than revenge, ha’ (Better than Revenge)

‘You can see me as a secret mission’ (I Can See You)

‘Run, like you'd run from the law’

‘He can’t see it in my face but I’m about to play my Ace’ (New Romantics)

As I say in my New Romantics Analysis, ‘ace’ could be a play on asexual.

‘You dream of my mouth before it called you a lying trator’ (Is It Over Now?

‘Knew I was a robber, first time that he saw me’ (Ready for It)

‘Let the games begin’ (Ready for It)

I cover this in my Ready For It Analysis.

‘Ah, and you heard about me Ooh, I got some big enemies (yeah)’ (End Game)

‘You’ve been calling my bluff, on all my usual tricks, so here’s the truth from my red lips’ (End Game)

‘I'll be the actress starring in your bad dreams’ (Look What You Made Me Do)

‘I don't trust nobody and nobody trusts me’ (Look What You Made Me Do)

Recalls ‘Darling I’m a nightmare, dressed like a daydream’ from Blank Space (which I analyze here).

‘All eyes on you, my magician’ ‘All eyes on me, your illusionist’ (So It Goes)

‘We were jet-set Bonnie and Clyde until I switched to the other side’ (Getaway Car)

‘The ties were black, the lies were white’ (Getaway Car)

‘He poisoned the well, I was lying to myself’ (Getaway Car)

‘Put the money in the bag, and I stole the keys’ (Getaway Car)

‘Us traitors never win’ (Getaway Car)

‘Back when we were card sharks, playing games, I thought you were leading me on’ (Cornelia Street)

‘Call my bluff, call you ‘Babe’ (It’s Nice to Have a Friend)

‘And I think you should come live with me and we can be pirates’ (Seven)

This article, and this video explore the queer history of pirates. Being a ‘birate’ is a joke in the bisexual community.

‘The worst thing that I ever did was what I did to you’ (Betty)

‘Every bait-and-switch was a work of art’ (Willow)

‘There was one prize I'd cheat to win’ (Willow)

‘Do you miss the rogue who coaxed you into paradise and left you there?’ (Coney Island)

‘You’re a cowboy like me’ (Cowboy Like Me)

 Cowboys have a queer history. Brokeback Mountain is a 2005 romantic drama about gay cowboys. Here’s my Cowboy Like Me Analysis.

‘You’re a bandit like me, hustling for the good life’ (Cowboy Like Me)

‘Telling all the rich folks anything they wanna hear, like it could be love’ (Cowboy Like Me)

Recalls ‘New money, suit and tie, I can read you like a magazine’ (Blank Space) / ‘I never trust a narcissist, but they love me, so I play them like a violin and make it look oh so easy’ (I Did Something Bad)

‘I’ve got some tricks up my sleeve’ (Cowboy Like Me)

‘Old men that I’ve swindled really did believe I was the one’ (Cowboy Like Me)

‘Forever is the sweetest con’ (Cowboy Like Me)

Con: persuade by lying. Synonym of Hoax.

‘One day I’ll watch as you’re leaving ‘cause you got tired of my scheming’ (Anti-Hero)

‘I’m the problem, it’s me’ (Anti-Hero)

‘I’m a monster on the hill’ (Anti-Hero)

‘Did you hear my covert narcissism, I disguise as altruism like some kind of congressman?’ (Anti-Hero)

‘And it's fine to fake it till you make it, Till you do, Till it's true’ (Anti-Hero)

‘I’ve been scheming like a criminal ever since’ (Mastermind)

‘Oh my, love is a lie’ (Hits Different)

‘Skip town like an asshole outlaw’ (Hits Different)

‘I bent the truth too far tonight, I was dancing around, dancing around it’ (High Infidelity)

‘You wouldn’t take my word for it if you knew who was talking’ (Dear Reader)

‘You wouldn't be the first renegade to need somebody’ (Renegade)

Similar Lyrics

‘No, he can't read my poker face… I'm bluffin' with my muffin’ (Poker Face) Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga wrote this song about bisexuality.

‘Well I'd never take us for renegades, but when I hold your hand we look menacing’ (Refugees) Dog Park Dissidents

‘I'm a real witch, you know I'll fuck you up’ (Black Magic) Zolita

‘Under your bedspell…fill me with your magic’ (Bedspell) Zolita

‘Can the killer in me, tame the fire in you?... I am sick of the chase, but I'm hungry for blood’ (Killer) Phoebe Bridgers

‘I'm a bad liar, with a savior complex. All the skeletons you hide, show me yours, and I'll show you mine’ (Savior Complex) Phoebe Bridgers

‘I'm a cult leader, best believe that she's a keeper, grim reaper looking for my cheerleaders’ (Cult Leader) KiNG MALA

‘I'm a monster in disguise’ (Gravel to Tempo) Hayley Kiyoko

‘I am not a martyr, I'm a problem, I am not a legend, I'm a fraud’ (I am not a woman, I’m a god) Halsey

More examples in my I Did Something Bad Playlist. (Youtube / Spotify)

Star Crossed Lovers

The narrator repeatedly expresses feelings that her relationships are persecuted, require absolute secrecy to survive, and are ultimately doomed. Which makes very little sense for someone in an uncontroversial relationship, but are common themes in queer music. I won’t bother annotating this section, because I think it speaks for itself, but I will highlight the most relevant lyrics.

Persecuted

Feeling anxious about being exposed, and like everyone is judging you and actively trying to break up your relationship.

‘So I sneak out to the garden to see you, We keep quiet 'cause we're dead if they knew… they’re trying to tell me how to feel’ (Love Story)

‘Seems like there's always someone who disapproves, they'll judge it like they know about me and you’ (Ours)

‘It’s not theirs to speculate if it’s wrong’ (Ours)

‘People throw rocks at things that shine, and life makes love look hard’ (Ours)

‘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’ (Long Live)

‘Story of a romance torn apart by fate’ (Timeless)

‘They keep watchful eyes on us’ (I Can See You)

‘Now they're screaming that they hate me, never wanted you to hate me’ (Castles Crumbling)

‘And the voices say, "You are not the exception, you will never learn your lesson" (Foolish One)

‘Your secrets end up splashed on the news front page’ (The Lucky One)

‘They tell you when you’re young “Girls go out and have your fun”, then they hunt and slay the ones who actually do it’ (Nothing New)

‘But I wonder if they'll miss me once they drive me out’ (Nothing New)

‘Say you’ll never let them tear us apart’ (Run)

‘Ain't it funny? Rumors fly and I know you heard about me’ (Blank Space)

‘I go on too many dates, but I can't make 'em stay, at least that's what people say’ (Shake It Off)

‘You stand with your hand on my waistline, it’s a scene and we’re out here in plain sight’ (I Know Places)

‘I can hear them whisper as they pass by, it’s a bad sign, bad sign’ (I Know Places)

‘They are the hunters, we are the foxes, and we run’ (I Know Places)

‘The rumors are terrible and cruel, but honey, most of them are true’ (New Romantics)

‘Didn’t they tell us don’t rush into things’ (Wonderland)

‘And if they call me a slut, you know it might be worth it for once’ (Slut)

‘The sticks and stones they throw froze mid-air’ (Slut)

‘I call my mom, she said that it was for the best’ (Now That We Don't Talk)

‘They say she’s gone too far this time’ (Don’t Blame Me)

‘They say I did something bad, so why’s it feel so good?’ (I Did Something Bad)

‘I knew there was no one in the world who could take it’ (Dancing With Our Hands Tied)

‘Call it what you want’ (Call It What You Want)

‘All the liars are calling me one, nobody’s heard from me for months’ (Call It What You Want)

‘Lived in the shade you were throwing, until all of my sunshine was gone’ (I Forgot That You Existed)

‘You and me, that’s my whole world, they whisper in the hallway “She’s a bad, bad girl” (Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince)

‘I’ve been the archer, I’ve been the prey’ (The Archer)

‘They all warned us about times like this’ (False God)

‘You are somebody that I don’t know, but you’re takin’ shots at me like it’s Patrón’ (You Need to Calm Down)

‘And when you are young, they assume you know nothing’ (Cardigan)

Original Lyric from Cardigan: ‘But I knew you, living in a gold age, sneaking to my birdcage’

‘There goes the most shameless woman this town has ever seen…the loudest woman this town has ever seen’ (The Last Great American Dynasty)

‘You heard the rumors from Inez,  you can't believe a word she says, most times but this time it was true’ (Betty)

‘And you'll poke that bear 'til her claws come out and you find something to wrap your noose around’ (Mad Woman)

‘They told me all my cages were mental’ (This is Me Trying)

‘These hunters with cell phones’ (The Lakes)

‘Tell me I've got it wrong somehow I know my love should be celebrated but you tolerate it’ (Tolerate It)

‘What would he do if he found us out?’ ‘He’s gonna burn this house to the ground’ (Ivy)

‘When I dropped my sword, I threw it in the bushes and I knocked on your door…If someone comes at us, this time I’m ready’ (Long Story Short)

‘Trends change, rumors fly through new skies’ (Right Where You Left Me)

‘No deal, the 1950s' shit they want from me’ (Lavender Haze)

‘The only kinda girl they see is a one-night or a wife’ (Lavender Haze)

‘They’re bringing up my history’ (Lavender Haze)

‘At teatime, everybody agrees’ (Anti-Hero)

‘I dream of getting out’ (You’re on Your Own, Kid)

‘I looked around in a blood-soaked gown, and I saw something they can’t take away’ (You’re On Your Own, Kid)

‘My town was a wasteland, full of cages, full of fences’ (Midnight Rain)

‘You were keeping count’ (High Infidelity)

‘Dragged my feet right down the aisle… your picket fence is sharp as knives’ (High Infidelity)

‘If it feels like a trap, you’re already in one’ (Dear Reader)

Secrecy

Being desperate to keep the relationship a secret, relieved when you do, or expressing a desire to hide or run away.

