November 10, 2025 • 22 mins
Taylor Swift’s “Opalite” turns gemstones into a metaphor for emotional alchemy: the process of turning pain into peace. Our showgirl narrator has gone through her long, dark nights of the soul, and wakes up to find nothing but clear skies ahead.
But did the storm really pass, or did she learn to build a bigger umbrella?
In this episode of the Swiftly Sung Stories podcast, we’ll explore how Taylor uses opalescent imagery, reflective mood shifts, and layered meanings to trace a journey from depression to hope.
We’ll look at how her lyrics call back to previous albums and eras, and how her gemstone symbolism has shifted from “the rubies that I gave up” in Midnights to opalite skies in The Life of a Showgirl.
✨ Swiftly Sung Stories dives deep into Taylor Swift’s storytelling craft, exploring her lyrics through the lens of literature, emotion, and the art of songwriting.
📚 Subscribe for more Taylor Swift lyric analysis, literary breakdowns, and storytelling deep dives.
Check out the full TS 101 Lesson Series, along with lyrical analysis of 250+ songs, close readings of all of Taylor’s prologues, lyric quizzes, and more at SwiftlySungStories.com.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hey everyone.
(00:00):
Welcome back to the Swiftly Song Stories podcast.
I'm Jen.
I am your Swifty English teacher, and today we are tackling track three in my track by track analysis of the life of a showgirl, and we're gonna dive straight into Opalite.
In my last few episodes, I analyzed Taylor's prologue poem and tracks one and two, the Fatal Ophelia and Elizabeth Taylor.
(00:23):
So go check those out because especially the prologue poem lays a lot of groundwork for understanding this album and all of the themes that Taylor is exploring in these lyrics.
Just quickly to let you know, all this content is available on my website if you want the text version of my lyrical analysis where I have annotated lyrics, and if you're watching this on YouTube, you also find me wherever you get your podcasts and vice versa.
(00:48):
.578125Okay? Let's roll straight in to Opalite line by line. 9 00:00:55,632.578125 --> 00:01:01,332.578125 Welcome to swiftly sung Stories where we unpack the Taylor Swift Universe one era album and lyric at a time. 10 00:01:01,512.578125 --> 00:01:05,832.578125 Think of it like English class, but it's all Taylor Swift and none of the boring stuff. 11 00:01:06,282.578125 --> 00:01:11,682.578125 I'm Jen, your Swifty English teacher and classes in session, so come on in and meet me in the margins. 12 00:01:11,968.578125 --> 00:01:12,958.578125 Uh, I lied. 13 00:01:12,958.578125 --> 00:01:14,8.578125 We're not going straight into it. 14 00:01:14,8.578125 --> 00:01:15,388.578125 I need to do a quick disclaimer. 15 00:01:15,418.578125 --> 00:01:24,718.578125 I only discuss Taylor's personal life and my lyrical analysis when it is essential to understanding the text or when it really helps us to put the lyrics into context. 16 00:01:25,48.578125 --> 00:01:27,478.578125 I'm not here to discover what Taylor Swift did. 17 00:01:27,478.578125 --> 00:01:29,788.578125 I'm here to discover what the art does. 18 00:01:30,618.578125 --> 00:01:36,828.578125 All art is subjective and it means different things to different people, and that's the fun of it. 19 00:01:37,518.578125 --> 00:01:45,948.578125 So in this analysis, I'm not gonna say it's factual or correct, I'm just here to point out different interpretations so that you can draw your own conclusions. 20 00:01:45,948.578125 --> 00:01:49,68.578125 So take what resonates and leave the rest. 21 00:01:49,588.578125 --> 00:01:51,578.578125 Alright, let's get into opalite. 22 00:01:51,653.578125 --> 00:01:56,513.578125 The first verse, she says, I had a bad habit of missing lover's past. 23 00:01:57,83.578125 --> 00:02:14,123.578125 We are in the present tense, looking back on her previous dark nights of the soul, and she's building this character with crucial backstory because we can't celebrate this character's later happiness if we don't first understand where they were and where they've been. 24 00:02:14,123.578125 --> 00:02:24,593.578125 If we wanted to, we could look back on the tortured poets department and midnights to see some of these bad habits as those two albums really dive into those themes. 25 00:02:25,543.578125 --> 00:02:26,473.578125 She continues. 26 00:02:26,713.578125 --> 00:02:29,893.578125 My brother used to call it eating out of the trash. 27 00:02:29,893.578125 --> 00:02:33,103.578125 This has to be the most hilarious line on this entire album. 28 00:02:33,103.578125 --> 00:02:39,613.578125 To eat out of the trash means to try to revive something that's already been tossed aside. 29 00:02:39,823.578125 --> 00:02:46,933.578125 You threw it away for a reason because it no longer served you, but on particularly. 30 00:02:47,383.578125 --> 00:02:58,813.578125 Hungry nights, it might be tempting, but as a metaphor, longing for your ex it's just hilarious and it's kind of a sly dig at any of her lovers past. 31 00:02:59,623.578125 --> 00:03:13,543.578125 But the simple my brother used to call it is also important because it sets up one of the major themes of the song, which is lessons learned from others or lessons learned on her own, which she is now passing down to her audience. 32 00:03:13,543.578125 --> 00:03:15,163.578125 She's gonna go on to relay. 33 00:03:15,583.578125 --> 00:03:21,583.578125 Uh, lessons from her mom and then relay all of those lessons to us, her reader. 34 00:03:21,583.578125 --> 00:03:24,403.578125 So if you eat out of the trash, it's never gonna last. 35 00:03:24,553.578125 --> 00:03:37,633.578125 She continues, which could mean that this bad habit won't land her anywhere she wants to be, but it could also refer to a metaphorical expiration date of those relationships. 36 00:03:37,633.578125 --> 00:03:38,653.578125 You shouldn't go back to. 37 00:03:39,103.578125 --> 00:03:45,313.578125 Snack on them after they're past their prime because it's only going to make you metaphorically sick. 38 00:03:46,603.578125 --> 00:03:48,313.578125 I thought my house was haunted. 39 00:03:48,523.578125 --> 00:03:50,503.578125 I used to live with ghosts. 40 00:03:51,703.578125 --> 00:04:03,593.578125 She's giving us more backstory of this dark onyx night, so we will later understand why it's so much better when the sky turns brighter, like Opalite. 41 00:04:04,408.578125 --> 00:04:12,448.578125 Now ghosts and hauntings are a really common metaphor in Taylor's universe where they often come to symbolize regret. 42 00:04:13,288.578125 --> 00:04:14,638.578125 Here's just a few of them. 43 00:04:14,818.578125 --> 00:04:22,228.578125 I knew you'd haunt all of my what ifs from cardigan, and now that I'm grown, I'm scared of ghosts memories. 44 00:04:22,228.578125 --> 00:04:24,838.578125 Feel like weapons from would've, could've, should've. 45 00:04:24,838.578125 --> 00:04:32,518.578125 Dancing phantoms on the terrace from love of my life, LOML, my beloved ghost in me sitting in a tree. 46 00:04:32,638.578125 --> 00:04:38,323.578125 D-Y-I-N-G, from How did it end? And there's many more. 47 00:04:38,323.578125 --> 00:04:42,553.578125 But when we look at the larger meaning, I thought my house was haunted. 48 00:04:42,613.578125 --> 00:04:57,43.578125 I used to live with ghosts can mean she's either living with the ghosts of lover's past, or she's living with this haunting regret of all these choices that she's made in love and life. 49 00:04:57,793.578125 --> 00:05:01,603.578125 But as we're about to find out, all of these prior hauntings are in the past now. 50 00:05:01,603.578125 --> 00:05:08,323.578125 How has she finally come to hire a priest to exorcise my demons, like she said she would in the black dog? It sounds like it. 51 00:05:09,643.578125 --> 00:05:16,153.578125 She continues, and all the perfect couples said, when you know, you know, and when you don't, you don't. 52 00:05:16,153.578125 --> 00:05:22,333.578125 So she looks to couples, she admires for advice, but they all just say the same thing. 