Taylor Swift, Master of Clichés
Thirteen 1989 Lyrics Ranked
Biggest News: Taylor Swift
Dear Head of Mine is a newsletter primarily about books, but also about art of all stripes, especially where words and stories are involved (scripts, lyrics, personal drama, etc.). And there is nothing bigger in culture (not even Barbie) this summer than Taylor Swift and the record-breaking tour she has been on across the US and soon the world. This statement may drive some older readers crazy, but Swift is no less than The Beatles for our generations—she’s made music that is insanely popular, that is enduring, and she has been incredibly prolific. Swift’s catalog stands at 207 songs (my wise editor-in-chief told me to stick to examining lyrics from just one album this week), just 12 songs less than the core Beatles catalog of 219 songs, a truly astonishing fact given that she is only one person and 33 years old.
In her final concert last week in LA, Swift announced that she will be releasing a rerecording of her album 1989, which is part of her ongoing project to re-record her music to gain control of the masters from her old record label, which were sold to a financial firm for hundreds of millions of dollars (she was never given the opportunity to buy the masters back herself). So, in honor of last week’s 1989 announcement, we’re going to be looking at Swift’s lyrics from that album. Specifically, we’re going to look at one of Swift’s greatest abilities as a songwriter, and one that I’ve enjoyed tracking as someone who cares about words and wordplay: her skill for twisting clichés and common phrases into her lyrics.
Taylor Swift loves a cliché, and on 1989 I’ve found thirteen out-and-out clichés or slightly-altered clichés alone. As someone with an editor’s brain, these lyrics are sometimes infuriating and occasionally cheesy. But they are also part of Swift’s appeal and magic. In part, this ability to use cliché, everyday speech, and iconography (there’s lots of red lipstick in the Swift songbook) is what makes her music so big and universal. Swift takes something we all know and recontextualizes or slightly changes it into something familiar but fresh. This provides a fairly heartening lesson for writers in any sphere: you don’t have to write something that’s 1-of-1 original and cutting edge to create something new, enduring, or powerfully resonant. The same way a Beatles lyric can go something like: “Love, love me do // You know I love you // I'll always be true” (cliché emphasis mine). Often when you look closer at Swift’s use of cliché, as we’re going to do here, you realize how smartly the lyrics have been constructed and how even the slightest change to a cliché can turn it from one of the cardinal sins of bad writing into a stroke of genius.
The “No Change” Group
13. “And the sky turned black like a perfect storm”
Song: Clean
Lyric: Hung my head as I lost the war // And the sky turned black like a perfect storm
Cliché: The perfect storm
Origins: “The first known use of the expression in the meteorological sense is on May 30, 1850, when the Rev. Lloyd of Withington describes ‘A perfect storm of thunder and lightning all over England doing fearful and fatal damage’” (Wikipedia) Also, the title of a book The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger and the even more famous movie of the same name.
Meaning: A confluence of rare events that creates a metrological event. It’s an analogy for a particularly scary and seismic happening.
Analysis: Not the finest work here, this pretty much uses the phrase in its cliché form, the song is about the culmination of events that lead to a breakup—aka “the perfect storm” in this lyric.
12. “Salt in the wound like you're laughing right at me”
Song: Bad Blood
Lyric: And rub it in so deep // Salt in the wound like you're laughing right at me
Cliché: Salt in the wound
Origins: Olden times, when they use to put salt in wounds as medical treatment. Although this would seemingly mean “salt in the wound” would be helpful, the phrase, presumably, comes from the fact that rubbing salt in an open wound hurts like hell.
Meaning: Doing something to exasperate a hurt already inflicted; see: rubbing it in.
Analysis: A song about being wronged, multiple wrongs equal salt in the wound.
11. “Had me in the palm of your hand”
Song: All You Had to Do Was Stay
Lyric: Had me in the palm of your hand // Then why'd you have to go and lock me out when I let you in?
Cliché: Having someone in the palm of your hand
Origins: Early 1900s, common saying.
Meaning: Having complete control of someone.
Analysis: Last week we talked a little bit about suspect metaphors that literary writers sometimes try to pull off. Not even the most popular songwriter of an entire generation is immune to this in 1 out of every 207 songs. This line isn’t bad per se, but from “had me in the palm of your hand” I picture tiny Taylor Swift in the palm of a hand (naturally) which doesn’t really carry over the metaphor in the next lyric “why’d you have to go and lock me out when I let you in?” How does the person with complete control need to be “let in”? And how exactly do you get “locked out” when you’re in the palm of someone’s hand? It sounds good but doesn’t hold up as well when closely scrutinized.
10. “Fell down a rabbit hole”
Song: Wonderland
Lyric: Took a wrong turn, and we // Fell down a rabbit hole
Cliché: Down the rabbit hole
Origins: “In 1865, Lewis Carroll introduced the idiom in the novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The chapter one title was, ‘Chapter One – Down the Rabbit Hole.’ Alice follows a white rabbit with pink eyes because she saw the rabbit checking a pocket watch. She chases the rabbit, and it bounds into a rabbit hole. Alice falls into the rabbit hole, and it is a long fall, which leads her to ‘Wonderland.’ In the novel, after the fall, the main character ends up in a literal strange world.” (Wikipedia)
Meaning: To get in too deep and end up in an unexpected place. A mind-expanding and experientially-rich, but also sort of terrifying, adventure.
