Summary notes created by Deciphr AI
https://youtu.be/8jHkWJxssBA?si=y4yrQa6vFIyMh8DYIn this episode of "The Evolution of a Snake," hosts delve into Taylor Swift's curated playlists, dissecting the fan theory about the five stages of grief and its connection to Swift's work. They discuss Taylor's acknowledgment of the theory and her playful engagement with it, despite the album not being about grief. The conversation highlights Swift's intricate songwriting, the inclusion of Joe Alwyn co-written songs in the playlists, and the hosts' consistent opinions on Swift's narrative. They also touch on the importance of Swift's Patreon for exclusive content and tease the upcoming "Torture Poets Department." The hosts analyze specific tracks like "Lavender Haze," "Sweet Nothing," and "Snow on the Beach," speculating on their deeper meanings and connections to Swift's personal life, particularly her relationship with Alwyn. They suggest that Swift's songs often reflect a struggle for a normal life versus fame and express anticipation for her new album, "Tortured Poets," to reveal more truths.
"if you read the description for the playlist it clearly says that Taylor was inspired by the fan Theory and she decided to play along this the album is not about the five stages of grief."
The quote explains that Taylor acknowledged a fan theory and engaged with it through her playlists, but this does not mean her album is actually about the five stages of grief.
"every single song that Joe has a co-write on is on one of these playlists and they didn't all have to be."
This quote indicates that all songs co-written by Joe are present in the playlists, suggesting a deliberate choice by Taylor, which may hint at their personal significance.
"Lavender Haze is one of those songs that like to me it's almost like she's saying I wish that I could go back to that like delusional romantic place that we were in when we first got together."
The quote suggests that "Lavender Haze" is about longing for the past and the initial stages of a romantic relationship, highlighting a sense of denial about the present.
"snow on the beach to me is a complete nothing song I don't think it's about Joe first of all she's talking about green eyes who has green eyes it's not Mr Joe."
This quote reflects the confusion around the song "Snow on the Beach," questioning its relevance to Taylor's relationship with Joe due to the mention of green eyes, which Joe does not have.
"Sweet Nothing is her Reminiscing on the good parts of her relationship when in the back of her mind she knew that it was over."
The quote interprets "Sweet Nothing" as a bittersweet recollection of a relationship that is internally acknowledged as finished, despite outward appearances.
"I think glitch this was a very sexy song this song is like Very sensual even down to the production I think that it ties perfectly into the playlist and that this is her getting caught up in this idea of like this glitch this thing that she can't get out of her head that's kind of like what the song is about."
This quote suggests that "Glitch" represents an obsession or fixation that aligns with the theme of denial, highlighting the sensual nature of the song.
"Betty really confounds me here because it's like what the [ __ ] are you talking about this is a LT of songs about getting so caught up in the idea of something that you have a hard time seeing the red flags and it's like I thought Betty was a cutesy little love song that you wrote about a love triangle between non-existent kids named after Ry like Blake Lively and Ryan re you're still telling that story on the stage every night."
The quote expresses confusion over the inclusion of "Betty" on a playlist about denial, questioning the narrative Taylor has presented about the song and its deeper implications.
"We do armchair analysis here; we don't claim to know the truth even though we absolutely do know the truth um that is just the way that we rock."
The quote highlights the playful and confident nature of their analysis, acknowledging it as their unique style of engaging with content.
"The more that you say the less I know wherever you stray I follow I'm begging for you to take my hands wreck my plans that's my man."
This quote is analyzed as a desire for companionship and guidance, even if it leads to self-deception and abandoning one's own plans.
"You don't need to save me but would you run away with me...he did need to save her that we all know that she was lying to herself there."
The quote is interpreted as an internal contradiction where the protagonist claims independence but subconsciously seeks salvation through a partner.
"Well I I think he knows he better lock it down or I will stick around good ones never wait...that's somebody who's literally begging on our hands and knees. Willow."
This quote is seen as evidence of the protagonist's desperation to secure a relationship, reinforcing the theme of dependency discussed throughout the analysis.
"It's dark sided it's dark sided it's delusional."
The quote summarizes their view of the underlying themes in "Willow," emphasizing the negative psychological patterns present in the lyrics.
"I'm drunk in the back of the car and I cried like a baby coming home from the bar...it's not a joke."
This quote is used to illustrate the protagonist's inner turmoil and the contrast between outward appearances and internal struggles.
"I'm highly suspicious that everyone who sees you wants you...is that because you he your boyfriend was a card shark playing games and leading you on?"
The quote is examined as a potential sign of insecurity and mistrust within the relationship, which may have been overlooked by the protagonist at the time.
"It's you and me that's my whole World also she kind of Likens it to political strife...it's you and me again this this reinforces that isolation was the foundation of their relationship."