53 00:05:22,633.578125 --> 00:05:25,723.578125 You'll just know when you found the right person. 54 00:05:25,783.578125 --> 00:05:31,963.578125 If you don't know if the the right person, it's not, your intuition will tell you everything. 55 00:05:32,713.578125 --> 00:05:43,423.578125 But this could also be a lyrical reference to Lana Del Rey's song Margaret written for their mutual friends, Jack Antonoff and his wife Margaret Qualley. 56 00:05:44,458.578125 --> 00:05:54,388.578125 The repeating lyric in that song is when you know, you know, so this in real life could be one of the perfect couples that Taylor refers to in this lyric. 57 00:05:54,868.578125 --> 00:05:57,28.578125 But in any case, the sentiment is the same. 58 00:05:57,688.578125 --> 00:06:01,678.578125 You just know when you meet the right person, which is true, by the way. 59 00:06:02,518.578125 --> 00:06:07,288.578125 And if you don't know for sure, that is confirmation that it's not the right person. 60 00:06:07,288.578125 --> 00:06:14,548.578125 Then we move into the first pre-chorus and all of the foes and all of the friends, they've seen it before. 61 00:06:14,848.578125 --> 00:06:15,478.578125 They'll see it again. 62 00:06:17,368.578125 --> 00:06:26,968.578125 She surmises that everyone goes through this cycle from darkness to light, from breakups to weddings, from depression to happiness. 63 00:06:26,968.578125 --> 00:06:30,868.578125 They'll see dark times again and they'll see brighter times ahead. 64 00:06:31,528.578125 --> 00:06:37,198.578125 This is just the cyclical nature of life, but foes and friends. 65 00:06:37,448.578125 --> 00:06:49,148.578125 Also ties into one of the larger themes of this album, conflict in platonic relationships as she's going to explore in songs like Cancelled, Actually Romantic and Father Figure. 66 00:06:49,958.578125 --> 00:06:56,678.578125 But this also reminds me of another line from How Did It End? Come One, come All It's Happening again. 67 00:06:57,308.578125 --> 00:06:59,138.578125 The Empathetic Hunger Descends. 68 00:06:59,258.578125 --> 00:07:02,348.578125 We'll tell no one except all of our friends. 69 00:07:03,608.578125 --> 00:07:05,588.578125 In that context, it feels like she's saying. 70 00:07:05,953.578125 --> 00:07:13,333.578125 Those foes and friends have scandalized my romances before and they will scandalize them again. 71 00:07:14,353.578125 --> 00:07:22,963.578125 But she's got this new outlook and she's changed her views on all of this gossip as she's about to tell us in the chorus. 72 00:07:23,863.578125 --> 00:07:24,793.578125 Life is a song. 73 00:07:24,793.578125 --> 00:07:27,13.578125 It ends when it ends. 74 00:07:27,883.578125 --> 00:07:28,723.578125 I was wrong. 75 00:07:29,878.578125 --> 00:07:40,828.578125 Previously, she assumed seasons of life would simply end when they ended, or relationships which she compares to a song would simply fizzle out when they were meant to. 76 00:07:40,978.578125 --> 00:07:45,898.578125 It's the fate and destiny of it all, which is an ever present theme on this album and so many others. 77 00:07:46,498.578125 --> 00:07:53,728.578125 But as she's learned, which she's gonna explore more in the chorus, you have more control over your own happiness than you think you do. 78 00:07:53,728.578125 --> 00:08:01,228.578125 But my mama told me she closes out this pre-chorus leading into another important piece of advice that she will flesh out. 79 00:08:02,68.578125 --> 00:08:05,98.578125 So now we have advice from the mother and the brother. 80 00:08:05,578.578125 --> 00:08:10,738.578125 And then as she enters the chorus, her mother tells her it's all, all right. 81 00:08:11,368.578125 --> 00:08:13,828.578125 You were dancing through the lightning strikes. 82 00:08:13,828.578125 --> 00:08:17,158.578125 So her mom is saying, it's all right now. 83 00:08:17,338.578125 --> 00:08:20,68.578125 You were making the best of a bad situation. 84 00:08:20,608.578125 --> 00:08:33,813.578125 The lightning strikes are terrible personal or professional events that happen seemingly out of nowhere, but instead of sheltering to avoid getting struck, she dances through the storm. 85 00:08:35,668.578125 --> 00:08:39,328.578125 Sleepless in the onyx night, but now the sky is opalite. 86 00:08:39,988.578125 --> 00:08:44,188.578125 This is the central metaphor and the central message of this track. 87 00:08:44,938.578125 --> 00:08:48,868.578125 Onyx is a jet black type of naturally occurring quartz. 88 00:08:48,898.578125 --> 00:08:53,668.578125 It is long been associated with bad luck, sadness, and bad dreams. 89 00:08:54,328.578125 --> 00:08:56,13.578125 An onyx night is therefore. 90 00:08:56,728.578125 --> 00:09:05,638.578125 A long, dark night of the soul filled with depression and longing and restlessness as she explored in both midnights and the torture poets department. 91 00:09:06,268.578125 --> 00:09:14,278.578125 Opalite, on the other hand, is a pearlescent manmade gemstone, usually white and or light blue like the sky. 92 00:09:14,758.578125 --> 00:09:18,178.578125 The distinction is in how these two gems are created. 93 00:09:18,178.578125 --> 00:09:21,388.578125 One is mined and one is created by man. 94 00:09:22,268.578125 --> 00:09:27,653.578125 The sky, which is her metaphorical future and happiness hasn't just cleared. 95 00:09:28,178.578125 --> 00:09:29,888.578125 Magically on its own. 96 00:09:29,888.578125 --> 00:09:30,998.578125 It happened intentionally. 97 00:09:31,853.578125 --> 00:09:34,493.578125 She's created her own happiness. 98 00:09:34,643.578125 --> 00:09:39,653.578125 She's mashed up two common metaphors of the Taylor Swift universe here in one lyric. 99 00:09:39,743.578125 --> 00:09:48,983.578125 First is the gemstones, which she used in Bejeweled and in others, which represent her innate value and worth and her inner sparkle. 100 00:09:49,998.578125 --> 00:09:56,568.578125 She used rubies in maroon, the rubies that I gave up where the gemstone is something valuable, she sacrificed. 101 00:09:57,288.578125 --> 00:09:58,908.578125 So you get the idea. 102 00:09:59,538.578125 --> 00:10:03,558.578125 Gems in Taylor's multiverse become symbolic of her worth. 103 00:10:04,38.578125 --> 00:10:08,748.578125 But the other common metaphor that she's using here is darkness and light. 104 00:10:08,928.578125 --> 00:10:15,618.578125 So the darkness of night and the light of day used as emotional states or as hope. 105 00:10:16,773.578125 --> 00:10:19,233.578125 In evermore, there's in the cracks of light. 106 00:10:19,233.578125 --> 00:10:26,343.578125 I dreamed of you, um, sleeping so long in a 20 year dark night, and now I see daylight from daylight. 107 00:10:26,343.578125 --> 00:10:27,393.578125 He was sunshine. 108 00:10:27,393.578125 --> 00:10:28,113.578125 I was midnight. 109 00:10:28,113.578125 --> 00:10:31,923.578125 Rain for midnight rain and there's, there's a lot more. 110 00:10:32,23.578125 --> 00:10:37,243.578125 So she's mashed up these two common metaphors into one unifying metaphor. 111 00:10:37,243.578125 --> 00:10:44,23.578125 She used to be sleepless in this long, dark night of the soul, and now she's awake in the dawn of a new day. 112 00:10:44,608.578125 --> 00:10:52,588.578125 She's describing a mood ring, essentially where opalite means she's happy and onyx means she's sad. 113 00:10:53,608.578125 --> 00:10:58,648.578125 But then add on to it this layer of how the gemstones are created, naturally occurring versus manmade. 114 00:10:58,648.578125 --> 00:11:08,638.578125 And we can see she stopped looking for other people to create her happiness and took charge of her own emotions to find a more peaceful and optimistic path. 115 00:11:09,688.578125 --> 00:11:10,918.578125 Oh my Lord, she continues. 