‘When we're on the phone, and you talk real slow, 'cause it's late, and your mama don't know’ (Our Song)

‘What would you do if they never found us out?’ (I Can See You)

‘’You can see me as a secret mission’ (I Can See You)

‘Your secret has its consequence, and that’s on you babe’ (Babe)

‘You kept me like a secret but I kept you like an oath’ (All Too Well)

‘And run, like you’d run from the law, darling let’s run’ (Run)

‘Makes you wanna run and hide’ (I Wish You Would)

‘He said, "Let's get out of this town, drive out of the city, away from the crowds” (Wildest Dreams)

‘Lovelorn and nobody knows’ (Slut)

‘What do you tell your friends we shared dinners, long weekends with? Truth is, I can't pretend it's platonic, it's just ended, so’ (Now That We Don’t Talk)

‘Halo, hiding my obsession’ (Don’t Blame Me)

‘Come here; you can meet me in the back’ (Delicate)

‘Your love is a secret, I’m hoping, dreaming, dying to keep’ (King of My Heart)

‘I loved you in secret’ (Dancing With Our Hands Tied)

‘Picture of your face in an invisible locket’ (Dancing With Our Hands Tied)

‘Our secret moments in a crowded room, they got no idea about me and you’ (Dress)

‘Everyone thinks they know us, but they know nothing about all of this silence and patience, pining and desperately waiting, my hands are shaking from holding back from you’ (Dress)

‘You don’t need to save me, but would you run away with me?’ (Call It What You Want)

‘I don’t want to keep secrets just to keep you’ (Cruel Summer)

‘I want to drive away with you’ (Paper Rings)

‘I like shiny things but I’d marry you with paper rings’ (Paper Rings)

‘You hold my hand on the street, walk me back to the apartment’ (Cornelia Street)

‘I've been sleeping so long in a 20-year dark night’ (Daylight)

‘Threw out our cloaks and our daggers because it's morning now’ (Daylight)

“Meet me behind the mall” (August)

‘Pack your dolls, and a sweater, we’ll move to India forever’ (Seven)

‘Make sure nobody sees you leave’ (Illicit Affairs)

‘And that's the thing about illicit affairs, and clandestine meetings and longing stares’ (Illicit Affairs)

‘You taught me a secret language you know I can’t speak with anyone else’ (Illicit Affairs)

‘All these people think loves for show, but I would die for you in secret’ (Peace)

‘Showed you all of my hiding spots’ (Happiness)

‘When I walked up to the podium, I think that I forgot to say your name’ (Coney Island)

‘My smile is like I won a contest, and to hide that would be so dishonest’ (Snow on the Beach)

‘I’ll run away’ (You’re on Your Own, Kid)

‘Have you ever had someone kiss you in a crowded room?’ (Question..?)

‘Privacy sign on the door, and on my page and the whole world, romance is not dead if you keep it just yours’ (Paris)

‘You don’t have to answer just ‘cause they asked you…the greatest of luxuries is your secrets’ (Dear Reader)

‘I prefer hiding in plain sight’ (Dear Reader)

‘Get out your map, pick somewhere and just run’ (Dear Reader)

‘Carolina pines, won’t you cover me? Hide me like robes down the back road’ (Carolina)

‘Sneakin' out into town, holdin' hands, just killin' time’ (All of the Girls)

Doomed

Feeling that the relationship is precarious, dangerous and feeling intense anxiety that it could come to an abrupt end in a way that's entirely out of your control.

‘This love is difficult but it’s real’ (Love Story)

Original lyric: ‘This love is different but it’s real’

‘Music starts playin' like the end of a sad movie, it's the kinda ending you don't really wanna see, 'Cause it's tragedy and it'll only bring you down’ (Breathe)

‘I knew from the first note played; I’d be breaking all my rules to see you’ (Superstar)

‘I don't know what to say since the twist of fate 'cause we're going down, the story of us looks a lot like a tragedy now’ (Story of Us)

‘You and I walk a fragile line’ (Haunted)

‘But if —God forbid— fate should step in, and force us into a goodbye’ (Long Live)

‘The stakes are high’ (Ours)

‘I've got my money on things goin' badly, got a history of stories ending sadly, still hoping that the fire won't burn me, just one time, just one time’ (Electric Touch)

‘His love was like driving a new Maserati down a dead-end street’ (State of Grace)

‘This hope is treacherous, this daydream is dangerous’ (Treacherous)

‘Nothing safe is worth the drive’ (Treacherous)

‘I've been spending the last eight months thinking all love ever does is break and burn, and end’ (Begin Again)

‘And it would've felt like a million little shining stars had just aligned’ (The Moment I Knew)

‘This thing was a shot in the dark’ (Run)

‘So it’s gonna be forever, or it’s gonna go down in flames’ (Blank Space)

‘Are we out of the woods yet? Are we in the clear yet?’ (OOTW)

‘We were built to fall apart, then fall back together’ (OOTW)

‘Loose lips sink ships all the damn time’ (I Know Places)

‘Could end in burning flames or paradise’ (Style)

‘I’ll pay the price you won’t’ (Slut)

‘It's a big mistake, I said, "It might blow up in your pretty face"’ (Slut)

‘I've known it from the very start, we’re a shot in the darkest dark’ (Say Don’t Go)

‘And you kissed me in a way that's gonna screw me up forever’ (Suburban Legends)

‘I had the fantasy that maybe our mismatched star signs would surprise the whole school’ (Suburban Legends)

‘We can’t make any promises, now can we babe?’ (Delicate)

‘Gold cage, hostage to my feelings’ (So It Goes)

‘Ocean blue eyes, looking in mine, I feel like I might sink and drown and die’ (Gorgeous)

‘I knew it from the first Old Fashioned, we were cursed, we never had a shotgun shot in the dark’ (Getaway Car)

‘You said there was nothing in the world that could stop it, I had a bad feeling’ (Dancing With Our Hands Tied)

‘I loved you in spite of deep fears that the world would divide us’ (Dancing With Our Hands Tied)

‘I’d kiss you as the lights went out, swaying as the room burned down, I’d hold you as the water rushes in, if I could dance with you again’ (Dancing With Our Hands Tied)

‘Cause cruelty wins in the movies’ (The Archer)

‘The room is on fire, invisible smoke’ (The Archer)

‘I whisper in the dark, “Where we gonna go?” (I Think He Knows)

‘I saw the scoreboard and ran for my life’ (Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince)

‘Voted most likely to run away with you’, ‘I’m feeling helpless, the damsels are depressed’ (Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince)

‘We were crazy to think, crazy to think that this would work’ (False God)

‘We were stupid to jump into the ocean separating us’ (False God)

‘Trouble’s gonna follow where I go’ (ME!)

‘My love was as cruel as the cities I lived in’ (Daylight)

‘We always walked a very thin line’ (Exile)

‘I never had the courage of my convictions, as long as danger is near’ ‘it lives in me’ (Peace)

‘It fades into the gray of my day-old tea, because it could never be’ (Gold Rush)

‘It could be love, we could be the way forward, and I know I’ll pay for it’ (Cowboy Like Me)

‘Life is emotionally abusive’ (Snow on the Beach)

‘You wanting me tonight, feels impossible’ (Snow on the Beach)

‘I can’t even speak, afraid to jinx it’ (Snow on the Beach)

‘Never trust it if it rises fast, it can't last’ (Labyrinth)

‘They said the end is coming’ (Sweet Nothing)

‘I thought we had no chance, and that’s romance’ (Glitch)

Out Of The Woods Music Video

Trapped

The narrator frequently depicts herself as being trapped or caged in some way. When it’s visual, she’s often guarded by a number of male guards or ‘jailers’. I interpret the masked men as former and present beards.

