November 21, 2025 • 18 mins
In track 8 from The Life of a Showgirl, Taylor Swift looks around at the wider world and sees the pricey and complex desires of others. Her own yearnings are quite different: she wants a real partner and a quiet family life. But will the show get in the way of the girl?
In this episode of the Swiftly Sung Stories Podcast, we’re diving deep into Wishlist. I’ll dissect this track line by line, discuss Taylor’s literary and narrative devices, and see what larger meaning we can pull out from beneath the facade of a Showgirl.
We’ll also dig into the controversy surrounding “Wi$hli$t”: is it tone deaf and out of touch? Is there a larger lesson, or does it get lost behind the “yacht life and Balenci shades”? And despite its sentimental message, does it all sound hypocritical coming from a billionaire?
✨ 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.
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✏️Check out my website for all my lyrical analysis, quizzes, album breakdowns, and so much more: 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 Sung Stories podcast.
I'm your host, Jen, your Swifty English teacher, and today we are tackling Track eight in my track by track analysis of the life of a showgirl, and we're diving straight into wishlist.
This is a really interesting track that has been a bit controversial, and we're gonna address all of that and we're gonna try to figure out what she's really getting at in the song.
(00:20):
Behind the aspirational yacht life imagery and the Balenci shades.
What's she really saying? In my last few episodes, I analyzed Taylor's prologue poem and the first seven tracks of this album, so go check that out because it lays a lot of groundwork for understanding all of the themes that Taylor is exploring in these lyrics.
Also, all of this content is available on my website.
(00:42):
If you want the text version with annotated lyrics, and if you're watching this on YouTube, you can also find me wherever you get your podcasts and vice versa.
Okay.
Let's lay a little bit of groundwork on themes within the song, and then we will roll into our dissection of wishlist line by line. 11 00:00:59,833.762704678 --> 00:01:05,533.762704678 Welcome to swiftly sung Stories where we unpack the Taylor Swift Universe one era album and lyric at a time. 12 00:01:05,713.762704678 --> 00:01:10,33.762704678 Think of it like English class, but it's all Taylor Swift and none of the boring stuff. 13 00:01:10,483.762704678 --> 00:01:15,883.762704678 I'm Jen, your Swifty English teacher and classes in session, so come on in and meet me in the margins. 14 00:01:16,169.762704678 --> 00:01:19,439.762704678 In wishlist spelled with two dollar signs. 15 00:01:19,469.762704678 --> 00:01:20,159.762704678 As the s's. 16 00:01:20,159.762704678 --> 00:01:20,849.762704678 That's important. 17 00:01:21,419.762704678 --> 00:01:26,789.762704678 Our showgirl narrator looks around and sees all of these lofty desires of others. 18 00:01:26,789.762704678 --> 00:01:34,889.762704678 They wanna be rich and powerful and influential with yachts and helicopters and the ability to have all of their indiscretions erased from the internet. 19 00:01:35,609.762704678 --> 00:01:38,159.762704678 But our narrator wants something more grounded. 20 00:01:38,549.762704678 --> 00:01:40,409.76270468 She just wants a real partner. 21 00:01:40,439.76270468 --> 00:01:41,789.76270468 She wants to raise a family. 22 00:01:42,179.76270468 --> 00:01:43,949.76270468 She wants the world to leave her alone. 23 00:01:45,189.76270468 --> 00:01:52,839.76270468 I think the crucial aspect that has stirred up, all of this controversy comes from the point of view and the perspective. 24 00:01:53,349.76270468 --> 00:01:59,439.76270468 She's not a middle class nine to five worker who just wants a comfortable life with health insurance. 25 00:01:59,979.76270468 --> 00:02:06,339.76270468 She is a billionaire who already has all of these things, or could have or buy really anything she wants. 26 00:02:07,139.76270468 --> 00:02:10,319.76270468 So it reads as a little bit tone deaf, not reading the room. 27 00:02:10,589.76270468 --> 00:02:23,489.76270468 And does it feel kind of icky, especially with the world slowly descending into complete chaos to say that the masses only want this lavish lifestyle that she already has? Yes. 28 00:02:24,29.76270468 --> 00:02:27,389.76270468 Do I think she intended it to come across that way? No. 29 00:02:28,349.76270468 --> 00:02:30,719.76270468 But the blindness is, is also a factor. 30 00:02:31,919.76270468 --> 00:02:36,569.76270468 In my analysis of this album so far, I've talked a lot about the duality that's present here. 31 00:02:36,569.76270468 --> 00:02:38,489.76270468 There's the battle between the two selves. 32 00:02:39,139.76270468 --> 00:02:43,489.76270468 there's Showgirl Taylor versus human civilian Taylor. 33 00:02:43,939.76270468 --> 00:02:47,239.76270468 And those two selves want and need different things. 34 00:02:47,239.76270468 --> 00:02:49,714.76270468 They're constantly clashing with one another. 35 00:02:50,119.76270468 --> 00:03:11,869.76270468 And this album is basically posing the question, can I have my cake and eat it too? Can I have this mega celebrity life while also maintaining a private life? And though wishlist does, at least for me, read as tone deaf, we can also look at it from this perspective of her two selves at war with one another. 36 00:03:11,869.76270468 --> 00:03:13,399.76270468 And both things can be true. 37 00:03:13,789.76270468 --> 00:03:21,259.76270468 It can look uncomfortable and unsympathetic from the outside, and it can also have a larger message on the inside. 38 00:03:21,494.76270468 --> 00:03:22,754.76270468 It doesn't need to be either or. 39 00:03:22,754.76270468 --> 00:03:23,384.76270468 It can be. 40 00:03:23,474.76270468 --> 00:03:23,984.76270468 Yes. 41 00:03:24,74.76270468 --> 00:03:33,554.76270468 And so let's go through wishlist, line by line and see what we can decipher, because I don't think it's as straightforward as it seems at a glance. 42 00:03:33,554.76270468 --> 00:03:43,244.76270468 Before we go into detail, I only discuss Taylor's personal life in my lyrical analysis when it is essential to understanding the text or when it really helps us to put the lyrics into context. 43 00:03:43,244.76270468 --> 00:03:47,474.76270468 So I'm not here to discover what Taylor Swift did or who she dated. 44 00:03:47,474.76270468 --> 00:03:50,144.76270468 I'm here to discover what the art does. 45 00:03:50,744.76270468 --> 00:03:56,574.76270468 Also, I'm dissecting Taylor's lyrics through my lens as a writer and a former English teacher, and that doesn't have to be. 46 00:03:57,204.76270468 --> 00:03:57,804.76270468 Your lens. 47 00:03:57,804.76270468 --> 00:03:59,604.76270468 It doesn't have to be your opinion. 48 00:03:59,754.76270468 --> 00:04:03,114.76270468 All art is subjective and it means different things to different people. 