116 00:11:10,918.578125 --> 00:11:12,718.578125 Never met no one like you before. 117 00:11:13,138.578125 --> 00:11:24,868.578125 Now she could be speaking to this unique person who has contributed to her new sunny disposition, but she could also be speaking to herself or to her younger self. 118 00:11:25,708.578125 --> 00:11:26,848.578125 Like she says, in happiness. 119 00:11:26,848.578125 --> 00:11:28,528.578125 I haven't met the new me yet. 120 00:11:29,248.578125 --> 00:11:35,38.578125 She's this new version of herself that she hadn't met before and she didn't even know was possible. 121 00:11:35,338.578125 --> 00:11:37,168.578125 But here she is renewed. 122 00:11:38,188.578125 --> 00:11:40,288.578125 You had to make your own sunshine. 123 00:11:40,468.578125 --> 00:11:46,778.578125 She says to this person or to herself, but now the sky is opalite. 124 00:11:47,518.578125 --> 00:11:53,218.578125 This too could be speaking to a past version of herself who was stuck in this onyx night. 125 00:11:54,598.578125 --> 00:11:58,858.578125 If she's addressing another character in the song, they had much in common. 126 00:11:58,858.578125 --> 00:12:13,168.578125 They both had to create their own happiness and choose joy during unhappy times, but now the sun shines over both of them if she's strictly speaking to herself or to her younger self. 127 00:12:13,168.578125 --> 00:12:17,218.578125 It's really a message of encouragement, like, keep going. 128 00:12:17,248.578125 --> 00:12:18,118.578125 It'll get better. 129 00:12:18,508.578125 --> 00:12:21,598.578125 You're in the dark right now, but it'll be so much brighter soon. 130 00:12:21,598.578125 --> 00:12:34,438.578125 The second verse is still in first person, but it seems to be addressing someone in particular or giving us an anecdote about, um, someone who has felt a, a similar way. 131 00:12:34,438.578125 --> 00:12:39,928.578125 Again, we don't know for sure she could be talking to her past self or younger self. 132 00:12:39,928.578125 --> 00:12:41,578.578125 She could be talking to someone in particular. 133 00:12:42,968.578125 --> 00:12:45,428.578125 You couldn't understand it, why you felt alone. 134 00:12:46,298.578125 --> 00:12:51,278.578125 So on the outside, this person or her younger self seemed to have it all. 135 00:12:51,818.578125 --> 00:13:01,628.578125 So why did it feel so empty inside? This particular theme is explored in a lot of songs on this album, and particularly in Elizabeth Taylor. 136 00:13:02,678.578125 --> 00:13:04,88.578125 You were in it for real. 137 00:13:04,328.578125 --> 00:13:07,548.578125 She was in her phone and you were just a pose. 138 00:13:07,568.578125 --> 00:13:12,608.578125 So this character was really invested in this relationship, but their partner wasn't. 139 00:13:12,758.578125 --> 00:13:19,148.578125 She was in her phone living for what things look like rather than what they actually are. 140 00:13:20,168.578125 --> 00:13:27,188.578125 This partner was just a pose an accessory for Instagram or used for popularity or clout or aesthetics. 141 00:13:28,178.578125 --> 00:13:33,818.578125 This could be an ex-partner of the subject, but it could also apply to our narrator in friendship. 142 00:13:34,728.578125 --> 00:13:39,798.578125 There's a lot of conflict in friendship and business relationship explored on this album. 143 00:13:39,798.578125 --> 00:13:42,288.578125 So it could be either or, or it could be both. 144 00:13:43,128.578125 --> 00:13:49,878.578125 And don't we try to love, love? She asks this person or herself or her audience at large, we give it all. 145 00:13:49,878.578125 --> 00:13:52,608.578125 We got this points to a really. 146 00:13:53,88.578125 --> 00:13:54,378.578125 Interesting contradiction. 147 00:13:54,408.578125 --> 00:13:57,558.578125 Love isn't inherently lovable. 148 00:13:57,978.578125 --> 00:14:00,708.578125 Just like she says in the prologue poem. 149 00:14:01,8.578125 --> 00:14:04,8.578125 That's how you love the life of a showgirl. 150 00:14:04,38.578125 --> 00:14:07,518.578125 It's not a life that is inherently lovable. 151 00:14:08,628.578125 --> 00:14:13,638.578125 We try to love being in love, but often it just leads to heartbreak. 152 00:14:15,18.578125 --> 00:14:20,58.578125 Like she says, in state of grace, we fall in love till it hurts or bleeds or fades in time. 153 00:14:20,673.578125 --> 00:14:29,163.578125 Still, we want it to work, so we try our best to hold on and we bend over backwards and we try to enjoy it, even if it does nothing but hurt us. 154 00:14:30,513.578125 --> 00:14:32,43.578125 You finally left the table. 155 00:14:32,223.578125 --> 00:14:34,713.578125 She continues closing out the second verse. 156 00:14:35,463.578125 --> 00:14:36,603.578125 What a simple thought. 157 00:14:36,963.578125 --> 00:14:38,433.578125 You're starving till you're not. 158 00:14:38,584.405284 --> 00:14:49,834.405284 This is a loaded metaphor that has multiple different interpretations, and the most obvious is that she's finally left the table from Right where you left me help. 159 00:14:49,834.405284 --> 00:14:51,94.405284 I'm still at the restaurant. 160 00:14:51,364.405284 --> 00:14:55,594.405284 She says in that track, which is really about feeling stuck and abandoned. 161 00:14:56,884.405284 --> 00:15:00,154.405284 Another possibility is the table from Tolerate it. 162 00:15:00,454.405284 --> 00:15:03,724.405284 I lay the table with the fancy shit and watch you tolerate it. 163 00:15:04,984.405284 --> 00:15:17,224.405284 While this could be referencing a specific table in the TS universe, it also alludes to the popular saying, don't try to get a seat at a table you're not invited to. 164 00:15:17,884.405284 --> 00:15:23,74.405284 This means that in relationships you shouldn't try to be fed by people who don't value you. 165 00:15:24,619.405284 --> 00:15:26,239.405284 In any case, she tells us. 166 00:15:26,239.405284 --> 00:15:26,989.405284 It's a simple thought. 167 00:15:26,989.405284 --> 00:15:27,949.405284 Just get up and leave. 168 00:15:28,579.405284 --> 00:15:35,239.405284 Find a metaphorical table where you're satiated and there's a place laid for you and you're an honored guest. 169 00:15:36,139.405284 --> 00:15:41,479.405284 You're starving for attention, for love, for belonging until you're fed. 170 00:15:41,899.405284 --> 00:15:46,189.405284 And sometimes that happens in the blink of a twinkling eye. 171 00:15:46,189.405284 --> 00:15:52,969.405284 The second pre-chorus and all of the foes and all of the friends have messed up before they'll mess up again. 172 00:15:52,969.405284 --> 00:15:59,209.405284 This echoes the sentiment of the previous pre-chorus where all of the foes and friends have seen it before. 173 00:15:59,209.405284 --> 00:15:59,899.405284 We'll see it again. 174 00:16:00,619.405284 --> 00:16:02,929.405284 Life is cyclical and we make mistakes. 175 00:16:02,929.405284 --> 00:16:04,609.405284 We choose the wrong people. 176 00:16:04,609.405284 --> 00:16:05,929.405284 We learn our lessons. 177 00:16:06,769.405284 --> 00:16:14,269.405284 In relationships, we choose the wrong people and lose the right people and try to sit at tables where we're not invited. 178 00:16:15,619.405284 --> 00:16:16,729.405284 Life is a song. 179 00:16:16,789.405284 --> 00:16:17,269.405284 It ends. 180 00:16:17,269.405284 --> 00:16:18,169.405284 When it ends. 181 00:16:18,169.405284 --> 00:16:19,129.405284 She continues. 182 00:16:19,669.405284 --> 00:16:20,599.405284 You move on. 183 00:16:20,599.405284 --> 00:16:24,469.405284 When the metaphorical song is over, you move on to the next track. 184 00:16:24,469.405284 --> 00:16:31,789.405284 There will always be another song, another period in your life where you're happy or sad or fulfilled or unfulfilled. 185 00:16:32,269.405284 --> 00:16:40,789.405284 But if you don't move on to the next track, and this is what's important, and you continue to live in the past with that same old song on repeat. 