Look What You Made Me Do Music Video

The narrator is locked in a life sized golden bird cage, while she’s got an extravagant meal, she’s alone and guarded by seven menacing men.

‘Gold cage, hostage to my feelings’ (So It Goes)
‘Living in a gold age, sneaking to my bird cage’ (Cardigan - Voice Memo)

After staging a jailbreak, and bank heist assisted by four women in cat masks, she’s joined by these eight dancers who follow her every move, but more on them later.

Ready For It Music Video

The narrator passes 8 guards, and enters a password to get into the jail cell where her true self is being held prisoner.

Credit to u/registereddingus for noticing and highlighting the graffiti

I Can See You Music Video

‘Forever is the sweetest con’ (Cowboy Like Me)
‘Baby, all at once, this is enough’ (King of My Heart)
‘Halo hiding my obsession’ (Don’t Blame Me)
‘All eyes on me your illusionist’ (So It Goes)

In the behind the scenes video, Taylor says “So the characters the boys are playing are robots. They have light up faces, but like not in a good way, like in a way that makes you feel like you would not wanna like go get a drink with one of them… because they’re not real humans.”

Similar Lyrics

‘We keep it on the low’ (Kitchen Light) Xana

‘I love it when we play 1950, so cold that your stare's 'bout to kill me’ (1950) King Princess

‘I couldn't hold your hand in public’ (Haunted) Madeline The Person

‘I don't wanna be your secret anymore’ (Boyfriend) Tegan & Sara

‘Oh, you try keep us on the low, I only want a girl who ain't afraid to love me’ (What I Need) Hayley Kiyoko

‘I'ma save your name under somethin' else… I'ma tweet our inside jokes to the outside world, to get you goin… They don't wanna see it happen—but we say, "Fuck it" (Undercover) Kehlani

‘Everyday meeting on the sly, told our friends, and we told you lies, 'cause the world wasn't on our side’ (Daughter) L Devine

‘Wanna fly to a place where it's just you and me, nobody else, so we can be free’ (All the Things She Said) t.A.T.u.

‘Her parents hated who she loved’ (Hope Ur Ok) Olivia Rodrigo

‘Sophia, I know that you and I shouldn’t feel like a crime’ (Sophia) Clairo

‘So now the tide could change for us suddenly and we'll need to run’ (Refugees) Dog Park Dissidents

‘Here's the part where we run away, me and her take the great escape’ (Daughter) L Devine

‘Just try and stop me, just try and stop us’ (She) Jen Foster

‘They tell us from the time we're young to hide the things that we don't like about ourselves’ (Secrets) Mary Lambert

‘You say that I've got it all wrong, 'Cause you just know I'm a poor unfortunate soul’ (Holy) PVRIS

‘I fell in love, with a girl this time and my mom says that's not right’ (Mad at God) Sarah Saint James

‘They called me a sinner when I was a saint…I set myself on fire, let them call me a liar’ (If It’s Not God)

Maddie Zahm

‘Don't know what I did, but they seem pretty mad about it. God hates us?’ (This Hell) Rina Sawayama

‘My daddy told me, this isn't the way God intended me to be’ (Coming Out) Jessie Paege

More examples in my You Kept Me Like a Secret Playlist (Youtube / Spotify)

and my This is the Worthwhile Fight Playlist. (Youtube / Spotify)

Needing to be Brave or Fight for the Relationship

Common in visibly queer relationships, where people are faced with the predjudice that comes from a  heteronormative society. It’s slowly improving, but our fight for visibility and acceptance isn’t over and being open about being part of the LGBTQIA+ community is brave.

‘You take my hand and drag me headfirst, fearless’ (Fearless)

‘Don’t be afraid, please, jump then fall’ (Jump Then Fall)

‘I’ll fight their doubt and give you faith’ (Ours)

‘Flash forward and we’re taking on the world together’ (Mine)

‘Every time I tried hard for love, it fell apart… still, I know that all it takes is to get it right, just one time’ (Electric Touch)

‘They keep watchful eyes on us so it's best that we move fast and keep quiet’ (I Can See You)

‘The kinda love that you only find once in a lifetime, the kind you don't put down’ (Timeless)

‘This love is brave and wild’ (State of Grace)

‘This is a state of grace, this is the worthwhile fight’ (State of Grace)

‘I wish we could go back and remember what we were fighting for’ (I Wish You Would)

‘I’m ready for combat, I say I don’t want that but what if I do?’ (The Archer)

‘And I’ll never let you (go), cause I know this is a (fight), that someday we’re gonna (win)’ (Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince)

‘This love is worth the fight’ (Afterglow)

‘When I’d fight, you used to tell me I was brave’ (My Tears Ricochet)

‘You know that I'd swing with you for the fences, sit with you in the trenches’ (Peace)

‘My winless fight’ (Hoax)

‘Yeah, it’s a war, it’s the fiercest fight of my life and you started it’ (Ivy)

‘I tried to pick my battles 'til the battle picked me…I was in the alley, surrounded on all sides’’ (Long Story Short)

‘You’ve got no reason to be afraid’ (You’re on Your Own, Kid)

‘Everyone's up to something, I find myself running home to your sweet nothings’ (Sweet Nothing)

‘My hand was the one you reached for, all throughout the Great War’ (The Great War)

Similar Lyrics

‘I know a place we can go, where everyone gonna lay down their weapon’ (I Know a Place) MUNA

‘Even through the darkest phase, be it thick or thin, always someone marches brave, here beneath my skin’ (Constant Craving) K.D. Lang

‘Scared of fighting, but I'll fight for you’ (Flyin’) Shura

‘They don't wanna see it happen but we say, "Fuck it". One way or another, I'ma love you.’ (Undercover) Kehlani

‘Closed hearts make closed minds…There's not much comfort in this place, I'll keep you safe’ (Safe) Daya

More examples in my This is the Worthwhile Fight Playlist. (Youtube / Spotify)

Feeling like an Outsider

A lack of queer visibility can be isolating, and frequently leads to feeling like you don’t belong in a world built around traditional relationships and gender roles and has a significant strain on our mental health. Especially for those who don’t openly claim their place in the LGBTQIA+ community.

This article on the psychological Issues of being closeted discusses the challenges involved in keeping “significant aspects of the self hidden or vigilantly separating aspects of the self from each other.”

“In coming out, gay people integrate, as best as they can, dissociated aspects of the self. As gay people must decide on a daily basis whether to reveal and to whom they will reveal, coming out is a process that never ends.”

Feeling torn apart or scarred by love is a sentiment the narrator expresses frequently.

‘Why would you wanna make the very first scar?’ (A Perfectly Good Heart)
‘Counting all the scars you made’ (Cold as You)
‘Every lesson forms a new scar’ (Eyes Open)
‘It'll leave you breathless, or with a nasty scar’ (Blank Space)
‘Still got scars in my back from your knives’ (Bad Blood)
‘With every guitar string scar on my hand’ (Lover)
‘You drew stars around my scars but now I'm bleedin' (Cardigan)
‘Show me the places where the others gave you scars’ (Willow)
‘Break my soul in two’ (Coney Island)
‘It still hurts beneath my scars from when they pulled me apart’ (Hoax)

It also shows up in her retelling of the Romeo and Juliet where she changes the ending to give the pair the chance to be together, and the Ready for it music video where the narrator is depicted as being split in two, with one side of herself caged. Metaphorically torn apart by forced closeting.

‘I’m alone, on my own’ (A Place in This World)

‘On the outside looking in, and I’ve been to a lot of lonely places’ (The Outside)

‘Nobody ever lets me in’ (The Outside)

‘Been here all along so why can’t you see?’ (You Belong with Me)

‘God smiles on my little brother, inside and out, he’s better than I am’ (The Best Day)

‘To tell you the truth, sometimes I wish I was her’ (When Emma Falls In Love)

‘And you don't want to know me, I will just let you down, you don't wanna know me now’ (Castles Crumbling)

‘People look at me like I'm a monster, now they're screamin' at the palace's front gates’ (Castles Crumbling)

‘Chances are, tonight, you've already got plans and chances are I will talk myself to sleep again’ (Foolish One)

‘And the voices say, "You are not the exception, you will never learn your lesson" (Castles Crumbling)

‘Will you still want me when I’m nothing new?’ (Nothing New)

‘My friends all say they know everything I’m going through.. they don’t know how much I miss you’ (The Very First Night)

‘It’s like I’m 17, nobody understands, no one understands’ (I Think He Knows)

‘I've been the archer, I've been the prey, who could ever leave me, darling, but who could stay?’ (The Archer)

‘Who could stay? You could stay’ (The Archer)

‘I'm feeling helpless, the damsels are depressed’ (Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince)

‘I know delusion when I see it in the mirror’ (Soon You’ll Get Better)

‘Why’d you have to go and lock me out when I let you in?’ (All You Had to Do Was Stay)

‘I can change everything about me to fit in’ (Mirrorball)

‘You knew it still hurts underneath my scars, from when they pulled me apart’ (Hoax)

‘I don’t belong and my beloved, neither do you’ (The Lakes)

‘And the so-called friends who'll write books about me if I ever make it’ (‘Tis the Damn Season)

‘Did you ever hear about the girl who got frozen? Time went on for everybody else, she won’t know it’ (Right Where You Left Me)

‘Did you hear about the girl who lives in delusion?’ (Right Where You Left Me)

‘Is it you? Or have they come to take me away?’ (Hits Different)

Out of The Woods

Style Music Video

Look What You Made Me Do

Ready For It Music Video

In this slowed gif, we can clearly see two versions of the villain persona.