49 00:04:03,744.76270468 --> 00:04:09,144.76270468 So in this analysis, I'm not saying that my opinions are fact or gospel, they're not. 50 00:04:09,414.76270468 --> 00:04:14,604.76270468 I'm just here to point out different interpretations so that you can draw your own conclusions. 51 00:04:14,634.76270468 --> 00:04:16,914.76270468 So take what you like and leave the rest. 52 00:04:16,964.76270468 --> 00:04:20,834.76270468 So the first, verse begins, they want that yacht life under chopper blades. 53 00:04:20,954.76270468 --> 00:04:24,134.76270468 They want those bright lights and Balenci shades. 54 00:04:24,764.76270468 --> 00:04:28,904.76270468 So we are in the present and our narrator is speaking in first person. 55 00:04:28,994.76270468 --> 00:04:35,804.76270468 This is happening right now, and she's looking around at the wider world and observing what other people want. 56 00:04:36,284.76270468 --> 00:04:39,194.76270468 But these aren't cheap everyday dreams. 57 00:04:39,194.76270468 --> 00:04:40,364.76270468 They're pricey dreams. 58 00:04:41,384.76270468 --> 00:04:42,704.76270468 Unattainable dreams. 59 00:04:43,514.76270468 --> 00:04:51,104.76270468 The yacht life with a helicopter to drop you off in St Tropez isn't attainable for 99.999% 60 00:04:51,104.76270468 --> 00:04:51,944.76270468 of the population. 61 00:04:52,934.76270468 --> 00:04:55,994.76270468 Those bright lights is also unattainable. 62 00:04:55,994.76270468 --> 00:05:02,24.76270468 It's probably alluding to the Bright Lights of Fame of Hollywood being in the spotlight. 63 00:05:02,864.76270468 --> 00:05:05,84.76270468 That's not attainable for the majority of us either. 64 00:05:05,84.76270468 --> 00:05:06,14.76270468 It's a pipe dream. 65 00:05:06,464.76270468 --> 00:05:13,934.76270468 And while many of us could buy Balenciaga dupes on Canal Street, the real thing isn't an affordable luxury. 66 00:05:14,504.76270468 --> 00:05:21,584.76270468 So the basic message so far is people want what they can't have, they want, in other words. 67 00:05:22,244.76270468 --> 00:05:29,144.76270468 Taylor Swift's life, but it's important to remember the theme of the album is The Life of a Showgirl. 68 00:05:29,414.76270468 --> 00:05:34,484.76270468 There's the show and then there is all that goes on underneath the show. 69 00:05:34,604.76270468 --> 00:05:36,564.76270468 There is the girl behind the show. 70 00:05:37,779.76270468 --> 00:05:46,509.76270468 So all these people, she assumes they want the showgirl lifestyle that she has, but what many other songs on the album are telling us is that we don't actually want it. 71 00:05:47,229.76270468 --> 00:05:54,399.76270468 There's a dark side to this fame and fortune, as she talked about in the fate of Ophelia and Elizabeth Taylor and Father Figure and others. 72 00:05:55,479.76270468 --> 00:05:58,419.76270468 So we might think that we want all these unattainable things. 73 00:05:58,979.76270468 --> 00:06:04,679.76270468 But they won't buy us happiness, which is essentially what I think she's getting at. 74 00:06:04,729.76270468 --> 00:06:10,189.76270468 So we want this yacht life and designer shades, and then she adds and a fat ass with a baby face. 75 00:06:10,279.76270468 --> 00:06:11,89.76270468 They want it all. 76 00:06:12,289.76270468 --> 00:06:20,89.76270468 So not only do they want material things, but they also want to look like the impossible version of the female form. 77 00:06:20,929.76270468 --> 00:06:30,19.76270468 And while she might be alluding to the plastic surgery craze of Hollywood, she's sort of also subtly nodding to the impossible standards for women and especially. 78 00:06:30,299.76270468 --> 00:06:41,999.76270468 Women in the entertainment industry, in the public eye, they're expected to have the, the perfect body and to look forever young, and they have to be conventionally attractive at the very basic level. 79 00:06:42,29.76270468 --> 00:06:43,469.76270468 That's just bare minimum. 80 00:06:44,639.76270468 --> 00:06:54,569.76270468 But they, in this case, I think is the patriarchy and the patriarchal standards for the ideal woman or women that we allow to be famous. 81 00:06:54,569.76270468 --> 00:06:56,249.76270468 Those are incredibly high standards. 82 00:06:57,274.76270468 --> 00:06:58,54.76270468 She goes on. 83 00:06:58,294.76270468 --> 00:07:00,454.76270468 They want that complex female character. 84 00:07:01,114.76270468 --> 00:07:04,444.76270468 So this is once again calling out these patriarchal standards. 85 00:07:04,444.76270468 --> 00:07:08,704.76270468 We demand impossible things from women and especially women in the spotlight. 86 00:07:09,634.76270468 --> 00:07:11,404.76270468 Be sexy but smart. 87 00:07:11,404.76270468 --> 00:07:14,704.76270468 Be funny, but not overbearing and be well-spoken. 88 00:07:14,704.76270468 --> 00:07:18,334.76270468 But don't speak too loud, be complex. 89 00:07:18,604.76270468 --> 00:07:22,24.76270468 We demand of our women, but not so much that we can't relate to you. 90 00:07:23,449.76270468 --> 00:07:34,549.76270468 But this desire for a complex female character could also apply to writers of all genres who try to craft the perfect female protagonist in their narratives. 91 00:07:34,549.76270468 --> 00:07:45,799.76270468 And this is kind of a meta moment where I think she's referencing what she attempts to be the complex female character, and also why she must attempt to be it. 92 00:07:46,279.76270468 --> 00:07:50,929.76270468 Because the public and the patriarchy demands multifaceted women. 93 00:07:52,129.76270468 --> 00:07:54,919.76270468 This is how she tries to craft her larger narrative. 94 00:07:54,919.76270468 --> 00:07:56,659.76270468 It's to fit this standard. 95 00:07:57,889.76270468 --> 00:08:05,149.76270468 So she continues this thread with, they want that critical smash, Palme d'Or and an Oscar on their bathroom floor. 96 00:08:05,149.76270468 --> 00:08:11,749.76270468 The Palme d'Or, or is the most prestigious prize at the Cannes Film Festival, and it's like the ultimate prize in film. 97 00:08:11,749.76270468 --> 00:08:18,139.76270468 It's more coveted than an Oscar, so they want the top prize, but they also want the second best prize. 98 00:08:18,169.76270468 --> 00:08:26,89.76270468 The Oscar, they wanna achieve so much of this ultimate success that anything less than is just a bonus. 99 00:08:26,89.76270468 --> 00:08:31,489.76270468 They wanna be so successful and so lauded that the prizes are just disposable trinkets. 100 00:08:32,374.76270468 --> 00:08:36,4.76270468 What they want essentially is to be where Taylor Swift is. 101 00:08:36,334.76270468 --> 00:08:43,744.76270468 'cause everything on that list of our are things that Taylor has or could have if she really wanted to. 102 00:08:43,744.76270468 --> 00:08:53,14.76270468 But these are all things that Showgirl Taylor has or could have, the Taylor that's in the public eye and wins all the awards and needs to look like the perfect specimen all the time. 103 00:08:53,494.76270468 --> 00:08:55,324.76270468 Could have all of these things. 