186 00:16:41,74.405284 --> 00:16:44,974.405284 You'll just stay stuck in this loop of unhappiness. 187 00:16:46,204.405284 --> 00:16:52,384.405284 The final line is where we move away from the advice of others and she starts passing down her own advice. 188 00:16:52,414.405284 --> 00:17:09,724.405284 Of course, she's been doing this all along, but this progression in the narrative sense moves through all of these lessons she's learned, and now she passes down that hard earned advice to us, her reader, and that's when I told you, she says. 189 00:17:10,69.405284 --> 00:17:12,349.405284 And then the rest of the chorus repeats. 190 00:17:12,349.405284 --> 00:17:13,9.405284 It's all right. 191 00:17:13,189.405284 --> 00:17:15,379.405284 You were dancing through the lightning strikes. 192 00:17:16,369.405284 --> 00:17:22,459.405284 She's taking these lessons learned from others or from herself and passing them down to us. 193 00:17:22,849.405284 --> 00:17:29,869.405284 She does change up One crucial word in this chorus though, never met no one like you before. 194 00:17:29,899.405284 --> 00:17:33,454.405284 Changes to never made no one like you before. 195 00:17:35,104.405284 --> 00:17:37,294.405284 This echoes the major theme of the song. 196 00:17:37,444.405284 --> 00:17:40,84.405284 You have to make Your Own Happiness. 197 00:17:41,404.405284 --> 00:17:44,314.405284 Again, who she's speaking to here is up to debate. 198 00:17:44,374.405284 --> 00:17:47,284.405284 It could be this character with a terrible girlfriend. 199 00:17:47,284.405284 --> 00:17:53,404.405284 It could be herself as in she's created a new version of herself, or it could just be us. 200 00:17:53,404.405284 --> 00:18:03,274.405284 But at any rate, the crucial point is that she made it, she created it, and now she's happy because she chose to be. 201 00:18:05,269.405284 --> 00:18:09,469.405284 In the bridge, she says, this is just a storm inside a teacup. 202 00:18:10,519.405284 --> 00:18:13,969.405284 A storm in a teacup is a popular British metaphor. 203 00:18:14,419.405284 --> 00:18:18,229.405284 That means there's a big deal being made about something relatively small. 204 00:18:18,769.405284 --> 00:18:26,389.405284 If you're getting upset and throwing a fit about spilled milk, you're making a storm and a teacup. 205 00:18:26,944.405284 --> 00:18:32,974.405284 But here it also means that in the grand scheme of things, this storm is contained. 206 00:18:33,904.405284 --> 00:18:38,99.405284 It's small, though it may look scary, but overall it's inconsequential. 207 00:18:38,99.405284 --> 00:18:38,459.405284 Even though. 208 00:18:39,94.405284 --> 00:18:45,574.405284 It may seem like a big deal when it's happening, but shelter here with me, my love. 209 00:18:45,604.405284 --> 00:18:50,164.405284 She says she's offering solace to her love or to her younger self. 210 00:18:50,644.405284 --> 00:18:53,14.405284 They can ride out this storm together. 211 00:18:53,14.405284 --> 00:18:57,64.405284 This is reminiscent of other times that Taylor has been the rescuer. 212 00:18:58,99.405284 --> 00:19:04,909.405284 But I'm a fire and I'll keep your brittle heart warm from peace and spread my wings like a parachute. 213 00:19:05,119.405284 --> 00:19:16,259.405284 I'm the albatross I swept in at the rescue from, of course, the albatross in the fate of Ophelia, she was the rescued, but here she's the rescuer. 214 00:19:16,529.405284 --> 00:19:23,129.405284 She'll shelter them from the storm, shelter them from thunder, like a drum. 215 00:19:23,219.405284 --> 00:19:26,279.405284 This life will beat you up, up, up, up. 216 00:19:26,879.405284 --> 00:19:41,309.405284 And this repeated up mimics this beat of the drum, but then there's beat up and pickup and we get the sense that this trajectory for both of them is going north, not south. 217 00:19:41,339.405284 --> 00:19:49,349.405284 So they're going up, up, up, up into the sky, which will be opalite as soon as the storm passes. 218 00:19:50,789.405284 --> 00:19:55,979.405284 This is just a temporary speed bump, she said, but, and this is my favorite line. 219 00:19:56,99.405284 --> 00:19:58,109.405284 Failure brings you freedom. 220 00:19:58,979.405284 --> 00:20:07,679.405284 So life throws speed bumps in your way, but what do those do? They cause you to slow down and look around and proceed with caution. 221 00:20:07,679.405284 --> 00:20:12,869.405284 This failure is a good thing, she says, and this is my interpretation. 222 00:20:13,289.405284 --> 00:20:17,579.405284 Failing will free you from the constraints of perfectionism. 223 00:20:18,419.405284 --> 00:20:31,439.405284 Once you realize that this is the cyclical nature of life, failures to successes and there and back again, you can zoom out and appreciate how freeing this surrender is. 224 00:20:31,439.405284 --> 00:20:36,449.405284 It's the c'est la vie of it all, and that's a liberating worldview to take. 225 00:20:36,449.405284 --> 00:20:43,529.405284 And once you failed and recovered, it's like the worst has already happened, so you know you can handle it. 226 00:20:43,529.405284 --> 00:20:45,29.405284 You'll be free from fear. 227 00:20:46,754.405284 --> 00:20:49,454.405284 And I can bring you love, love, love, love, love. 228 00:20:49,454.405284 --> 00:20:56,954.405284 She says she's assuring this character herself that no matter what happens, she's got their emotional needs covered. 229 00:20:57,644.405284 --> 00:20:59,894.405284 She's a real tough kid and she can handle their shit. 230 00:21:00,974.405284 --> 00:21:02,204.405284 Don't you sweat it, baby. 231 00:21:02,684.405284 --> 00:21:08,864.405284 She closes out the bridge and then she repeats the chorus one last time before closing this track. 232 00:21:10,274.405284 --> 00:21:12,44.405284 Don't you worry about a thing she says. 233 00:21:12,854.405284 --> 00:21:15,914.405284 Because of all of the lessons learned, this one is the most important. 234 00:21:16,574.405284 --> 00:21:20,354.405284 This too shall pass by the end of the song. 235 00:21:20,384.405284 --> 00:21:29,664.405284 They've gone through the emotional storms of the Onyx night and now have this new outlook on life and love, and the sky is opalite. 236 00:21:29,954.405284 --> 00:21:34,34.405284 The storms have passed and though storms will roll in again. 237 00:21:34,84.405284 --> 00:21:39,484.405284 She sees what's possible and she wants us to know that she's seen the view from the other side of the mountain. 238 00:21:39,934.405284 --> 00:21:46,414.405284 Nothing but clear skies ahead as long as you realize that you can simply choose to be happy. 239 00:21:46,458.7914442 --> 00:21:57,468.7914442 Thank you so much for joining me for Track three Opalite, and if you found this insightful or entertaining or you just wanna keep geeking out about Taylor Swift with me, please like and subscribe. 240 00:21:57,828.7914442 --> 00:22:02,148.7914442 If you're watching this on YouTube, you can also find me wherever you get your podcast and vice versa. 241 00:22:02,148.7914442 --> 00:22:12,558.7914442 Let me know in the comments what you think about this song, and stay tuned for my next episode where we're gonna dive into the lyrics of Father Figure, which is my favorite on the album. 242 00:22:13,158.7914442 --> 00:22:14,808.7914442 Thank you so much for being with me. 243 00:22:15,318.7914442 --> 00:22:16,788.7914442 I'll see you in the next track. 244 00:22:16,788.7914442 --> 00:22:19,98.7914442 That's it for this chapter of Swiftly Sung Stories. 245 00:22:19,158.7914442 --> 00:22:22,878.7914442 If you enjoyed this deep dive, please don't forget to follow, subscribe, or leave a review. 246 00:22:22,938.7914442 --> 00:22:24,978.7914442 It helps other Swifties find their way here. 247 00:22:25,128.7914442 --> 00:22:27,948.7914442 I'm Jen and I had a marvelous time reading everything with you. 248 00:22:28,68.7914442 --> 00:22:28,578.7914442 See you next time.