Analysis: Not the first to use Lewis Carol’s iconic work as the basis for inspiration and art (or a song!). It’s a cool song, but as far as the lyric and overall song concept it’s using the Lewis’ metaphor almost exactly as presented 150+ years ago.
Common Phrases
Adjacent to Swift’s use of cliché is the ability to work common, more modern phrases into songs. These are borderline clichés, not quite used enough in a serious, trying-to-express-the-human-condition way, but still pretty ubiquitous in everyday speech and popular imagination. Part of Taylor Swift’s pop genius is to bring immense style to phrases and imagery that are relatable (see the recently released “Hits Different” as an all-timer Swift example of this).
9. “Are we out of the woods yet?”
Song: Out of the Woods
Lyric: Are we out of the woods yet?
Original Phrase: Are we out of the woods
Origin: “This expression, alluding to having been lost in a forest, dates from Roman times; it was first recorded in English in 1792.” (Dictionary.com)
Meaning: What you ask when you get yourself in a bad and uncertain situation and you may or may not be getting out of it.
Analysis: Sometimes you don’t have to be overly clever to make a really good pop song. “Out of the woods” is used in the song as a kind of foundation for a fantasy of two lovers in a tumultuous relationship trying to get out of the worst of it and “into the clear”. It’s very propulsive.
8. “Players gonna play, play, play, play, play // And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate”
Song: Shake It Off
Lyric: Players gonna play, play, play, play, play // And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate
Original colloquialism: Players Gonna Play & Haters Gonna Hate
Origins: Popularized in Hip Hop and R&B songs, but like most of these phrases likely originated as a common saying before it jumped into art.
Meaning: Not far from “don’t hate the player, hate the game” (see below), but this is the more ruminative version, fairly close to “it is what it is” or “an old dog can’t learn new tricks.”
Analysis: This is one of Swift’s more controversial lyrics as the R&B group 3LW brought a copyright lawsuit alleging Swift plagiarized the lyrics of their 2001 song “Players Gon’ Play.” The case was ultimately dismissed because, as the court determined, phrases like this are so common that they can’t really be copyrighted or owned (the article linked has a good list of other songs that used similar lyrics). As for analysis of the lyric itself: this is peak Taylor turning a common phrase, particularly “haters gonna’ hate”—something traditionally said by rappers and all types of people facing internet heat—into a mega-hit. But as an example of her wordsmithing prowess, it’s not super high on the list.
7. “Loose lips sink ships all the damn time”
Song: I Know Places
Lyric: Loose lips sink ships all the damn time // Not this time
Phrase: Loose lips sink ships
Origins: Originates from WWII American war propaganda telling citizens to be careful with information; you can buy the poster for $65 on Amazon.
Meaning: Be careful what you reveal because you could really mess up things by divulging too much information.
Analysis: The genius in this lyric is again not so much in the changing but in recontextualizing and giving it attitude (“all the damn time”). The rhyme scheme comes off super smooth, and fits in the song perfectly, which is about two lovers escaping together.
6. “Nothing lasts forever”
Song: Wildest Dreams
Lyrics: He said, Let's get out of this town // Drive out of the city, away from the crowds // I thought Heaven can't help me now // Nothing lasts forever // But this is gonna take me down
Cliché: Nothing lasts forever
Origins: A phrase so timeless its origin is unclear.
Meaning: A wistful declaration akin to “everything good must come to an end” or a melancholy admission that we aren’t immortal.
Analysis: This one is tricky to rate, as it’s more of a quick refrain that flows nicely within the context of the song. However, these three lines are genius-level construction: starting at the top with Heaven, continuing with the admission of mortality in-between, and finally a line about being taken down (aka hell).
TOP TIER
5. “The more I think about it now, the less I know”
Song: All You Had to Do Was Stay
Lyric: The more I think about it now, the less I know // All I know is that you drove us off the road
Cliché: The more I learn the less I know
Origins: Aristotle or Einstein, possibly, according to the internet. But this is unconfirmed by a good or primary source so it is probably apocryphal.
Meaning: A paradox that is a common experience describing the phenomenon of learning and by doing so realizing there’s a lot more you don’t know. See, related: ignorance is bliss.
Analysis: Here Swift reworks the saying to apply to memory (“the more I think about it”) as opposed to gaining knowledge and then cuts through the cliché with the next line (“All I know is that you drove us off the road”) as if to say “let’s not over think this, sometimes the basic action is all that matters.”