104 00:08:56,209.76270468 --> 00:09:02,444.76270468 But we're about to learn that private Taylor, human Taylor, who is behind the showgirl facade, wants a very, very different list. 105 00:09:03,279.76270468 --> 00:09:05,919.76270468 She goes on and they should have what they want. 106 00:09:05,979.76270468 --> 00:09:06,909.76270468 They deserve what they want. 107 00:09:06,909.76270468 --> 00:09:08,499.76270468 I hope they get what they want. 108 00:09:09,219.76270468 --> 00:09:14,559.76270468 So after listing all of these prizes that are tied to money and success, she's like, go for it. 109 00:09:15,99.76270468 --> 00:09:16,389.76270468 I hope it works out for you. 110 00:09:17,499.76270468 --> 00:09:21,159.76270468 But the subtle implication is that wealth and success won't bring you happiness. 111 00:09:21,579.76270468 --> 00:09:24,579.76270468 And she knows this because she's experienced it firsthand. 112 00:09:24,579.76270468 --> 00:09:33,969.76270468 As she told us in the prophecy, don't want money to someone who wants my company, so I hope they get what they want is both encouragement and it's a warning. 113 00:09:34,359.76270468 --> 00:09:35,619.76270468 Can't buy me love. 114 00:09:35,619.76270468 --> 00:09:42,189.76270468 The first chorus then starts with a new wishlist and it's inner human Taylor's wishlist. 115 00:09:42,999.76270468 --> 00:09:43,929.76270468 I just want you. 116 00:09:44,769.76270468 --> 00:09:47,259.76270468 She's saying this probably to her romantic partner. 117 00:09:47,859.76270468 --> 00:09:56,229.76270468 Everyone else can wish for money and titles and fame, but since she already has all of those things, her wish is a bit more existential. 118 00:09:56,229.76270468 --> 00:10:00,819.76270468 She wants love and she wants it with this person and with this person only. 119 00:10:00,879.76270468 --> 00:10:04,869.76270468 She doesn't just say, I just wanna get married, or I just want kids. 120 00:10:04,869.76270468 --> 00:10:06,999.76270468 No, it's, I just want you. 121 00:10:06,999.76270468 --> 00:10:16,119.76270468 Have a couple kids got the whole block looking like you, so she wants to have children and she hopes that they look like their father because she adores him so damn much. 122 00:10:17,289.76270468 --> 00:10:28,239.76270468 She wants to settle down, but Showgirl Taylor and Human Taylor are about to butt heads here because while human Taylor may want to settle down, showgirl Taylor might not allow it. 123 00:10:28,239.76270468 --> 00:10:31,719.76270468 So she goes on, we tell the world to leave us the fuck alone, and they do. 124 00:10:31,899.76270468 --> 00:10:32,499.76270468 Wow. 125 00:10:33,399.76270468 --> 00:10:40,239.76270468 So in this imagined future where they have family and she settled down, she wants privacy. 126 00:10:41,139.76270468 --> 00:10:45,99.76270468 Will that ever happen in real life? No, probably not. 127 00:10:45,99.76270468 --> 00:10:49,179.76270468 But this is her wishlist to stay in a bubble with her new family. 128 00:10:49,929.76270468 --> 00:10:53,79.76270468 It's understandable when you're the most recognizable face on the planet. 129 00:10:53,79.76270468 --> 00:10:53,679.76270468 Who needs. 130 00:10:53,994.76270468 --> 00:10:55,284.76270468 24 7 security. 131 00:10:55,284.76270468 --> 00:10:56,784.76270468 That is a realistic desire. 132 00:10:57,444.76270468 --> 00:11:18,24.76270468 But this line also deals with a nagging fear that she has dealt with in her lyrics before, and that is how does she maintain a private life as a public figure Who writes about her private life? It's a conundrum she's explored before in The Archer, Delicate, But Daddy, I Love Him, I Can Do it With a Broken Heart, I Hate it Here. 133 00:11:18,879.76270468 --> 00:11:25,269.76270468 This is a line that she has to walk between Showgirl Taylor and Human Taylor, and that's what this album is really dealing with. 134 00:11:25,539.76270468 --> 00:11:36,579.76270468 At the heart of it, human Taylor wants a simple life, but Showgirl Taylor has made it so that might not ever be possible, and the desires of these two selves are always at war. 135 00:11:37,929.76270468 --> 00:11:41,79.76270468 She goes on, got me a dream in about a driveway with a basketball hoop. 136 00:11:41,934.76270468 --> 00:11:49,884.76270468 Still be a mansion, of course, because she's Taylor Swift, but she imagines her kids shooting hoops, probably shooting hoops with their dad. 137 00:11:50,424.76270468 --> 00:11:53,784.76270468 It's the all American dream of the happy family life. 138 00:11:53,814.76270468 --> 00:12:02,694.76270468 It's the nuclear family ideal, and it's this magic of childhood that she's always yearned to get back to. 139 00:12:03,684.76270468 --> 00:12:05,124.76270468 That's what she's describing here. 140 00:12:06,564.76270468 --> 00:12:11,814.76270468 Boss up, settle down, got a wishlist, and she closes at the chorus by repeating. 141 00:12:11,844.76270468 --> 00:12:14,424.76270468 I just want you, this final line is interesting. 142 00:12:14,424.76270468 --> 00:12:15,624.76270468 Boss up, settle down. 143 00:12:16,194.76270468 --> 00:12:20,124.76270468 Because to me it really draws the distinction between these two parts of herself. 144 00:12:20,424.76270468 --> 00:12:24,864.76270468 There's the boss, the mogul, and the showgirl who can boss up. 145 00:12:25,674.76270468 --> 00:12:29,544.76270468 Then there's this more romantic girl inside who just wants to settle down. 146 00:12:30,774.76270468 --> 00:12:36,564.76270468 But this could also be read as I need to boss up, like man up and settle down. 147 00:12:36,594.76270468 --> 00:12:42,684.76270468 As in it's time to quit this enormously public life and go quiet. 148 00:12:44,64.76270468 --> 00:12:46,74.76270468 Let me know how you read this line in the comments. 149 00:12:46,104.76270468 --> 00:12:47,634.76270468 'cause it's, it's really interesting. 150 00:12:47,634.76270468 --> 00:12:56,34.76270468 The second verse gives us more wishlists of other people, but these desires are a bit more realistic and a bit more attainable. 151 00:12:57,114.76270468 --> 00:12:59,334.76270468 They want that freedom living off the grid. 152 00:12:59,664.76270468 --> 00:13:02,994.76270468 So these people just want the ability to check out. 153 00:13:03,24.76270468 --> 00:13:06,384.76270468 And this could either mean literally off the grid, like. 154 00:13:06,979.76270468 --> 00:13:13,489.76270468 Self-sustaining solar cabin in the woods, or it could be metaphorically off the grid, like out of public eye. 155 00:13:13,789.76270468 --> 00:13:17,749.76270468 This second interpretation ties back to what she wants. 156 00:13:17,749.76270468 --> 00:13:19,909.76270468 She wants the world to leave us the fuck alone. 157 00:13:20,719.76270468 --> 00:13:25,219.76270468 That's also metaphorically off the grid, but not realistic for most superstars. 158 00:13:25,219.76270468 --> 00:13:27,979.76270468 They want those three dogs that they call their kids. 159 00:13:28,339.76270468 --> 00:13:35,719.76270468 She adds, which is a funny bit of irony because Taylor herself has three cats that we've seen her treat like children. 