She’s metaphorically trapping herself in a cage.

‘Cut me into pieces, gold cage, hostage to my feelings’ (So It Goes)

‘They told me all of my cages were mental, so I got wasted like all my potential’ (This Is Me Trying)

Anti-Hero Music Video

Eras Tour

Feeling Exposed or Unseen

The other side of performance is hiding yourself, until it feels like no one sees you at all, along with anxiety that others will notice something you don’t want them to.

In his 1998 essay “A History of Homosexuality and Organized Psychoanalysis”, Jack Drescher of Columbia University said; “Transparency, invisibility, losing one's voice, and being stuck behind walls or other barriers are some of the terms used to describe the subjective experience of dissociative detachment.”

‘You just see right through me’ (Invisible)

‘I’m invisible and everyone knows who you are’ (Superstar)

‘And I feel like my castle's crumbling down… People look at me like I'm a monster’ (Castles Crumbling)

‘In silent screams, in wildest dreams, I never dreamed of this’ (This Love)

‘I screamed so loud, but no one heard a thing’ (Clean)

‘They see right through me; can you see right through me? I see right through me’ (The Archer)

‘So, you leave no trace behind, like you don’t even exist’ (Illicit Affairs)

‘And you never did see me here, no, they never did see me here’ (Carolina)

Delicate Music Video

Similar Lyrics

‘Around the sun and around again, you seem to look right through me’ (What If It Doesn't End Well) Chloe Moriondo

‘You saw right through me…Even I look in the mirror and I'm see-through’ (Pink) Anna Akana

‘It's in the way you see through me’ (Little Story) Kehlani

‘Now Mom and Dad will never understand’ (Coming Clean) Green Day

‘I don't think they understand what I'm trying to say’ (Q.U.E.E.N.) Janelle Monáe

‘Tried to feel okay, but that shit's difficult and I wanna be anyone, I wanna be anyone else’ (Girl On TV) Chloe Moriondo

‘Everyone's having fun but I can't relate, let me out my head, let my mind run free, let me just pretend that I feel like me’ (Flicker Start) Hayley Kiyoko

‘Is there anybody else? Is there anybody, anybody, anybody out there?’ (Underground) Hayley Kiyoko

‘I over communicate and feel too much, I just complicate it when I say too much’ (Feelings) Hayley Kiyoko

‘Don't know how to cope with all the existential thinking’ (Peer Pressure) L Devine

‘Play along 'til they figure it out, I don't quite belong’ (Don’t Quite Belong) Dodie

‘I thought it would feel good to understand why I was different, but my title just talks over me, I never even asked to be this way’ (Rainbow) Dodie

‘I'm acting so strange’ (Girls) Girl in Red

More examples in my On the Outside Looking In Playlist. (Youtube / Spotify)

Fictionalization

Queer people still grow up in a world that promotes being cis and heterosexual as the normal and prefered way to be. A message that’s constantly reinforced not just by our parents, teachers and peers but by almost every book, song, movie and TV show. Every member of the LGBTQIA+ community has recognised at some point that the standard mold doesn’t fit, and this realization and the sense of not belonging that it causes is something we can all identify with. If you choose to remain closeted after recognising, you’re forced to distort the truth to maintain your secret. Which is usually distressing, and leaves you feeling inauthentic and like you’re playing a fictional version of yourself. Finding stories that offer genuine representation feels hopeful, and sometimes even euphoric.

Because of this LGBTQIA+ art often reimagines the common and significant stories we all grew up with as queer to better represent our lived experience. ‘Romeo and Juliet’ for example, has been reimagined on many occasions, recently as ‘Still a Rose’ in 2016, ‘Romeo and Julius’ in 2017 and ‘First Kill’ in 2022. Similarly, comparing our lives to a text or movie can express a disruption of societal norms, and rejection of heteronormativity and the gender binary. “Princess” by Fletcher, “Rainbow” by Dodie, and “Chosen Family” by Rina Sawayama are excellent examples of how this is expressed in openly queer music.

‘I grabbed a pen and an old napkin, and I wrote down our song’ (Our Song)

‘You and I are painting pictures in the sky’ (I’m Only Me When I’m With You)

‘And all the pages are slipping through my hands’ (Bye Bye Baby)

‘It wasn’t just like a movie’ (Bye Bye Baby)

‘But would they write a song for you?’ (Hey Stephen)

‘Music starts playing like the end of a sad movie, it’s the kind of ending you don’t really wanna see’ (Breathe)

‘It rains in your bedroom’ (Forever and Always)

‘The story starts when it was hot and it was summer’ (Better than Revenge)

‘The story of us looks a lot like a tragedy now’ (The Story of Us)

‘'Cause lately, I don't even know what page you're on’ (The Story of Us)

‘The playful conversation starts, counter all your quick remarks, like passing notes in secrecy’ (Enchanted)

‘This is me praying that this was the very first page, not where the storyline ends’ (Enchanted)

‘You held your head like a hero on a history book page’ (Long Live)

‘You would, if this was a movie’ (If This Was a Movie)

‘Baby, I don’t like the ending’ (If This Was a Movie)

‘Got a history of stories ending sadly’ (Electric Touch)

‘Passed me a note saying, "Meet me tonight" (I Can See You)

‘'Cause she's the kind of book that you can't put down’ (When Emma Falls In Love)

‘I came upon a book covered in cobwebs, story of a romance torn apart by fate hundreds of years ago, they fell in love, like we did’ (Timeless)

‘We'll have a cardboard box of photos of the life we've made and you'll say, "Oh my, we really were timeless" (Timeless)

‘The story’s got dust on every page’ (Holy Ground)

‘Your secrets end up splashed on the news front page’ (The Lucky One)

‘Once upon a time, a few mistakes ago’ (I Knew You Were Trouble)

‘Maybe we got lost in translation, maybe I asked for too much, but maybe this thing was a masterpiece 'til you tore it all up’ (All Too Well 10mv)

‘I’m a crumpled-up piece of paper lying here’ (All Too Well 10mv)

‘I’d write this in the sky’ (The Very First Night)

‘Two paper airplanes flying’ (Out of the Woods)

‘You'd be more than a chapter in my old diaries with the pages ripped out’ (Suburban Legends)

‘Let's fast forward to three hundred takeout coffees later’ (Is It Over Now?)

‘Don’t read the last page’ (New Year’s Day)

‘Paper cut stings, from our paper-thin plans’ (Death by a Thousand Cuts)

‘But if the story’s over, why am I still writing pages?’ (Death by a Thousand Cuts)

‘I am an architect, I'm drawing up the plans’ (I Think He Knows)

‘We were a fresh page on the desk, filling in the blanks as we go’ (Cornelia St)

‘I think I’ve seen this film before, and I didn’t like the ending’ (Exile)

‘I’m still on my tallest tiptoes, spinning in my highest heels love, shining just for you’ (Mirrorball)

‘Just like a folk song, our love will be passed on’ (Seven)

‘You’re a flashback in a film reel, on the one screen in my town’ (This is Me Trying)

‘You knew the hero died so what’s the movie for?’ (Hoax)

‘Tis the damn season, write this down’ (Tis the Damn Season)

‘I’m begging for footnotes in the story of your life’ (Tolerate it)

‘Drawing hearts in the byline’ (Tolerate it)

‘Long story short it was a bad time’ (Long Story Short)

‘Motion capture put me in a bad light’ (Evermore)

‘Writing letters addressed to the fire’ (Evermore)

‘Pages turn and stick to each other’ (Right Where You Left Me)

‘Cause there were pages turned with the bridges burned’ (You’re on Your Own, Kid)

‘Burn all your files, desert all your past lives’ (Dear Reader)

‘I think there’s been a glitch…it must be counterfeit’ (Glitch)

Fifteen Music Video

The landscape shifts and changes to show that it only exists in the narrator's memory.

Out Of The Woods Music Video

The trees disappear as the narrator frees herself from an anxious situation.

Ready For it Music Video

The world flickers and warps, as if to show what we’re seeing is a distorted version of reality.