Hey everyone.
(00:00):
Welcome back to the Swiftly Song Stories podcast.
I'm Jen.
I am your Swifty English teacher, and today we are tackling track three in my track by track analysis of the life of a showgirl, and we're gonna dive straight into Opalite.
In my last few episodes, I analyzed Taylor's prologue poem and tracks one and two, the Fatal Ophelia and Elizabeth Taylor.
(00:23):
So go check those out because especially the prologue poem lays a lot of groundwork for understanding this album and all of the themes that Taylor is exploring in these lyrics.
Just quickly to let you know, all this content is available on my website if you want the text version of my lyrical analysis where I have annotated lyrics, and if you're watching this on YouTube, you also find me wherever you get your podcasts and vice versa.
(00:48):
.578125Okay? Let's roll straight in to Opalite line by line. 9 00:00:55,632.578125 --> 00:01:01,332.578125 Welcome to swiftly sung Stories where we unpack the Taylor Swift Universe one era album and lyric at a time. 10 00:01:01,512.578125 --> 00:01:05,832.578125 Think of it like English class, but it's all Taylor Swift and none of the boring stuff. 11 00:01:06,282.578125 --> 00:01:11,682.578125 I'm Jen, your Swifty English teacher and classes in session, so come on in and meet me in the margins. 12 00:01:11,968.578125 --> 00:01:12,958.578125 Uh, I lied. 13 00:01:12,958.578125 --> 00:01:14,8.578125 We're not going straight into it. 14 00:01:14,8.578125 --> 00:01:15,388.578125 I need to do a quick disclaimer. 15 00:01:15,418.578125 --> 00:01:24,718.578125 I only discuss Taylor's personal life and my lyrical analysis when it is essential to understanding the text or when it really helps us to put the lyrics into context. 16 00:01:25,48.578125 --> 00:01:27,478.578125 I'm not here to discover what Taylor Swift did. 17 00:01:27,478.578125 --> 00:01:29,788.578125 I'm here to discover what the art does. 18 00:01:30,618.578125 --> 00:01:36,828.578125 All art is subjective and it means different things to different people, and that's the fun of it. 19 00:01:37,518.578125 --> 00:01:45,948.578125 So in this analysis, I'm not gonna say it's factual or correct, I'm just here to point out different interpretations so that you can draw your own conclusions. 20 00:01:45,948.578125 --> 00:01:49,68.578125 So take what resonates and leave the rest. 21 00:01:49,588.578125 --> 00:01:51,578.578125 Alright, let's get into opalite. 22 00:01:51,653.578125 --> 00:01:56,513.578125 The first verse, she says, I had a bad habit of missing lover's past. 23 00:01:57,83.578125 --> 00:02:14,123.578125 We are in the present tense, looking back on her previous dark nights of the soul, and she's building this character with crucial backstory because we can't celebrate this character's later happiness if we don't first understand where they were and where they've been. 24 00:02:14,123.578125 --> 00:02:24,593.578125 If we wanted to, we could look back on the tortured poets department and midnights to see some of these bad habits as those two albums really dive into those themes. 25 00:02:25,543.578125 --> 00:02:26,473.578125 She continues. 26 00:02:26,713.578125 --> 00:02:29,893.578125 My brother used to call it eating out of the trash. 27 00:02:29,893.578125 --> 00:02:33,103.578125 This has to be the most hilarious line on this entire album. 28 00:02:33,103.578125 --> 00:02:39,613.578125 To eat out of the trash means to try to revive something that's already been tossed aside. 29 00:02:39,823.578125 --> 00:02:46,933.578125 You threw it away for a reason because it no longer served you, but on particularly. 30 00:02:47,383.578125 --> 00:02:58,813.578125 Hungry nights, it might be tempting, but as a metaphor, longing for your ex it's just hilarious and it's kind of a sly dig at any of her lovers past. 31 00:02:59,623.578125 --> 00:03:13,543.578125 But the simple my brother used to call it is also important because it sets up one of the major themes of the song, which is lessons learned from others or lessons learned on her own, which she is now passing down to her audience. 32 00:03:13,543.578125 --> 00:03:15,163.578125 She's gonna go on to relay. 33 00:03:15,583.578125 --> 00:03:21,583.578125 Uh, lessons from her mom and then relay all of those lessons to us, her reader. 34 00:03:21,583.578125 --> 00:03:24,403.578125 So if you eat out of the trash, it's never gonna last. 35 00:03:24,553.578125 --> 00:03:37,633.578125 She continues, which could mean that this bad habit won't land her anywhere she wants to be, but it could also refer to a metaphorical expiration date of those relationships. 36 00:03:37,633.578125 --> 00:03:38,653.578125 You shouldn't go back to. 37 00:03:39,103.578125 --> 00:03:45,313.578125 Snack on them after they're past their prime because it's only going to make you metaphorically sick. 38 00:03:46,603.578125 --> 00:03:48,313.578125 I thought my house was haunted. 39 00:03:48,523.578125 --> 00:03:50,503.578125 I used to live with ghosts. 40 00:03:51,703.578125 --> 00:04:03,593.578125 She's giving us more backstory of this dark onyx night, so we will later understand why it's so much better when the sky turns brighter, like Opalite. 41 00:04:04,408.578125 --> 00:04:12,448.578125 Now ghosts and hauntings are a really common metaphor in Taylor's universe where they often come to symbolize regret. 42 00:04:13,288.578125 --> 00:04:14,638.578125 Here's just a few of them. 43 00:04:14,818.578125 --> 00:04:22,228.578125 I knew you'd haunt all of my what ifs from cardigan, and now that I'm grown, I'm scared of ghosts memories. 44 00:04:22,228.578125 --> 00:04:24,838.578125 Feel like weapons from would've, could've, should've. 45 00:04:24,838.578125 --> 00:04:32,518.578125 Dancing phantoms on the terrace from love of my life, LOML, my beloved ghost in me sitting in a tree. 46 00:04:32,638.578125 --> 00:04:38,323.578125 D-Y-I-N-G, from How did it end? And there's many more. 47 00:04:38,323.578125 --> 00:04:42,553.578125 But when we look at the larger meaning, I thought my house was haunted. 48 00:04:42,613.578125 --> 00:04:57,43.578125 I used to live with ghosts can mean she's either living with the ghosts of lover's past, or she's living with this haunting regret of all these choices that she's made in love and life. 49 00:04:57,793.578125 --> 00:05:01,603.578125 But as we're about to find out, all of these prior hauntings are in the past now. 50 00:05:01,603.578125 --> 00:05:08,323.578125 How has she finally come to hire a priest to exorcise my demons, like she said she would in the black dog? It sounds like it. 51 00:05:09,643.578125 --> 00:05:16,153.578125 She continues, and all the perfect couples said, when you know, you know, and when you don't, you don't. 52 00:05:16,153.578125 --> 00:05:22,333.578125 So she looks to couples, she admires for advice, but they all just say the same thing. 53 00:05:22,633.578125 --> 00:05:25,723.578125 You'll just know when you found the right person. 54 00:05:25,783.578125 --> 00:05:31,963.578125 If you don't know if the the right person, it's not, your intuition will tell you everything. 55 00:05:32,713.578125 --> 00:05:43,423.578125 But this could also be a lyrical reference to Lana Del Rey's song Margaret written for their mutual friends, Jack Antonoff and his wife Margaret Qualley. 56 00:05:44,458.578125 --> 00:05:54,388.578125 The repeating lyric in that song is when you know, you know, so this in real life could be one of the perfect couples that Taylor refers to in this lyric. 