160 00:13:35,769.76270468 --> 00:13:39,159.76270468 All that good surf, no hypocrites, she continues. 161 00:13:39,189.76270468 --> 00:13:39,639.76270468 They want it. 162 00:13:39,639.76270468 --> 00:13:48,849.76270468 All the surfers just want to catch the waves, while others want a life free of these self-righteous showoffs. 163 00:13:49,569.76270468 --> 00:13:54,219.76270468 But this is adding to the humor because she's just been hypocritical. 164 00:13:54,624.76270468 --> 00:13:59,184.76270468 In her line about dogs versus cats, they wanna contract with Real Madrid. 165 00:13:59,664.76270468 --> 00:14:14,694.76270468 So she's talking about the other football here, what Americans call soccer, and the message is that they wanna be the best Real Madrid is one of the most prestigious teams in Europe, so it would really be a dream contract for any footballer. 166 00:14:15,714.76270468 --> 00:14:20,454.76270468 It's every sporty little boy's a dream to play professional footy and play for a real Madrid. 167 00:14:21,159.76270468 --> 00:14:23,859.76270468 They want that spring break that was fucking lit. 168 00:14:23,859.76270468 --> 00:14:28,479.76270468 She goes on and then that video taken off the internet, they want it all. 169 00:14:28,479.76270468 --> 00:14:35,529.76270468 So these dreamers wanna party hard on spring break and then have the evidence of that debauchery erased. 170 00:14:36,189.76270468 --> 00:14:39,489.76270468 What she's saying basically is you can't have it both ways. 171 00:14:40,704.76270468 --> 00:14:49,254.76270468 If you're Taylor Swift, you probably can have a video taken off the internet, but the average Jane or Joe doesn't have that power. 172 00:14:49,854.76270468 --> 00:14:54,234.76270468 And this ties back into the central themes of this song and this album. 173 00:14:54,234.76270468 --> 00:15:06,159.76270468 Can Taylor have her cake and eat it too? Can she have a private life as a public figure? I don't think we ever get any real resolution to this big existential question by the end of this album. 174 00:15:06,189.76270468 --> 00:15:12,39.76270468 We definitely don't get any resolution in this song, but these are the things she wishes for. 175 00:15:12,159.76270468 --> 00:15:16,539.76270468 We never really get to know if she will have them, but this is what she desires. 176 00:15:17,729.76270468 --> 00:15:19,679.76270468 Moving on to the bridge, we get a little bit of backstory. 177 00:15:20,299.76270468 --> 00:15:31,939.76270468 I made wishes on all of the stars, which is using this common wish upon a star metaphor, but stars in this case, in this context of celebrity can mean both things. 178 00:15:31,939.76270468 --> 00:15:32,419.76270468 Both. 179 00:15:32,569.76270468 --> 00:15:37,489.76270468 She wished to be a star and she made this heartfelt wish. 180 00:15:38,209.76270468 --> 00:15:40,789.76270468 Please God, bring me a best friend who I think is hot. 181 00:15:41,659.76270468 --> 00:15:51,169.76270468 She prayed for a real partner, a best friend with whom she also has chemistry, and as we'll learn in the next track Wood, her wish was largely granted. 182 00:15:52,669.76270468 --> 00:15:55,249.76270468 I thought I had it right once, twice, but I did not. 183 00:15:55,579.76270468 --> 00:15:57,499.76270468 So she's always prayed for this. 184 00:15:57,499.76270468 --> 00:16:07,429.76270468 She thought she had found the one as alluded to in the counting and in the context she was wrong both times, but this time is different. 185 00:16:08,419.76270468 --> 00:16:15,79.76270468 You caught me off my guard, she says, and then she closes out the bridge with, I hope I get what I want, 'cause I know what I want. 186 00:16:16,789.76270468 --> 00:16:18,79.76270468 This turn of phrase is interesting. 187 00:16:18,79.76270468 --> 00:16:23,119.76270468 It's usually caught me off guard, meaning you weren't expecting something. 188 00:16:23,119.76270468 --> 00:16:34,309.76270468 It was surprising, but she says, you caught me off my guard, which feels a bit more like she let her emotional guard down even momentarily. 189 00:16:34,309.76270468 --> 00:16:38,449.76270468 And in that moment he snuck in for a moment. 190 00:16:38,449.76270468 --> 00:16:43,149.7627047 Maybe her showgirl mask slipped and he got to meet the real girl inside. 191 00:16:44,169.7627047 --> 00:16:47,859.7627047 But now that he's here, she knows exactly what she wants to do next. 192 00:16:47,859.7627047 --> 00:16:51,279.7627047 She's got a wishlist and there's only one thing on it. 193 00:16:52,449.7627047 --> 00:16:57,879.7627047 After the bridge, the chorus repeats, and she ends the song with, I just want you. 194 00:16:59,244.7627047 --> 00:17:04,944.7627047 She has or could have all of these material things, but as she's learned, money can't buy you love. 195 00:17:05,874.7627047 --> 00:17:12,954.7627047 Now that she's found the one she wants to settle down with, she can only hope and pray it'll play out as her wishlist dictates. 196 00:17:13,974.7627047 --> 00:17:20,574.7627047 But there's still this nagging worry, and she's had this worry in her lyrics, really since reputation, and the worry is this. 197 00:17:21,309.7627047 --> 00:17:29,199.7627047 Who could ever leave me, darling, but who could stay? She's wishing upon all the stars you could stay. 198 00:17:30,189.7627047 --> 00:17:31,509.7627047 But here's the major conflict. 199 00:17:32,439.7627047 --> 00:17:42,549.7627047 Is he here for the show or is he here for the girl? And if he's here for the girl, will the show get in the way? That's all for now on wishlist. 200 00:17:42,639.7627047 --> 00:17:43,839.7627047 Thank you so much for joining me. 201 00:17:43,839.7627047 --> 00:17:48,369.7627047 In my next episode, I am dissecting Track nine Wood, which will be a fun one. 202 00:17:48,369.7627047 --> 00:17:52,569.7627047 So please like and subscribe wherever you're seeing this or hearing this so you can follow along. 203 00:17:53,379.7627047 --> 00:17:56,709.7627047 All of this content is available on my website where I have the annotated lyrics. 204 00:17:56,739.7627047 --> 00:18:05,79.7627047 And just let me know in the comments what you think of this song, because that is the most important part of all of this, not what it means to me, not what it means to Taylor. 205 00:18:05,79.7627047 --> 00:18:06,279.7627047 It's what it means to you. 206 00:18:07,149.7627047 --> 00:18:13,569.7627047 What do you resonate with? What do you think of this song? Stay tuned for the next episode and I'll see you in the next track. 207 00:18:13,569.7627047 --> 00:18:15,879.7627047 That's it for this chapter of Swiftly Sung Stories. 208 00:18:15,939.7627047 --> 00:18:19,659.7627047 If you enjoyed this deep dive, please don't forget to follow, subscribe, or leave a review. 209 00:18:19,719.7627047 --> 00:18:21,759.7627047 It helps other Swifties find their way here. 210 00:18:21,909.7627047 --> 00:18:24,729.7627047 I'm Jen and I had a marvelous time reading everything with you. 211 00:18:24,849.7627047 --> 00:18:25,359.7627047 See you next time.