Lavender Haze Music Video

Breaking down the set of the constructed life presented to the world.

Similar Lyrics

‘We've all been told when we were little, we could grow up and live a fairy tale, but no one ever bothered telling us that, the storybook ending never started out well. Why's there always gotta be a hero? What if Cinderella had to save herself?’ (Princess) Fletcher

‘I was brought up in a line but I seem to walk in circles. It's getting hard to navigate when every map was never made for me’ (Rainbow) Dodie

‘Hand me a pen and I'll rewrite the pain, when you're ready, we'll turn the page together’ (Chosen Family) Rina Sawayama

‘I knew right then, right there it was so cinematic, because it started to rain’ (girls, girls, girls) Fletcher

‘I want you to pick up the pen and write me into your story’ (Little Story) Kehlani

‘Memories painted with much brighter ink’ (When) Dodie

‘I saw you color the air around you, you heard the music a different way’ (When It’s Right) Alyson Stoner

‘Chapters turning, so old fashioned and natural, potions got me falling for you’ (Girl) The Internet

‘Let's write a story, be in my book. You've got to join me on my page, at least take a look’ (Would You Be So Kind?) Dodie

‘A dumb screenshot of youth, watch how a cold broken teen will desperately lean, upon a superglued human of proof’ (Sick of Losing Soulmates) Dodie

‘You tell me about the falls of kingdoms and champions…I'll show you my private things like my scrapbook of fantasies…The edge of the big reveal could be the end of the story’ (Dots and Dashes) Silversun Pickups

‘Turn your shattered dreams, into rhapsodies…Dance in your color, reflecting in your light, you're my horizon, you'll always paint my sky’ (Palace) Hayley Kiyoko

‘How can I say "love" without wanting to fold myself into you, like a thousand paper cranes’ (Dear One) Mary Lambert

‘The journey is a work of art’ (Healing) Fletcher

‘I heard this life is just a play with no rehearsal, I wonder will this be my final act tonight’ (Q.U.E.E.N.) Janelle Monáe

‘Paint me in trust’ (Human) Dodie

More examples in my The Story of Us Playlist. (Youtube / Spotify)

Performative Reality

In many of the songs the narrator uses a device that implies that the relationship may not be genuine. For example, In New Romantics, she compares herself and her peers to musicians famous for a movement they refused to identify as part of. In Invisible String, she uses a line inspired by The Sun Also Rises about a relationship that could never happen because of romantic and sexual incompatibility. London Boy opens with audio from the Late Late Show about a date that was auctioned for charity.

In the Blank Space Music Video, there’s a pen click immediately followed by a wink.

Here are some analysis of songs through the lens of bearding relationships. I don’t claim to know any of the songwriter's intentions, I’m just sharing one queer interpretation.

The Way I Loved You, Begin Again and Haunted are all songs that explicitly reference multiple subjects, contrasted by the use of ‘He’ and ‘You’. In these songs the narrator also switches between ‘He’ and ‘You’, implying there may still be more than one person addressed.

The All Too Well Short Film blurs fiction and reality by asking if the muse was ever real at all.

The narrator even writes their story, literally fictionalizing the relationship.

Individual lyrics

‘Your lover in the foyer doesn’t even know you’ (The Lucky One)

Makes sense if they don’t actually have a relationship.

‘Another name goes up in lights, you wonder if you'll make it out alive’ (The Lucky One)

In an interview, Chely Wright compared Hollywood’s system of enforced closeting to a ‘machine stays fully intact, and it's unforgiving and it kills people. Spiritually and oftentimes physically.’

‘If a man talks shit I owe him nothing, I don’t regret it one bit because he had it coming’ (I Did Something Bad)

This could be literal with an NDA agreement.

‘I wanted to leave him, I needed a reason’ (Getaway Car)

Why isn’t not wanting to be with him a good enough reason?

‘It was the great escape, the prison break, the light of freedom on my face’ (Getaway Car)

Compares to ‘He can be my jailer’ (Ready for It)

‘Bad, bad boy, shiny toy with a price you know that I bought it.’ (Cruel Summer)

Hired him.

‘The whole school is rolling fake dice’ (Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince)

The narrator often uses ‘games’ as a metaphor for sex & relationships. See also: ‘Devil’s roll the dice, angel’s roll their eyes’ (Cruel Summer)

‘Or that moment again, he’s insisting that friends look at each other like that’ (It’s Time to Go)

Because public friends are secret lovers and public lovers are actually friends at best. ‘I don’t want you like a best friend’ (Dress) / ‘The devil’s in the details but you’ve got a friend in me’ (Peace)

Romantic Dismissiveness of Men

* Based on romantic songs with male pronouns (as listed in the gender expression section)

Music by queer female artists tends to be assertive, sometimes reversing the objectification we’re used to back onto men. Obviously, it’s unlikely to focus solely on male love interests, often showing frustration at men’s unwelcome romantic advances. Or just framing them as friends, partners, or brothers.

‘But in your life, you’ll do things greater than dating the boy on the football team’ (Fifteen)

‘He can't see the smile I'm faking, and my heart's not breaking, 'cause I'm not feeling anything at all’ (That’s the Way I Loved You)

‘Stealing other people's toys’ (Better than Revenge)

He will try to take away my pain, and he just might make me smile, but the whole time I'm wishing he was you instead’ (Haunted)

‘Boys only want love if it’s torture, don’t say I didnt, say I didn’t warn ya’ (Blank Space)

‘Younger than my exes, but he acts like such a man’ (Are You Ready for It)

‘He can be my jailer’ ‘Burton to this Taylor’ (Are You Ready for It)

‘I never trust a narcissist, but they love me, so I play ‘em like a violin’ (I Did Something Bad)

‘If he drops my name, then I owe him nothin' and if he spends my change, then he had it comin' (I Did Something Bad)

‘And toyin’ with them older guys, just playthings for me to use’ (Don’t Blame Me)

‘He poisoned the well, I was lying to myself’ (Getaway Car)

‘And I got a boyfriend, he’s older than us, he’s in the club doing I don’t know what’ (Gorgeous)

Original lyric was ‘I haven’t seen him in a couple of months’

‘Trust him like a brother’ (Call It What You Want)

‘He’s got that boyish look that I like in a man’ (I think He Knows)

‘He’s so obsessed with me and boy, I understand’ (I think He Knows)

‘Boys will be boys then, where are the wise men?’ (Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince)

‘Darling, I’m scared’ follows, is ‘darling’ supposed to be one of the boys or wise men? Makes more sense if the ‘darling’ is a woman. One of the ‘distressed damsels’.

‘I’d be just like Leo in San Tropei’ (The Man)

Leo DiCaprio and Luke Haas go on vacations together, without Leo’s 25 year old girlfriend-of-the-year.

‘Show me a gray sky, a rainy cab ride, babes, don’t threaten me with a good time’ (London Boy)

‘There’s a lot of lame guys out there’ (ME!)

‘Blew through the money on the boys and the ballet’ (The Last Great American Dynasty)

‘Wreck my plans, that’s my man’ (Willow)

‘Where's that man who'd throw blankets over my barbed wire?’ (Tolerate It)

‘He’s gonna burn this house to the ground’ (Ivy)

‘He’s passing by, rare as the glimmer of a comet in the sky’ (Long Story Short)

‘He wanted a bride, I was making my own name’ (Midnight Rain)

‘Draw the cat’s eye sharp enough to kill a man’ (Vigilante Shit)

‘They ask, “Do you have a man?” I could still say, “I don’t remember” (Bejeweled)

‘Baby boy, I think I’ve been too good of a girl’ (Bejeweled)

‘You see all the wisest women had to do it this way, ‘cause we were born to be a pawn in every lovers game’ (Mastermind)

‘I used to switch out these kens, I’d just ghost…freedom felt like summer then…it hits different cause it’s you’ (Hits Different)

‘Do I really have to chart the constellations in his eyes?’ (High Infidelity)

‘I’d go back to wanting, dudes who give nothing’ (Glitch)

‘Crying in the bathroom for some dude whose name I cannot remember now’ (All of the Girls)

Queer Coding

Another way the narrator dismisses men as a romantic prospect is by presenting them as gay through Queer Coding. The term originated when the Hays Code was introduced in Hollywood, restricting film makers from writing a character explicitly queer. Instead writers began using subtext to hint at a characters queerness through the use of traits and stereotypes recognisable to the audience. You can find examples of common queer coded characters here.

Mean Music Video

I’m including this one as an early example of queer coding used as a reason someone’s being bullied.

22 Music Video

‘You look like bad news’ she sings to a man who responds with a wrist flick.

Look What You Made Me Do Music Video

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Eight men in heels, fishnets and cutoff I Heart TS shirts mimicking her actions.