This quote is dissected to show how the protagonist's relationship dynamics are intertwined with her political awakening and the challenges of navigating public scrutiny.
"It took you five whole minutes to pack us up and leave me in it...you couldn't admit that we were sick."
The quote is interpreted as highlighting the disconnect between the partners' perceptions of the relationship's health and the protagonist's decisive nature in ending it.
"Taylor I think Taylor tried to leave a couple of times actually that's what I've gotten when I've been going through she tried to leave on Cornelius Street she tried to leave on Renegade and I think she also tried to leave on exile uh but Exile could be like Reminiscing on an earlier time."
The explanation of the quote reflects on Taylor's repeated efforts to exit a relationship at various points in time, as understood through the analysis of her songs.
"then we go into elicit of Ferris why not why not she was just being silly there. that's I don't think there's any jover to be discovered there it is an angry song I mean don't call me kid don't call me baby so absolutely don't do that bit never do. that never do tolerate. it. okay mental illness time I knew it that's what I'm going to say I knew it she tried to she tried to tell me."
This quote transitions from discussing the song "Elicit Affairs" to a serious topic of mental illness, suggesting a shift in the tone of the conversation and the complexity of the themes being explored.
"obviously it's written through the prism of an age gap relationship of course. but again that's just a construct we were in a fictional moment in her career the feelings on this are very consistent with the rest of the jover thing the thing that really uh struck me was the bridge while you were out building other worlds where was I where's. that me blah blah. blah Joe was filming a lot during the pandemic he like finally had some work and he was like away. and she was like flying to visit him while like kind of not really doing anything not really promoting folkore and evermore because they were like done and out and that was during the pandemic blah."
The quote discusses how Taylor's music reflects an age gap relationship and how the pandemic influenced Taylor's activities and her relationship with Joe, who was busy filming.
"so I gave you my temple my mural my sky. I uprooted my life I left New York left a part of me back in New York and I flew my ass to London and now I'm begging for footnotes in the story of your life. so what's going on babe why are you just doing this to me you assume I'm fine that's the other thing again my face was gray. but we couldn't admit that we were sick you assume I'm fine you bury your head in the sand."
This quote captures Taylor's feelings of having made personal sacrifices for the relationship and her frustration with being overlooked and not having her emotional struggles recognized or addressed.
"thinking about tolerated oh thinking about like tolerate it through the lenss of the pandemic all the things that she says I sit and watch you reading with your head low I awake and watch you breathing with your eyes closed. I I polish all the plates I do all these things and these are very like hom steady we're at home all the time but even though we're together and we're at home it feels like you're a million miles away."
The explanation of the quote highlights how the pandemic has influenced the interpretation of "Tolerate It," revealing the emotional disconnect felt despite physical closeness and the sense of bargaining within the relationship.
"this playlist takes you through the songs that I've written when I was in the bargaining stage times when you know you're trying to make deals with yourself or someone that you care about you're trying to make things better you're often times feeling really desperate because often times we have a sort of gut intuition that tells us things are not going to go the way that we hope which makes us more desperate which makes us bargain more."
The quote describes the purpose of the 'I Am Allowed to Cry' playlist, which is to take the listener through songs that encapsulate the bargaining stage of a relationship, characterized by desperation and the attempt to negotiate for a better outcome despite intuition suggesting otherwise.
"Afterglow which makes so much sense to me meet me in the Afterglow that song is literally about you know when you're in like kind of an unhealthy relationship and every fight that you make it through without breaking up you're like. yes yes we didn't break up congratulations to us when really it's like no girls you should probably break up like if you're having a huge fight every 5 Seconds like maybe it's time that you just call it quits she is putting a lot of the blame on herself here I'm seeing that bargaining coming into it's all me. it's in my head I'm the one that burned it down I'm so sorry."
This quote analyzes "Afterglow" as a representation of the toxic cycle present in an unhealthy relationship, where Taylor often takes the blame for conflicts and there is a lack of honest communication about deeper issues.
"I do I really wonder like if she couldn't even be honest enough with herself to write songs about what was really going on which is why she's so excited for tortured poets to come out because if you think about it like any song she plays Joe's going to hear so not only do she have to consider like what might he not like going out to the public she also has to consider what might he not like to hear about himself because he is painted in a very flattering way in most of these songs even on songs like Maroon which are like kind of about like it being over she is Greatful for it midnight rain I broke his heart because he was nice I feel like the claws are out and the the armor has dropped and we're now going to get some real juice."
The explanation of the quote delves into the complexities of Taylor's songwriting process, her relationship with Joe, and her anticipation for the release of "Tortured Poets," suggesting that her music is a means of processing and communicating her feelings within the constraints of the relationship.