Hey everyone.
(00:00):
Welcome back to the Swiftly Sung Stories podcast.
I'm your host, Jen, your Swifty English teacher, and today we are tackling Track eight in my track by track analysis of the life of a showgirl, and we're diving straight into wishlist.
This is a really interesting track that has been a bit controversial, and we're gonna address all of that and we're gonna try to figure out what she's really getting at in the song.
(00:20):
Behind the aspirational yacht life imagery and the Balenci shades.
What's she really saying? In my last few episodes, I analyzed Taylor's prologue poem and the first seven tracks of this album, so go check that out because it lays a lot of groundwork for understanding all of the themes that Taylor is exploring in these lyrics.
Also, all of this content is available on my website.
(00:42):
If you want the text version with annotated lyrics, and if you're watching this on YouTube, you can also find me wherever you get your podcasts and vice versa.
Okay.
Let's lay a little bit of groundwork on themes within the song, and then we will roll into our dissection of wishlist line by line. 11 00:00:59,833.762704678 --> 00:01:05,533.762704678 Welcome to swiftly sung Stories where we unpack the Taylor Swift Universe one era album and lyric at a time. 12 00:01:05,713.762704678 --> 00:01:10,33.762704678 Think of it like English class, but it's all Taylor Swift and none of the boring stuff. 13 00:01:10,483.762704678 --> 00:01:15,883.762704678 I'm Jen, your Swifty English teacher and classes in session, so come on in and meet me in the margins. 14 00:01:16,169.762704678 --> 00:01:19,439.762704678 In wishlist spelled with two dollar signs. 15 00:01:19,469.762704678 --> 00:01:20,159.762704678 As the s's. 16 00:01:20,159.762704678 --> 00:01:20,849.762704678 That's important. 17 00:01:21,419.762704678 --> 00:01:26,789.762704678 Our showgirl narrator looks around and sees all of these lofty desires of others. 18 00:01:26,789.762704678 --> 00:01:34,889.762704678 They wanna be rich and powerful and influential with yachts and helicopters and the ability to have all of their indiscretions erased from the internet. 19 00:01:35,609.762704678 --> 00:01:38,159.762704678 But our narrator wants something more grounded. 20 00:01:38,549.762704678 --> 00:01:40,409.76270468 She just wants a real partner. 21 00:01:40,439.76270468 --> 00:01:41,789.76270468 She wants to raise a family. 22 00:01:42,179.76270468 --> 00:01:43,949.76270468 She wants the world to leave her alone. 23 00:01:45,189.76270468 --> 00:01:52,839.76270468 I think the crucial aspect that has stirred up, all of this controversy comes from the point of view and the perspective. 24 00:01:53,349.76270468 --> 00:01:59,439.76270468 She's not a middle class nine to five worker who just wants a comfortable life with health insurance. 25 00:01:59,979.76270468 --> 00:02:06,339.76270468 She is a billionaire who already has all of these things, or could have or buy really anything she wants. 26 00:02:07,139.76270468 --> 00:02:10,319.76270468 So it reads as a little bit tone deaf, not reading the room. 27 00:02:10,589.76270468 --> 00:02:23,489.76270468 And does it feel kind of icky, especially with the world slowly descending into complete chaos to say that the masses only want this lavish lifestyle that she already has? Yes. 28 00:02:24,29.76270468 --> 00:02:27,389.76270468 Do I think she intended it to come across that way? No. 29 00:02:28,349.76270468 --> 00:02:30,719.76270468 But the blindness is, is also a factor. 30 00:02:31,919.76270468 --> 00:02:36,569.76270468 In my analysis of this album so far, I've talked a lot about the duality that's present here. 31 00:02:36,569.76270468 --> 00:02:38,489.76270468 There's the battle between the two selves. 32 00:02:39,139.76270468 --> 00:02:43,489.76270468 there's Showgirl Taylor versus human civilian Taylor. 33 00:02:43,939.76270468 --> 00:02:47,239.76270468 And those two selves want and need different things. 34 00:02:47,239.76270468 --> 00:02:49,714.76270468 They're constantly clashing with one another. 35 00:02:50,119.76270468 --> 00:03:11,869.76270468 And this album is basically posing the question, can I have my cake and eat it too? Can I have this mega celebrity life while also maintaining a private life? And though wishlist does, at least for me, read as tone deaf, we can also look at it from this perspective of her two selves at war with one another. 36 00:03:11,869.76270468 --> 00:03:13,399.76270468 And both things can be true. 37 00:03:13,789.76270468 --> 00:03:21,259.76270468 It can look uncomfortable and unsympathetic from the outside, and it can also have a larger message on the inside. 38 00:03:21,494.76270468 --> 00:03:22,754.76270468 It doesn't need to be either or. 39 00:03:22,754.76270468 --> 00:03:23,384.76270468 It can be. 40 00:03:23,474.76270468 --> 00:03:23,984.76270468 Yes. 41 00:03:24,74.76270468 --> 00:03:33,554.76270468 And so let's go through wishlist, line by line and see what we can decipher, because I don't think it's as straightforward as it seems at a glance. 42 00:03:33,554.76270468 --> 00:03:43,244.76270468 Before we go into detail, I only discuss Taylor's personal life in my lyrical analysis when it is essential to understanding the text or when it really helps us to put the lyrics into context. 43 00:03:43,244.76270468 --> 00:03:47,474.76270468 So I'm not here to discover what Taylor Swift did or who she dated. 44 00:03:47,474.76270468 --> 00:03:50,144.76270468 I'm here to discover what the art does. 45 00:03:50,744.76270468 --> 00:03:56,574.76270468 Also, I'm dissecting Taylor's lyrics through my lens as a writer and a former English teacher, and that doesn't have to be. 46 00:03:57,204.76270468 --> 00:03:57,804.76270468 Your lens. 47 00:03:57,804.76270468 --> 00:03:59,604.76270468 It doesn't have to be your opinion. 48 00:03:59,754.76270468 --> 00:04:03,114.76270468 All art is subjective and it means different things to different people. 49 00:04:03,744.76270468 --> 00:04:09,144.76270468 So in this analysis, I'm not saying that my opinions are fact or gospel, they're not. 50 00:04:09,414.76270468 --> 00:04:14,604.76270468 I'm just here to point out different interpretations so that you can draw your own conclusions. 51 00:04:14,634.76270468 --> 00:04:16,914.76270468 So take what you like and leave the rest. 52 00:04:16,964.76270468 --> 00:04:20,834.76270468 So the first, verse begins, they want that yacht life under chopper blades. 53 00:04:20,954.76270468 --> 00:04:24,134.76270468 They want those bright lights and Balenci shades. 54 00:04:24,764.76270468 --> 00:04:28,904.76270468 So we are in the present and our narrator is speaking in first person. 55 00:04:28,994.76270468 --> 00:04:35,804.76270468 This is happening right now, and she's looking around at the wider world and observing what other people want. 56 00:04:36,284.76270468 --> 00:04:39,194.76270468 But these aren't cheap everyday dreams. 