Similar Lyrics

‘Nothing like my ex-man, slowly falling, I don't want a next-man’ (Only a Girl) Gia Woods

‘No, he can't read my poker face, she's got me like nobody… just like a chick in the casino, take your bank before I pay you out’ (Poker Face) Lady Gaga

‘You say I'm a wonderland, a miracle, 'til I don't get in your bed… tell me lies right to the face, what kind of woman would play this game?’ (This Body) BAUM

‘Don't be such a baby, boy’ (Baby Boy) Madeline The Person

‘What are boyfriends when I have you?’ (Sin) Tomberlin

‘You and your friends, ain't as cool as you think’ (Thank God, You Introduced Me to Your Sister) Sarah Barrios

‘Act like the tough guy, I can be the jailer’ (Goddess) Xana

‘You could kiss him but my words are sweeter’ (Explosion) Zolita

More examples in my There's a Lot of Lame Guys Out There Playlist. (Youtube / Spotify)

Focus on Romantic Rivals

Music by queer women often expresses frustration over competing with men, that are an easier choice  than being in a same sex relationship.

With heterosexuality as the standard, many queer people dismiss parts of themselves that don’t fit society, and our own expectations of what our lives will look like. For people who don’t feel attraction to the opposite sex, this can be particularly confusing, and we often look to other women to figure out what we think we should want relying on mimetic desire.

René Girard’s theory of mimetic desire essentially states that when a subject doesn’t know what they want, they turn to ‘models’ to help them determine an ‘object of desire.’

Some songs that demonstrate mimetic desire include Dolly Parton’s Jolene, where the narrator focuses on Jolene’s ‘beauty’ that's ‘beyond compare’ rather than the object of her affection, and Little Big Town’s Girl Crush where the narrator says she wants to ‘taste her lips because they taste like him’.

Similarly Invisible, and You Belong With Me are examples of the narrator expressing desire for a male love interest through the filter of another girl who has him.  

Better than Revenge is an example of this as a form of competition rather than longing. The narrator focuses on the model, in this case the ‘actress’ who stole the object, literally referred to as a ‘toy’ from the subject, the narrator.

It’s not about the boy at all, but the narrator's frustration at being bested by her rival. Similarly in many of the earlier songs on the discography, the narrator expresses wanting a love interest that is desired by other girls and she’s compelled to compete for him. Her focus remains on the model, rather than the object.

‘I’ll bet she’s beautiful, that girl he talks about’ (Teardrops on my Guitar)

‘There’s pretty girls on every corner’ (Stay Beautiful)

‘Was she worth it? Was she worth this?’ (Should Have Said No)

‘She’s never gonna love you like I want to’ (Invisible)

‘All those other girls, well, they're beautiful but would they write a song for you?’ (Hey Stephen)

‘She wears short skirts, I wear T-shirts’ (You Belong with Me)

‘She wears high heels, I wear sneakers’ (You Belong with Me)

‘All the girls in the front row scream your name’ (Superstar)

‘I heard she’s nothing like me, I’m sure she’ll make you happy’ (Don’t you)

‘And the girl in your bed has a fine pedigree, and I bet your friends tell you she’s better than me’ (I Bet You Think About Me)

‘She floats down the aisle like a pageant queen’ (Speak Now)

‘All the girls that you've run dry, have tired, lifeless eyes 'cause you burned them out’ (Dear John)

‘You’ve got a girl at home, and everybody knows that’ (Girl at Home)

‘She took him faster than you can say sabotage’ (Better than Revenge)

‘'Cause you got her on your arm and me in the wings, I'll get your longing glances, but she'll get your ring’ (Foolish One)

‘And all the bad boys would be good boys, if they only had a chance to love her and to tell you the truth, sometimes I wish I was her’ (When Emma Falls In Love)

“Oh my God, who is she?” I get drunk on jealousy’ (Blank Space)

‘Your new girl is my clone’ (Is It Over Now?)

‘You search in every maiden's bed for somethin' greater, baby’ (Is It Over Now?)

‘If she's got blue eyes, I will surmise that you'll probably date her (Is It Over Now?)

‘Was it over when she laid down on your couch?’ (Is It Over Now?)

‘Wondered how many girls he had loved and left haunted’ (Ready For It)

‘Do the girls back home touch you like I do?’ (Delicate)

‘I don't wanna miss you (I don't wanna miss you) like the other girls do’ (End Game)

‘If you’ve got a girlfriend, I’m jealous of her but if you’re single it’s honestly worse.’ (Gorgeous)

‘I hope she’ll be a beautiful fool, who takes my spot next to you’ (Happiness)

‘Did you leave her house in the middle of the night?... Do you wish you could still touch her?’ (Question..?)

‘Maybe it was her’ (The Great War)

‘I’m so thankful for all of the girls you’ve loved before, but I love you more’ (All of the Girls)

You Belong With Me Music Video

Better Than Revenge Live Performance

Similar Lyrics

‘It drives me insane that he gets to call you mine, when he don't get your brain like I do’ (She Knows It) Maggie Lindermann

‘He'll never love you like me’ (HNLY) Hayley Kiyoko

‘Stealing kisses from your missus, does it make you freak out?’ (Girls Like Girls) Hayley Kiyoko

‘Now you're at the bar holding his hand and I can't be mad 'cause he's your man’ (Kitchen Light) Xana

‘I could be a better boyfriend than him’ (Boyfriend) Dove Cameron

‘Me and your girlfriend playin' dress up in my house’ (Slumber Party) Ashnikko

More examples in my There's a Lot of Lame Guys Out There Playlist. (Youtube / Spotify)

Male Perspective

Adopting the male gaze, and acting as or wishing to be the pursuer, hero or rescuer.

In the last section, the narrator’s expression of mimetic desire showed a filtered focus on the model rather than the supposed object of affection. Adopting the ‘male perspective’ allows the narrator to take it a step further, singing directly about her true object of affection but de-queering it by stepping into the shoes of the model.

Singing about women isn’t evidence of same-sex attraction because the narrator is adopting the point of view of 17-year-old boy; a heterosexual model.

Androgyny and gender ambiguity was and still is a big part of queer expression, and played a significant role in the progression of LGBTQIA+ visibility through the New Romantic movement. Queer women have been taking the male perspective for a long time, in large part because it’s the societal standard for expressing attraction to women.

Many of Sappho’s surviving poems compare the man who gets to be close to her muse to a ‘hero’ or a ‘god.’ Due to this some historians argue that she was “expressing a persona” and only felt “friendly affection” for the woman she describes. The original ‘male perspective’ argument.

Emily Dickinson would adopt the male perspective, writing of her “boyhood”, signing letters to her cousins as “Brother Emily,” and calling herself a “boy,” “prince,” “earl,” or “duke” in various poems. In her poem ‘Rearrange a “Wife’s” Affection’ she says “Amputate my freckled Bosom! Make me bearded like a Man!”

She also started switching pronouns when she considered publication, calling them ‘bearded pronouns’. This may be the earliest usage of the concept of ‘bearding’. (For more on Emily Dickinson, see the ‘Friendship’ section.)

In the end the truth is what it’s always been. Singing about rivals and taking the ‘male perspective’ are just mechanisms that provide a veil of plausible deniability for the narrator to sing about women.

‘The first date “Man, I didn’t kiss her, and I should have” (Our Song)

“Marry me, Juliet, you’ll never have to be alone, I love you and that’s all I really know” (Love Story)

‘I broke down crying, was she worth this mess? After everything and that little black dress’ (The Other Side of the Door)

“I fell in love with a careless man's careful daughter, she is the best thing that’s ever been mine” (Mine)

‘Lets run away now, I’ll meet you when I’m out of my tux at the back door’ (Speak Now)

‘The voices so loud sayin', "Why did you let her go?" (I Bet You Think About Me)

“Oh my God, she’s insane, she wrote a song about me” (I Bet You Think About Me)

‘I wish I could fly, I’d pick you up and we’d go back in time’ (The Very First Night)

‘That’s how you get the girl’ (How You Get The Girl)

‘I just wanna be drinking on a beach with you all over me’ (End Game)

‘He poisoned the well, every man for himself’ (Getaway Car)

‘Feeling so Gatsby for that whole year’ (This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things)

‘You don’t need to save me, but would you run away with me?’ (Call it What You Want To)

‘If I was a man, I’d be the man’ (The Man)

‘I am an architect; I’m drawing up the plans’ (I Think He Knows)

‘Lyrical smile, indigo eyes, hand on my thigh, we could follow the sparks, I'll drive’ (I Think He Knows)

‘Chase two girls, lose the one’ (Cardigan)

‘Betty, right now is the last time, I can dream about what happens when you see my face again’ (Betty)

“She would have made such a lovely bride, what a shame she’s fucked in her head” (Champagne Problems)

‘Hey Dorothea, do you ever stop and think about me?’ (Dorothea)

‘You’re a queen selling dreams, sellin’ makeup and magazines’ (Dorothea)

‘Sorry for not winning you an arcade ring’ (Coney Island)

‘My fourth drink in my hand, these desperate prayers of a cursed man, spilling out to you for free’ (Dear Reader)

‘This is why they shouldn’t kill off the main guy’ (Hits Different)

‘Baby, this is what you came for, lightning strikes everytime she moves, and everybody’s watching her, but she’s looking at you’ (This is What You Came For)

‘And she’s in my dreams, into the mist, into the clouds’ (Carolina)

‘And there are places I will never, ever go, and things that only Carolina will ever know’ (Carolina)

Style Music Video

The Man Music Video

Similar Lyrics

While the majority of the songs on my playlists include women with female pronouns, these songs take it a step further and step into a masculine role.