57 00:05:54,868.578125 --> 00:05:57,28.578125 But in any case, the sentiment is the same. 58 00:05:57,688.578125 --> 00:06:01,678.578125 You just know when you meet the right person, which is true, by the way. 59 00:06:02,518.578125 --> 00:06:07,288.578125 And if you don't know for sure, that is confirmation that it's not the right person. 60 00:06:07,288.578125 --> 00:06:14,548.578125 Then we move into the first pre-chorus and all of the foes and all of the friends, they've seen it before. 61 00:06:14,848.578125 --> 00:06:15,478.578125 They'll see it again. 62 00:06:17,368.578125 --> 00:06:26,968.578125 She surmises that everyone goes through this cycle from darkness to light, from breakups to weddings, from depression to happiness. 63 00:06:26,968.578125 --> 00:06:30,868.578125 They'll see dark times again and they'll see brighter times ahead. 64 00:06:31,528.578125 --> 00:06:37,198.578125 This is just the cyclical nature of life, but foes and friends. 65 00:06:37,448.578125 --> 00:06:49,148.578125 Also ties into one of the larger themes of this album, conflict in platonic relationships as she's going to explore in songs like Cancelled, Actually Romantic and Father Figure. 66 00:06:49,958.578125 --> 00:06:56,678.578125 But this also reminds me of another line from How Did It End? Come One, come All It's Happening again. 67 00:06:57,308.578125 --> 00:06:59,138.578125 The Empathetic Hunger Descends. 68 00:06:59,258.578125 --> 00:07:02,348.578125 We'll tell no one except all of our friends. 69 00:07:03,608.578125 --> 00:07:05,588.578125 In that context, it feels like she's saying. 70 00:07:05,953.578125 --> 00:07:13,333.578125 Those foes and friends have scandalized my romances before and they will scandalize them again. 71 00:07:14,353.578125 --> 00:07:22,963.578125 But she's got this new outlook and she's changed her views on all of this gossip as she's about to tell us in the chorus. 72 00:07:23,863.578125 --> 00:07:24,793.578125 Life is a song. 73 00:07:24,793.578125 --> 00:07:27,13.578125 It ends when it ends. 74 00:07:27,883.578125 --> 00:07:28,723.578125 I was wrong. 75 00:07:29,878.578125 --> 00:07:40,828.578125 Previously, she assumed seasons of life would simply end when they ended, or relationships which she compares to a song would simply fizzle out when they were meant to. 76 00:07:40,978.578125 --> 00:07:45,898.578125 It's the fate and destiny of it all, which is an ever present theme on this album and so many others. 77 00:07:46,498.578125 --> 00:07:53,728.578125 But as she's learned, which she's gonna explore more in the chorus, you have more control over your own happiness than you think you do. 78 00:07:53,728.578125 --> 00:08:01,228.578125 But my mama told me she closes out this pre-chorus leading into another important piece of advice that she will flesh out. 79 00:08:02,68.578125 --> 00:08:05,98.578125 So now we have advice from the mother and the brother. 80 00:08:05,578.578125 --> 00:08:10,738.578125 And then as she enters the chorus, her mother tells her it's all, all right. 81 00:08:11,368.578125 --> 00:08:13,828.578125 You were dancing through the lightning strikes. 82 00:08:13,828.578125 --> 00:08:17,158.578125 So her mom is saying, it's all right now. 83 00:08:17,338.578125 --> 00:08:20,68.578125 You were making the best of a bad situation. 84 00:08:20,608.578125 --> 00:08:33,813.578125 The lightning strikes are terrible personal or professional events that happen seemingly out of nowhere, but instead of sheltering to avoid getting struck, she dances through the storm. 85 00:08:35,668.578125 --> 00:08:39,328.578125 Sleepless in the onyx night, but now the sky is opalite. 86 00:08:39,988.578125 --> 00:08:44,188.578125 This is the central metaphor and the central message of this track. 87 00:08:44,938.578125 --> 00:08:48,868.578125 Onyx is a jet black type of naturally occurring quartz. 88 00:08:48,898.578125 --> 00:08:53,668.578125 It is long been associated with bad luck, sadness, and bad dreams. 89 00:08:54,328.578125 --> 00:08:56,13.578125 An onyx night is therefore. 90 00:08:56,728.578125 --> 00:09:05,638.578125 A long, dark night of the soul filled with depression and longing and restlessness as she explored in both midnights and the torture poets department. 91 00:09:06,268.578125 --> 00:09:14,278.578125 Opalite, on the other hand, is a pearlescent manmade gemstone, usually white and or light blue like the sky. 92 00:09:14,758.578125 --> 00:09:18,178.578125 The distinction is in how these two gems are created. 93 00:09:18,178.578125 --> 00:09:21,388.578125 One is mined and one is created by man. 94 00:09:22,268.578125 --> 00:09:27,653.578125 The sky, which is her metaphorical future and happiness hasn't just cleared. 95 00:09:28,178.578125 --> 00:09:29,888.578125 Magically on its own. 96 00:09:29,888.578125 --> 00:09:30,998.578125 It happened intentionally. 97 00:09:31,853.578125 --> 00:09:34,493.578125 She's created her own happiness. 98 00:09:34,643.578125 --> 00:09:39,653.578125 She's mashed up two common metaphors of the Taylor Swift universe here in one lyric. 99 00:09:39,743.578125 --> 00:09:48,983.578125 First is the gemstones, which she used in Bejeweled and in others, which represent her innate value and worth and her inner sparkle. 100 00:09:49,998.578125 --> 00:09:56,568.578125 She used rubies in maroon, the rubies that I gave up where the gemstone is something valuable, she sacrificed. 101 00:09:57,288.578125 --> 00:09:58,908.578125 So you get the idea. 102 00:09:59,538.578125 --> 00:10:03,558.578125 Gems in Taylor's multiverse become symbolic of her worth. 103 00:10:04,38.578125 --> 00:10:08,748.578125 But the other common metaphor that she's using here is darkness and light. 104 00:10:08,928.578125 --> 00:10:15,618.578125 So the darkness of night and the light of day used as emotional states or as hope. 105 00:10:16,773.578125 --> 00:10:19,233.578125 In evermore, there's in the cracks of light. 106 00:10:19,233.578125 --> 00:10:26,343.578125 I dreamed of you, um, sleeping so long in a 20 year dark night, and now I see daylight from daylight. 107 00:10:26,343.578125 --> 00:10:27,393.578125 He was sunshine. 108 00:10:27,393.578125 --> 00:10:28,113.578125 I was midnight. 109 00:10:28,113.578125 --> 00:10:31,923.578125 Rain for midnight rain and there's, there's a lot more. 110 00:10:32,23.578125 --> 00:10:37,243.578125 So she's mashed up these two common metaphors into one unifying metaphor. 111 00:10:37,243.578125 --> 00:10:44,23.578125 She used to be sleepless in this long, dark night of the soul, and now she's awake in the dawn of a new day. 112 00:10:44,608.578125 --> 00:10:52,588.578125 She's describing a mood ring, essentially where opalite means she's happy and onyx means she's sad. 113 00:10:53,608.578125 --> 00:10:58,648.578125 But then add on to it this layer of how the gemstones are created, naturally occurring versus manmade. 114 00:10:58,648.578125 --> 00:11:08,638.578125 And we can see she stopped looking for other people to create her happiness and took charge of her own emotions to find a more peaceful and optimistic path. 115 00:11:09,688.578125 --> 00:11:10,918.578125 Oh my Lord, she continues. 116 00:11:10,918.578125 --> 00:11:12,718.578125 Never met no one like you before. 117 00:11:13,138.578125 --> 00:11:24,868.578125 Now she could be speaking to this unique person who has contributed to her new sunny disposition, but she could also be speaking to herself or to her younger self. 118 00:11:25,708.578125 --> 00:11:26,848.578125 Like she says, in happiness. 119 00:11:26,848.578125 --> 00:11:28,528.578125 I haven't met the new me yet. 120 00:11:29,248.578125 --> 00:11:35,38.578125 She's this new version of herself that she hadn't met before and she didn't even know was possible. 121 00:11:35,338.578125 --> 00:11:37,168.578125 But here she is renewed. 