57 00:04:39,194.76270468 --> 00:04:40,364.76270468 They're pricey dreams. 58 00:04:41,384.76270468 --> 00:04:42,704.76270468 Unattainable dreams. 59 00:04:43,514.76270468 --> 00:04:51,104.76270468 The yacht life with a helicopter to drop you off in St Tropez isn't attainable for 99.999% 60 00:04:51,104.76270468 --> 00:04:51,944.76270468 of the population. 61 00:04:52,934.76270468 --> 00:04:55,994.76270468 Those bright lights is also unattainable. 62 00:04:55,994.76270468 --> 00:05:02,24.76270468 It's probably alluding to the Bright Lights of Fame of Hollywood being in the spotlight. 63 00:05:02,864.76270468 --> 00:05:05,84.76270468 That's not attainable for the majority of us either. 64 00:05:05,84.76270468 --> 00:05:06,14.76270468 It's a pipe dream. 65 00:05:06,464.76270468 --> 00:05:13,934.76270468 And while many of us could buy Balenciaga dupes on Canal Street, the real thing isn't an affordable luxury. 66 00:05:14,504.76270468 --> 00:05:21,584.76270468 So the basic message so far is people want what they can't have, they want, in other words. 67 00:05:22,244.76270468 --> 00:05:29,144.76270468 Taylor Swift's life, but it's important to remember the theme of the album is The Life of a Showgirl. 68 00:05:29,414.76270468 --> 00:05:34,484.76270468 There's the show and then there is all that goes on underneath the show. 69 00:05:34,604.76270468 --> 00:05:36,564.76270468 There is the girl behind the show. 70 00:05:37,779.76270468 --> 00:05:46,509.76270468 So all these people, she assumes they want the showgirl lifestyle that she has, but what many other songs on the album are telling us is that we don't actually want it. 71 00:05:47,229.76270468 --> 00:05:54,399.76270468 There's a dark side to this fame and fortune, as she talked about in the fate of Ophelia and Elizabeth Taylor and Father Figure and others. 72 00:05:55,479.76270468 --> 00:05:58,419.76270468 So we might think that we want all these unattainable things. 73 00:05:58,979.76270468 --> 00:06:04,679.76270468 But they won't buy us happiness, which is essentially what I think she's getting at. 74 00:06:04,729.76270468 --> 00:06:10,189.76270468 So we want this yacht life and designer shades, and then she adds and a fat ass with a baby face. 75 00:06:10,279.76270468 --> 00:06:11,89.76270468 They want it all. 76 00:06:12,289.76270468 --> 00:06:20,89.76270468 So not only do they want material things, but they also want to look like the impossible version of the female form. 77 00:06:20,929.76270468 --> 00:06:30,19.76270468 And while she might be alluding to the plastic surgery craze of Hollywood, she's sort of also subtly nodding to the impossible standards for women and especially. 78 00:06:30,299.76270468 --> 00:06:41,999.76270468 Women in the entertainment industry, in the public eye, they're expected to have the, the perfect body and to look forever young, and they have to be conventionally attractive at the very basic level. 79 00:06:42,29.76270468 --> 00:06:43,469.76270468 That's just bare minimum. 80 00:06:44,639.76270468 --> 00:06:54,569.76270468 But they, in this case, I think is the patriarchy and the patriarchal standards for the ideal woman or women that we allow to be famous. 81 00:06:54,569.76270468 --> 00:06:56,249.76270468 Those are incredibly high standards. 82 00:06:57,274.76270468 --> 00:06:58,54.76270468 She goes on. 83 00:06:58,294.76270468 --> 00:07:00,454.76270468 They want that complex female character. 84 00:07:01,114.76270468 --> 00:07:04,444.76270468 So this is once again calling out these patriarchal standards. 85 00:07:04,444.76270468 --> 00:07:08,704.76270468 We demand impossible things from women and especially women in the spotlight. 86 00:07:09,634.76270468 --> 00:07:11,404.76270468 Be sexy but smart. 87 00:07:11,404.76270468 --> 00:07:14,704.76270468 Be funny, but not overbearing and be well-spoken. 88 00:07:14,704.76270468 --> 00:07:18,334.76270468 But don't speak too loud, be complex. 89 00:07:18,604.76270468 --> 00:07:22,24.76270468 We demand of our women, but not so much that we can't relate to you. 90 00:07:23,449.76270468 --> 00:07:34,549.76270468 But this desire for a complex female character could also apply to writers of all genres who try to craft the perfect female protagonist in their narratives. 91 00:07:34,549.76270468 --> 00:07:45,799.76270468 And this is kind of a meta moment where I think she's referencing what she attempts to be the complex female character, and also why she must attempt to be it. 92 00:07:46,279.76270468 --> 00:07:50,929.76270468 Because the public and the patriarchy demands multifaceted women. 93 00:07:52,129.76270468 --> 00:07:54,919.76270468 This is how she tries to craft her larger narrative. 94 00:07:54,919.76270468 --> 00:07:56,659.76270468 It's to fit this standard. 95 00:07:57,889.76270468 --> 00:08:05,149.76270468 So she continues this thread with, they want that critical smash, Palme d'Or and an Oscar on their bathroom floor. 96 00:08:05,149.76270468 --> 00:08:11,749.76270468 The Palme d'Or, or is the most prestigious prize at the Cannes Film Festival, and it's like the ultimate prize in film. 97 00:08:11,749.76270468 --> 00:08:18,139.76270468 It's more coveted than an Oscar, so they want the top prize, but they also want the second best prize. 98 00:08:18,169.76270468 --> 00:08:26,89.76270468 The Oscar, they wanna achieve so much of this ultimate success that anything less than is just a bonus. 99 00:08:26,89.76270468 --> 00:08:31,489.76270468 They wanna be so successful and so lauded that the prizes are just disposable trinkets. 100 00:08:32,374.76270468 --> 00:08:36,4.76270468 What they want essentially is to be where Taylor Swift is. 101 00:08:36,334.76270468 --> 00:08:43,744.76270468 'cause everything on that list of our are things that Taylor has or could have if she really wanted to. 102 00:08:43,744.76270468 --> 00:08:53,14.76270468 But these are all things that Showgirl Taylor has or could have, the Taylor that's in the public eye and wins all the awards and needs to look like the perfect specimen all the time. 103 00:08:53,494.76270468 --> 00:08:55,324.76270468 Could have all of these things. 104 00:08:56,209.76270468 --> 00:09:02,444.76270468 But we're about to learn that private Taylor, human Taylor, who is behind the showgirl facade, wants a very, very different list. 105 00:09:03,279.76270468 --> 00:09:05,919.76270468 She goes on and they should have what they want. 106 00:09:05,979.76270468 --> 00:09:06,909.76270468 They deserve what they want. 107 00:09:06,909.76270468 --> 00:09:08,499.76270468 I hope they get what they want. 108 00:09:09,219.76270468 --> 00:09:14,559.76270468 So after listing all of these prizes that are tied to money and success, she's like, go for it. 109 00:09:15,99.76270468 --> 00:09:16,389.76270468 I hope it works out for you. 110 00:09:17,499.76270468 --> 00:09:21,159.76270468 But the subtle implication is that wealth and success won't bring you happiness. 