‘I could be such a gentleman…Ladies first, baby, I insist’ (Boyfriend) Dove Cameron

‘I know all the tricks up your sleeve…But it's cool 'cause I'm a fuckboy too’ (Fuckboy) BAUM

‘Why does she give a damn about me? I’m just a teenage dirtbag, baby’ (Teenage Dirtbag) Chloe Moriondo

‘You turn me on, like you want your boyfriend’ (Boyfriend) Tegan & Sara

‘I'm the king and you're my queen… are we sisters or are we lovers?’ (Explosion) Zolita

‘I say, it's Mr. DiFranco to you’ (In or Out) Ani DiFranco

‘I’m so confident like the boys’ (Comme Des Garçons - Like the Boys) Rina Sawayama

‘She likes when I play king, a little plaything, yeah my girl like the way I wear my crown’ (She Calls Me Daddy) KiNG MALA

‘Fuck a princess, I'm a king, bow down and kiss on my ring’ (Daisy) Ashnikko

‘You think you're the man, bitch please’ (Toxic) Ashnikko

More examples in my I'd Be The Man Playlist. (Youtube / Spotify)

Friendship

Exploring or defining the relationship between friendship and romance is a frequent theme in the discography. A relationship between two female presenting people is often mistaken as a friendship. A problem that is less likely to occur in a relationship between a man and a woman because we’re socialized to assume romance rather than friendship. As Avril Lavigne put it;

He was a boy. She was a girl. Can I make it anymore obvious? (Skater boy)

The failure to recognise same sex relationships has become a joke in the queer community, with meme groups like r/sapphoandherfriend, and historian’s will say they were roommates making fun of the oblivious to or deliberately ignorant who refuse to recognise same sex relationships. Here’s a post I wrote about the queer erasure of Sappho, and her possible influence on Folklore and Evermore.

Another that’s commonly joked about is the relationship between Emily Dickinson and her sister in law, Sue Gilbert Dickinson. Sue was the muse of many of Emily’s poems, and evidence suggests they were in love. In the Dickinson TV show, their romantic relationship is canon.

Taylor’s discography has many references that fit Emily Dickinson’s work. Dickinson was born on the 10th of December 1830. Evermore was announced on the 10th of December and in this interview with Entertainment Weekly Taylor described her inspiration as “this girl sleepwalking through the forest in a nightgown in 1830.”

‘I once was poison Ivy but now I’m your daisy’ (Don’t Blame Me)

The Daisy Follows The Soft Sun
William Wordsworth, a member of the ‘Lake Poets’ also wrote a poem called To the Daisy. Taylor references him in her song, The Lakes with ‘I’ve come too far to let some name dropping sleaze, tell me what are my words worth’

‘Forevermore’ (Welcome to New York)
‘You and me forevermore’ (New Years Day)
‘This pain wouldn’t be for evermore’ (Evermore)
‘My waves meet your shore ever and evermore’ (Long Story Short)

‘Forevermore’ closes Dickinson’s poem ‘One Sister Have I in Our House’ which was written when Sue married into her family.

‘Writing letters, addressed to the fire’

Many of Dickinson’s letters were burned to hide information her family didn’t want published about her life, most significantly her poems about women.

‘Taking mine but it’s been promised to another’ ‘Drink my husband’s wine’ (Ivy)

Ivy was played at the end of Season 3, Episode 9 of ‘Dickinson’ over a love scene between the characters of Emily and Sue.

‘Like you were my closest friend’ (Maroon)

‘We were supposed to be just friends’ (Glitch)

Lyrics about friendship.

‘It's 2:00 AM, feelin' like I just lost a friend’ (Breathe)

‘And you can say "we're still friends" (I don't wanna pretend)’ (Don’t You)

‘Between me and you, sometimes I wish I was her’ (When Emma Falls In Love)

“You’re my best friend” and you knew what it was, he is in love’ (You Are in Love)

‘I didn't come here to make friends’ (Suburban Legends)

‘I cannot be your friend, so I pay the price of what I lost…Truth is I can’t pretend that it’s platonic it just ended’ (Now That We Don’t Talk)

‘Carve your name into my bedpost, ‘cause I don’t want you like a best friend’ (Dress)

‘I hate accidents, except when we went from friends to this’ (Paper Rings)

‘Sleeping in tents…Church bells ring, carry me home…it’s nice to have a friend’ (It’s Nice to Have a Friend)

‘A friend to all is a friend to none, chase two girls lose the one’ (Cardigan)

‘The devils in the details, but you’ve got a friend in me’ (Peace)

‘I’m just a wrinkle in your new life, staying friends would iron it out so nice’ (Closure)

‘Friends break up, friends get married’ (Right Where You Left Me)

Lyrics where the narrator frames their muse using the female gaze.

‘Half the time.. I'm only trying to let you know that what I feel is true and I'm only me when I'm with you’ (Only Me When I’m With You)

‘But I'll hold you through the night until you smile’ (Jump Then Fall)

‘I was enchanted to meet you’ (Enchanted)

‘In dreams, I meet you in warm conversation’ (Sad Beautiful Tragic)

‘Is it chill that you’re in my head? Cause I know that it’s delicate’ (Delicate)

‘Hand under my sweatshirt, baby, kiss it better’ (Cardigan)

‘Hush, when no one is around my dear’ (Mirrorball)

‘Cross your heart, won’t tell no other and though I can’t recall your face, I still got love for you’ (Seven)

‘Whispers of “Are you sure?” “Never have I ever before” (August)

‘Are you still the same soul I met under the bleachers?’ (Dorothea)

‘And wonder about the only soul who can tell which smiles I'm faking’ (‘Tis the Damn Season)

Similar Lyrics

‘Friends don't look at friends that way’ (That Way) Tate McRae

‘You wanna be friends forever? I can think of something better’ (Sleepover) Hayley Kiyoko

‘When she bites her lip, looks at me like that, I wanna be more than a friend, more than a friend’ (More Than A Friend) GIRLI

‘I don't wanna be your friend, I wanna kiss your lips’ (I Wanna Be Your Girlfriend) Girl In Red

‘Can't pretend I'm not in love with my best friend’ (Explosion) Zolita

‘Paint me in trust, I'll be your best friend. Call me the one, this night just can't end’ (Human) Dodie

‘Am I allowed to look at her like that? Could it be wrong, when she's just so nice to look at?’ (She) Dodie

‘I don't wanna go home and leave as just friends’ (Chance) Hayley Kiyoko

‘She said, "We're just friends" but now I’m frustrated with her because she sends me naked pictures’ (My Therapist Told Me) Xana

‘Can we be best friends in love, dear?’ (Can We Be Best Friends In Love?) Abbey Glover

‘I wanna be her best friend…I wanna kiss her all over’ (I Wanna Be Hers) Abbey Glover

‘I wish you were gay so you could just hold me, call me your babe instead of your homie’ (Wish You Were Gay) Claud

More examples in my I Don't Want You Like a Best Friend Playlist (Youtube / Spotify)

and my Is It Chill that You’re In My Head Playlist (Youtube / Spotify)

WLW Sexual Desire

The use of wine across the discography can often be read as implying sexual intimacy with a woman, specifically refering to a lover as something to ‘sip’ or ‘drink’.

Obviously, this section gets a little NSFW, skip if it makes you uncomfortable.

All the squeamish people gone? Cool. Lez go!

‘I’m New York City…you’re the West Village’ (False God)

The West Village is inside New York City, home to Stonewall Inn and known for its queer nightlife. Flash back to the original version of Picture to Burn, because this line brings back “you’re gay!”

‘I get mystified by how this city screams your name’ (Cornelia Street)

If the Narrator is New York City, then she’s the one screaming the West Village’s name.

'Religion's in your lips.. the altar is my hips.. got the wine for you' (False God)

        The clearest of the ‘wine’ references.

‘You’ll save all of your dirtiest jokes for me, and at every table I’ll save you a seat, lover’ (Lover)

A sit on my face joke.