122 00:11:38,188.578125 --> 00:11:40,288.578125 You had to make your own sunshine. 123 00:11:40,468.578125 --> 00:11:46,778.578125 She says to this person or to herself, but now the sky is opalite. 124 00:11:47,518.578125 --> 00:11:53,218.578125 This too could be speaking to a past version of herself who was stuck in this onyx night. 125 00:11:54,598.578125 --> 00:11:58,858.578125 If she's addressing another character in the song, they had much in common. 126 00:11:58,858.578125 --> 00:12:13,168.578125 They both had to create their own happiness and choose joy during unhappy times, but now the sun shines over both of them if she's strictly speaking to herself or to her younger self. 127 00:12:13,168.578125 --> 00:12:17,218.578125 It's really a message of encouragement, like, keep going. 128 00:12:17,248.578125 --> 00:12:18,118.578125 It'll get better. 129 00:12:18,508.578125 --> 00:12:21,598.578125 You're in the dark right now, but it'll be so much brighter soon. 130 00:12:21,598.578125 --> 00:12:34,438.578125 The second verse is still in first person, but it seems to be addressing someone in particular or giving us an anecdote about, um, someone who has felt a, a similar way. 131 00:12:34,438.578125 --> 00:12:39,928.578125 Again, we don't know for sure she could be talking to her past self or younger self. 132 00:12:39,928.578125 --> 00:12:41,578.578125 She could be talking to someone in particular. 133 00:12:42,968.578125 --> 00:12:45,428.578125 You couldn't understand it, why you felt alone. 134 00:12:46,298.578125 --> 00:12:51,278.578125 So on the outside, this person or her younger self seemed to have it all. 135 00:12:51,818.578125 --> 00:13:01,628.578125 So why did it feel so empty inside? This particular theme is explored in a lot of songs on this album, and particularly in Elizabeth Taylor. 136 00:13:02,678.578125 --> 00:13:04,88.578125 You were in it for real. 137 00:13:04,328.578125 --> 00:13:07,548.578125 She was in her phone and you were just a pose. 138 00:13:07,568.578125 --> 00:13:12,608.578125 So this character was really invested in this relationship, but their partner wasn't. 139 00:13:12,758.578125 --> 00:13:19,148.578125 She was in her phone living for what things look like rather than what they actually are. 140 00:13:20,168.578125 --> 00:13:27,188.578125 This partner was just a pose an accessory for Instagram or used for popularity or clout or aesthetics. 141 00:13:28,178.578125 --> 00:13:33,818.578125 This could be an ex-partner of the subject, but it could also apply to our narrator in friendship. 142 00:13:34,728.578125 --> 00:13:39,798.578125 There's a lot of conflict in friendship and business relationship explored on this album. 143 00:13:39,798.578125 --> 00:13:42,288.578125 So it could be either or, or it could be both. 144 00:13:43,128.578125 --> 00:13:49,878.578125 And don't we try to love, love? She asks this person or herself or her audience at large, we give it all. 145 00:13:49,878.578125 --> 00:13:52,608.578125 We got this points to a really. 146 00:13:53,88.578125 --> 00:13:54,378.578125 Interesting contradiction. 147 00:13:54,408.578125 --> 00:13:57,558.578125 Love isn't inherently lovable. 148 00:13:57,978.578125 --> 00:14:00,708.578125 Just like she says in the prologue poem. 149 00:14:01,8.578125 --> 00:14:04,8.578125 That's how you love the life of a showgirl. 150 00:14:04,38.578125 --> 00:14:07,518.578125 It's not a life that is inherently lovable. 151 00:14:08,628.578125 --> 00:14:13,638.578125 We try to love being in love, but often it just leads to heartbreak. 152 00:14:15,18.578125 --> 00:14:20,58.578125 Like she says, in state of grace, we fall in love till it hurts or bleeds or fades in time. 153 00:14:20,673.578125 --> 00:14:29,163.578125 Still, we want it to work, so we try our best to hold on and we bend over backwards and we try to enjoy it, even if it does nothing but hurt us. 154 00:14:30,513.578125 --> 00:14:32,43.578125 You finally left the table. 155 00:14:32,223.578125 --> 00:14:34,713.578125 She continues closing out the second verse. 156 00:14:35,463.578125 --> 00:14:36,603.578125 What a simple thought. 157 00:14:36,963.578125 --> 00:14:38,433.578125 You're starving till you're not. 158 00:14:38,584.405284 --> 00:14:49,834.405284 This is a loaded metaphor that has multiple different interpretations, and the most obvious is that she's finally left the table from Right where you left me help. 159 00:14:49,834.405284 --> 00:14:51,94.405284 I'm still at the restaurant. 160 00:14:51,364.405284 --> 00:14:55,594.405284 She says in that track, which is really about feeling stuck and abandoned. 161 00:14:56,884.405284 --> 00:15:00,154.405284 Another possibility is the table from Tolerate it. 162 00:15:00,454.405284 --> 00:15:03,724.405284 I lay the table with the fancy shit and watch you tolerate it. 163 00:15:04,984.405284 --> 00:15:17,224.405284 While this could be referencing a specific table in the TS universe, it also alludes to the popular saying, don't try to get a seat at a table you're not invited to. 164 00:15:17,884.405284 --> 00:15:23,74.405284 This means that in relationships you shouldn't try to be fed by people who don't value you. 165 00:15:24,619.405284 --> 00:15:26,239.405284 In any case, she tells us. 166 00:15:26,239.405284 --> 00:15:26,989.405284 It's a simple thought. 167 00:15:26,989.405284 --> 00:15:27,949.405284 Just get up and leave. 168 00:15:28,579.405284 --> 00:15:35,239.405284 Find a metaphorical table where you're satiated and there's a place laid for you and you're an honored guest. 169 00:15:36,139.405284 --> 00:15:41,479.405284 You're starving for attention, for love, for belonging until you're fed. 170 00:15:41,899.405284 --> 00:15:46,189.405284 And sometimes that happens in the blink of a twinkling eye. 171 00:15:46,189.405284 --> 00:15:52,969.405284 The second pre-chorus and all of the foes and all of the friends have messed up before they'll mess up again. 172 00:15:52,969.405284 --> 00:15:59,209.405284 This echoes the sentiment of the previous pre-chorus where all of the foes and friends have seen it before. 173 00:15:59,209.405284 --> 00:15:59,899.405284 We'll see it again. 174 00:16:00,619.405284 --> 00:16:02,929.405284 Life is cyclical and we make mistakes. 175 00:16:02,929.405284 --> 00:16:04,609.405284 We choose the wrong people. 176 00:16:04,609.405284 --> 00:16:05,929.405284 We learn our lessons. 177 00:16:06,769.405284 --> 00:16:14,269.405284 In relationships, we choose the wrong people and lose the right people and try to sit at tables where we're not invited. 178 00:16:15,619.405284 --> 00:16:16,729.405284 Life is a song. 179 00:16:16,789.405284 --> 00:16:17,269.405284 It ends. 180 00:16:17,269.405284 --> 00:16:18,169.405284 When it ends. 181 00:16:18,169.405284 --> 00:16:19,129.405284 She continues. 182 00:16:19,669.405284 --> 00:16:20,599.405284 You move on. 183 00:16:20,599.405284 --> 00:16:24,469.405284 When the metaphorical song is over, you move on to the next track. 184 00:16:24,469.405284 --> 00:16:31,789.405284 There will always be another song, another period in your life where you're happy or sad or fulfilled or unfulfilled. 185 00:16:32,269.405284 --> 00:16:40,789.405284 But if you don't move on to the next track, and this is what's important, and you continue to live in the past with that same old song on repeat. 186 00:16:41,74.405284 --> 00:16:44,974.405284 You'll just stay stuck in this loop of unhappiness. 187 00:16:46,204.405284 --> 00:16:52,384.405284 The final line is where we move away from the advice of others and she starts passing down her own advice. 