"but something that really has been irking me about thinking about the song Through the lens of bargaining is when she says give you my wild give you a child I don't like that I have a response for you I have a response for you if you'd like to hear it my interpretation of that is in in my okay in my head this is pure speculation in my head Taylor has not really seriously considered having a child with anyone at any point because her career has been so go go go she's very clearly focused on that goal who's to say what she really wants she's mentioned having children before. but she's never been like I'm GNA have them at this time with this person or whatever my interpretation of this is she is talking about all the things that she can't give Joe like she can't give him his main fundamental ask which is privacy and a normal relationship she's like I I literally can't give that to you the rain is going to going to come when you're standing with me. but you know I love you so much that I would give you my child as in I don't think she's saying that in a way where she's like I love you so much that we'll have a child together. she's saying I would sacrifice my career or whatever it is to have a child if that's what you wanted because I love you so much that's why rings as bargaining to me."
This quote interprets the lyrics of "Peace" as a reflection of Taylor's willingness to make personal sacrifices for her relationship with Joe, despite the inherent challenges and imbalances in their dynamic. It suggests a deep level of commitment and bargaining on Taylor's part to maintain the relationship.
"other mentally ill songs here this is me trying I mean that literally is a mental ill song um. but I don't know if that has anything to do with jover. I think also everybody was kind of like going through it with the pandemic so that kind of probably inspired a little bit of that the Archer cornelus Street and death by a Thousand Cuts she crazy there was a psychic wound in her that formed during reputation that she tried to fix with Joe like she tried to get Joe to make her feel better about being torn apart by the world and made into nothing she thought that Joe could fix that for her and even when she was in the middle of their relationship she still couldn't The Archers an anxious song Help Me Hold On To You."
The quote discusses how Taylor's songs often deal with mental illness and the ongoing struggle to heal from past emotional trauma. It suggests that her relationship with Joe was initially seen as a source of healing, but that reliance on Joe may have created a problematic dynamic as Taylor worked through her issues.
"I really am curious to know how many times they actually like had like a breakup like a break and like separate is it that she's writing about all the one time I feel like on lover probably there was one particular trying time but to me it feels like there's distance between things like false god and Afterglow and cornelus Street and death by a Thousand Cuts those two songs feel like they were in they were almost sequenced together like they happened sequentially but false god and Afterglow seemed to me about more domestic interruptions rather than like it's the beginning and we're fragile right."
This quote expresses curiosity about the frequency of breakups between Taylor and Joe and how Taylor's song sequencing may reflect different moments of relationship tension, with some songs suggesting imminent departures and others dealing with ongoing domestic issues.
"Bigger than the whole sky is really interesting song I've always just kind of read bigger than the whole guy to be about grief in general I've never never thought that it's about Joe it's like too that either I don't dare to speculate about what she's talking about."
The quote explains that the speaker, Taylor, interprets the song as addressing a general sense of grief rather than being about a specific individual, Joe. It highlights the reluctance to speculate on the exact nature of the grief being expressed.
"Hoax doesn't belong on this one it belongs elsewhere say that why should be saying it anger you think it belongs in Anger. no I honestly think it it belongs on I can do. oh wow."
Taylor suggests that "Hoax" might be more appropriately categorized under a different stage of grief or playlist, challenging its association with anger and instead seeing it as a form of acceptance.
"Dear reader really I can't believe she put that song out. I it's really crazy and and that song says I'm in crisis actively and everybody just kind of was like. okay she ended midnights with it technically if you consider 3:. a.m. Edition as the full version of midnights um the it closes the record and everybody said wow."
Madeline expresses surprise at the release of "Dear Reader," interpreting the song's message as the artist being in an active crisis, which contrasts with the general reception of the album's ending.
"I think the other reason why that like we and like maybe some other people were so resistant to these these songs being about Joe and like her referencing Joe is because to do so would be going onto the gayer pipeline like."
The conversation touches on the reluctance to associate certain songs with Joe due to the implications it would have for interpreting Taylor's personal life and relationship dynamics.
"I think that she could only gaze in at that life through the window. and she finally realized that and that's kind of also. I think it wasn't something that she wanted there's no point wanting something you can never have or like chasing something you can never have."
Taylor and Madeline discuss how "Midnight Rain" may represent Taylor's realization that she cannot have a normal life like Joe's and her acceptance of her own path as an artist and public figure.
"Your on your own kid to me was kind of like her finally being like. all right well I don't need a man in a more profound way being like actually at the end of the day I've always just had myself and I've always been fine."
This quote from Taylor indicates a shift in perspective, where she acknowledges her own resilience and independence, moving away from the notion that she needs a romantic partner to be complete.