111 00:09:21,579.76270468 --> 00:09:24,579.76270468 And she knows this because she's experienced it firsthand. 112 00:09:24,579.76270468 --> 00:09:33,969.76270468 As she told us in the prophecy, don't want money to someone who wants my company, so I hope they get what they want is both encouragement and it's a warning. 113 00:09:34,359.76270468 --> 00:09:35,619.76270468 Can't buy me love. 114 00:09:35,619.76270468 --> 00:09:42,189.76270468 The first chorus then starts with a new wishlist and it's inner human Taylor's wishlist. 115 00:09:42,999.76270468 --> 00:09:43,929.76270468 I just want you. 116 00:09:44,769.76270468 --> 00:09:47,259.76270468 She's saying this probably to her romantic partner. 117 00:09:47,859.76270468 --> 00:09:56,229.76270468 Everyone else can wish for money and titles and fame, but since she already has all of those things, her wish is a bit more existential. 118 00:09:56,229.76270468 --> 00:10:00,819.76270468 She wants love and she wants it with this person and with this person only. 119 00:10:00,879.76270468 --> 00:10:04,869.76270468 She doesn't just say, I just wanna get married, or I just want kids. 120 00:10:04,869.76270468 --> 00:10:06,999.76270468 No, it's, I just want you. 121 00:10:06,999.76270468 --> 00:10:16,119.76270468 Have a couple kids got the whole block looking like you, so she wants to have children and she hopes that they look like their father because she adores him so damn much. 122 00:10:17,289.76270468 --> 00:10:28,239.76270468 She wants to settle down, but Showgirl Taylor and Human Taylor are about to butt heads here because while human Taylor may want to settle down, showgirl Taylor might not allow it. 123 00:10:28,239.76270468 --> 00:10:31,719.76270468 So she goes on, we tell the world to leave us the fuck alone, and they do. 124 00:10:31,899.76270468 --> 00:10:32,499.76270468 Wow. 125 00:10:33,399.76270468 --> 00:10:40,239.76270468 So in this imagined future where they have family and she settled down, she wants privacy. 126 00:10:41,139.76270468 --> 00:10:45,99.76270468 Will that ever happen in real life? No, probably not. 127 00:10:45,99.76270468 --> 00:10:49,179.76270468 But this is her wishlist to stay in a bubble with her new family. 128 00:10:49,929.76270468 --> 00:10:53,79.76270468 It's understandable when you're the most recognizable face on the planet. 129 00:10:53,79.76270468 --> 00:10:53,679.76270468 Who needs. 130 00:10:53,994.76270468 --> 00:10:55,284.76270468 24 7 security. 131 00:10:55,284.76270468 --> 00:10:56,784.76270468 That is a realistic desire. 132 00:10:57,444.76270468 --> 00:11:18,24.76270468 But this line also deals with a nagging fear that she has dealt with in her lyrics before, and that is how does she maintain a private life as a public figure Who writes about her private life? It's a conundrum she's explored before in The Archer, Delicate, But Daddy, I Love Him, I Can Do it With a Broken Heart, I Hate it Here. 133 00:11:18,879.76270468 --> 00:11:25,269.76270468 This is a line that she has to walk between Showgirl Taylor and Human Taylor, and that's what this album is really dealing with. 134 00:11:25,539.76270468 --> 00:11:36,579.76270468 At the heart of it, human Taylor wants a simple life, but Showgirl Taylor has made it so that might not ever be possible, and the desires of these two selves are always at war. 135 00:11:37,929.76270468 --> 00:11:41,79.76270468 She goes on, got me a dream in about a driveway with a basketball hoop. 136 00:11:41,934.76270468 --> 00:11:49,884.76270468 Still be a mansion, of course, because she's Taylor Swift, but she imagines her kids shooting hoops, probably shooting hoops with their dad. 137 00:11:50,424.76270468 --> 00:11:53,784.76270468 It's the all American dream of the happy family life. 138 00:11:53,814.76270468 --> 00:12:02,694.76270468 It's the nuclear family ideal, and it's this magic of childhood that she's always yearned to get back to. 139 00:12:03,684.76270468 --> 00:12:05,124.76270468 That's what she's describing here. 140 00:12:06,564.76270468 --> 00:12:11,814.76270468 Boss up, settle down, got a wishlist, and she closes at the chorus by repeating. 141 00:12:11,844.76270468 --> 00:12:14,424.76270468 I just want you, this final line is interesting. 142 00:12:14,424.76270468 --> 00:12:15,624.76270468 Boss up, settle down. 143 00:12:16,194.76270468 --> 00:12:20,124.76270468 Because to me it really draws the distinction between these two parts of herself. 144 00:12:20,424.76270468 --> 00:12:24,864.76270468 There's the boss, the mogul, and the showgirl who can boss up. 145 00:12:25,674.76270468 --> 00:12:29,544.76270468 Then there's this more romantic girl inside who just wants to settle down. 146 00:12:30,774.76270468 --> 00:12:36,564.76270468 But this could also be read as I need to boss up, like man up and settle down. 147 00:12:36,594.76270468 --> 00:12:42,684.76270468 As in it's time to quit this enormously public life and go quiet. 148 00:12:44,64.76270468 --> 00:12:46,74.76270468 Let me know how you read this line in the comments. 149 00:12:46,104.76270468 --> 00:12:47,634.76270468 'cause it's, it's really interesting. 150 00:12:47,634.76270468 --> 00:12:56,34.76270468 The second verse gives us more wishlists of other people, but these desires are a bit more realistic and a bit more attainable. 151 00:12:57,114.76270468 --> 00:12:59,334.76270468 They want that freedom living off the grid. 152 00:12:59,664.76270468 --> 00:13:02,994.76270468 So these people just want the ability to check out. 153 00:13:03,24.76270468 --> 00:13:06,384.76270468 And this could either mean literally off the grid, like. 154 00:13:06,979.76270468 --> 00:13:13,489.76270468 Self-sustaining solar cabin in the woods, or it could be metaphorically off the grid, like out of public eye. 155 00:13:13,789.76270468 --> 00:13:17,749.76270468 This second interpretation ties back to what she wants. 156 00:13:17,749.76270468 --> 00:13:19,909.76270468 She wants the world to leave us the fuck alone. 157 00:13:20,719.76270468 --> 00:13:25,219.76270468 That's also metaphorically off the grid, but not realistic for most superstars. 158 00:13:25,219.76270468 --> 00:13:27,979.76270468 They want those three dogs that they call their kids. 159 00:13:28,339.76270468 --> 00:13:35,719.76270468 She adds, which is a funny bit of irony because Taylor herself has three cats that we've seen her treat like children. 160 00:13:35,769.76270468 --> 00:13:39,159.76270468 All that good surf, no hypocrites, she continues. 161 00:13:39,189.76270468 --> 00:13:39,639.76270468 They want it. 162 00:13:39,639.76270468 --> 00:13:48,849.76270468 All the surfers just want to catch the waves, while others want a life free of these self-righteous showoffs. 