4. Cause you know I love the players // And you love the game”
Song: Blank Space
Lyric: 'Cause you know I love the players // And you love the game
Cliché: Don’t Hate the Player, Hate the Game
Origins: The internet tells me this originates in media from either the Jamie Fox show or Ice T. song, but like many other phrases on this list — eerily close to “players gonna play, hater gonna hate” — it most likely originates from common speech that then leaked into art.
Meaning: Don’t hate the individual’s bad behavior, hate the system that fosters it and allows them to win within the rules (see: tax dodgers, coupon clippers, and terms and condition lawyers).
Analysis: Usually this phrase is said by the player, as in “don’t hate me, I’m just playing by the rules to get an advantage, even if those rules are unfair.” Here Swift twists the saying nicely: she doesn’t hate the player but he is so wrapped up in loving the warped rules of “the game” that he’s too vapid to understand what's really at stake. While he thinks he’s somehow getting one over on Swift, he’s actually left empty handed, the loser.
3. “The best people in life are free”
Song: New Romantics
Lyric: The best people in life are free
Cliché: The best things are life are free
Origins: Apparently, this is a 1927 song “The Best Things in Life are Free” by Ray Henderson (Wikipedia), but since that song it’s a saying that has become something that could be printed on a cheap wooden sign in white script.
Meaning: People and experiences — “free” things — are better than material possessions.
Analysis: This is not so much an inversion and more of a half-step, extending the meaning of the original line by a few degrees. Yes, experiences and other people are better than material possessions, but even better are the people who live unbound and without worry. It makes the saying individualistic—go forth and be free—but also is somewhat ambiguous enough that you could read/hear it as unchanged from the original cliché. It’s a devilishly cool reworking, and the song rocks.
2. “I want you for worse or for better”
Song: How You Get the Girl
Lyric: And then you say // I want you for worse or for better // I would wait for ever and ever // Broke your heart, I'll put it back together // I would wait for ever and ever
Cliché: For better or for worse
Origins: The Book of Common Prayer. Christian Marriage Vows.
Meaning: Commitment no matter what happens.
Analysis: The slight twist is deft here. Swift is a master of inversion, and here the common marriage vow pledging love forever—“for worse or for better”—underscores that the sentiment isn’t yet reciprocated: “I would wait for ever and ever.” This is high level stuff. It uses our prior relationship with the cliché “for better or for worse,” packed with all its meaning to juxtapose the protagonist waiting for love for “ever and ever” rather than currently being with the person for ever and ever.
1. “I can read you like a magazine”
Song: Blank Space
Lyric: I can read you like a magazine
Cliché: I can read you like a book
Origins: Estimated 1800s, but unknown.
Meaning: To know everything about someone/their action, both their intentions and motivations. Usually, this comes with a little bit of contempt, as in “you think you’re so smart but I see right through it.”
Analysis: No surprise that the best use of cliché on 1989 is on what is routinely considered one of the best Taylor Swift songs of all time. “Blank Space” as a song is the shining trophy to Swift’s ability to use all of the context of her life to fuel her music (this song is an ode to her owning her own reputation as someone going through a lot of boyfriends) as well as using bold, relatable imagery and ideas while still being hyper specific to her experience. Here, the simplest of changes to the cliché — swapping book for magazine — is amazing, like the other idiom used in “Blank Space”: “I love the player // and you love the game.” Swift is seeing right through the player, but reducing him not to the intellectual “book” but the vapid, not-known-for-its-cleverness, magazine—a slick package that’s not fooling Swift. Plus, it plays off the tabloid romances that led to her reputation, which is the major theme of the song. When the change of one word can unlock so much reverberation in meaning, that’s what the best novelists—and songwriters—do. Plus, the original cliché mentions books—how could it not be #1 on this list?
Back Matter: The Great Transition and The Music Industry
The Great Transition by Nick Fuller Googins
A book I edited came out on Tuesday. After months (years?) of thinking about this novel, here is my two-line summary: Set in the near future, a father and his daughter set out to find her mother after a public attack against former climate criminals and the mother’s highly suspicious disappearance. The Great Transition shows what it takes to recuse our natural world and asks the question: what happens after humanity saves itself?
The novel also has Taylor Swift in it—she is mentioned in the prologue as part of the “Golden Oldies” that fifteen-year-old protagonist Emi loves to listen to. Lots of stuff coming together here all at once at Dear Head of Mine.
USA Today did this listicle of Taylor Swift performance looks with book covers, this one is for her woodsy album Folklore. They get it.
Music = Books
While Taylor Swift dominates the music industry and culture at large, there’s a fascinating article from Billboard about how the rest of the music business is working right now. Basically, it’s remarkably similar to the book industry (not something you could say 10-20 years ago). Taylor Swift is the major blockbuster outlier (in books see: Coleen Hoover, who outsold The Bible last year) and the rest of the industry redefining what success is on a more modest level. Many of the top earning musicians cited in the article I’d never heard of, even tangentially. Like with many successful books, it’s a small group of tight-knit fans driving success. The most interesting fact supporting this notion is that “2% of their monthly listeners…generate 18% of their streams.” Even more important: Those devotees account for 52% of merch sales.