'We can't make any promises now, can we, babe? But you can make me a drink' (Delicate)

Literally. The narrator wants to be the “drink.”

‘And darling, you had turned my bed into a sacred oasis’ (Dancing With Our Hands Tied)

        Refuge of the #thirsty.

'I'm spilling wine in the bathtub, you kiss my face and we're both drunk' (Dress)

“Drinking” in the bath together.

‘Cut me into pieces’ (So It Goes)

Scissoring.

'Drunk on something stronger than the drinks in the bar' (Cornelia Street)

This one could just be a cliche, but there are a lot of lyrics about kissing in cars and secret affairs.

'Rosé flowing with your chosen family' (The 1)

‘Chosen family’ is a queer friendship group. Rosé flowing might refer to the often accurate stereotype that queer women date all their friends.

'I can see us twisted in bedsheets, August sipped away like a bottle of wine' (August)
‘My time, my wine, my spirit, my trust, trying to find a part of me you didn’t take up’ (Death by a Thousand Cuts)

Both similar sentiments of feeling used. Augusta or Augustine is the name of the narrating character, it’s not that much of a stretch to think she’s talking about herself being ‘sipped away’.

'Lost in your current like a priceless wine' (Willow)

Sounds wet.

'Or dare to sit and watch what we'll become and drink my husband's wine' (Ivy)

An affair behind her husband’s back, enjoying the ‘wine’ that should be reserved for him in a monogamous relationship.

‘My waves meet your shore, ever and evermore’ (Long Story Short)

Waves of pleasure, sure hands. See this for a more transparent example.

‘I’ll do anything you say if you say it with your hands’ (Treacherous)

There’s a reason many women who date women keep their nails short.

‘All we are is skin and bone, trained to get along, forever going with the flow but you're friction’ (Treacherous)

Two bodies who both ‘flow’. Add friction for fun times.

‘Tangled up with you all night’ (Wildest Dreams)
‘I can see us twisted in bedsheets’ (August)
‘I pulled your body into mine, every goddamn night now I get fake niceties’ (Happiness)

I wouldn’t use this language to describe curling up with a man. ‘Tangled up’, and ‘pulling you in’ is how I would describe snuggling with a woman though.

‘Wear you like a necklace’ (So It Goes)

So It Goes is a very sexy song, and I’m not the first to think this is about a woman.

‘You did a number on me, but honestly baby who’s counting? I did a number on you, but honestly, baby, who’s counting? Who’s counting? (One, two, three)’

The joys of not having to worry about that pesky refractory period.

‘The taste of your lips is my idea of luxury’ (King of My Heart)

‘The lips I used to call home, so scarlet they were maroon’ (Maroon)

Not those lips. 😉

‘Picture me thick as thieves with your ex-wife, she looks so pretty’ (Vigilante Shit)

The intonation is suggestive.

‘'Cause Karma is my boyfriend, Karma is a god… sweet like honey, Karma is a cat, purring in my lap 'cause it loves me, flexing like a goddamn acrobat, me and Karma vibe like that’ (Karma)

Karma is her boyfriend but also a🐱, that’s sweet like honey, and is now purring with satisfaction in her lap after fucking “flexing” like an acrobat, and sharing her vibe(rator). There’s a pretty clear connection to King Princess’ song “Pussy is God”. Karma is a lesbian anthem.

‘I washed my hands of us at the club, you made a mess of me’ (Hits Different)

Could be a double entendre about hooking up in a nightclub bathroom.

‘And if I'm gonna be drunk I might as well be drunk in love…takin' your time in the tangerine, neon light, this is luxury… I said, "It might blow up in your pretty face" I'm not saying, "Do it anyway" (Do it anyway) But you're going to’ (Slut)

        More drinking, similar suggestive echo as the “one two three” in So It Goes.

Juice Box is slang for 🐱

This box art with that short fingernail is a play on this meme.

Karma Music Video

Paddling a pink canoe.

‘An accidental kiss intertwines us in the middle of the night’ (Cherry Bomb) Julianna Joy

‘You're sippin' on my body like it’s red wine’ (Yellow) Xana

‘Sipped her like an old fashioned’ (girls girls girls) FLETCHER

‘Get another round and taste it, tequila and a lip gloss chaser’ (Blondes) Peach PRC

‘I'm slipping off her black bikini, sipping on a dry martini’ (My Therapist Told Me) Xana

‘Tight up skirt, drink a little brandy, Gyal so sweet, sticky sticky like candy’ (Sticky) Grove

Women as alcohol.

‘One touch sipping holy water now…she's the freedom freedom, I need to taste’ (Her Body Is Bible) FLETCHER

'Cause you're so beautiful, I'd rather drink you up’ (Holy) King Princess

‘And I've been waiting all day to remind you how I taste’ (Like Heaven) Zolita

‘She tastes like apple juice and peach’ (She) Dodie

‘I just know you gotta taste like candy’ (Pretty Girl) Hayley Kiyoko

‘She was sweet like honey’ (Honey) Halsey

‘Syrup dripping over, drink you up my licorice lover’ (Sugarblind) KiNG MALA
‘Aquafina is all up in my fucking lap now, she wanna sip on this act now’ (Aquafina) Bali Baby

More drinking.

‘I'm watching you dance, you're watching my hands’ (Body) Syd

‘Oh, girl, don't stop, please, you can lay your hands on me’ (Religion) Shura

‘If my hands move slick, that's normal’ (1st Position) Kehlani

‘My hands between your thighs’ (I Wanna Be Your Girlfriend) Girl In Red

‘Put her hand on my thigh, felt like a hundred degrees’ (Thank God You Introduced Me To Your Sister) Sarah Barrios

‘Lay your hands on me, I just wanna be clean’ (Sin) Tomberlin

How you ‘say it with your hands.’

‘Hips, your lips, they're mine, cliff’s edge, you turn me on’ (Cliff’s Edge) Hayley Kiyoko
‘I found god the moment that I put my lips on yours…like an ocean wave’ (Her Body Is Bible) Fletcher

Still not those lips. 👀

More examples in my The Taste of Your Lips is My Idea of Luxury Playlist. (Youtube / Spotify)

Cherries

Since the 16th century, references to fruit and especially cherries have popped up in the work of artists, writers, and musicians describing sexual desire for a woman. Bosch’s 1510, “Garden of Earthly Delights”, in Robert Herrick’s 1591 poem he compares his muse “Julia” to ripe cherries; Charles Cotton compares a "Garden-plot of Maiden-hair" to black cherries in Erotopolis in 1684; and John Garfield refers to sex as "playing at Bobb-Cherry" in the 1660 erotic pamphlet “Wandering Whore II.”

‘In his 1617 poem, “There is a Garden in Her Face” Thomas Campion likens cherries to what they commonly symbolize today: the sex appeal of a pure, virginal young woman.’

In the late 19th century the meaning became widespread, leading to the common slang term ‘pop her cherry’. There’s been no shortage since of cherry references in music, like The Runaway’s 1976 “Cherry Bomb”, Modern Talking’s “Cheri Cheri Lady” or Warrant’s 1990 “Cherry Pie.”

Love Story Music Video

A double cherry is a coded term for lesbian.

Makes more sense than ‘too many ruffles on his shirt or something’.

‘Cherry lips, crystal skies, I could show you incredible things’ (Blank Space)

For reference: Blank Space came out in 2014, four years after Katy Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl”.

You Need To Calm Down Music Video

Lover Music Video

The Man Music Video

I Bet You Think About Me Music Video

I Bet You Think About Me came out just before Fletcher and Hayley Kiyoko’s “Cherry”.

Similar Lyrics

‘Hello world I'm your wild girl, I'm your ch ch ch ch ch cherry bomb’ (Cherry Bomb) Joan Jett and the Blackhearts (1999)

‘I kissed a girl and I liked it, the taste of her cherry chapstick’ (I Kissed A Girl) Katy Perry (2008)

‘Got a taste for the cherry, I just need to take a bite’ (Cool For The Summer) Demi Lovato (2015)

‘Her lips are cherry bomb and I'm getting lost in the boom, boom, boom’ (Cherry Bomb) Julianna Joy (2015)

‘Will you be my cherry?’ (Cherry) Rina Sawayama (2018)

‘I'm dying to see if it's real, if it's sweet, if it tastes just like a cherry…I want you on top of me like cherry’ (Cherry) Fletcher & Hayley Kiyoko (2021)

‘Downtown, cherry lipstick, watch her silk dress dancing in the wind, watch it brush against her skin, makes me wanna try her on’ (Silk Chiffon) Muna ft Phoebe Bridgers (2021)

More examples in my Cherries Playlist. (Youtube / Spotify)

If you’re interested you can find more queer analysis at r/gaylorswift and r/felldowntherabbithole

Analysis © Alex Chaser 9/1/2022