163 00:13:49,569.76270468 --> 00:13:54,219.76270468 But this is adding to the humor because she's just been hypocritical. 164 00:13:54,624.76270468 --> 00:13:59,184.76270468 In her line about dogs versus cats, they wanna contract with Real Madrid. 165 00:13:59,664.76270468 --> 00:14:14,694.76270468 So she's talking about the other football here, what Americans call soccer, and the message is that they wanna be the best Real Madrid is one of the most prestigious teams in Europe, so it would really be a dream contract for any footballer. 166 00:14:15,714.76270468 --> 00:14:20,454.76270468 It's every sporty little boy's a dream to play professional footy and play for a real Madrid. 167 00:14:21,159.76270468 --> 00:14:23,859.76270468 They want that spring break that was fucking lit. 168 00:14:23,859.76270468 --> 00:14:28,479.76270468 She goes on and then that video taken off the internet, they want it all. 169 00:14:28,479.76270468 --> 00:14:35,529.76270468 So these dreamers wanna party hard on spring break and then have the evidence of that debauchery erased. 170 00:14:36,189.76270468 --> 00:14:39,489.76270468 What she's saying basically is you can't have it both ways. 171 00:14:40,704.76270468 --> 00:14:49,254.76270468 If you're Taylor Swift, you probably can have a video taken off the internet, but the average Jane or Joe doesn't have that power. 172 00:14:49,854.76270468 --> 00:14:54,234.76270468 And this ties back into the central themes of this song and this album. 173 00:14:54,234.76270468 --> 00:15:06,159.76270468 Can Taylor have her cake and eat it too? Can she have a private life as a public figure? I don't think we ever get any real resolution to this big existential question by the end of this album. 174 00:15:06,189.76270468 --> 00:15:12,39.76270468 We definitely don't get any resolution in this song, but these are the things she wishes for. 175 00:15:12,159.76270468 --> 00:15:16,539.76270468 We never really get to know if she will have them, but this is what she desires. 176 00:15:17,729.76270468 --> 00:15:19,679.76270468 Moving on to the bridge, we get a little bit of backstory. 177 00:15:20,299.76270468 --> 00:15:31,939.76270468 I made wishes on all of the stars, which is using this common wish upon a star metaphor, but stars in this case, in this context of celebrity can mean both things. 178 00:15:31,939.76270468 --> 00:15:32,419.76270468 Both. 179 00:15:32,569.76270468 --> 00:15:37,489.76270468 She wished to be a star and she made this heartfelt wish. 180 00:15:38,209.76270468 --> 00:15:40,789.76270468 Please God, bring me a best friend who I think is hot. 181 00:15:41,659.76270468 --> 00:15:51,169.76270468 She prayed for a real partner, a best friend with whom she also has chemistry, and as we'll learn in the next track Wood, her wish was largely granted. 182 00:15:52,669.76270468 --> 00:15:55,249.76270468 I thought I had it right once, twice, but I did not. 183 00:15:55,579.76270468 --> 00:15:57,499.76270468 So she's always prayed for this. 184 00:15:57,499.76270468 --> 00:16:07,429.76270468 She thought she had found the one as alluded to in the counting and in the context she was wrong both times, but this time is different. 185 00:16:08,419.76270468 --> 00:16:15,79.76270468 You caught me off my guard, she says, and then she closes out the bridge with, I hope I get what I want, 'cause I know what I want. 186 00:16:16,789.76270468 --> 00:16:18,79.76270468 This turn of phrase is interesting. 187 00:16:18,79.76270468 --> 00:16:23,119.76270468 It's usually caught me off guard, meaning you weren't expecting something. 188 00:16:23,119.76270468 --> 00:16:34,309.76270468 It was surprising, but she says, you caught me off my guard, which feels a bit more like she let her emotional guard down even momentarily. 189 00:16:34,309.76270468 --> 00:16:38,449.76270468 And in that moment he snuck in for a moment. 190 00:16:38,449.76270468 --> 00:16:43,149.7627047 Maybe her showgirl mask slipped and he got to meet the real girl inside. 191 00:16:44,169.7627047 --> 00:16:47,859.7627047 But now that he's here, she knows exactly what she wants to do next. 192 00:16:47,859.7627047 --> 00:16:51,279.7627047 She's got a wishlist and there's only one thing on it. 193 00:16:52,449.7627047 --> 00:16:57,879.7627047 After the bridge, the chorus repeats, and she ends the song with, I just want you. 194 00:16:59,244.7627047 --> 00:17:04,944.7627047 She has or could have all of these material things, but as she's learned, money can't buy you love. 195 00:17:05,874.7627047 --> 00:17:12,954.7627047 Now that she's found the one she wants to settle down with, she can only hope and pray it'll play out as her wishlist dictates. 196 00:17:13,974.7627047 --> 00:17:20,574.7627047 But there's still this nagging worry, and she's had this worry in her lyrics, really since reputation, and the worry is this. 197 00:17:21,309.7627047 --> 00:17:29,199.7627047 Who could ever leave me, darling, but who could stay? She's wishing upon all the stars you could stay. 198 00:17:30,189.7627047 --> 00:17:31,509.7627047 But here's the major conflict. 199 00:17:32,439.7627047 --> 00:17:42,549.7627047 Is he here for the show or is he here for the girl? And if he's here for the girl, will the show get in the way? That's all for now on wishlist. 200 00:17:42,639.7627047 --> 00:17:43,839.7627047 Thank you so much for joining me. 201 00:17:43,839.7627047 --> 00:17:48,369.7627047 In my next episode, I am dissecting Track nine Wood, which will be a fun one. 202 00:17:48,369.7627047 --> 00:17:52,569.7627047 So please like and subscribe wherever you're seeing this or hearing this so you can follow along. 203 00:17:53,379.7627047 --> 00:17:56,709.7627047 All of this content is available on my website where I have the annotated lyrics. 204 00:17:56,739.7627047 --> 00:18:05,79.7627047 And just let me know in the comments what you think of this song, because that is the most important part of all of this, not what it means to me, not what it means to Taylor. 205 00:18:05,79.7627047 --> 00:18:06,279.7627047 It's what it means to you. 206 00:18:07,149.7627047 --> 00:18:13,569.7627047 What do you resonate with? What do you think of this song? Stay tuned for the next episode and I'll see you in the next track. 207 00:18:13,569.7627047 --> 00:18:15,879.7627047 That's it for this chapter of Swiftly Sung Stories. 208 00:18:15,939.7627047 --> 00:18:19,659.7627047 If you enjoyed this deep dive, please don't forget to follow, subscribe, or leave a review. 209 00:18:19,719.7627047 --> 00:18:21,759.7627047 It helps other Swifties find their way here. 210 00:18:21,909.7627047 --> 00:18:24,729.7627047 I'm Jen and I had a marvelous time reading everything with you. 211 00:18:24,849.7627047 --> 00:18:25,359.7627047 See you next time.
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