188 00:16:52,414.405284 --> 00:17:09,724.405284 Of course, she's been doing this all along, but this progression in the narrative sense moves through all of these lessons she's learned, and now she passes down that hard earned advice to us, her reader, and that's when I told you, she says. 189 00:17:10,69.405284 --> 00:17:12,349.405284 And then the rest of the chorus repeats. 190 00:17:12,349.405284 --> 00:17:13,9.405284 It's all right. 191 00:17:13,189.405284 --> 00:17:15,379.405284 You were dancing through the lightning strikes. 192 00:17:16,369.405284 --> 00:17:22,459.405284 She's taking these lessons learned from others or from herself and passing them down to us. 193 00:17:22,849.405284 --> 00:17:29,869.405284 She does change up One crucial word in this chorus though, never met no one like you before. 194 00:17:29,899.405284 --> 00:17:33,454.405284 Changes to never made no one like you before. 195 00:17:35,104.405284 --> 00:17:37,294.405284 This echoes the major theme of the song. 196 00:17:37,444.405284 --> 00:17:40,84.405284 You have to make Your Own Happiness. 197 00:17:41,404.405284 --> 00:17:44,314.405284 Again, who she's speaking to here is up to debate. 198 00:17:44,374.405284 --> 00:17:47,284.405284 It could be this character with a terrible girlfriend. 199 00:17:47,284.405284 --> 00:17:53,404.405284 It could be herself as in she's created a new version of herself, or it could just be us. 200 00:17:53,404.405284 --> 00:18:03,274.405284 But at any rate, the crucial point is that she made it, she created it, and now she's happy because she chose to be. 201 00:18:05,269.405284 --> 00:18:09,469.405284 In the bridge, she says, this is just a storm inside a teacup. 202 00:18:10,519.405284 --> 00:18:13,969.405284 A storm in a teacup is a popular British metaphor. 203 00:18:14,419.405284 --> 00:18:18,229.405284 That means there's a big deal being made about something relatively small. 204 00:18:18,769.405284 --> 00:18:26,389.405284 If you're getting upset and throwing a fit about spilled milk, you're making a storm and a teacup. 205 00:18:26,944.405284 --> 00:18:32,974.405284 But here it also means that in the grand scheme of things, this storm is contained. 206 00:18:33,904.405284 --> 00:18:38,99.405284 It's small, though it may look scary, but overall it's inconsequential. 207 00:18:38,99.405284 --> 00:18:38,459.405284 Even though. 208 00:18:39,94.405284 --> 00:18:45,574.405284 It may seem like a big deal when it's happening, but shelter here with me, my love. 209 00:18:45,604.405284 --> 00:18:50,164.405284 She says she's offering solace to her love or to her younger self. 210 00:18:50,644.405284 --> 00:18:53,14.405284 They can ride out this storm together. 211 00:18:53,14.405284 --> 00:18:57,64.405284 This is reminiscent of other times that Taylor has been the rescuer. 212 00:18:58,99.405284 --> 00:19:04,909.405284 But I'm a fire and I'll keep your brittle heart warm from peace and spread my wings like a parachute. 213 00:19:05,119.405284 --> 00:19:16,259.405284 I'm the albatross I swept in at the rescue from, of course, the albatross in the fate of Ophelia, she was the rescued, but here she's the rescuer. 214 00:19:16,529.405284 --> 00:19:23,129.405284 She'll shelter them from the storm, shelter them from thunder, like a drum. 215 00:19:23,219.405284 --> 00:19:26,279.405284 This life will beat you up, up, up, up. 216 00:19:26,879.405284 --> 00:19:41,309.405284 And this repeated up mimics this beat of the drum, but then there's beat up and pickup and we get the sense that this trajectory for both of them is going north, not south. 217 00:19:41,339.405284 --> 00:19:49,349.405284 So they're going up, up, up, up into the sky, which will be opalite as soon as the storm passes. 218 00:19:50,789.405284 --> 00:19:55,979.405284 This is just a temporary speed bump, she said, but, and this is my favorite line. 219 00:19:56,99.405284 --> 00:19:58,109.405284 Failure brings you freedom. 220 00:19:58,979.405284 --> 00:20:07,679.405284 So life throws speed bumps in your way, but what do those do? They cause you to slow down and look around and proceed with caution. 221 00:20:07,679.405284 --> 00:20:12,869.405284 This failure is a good thing, she says, and this is my interpretation. 222 00:20:13,289.405284 --> 00:20:17,579.405284 Failing will free you from the constraints of perfectionism. 223 00:20:18,419.405284 --> 00:20:31,439.405284 Once you realize that this is the cyclical nature of life, failures to successes and there and back again, you can zoom out and appreciate how freeing this surrender is. 224 00:20:31,439.405284 --> 00:20:36,449.405284 It's the c'est la vie of it all, and that's a liberating worldview to take. 225 00:20:36,449.405284 --> 00:20:43,529.405284 And once you failed and recovered, it's like the worst has already happened, so you know you can handle it. 226 00:20:43,529.405284 --> 00:20:45,29.405284 You'll be free from fear. 227 00:20:46,754.405284 --> 00:20:49,454.405284 And I can bring you love, love, love, love, love. 228 00:20:49,454.405284 --> 00:20:56,954.405284 She says she's assuring this character herself that no matter what happens, she's got their emotional needs covered. 229 00:20:57,644.405284 --> 00:20:59,894.405284 She's a real tough kid and she can handle their shit. 230 00:21:00,974.405284 --> 00:21:02,204.405284 Don't you sweat it, baby. 231 00:21:02,684.405284 --> 00:21:08,864.405284 She closes out the bridge and then she repeats the chorus one last time before closing this track. 232 00:21:10,274.405284 --> 00:21:12,44.405284 Don't you worry about a thing she says. 233 00:21:12,854.405284 --> 00:21:15,914.405284 Because of all of the lessons learned, this one is the most important. 234 00:21:16,574.405284 --> 00:21:20,354.405284 This too shall pass by the end of the song. 235 00:21:20,384.405284 --> 00:21:29,664.405284 They've gone through the emotional storms of the Onyx night and now have this new outlook on life and love, and the sky is opalite. 236 00:21:29,954.405284 --> 00:21:34,34.405284 The storms have passed and though storms will roll in again. 237 00:21:34,84.405284 --> 00:21:39,484.405284 She sees what's possible and she wants us to know that she's seen the view from the other side of the mountain. 238 00:21:39,934.405284 --> 00:21:46,414.405284 Nothing but clear skies ahead as long as you realize that you can simply choose to be happy. 239 00:21:46,458.7914442 --> 00:21:57,468.7914442 Thank you so much for joining me for Track three Opalite, and if you found this insightful or entertaining or you just wanna keep geeking out about Taylor Swift with me, please like and subscribe. 240 00:21:57,828.7914442 --> 00:22:02,148.7914442 If you're watching this on YouTube, you can also find me wherever you get your podcast and vice versa. 241 00:22:02,148.7914442 --> 00:22:12,558.7914442 Let me know in the comments what you think about this song, and stay tuned for my next episode where we're gonna dive into the lyrics of Father Figure, which is my favorite on the album. 242 00:22:13,158.7914442 --> 00:22:14,808.7914442 Thank you so much for being with me. 243 00:22:15,318.7914442 --> 00:22:16,788.7914442 I'll see you in the next track. 244 00:22:16,788.7914442 --> 00:22:19,98.7914442 That's it for this chapter of Swiftly Sung Stories. 245 00:22:19,158.7914442 --> 00:22:22,878.7914442 If you enjoyed this deep dive, please don't forget to follow, subscribe, or leave a review. 246 00:22:22,938.7914442 --> 00:22:24,978.7914442 It helps other Swifties find their way here. 247 00:22:25,128.7914442 --> 00:22:27,948.7914442 I'm Jen and I had a marvelous time reading everything with you. 248 00:22:28,68.7914442 --> 00:22:28,578.7914442 See you next time.
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