illicit affairs close reading & reaction✨- taylor swift folklore analysis ✨

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@thinkingscottish 3 жыл бұрын

I absolutely love analysis of song lyrics and your videos are enjoyable because they are so in-depth and explained. As others have said, listening to the lyrics I'm not sure it's cheating. What makes me think this is that current partners are never mentioned. In fact, the only other people mentioned to hide it from are 'tell your friends... you'll be flushed when you return'. If it was about cheating I would have thought the boyfriend/ girlfriend or husband/wife would have been mentioned here instead. Why would they be returning to their friends and not the person they are in a relationship with? I suspect their affair would be considered illicit for other reasons, maybe other people would disapprove because one of the people is seen as being bad news. The speaker's friendship group would try and talk them out of it or point out the truth that it's toxic. That's why the speaker feels it is important the affair is hidden and maybe the other person knows this as well. Or maybe there is a big age gap or some other reason other people would disapprove. I also thought about the idea that the affair feels illict to the speaker but there is really nothing inherently wrong with it. Maybe the other person just won't commit to anything more than casual meetings. Maybe even it started off agreed by both sides as a casual relationship, but the speaker started to want more but the other person doesn't. The speaker feels as if they are doing something wrong because they are being forced to hide it and it will never be the love that they want. Maybe that's why the perfume is on the shelf, the speaker bought a gift in the hope that they could have a real realtionship but they know deep down it will never be more than what it is. Trying to escalate the affair to something more serious would scare the other person away which the speaker does not want. Towards the end of the song the speaker feels made a fool of, they know the other person is using them or at least doesn't want the real thing but the speaker would still take it over nothing because they've become so attached. Maybe that's what the reference to it telling the truth once but lying every time after is. They knew at first it was casual but after they caught feelings they try and convince themselves in the moment that it's a real realtionship and deeper in meaning than it is. I've read a theory that this is in fact about someone who is addicted to drugs. I would lean to more it being about a relationship but I do think the lyrics would also fit a drug addiction, that 'buying a perfume just from him' is a reference to covering up the signs of drug use to other people. The last thing I'll say is that 'Mercurial' could also be a reference to the element mercury, which can be intoxicating if it is inhaled but is also highly toxic. Maybe this is a reference to how the relationship makes the speaker feel high but they also know that it is 'poisoning' them by how much it is taking over their life and changing their emotions and perceptions.

@pat3156 3 жыл бұрын

I really love how you explain things, especially in the perfume part like I haven't gotten it until I saw your explanation (even I have translated it to my mother language lmao) thanks for explaining and keep up the good work! immediate subscription goes out from me

@summersentiment 3 жыл бұрын

thank you so much!! 😊💖 i'm glad you enjoyed it!!

@tabathaarria9558 4 жыл бұрын

omg this is great. thank you for analyzing one of my absolute favorite songs from folklore, and giving this song the attention that it deserves. this song makes me feel heavy and it's always leaving me breathless at the end. i imagine this is also what the protagonist feels throughout the song, weighted down and unable to breath. my interpretation is that the song isn't about cheating. there's a lack of conversation or mention of the person that got cheated on (unlike in august, for example). meaning that this is a story about forbidden love. a love so forbidden, it breaks law, norm, or rules. and even though there's no cheating going on, the burden and the secrecy and the guilt that's piling up makes it feel like one. "i just want to see my lover. why do i have to do what unfaithful people do?" type of thing. and about the line "don't call me kid, don't call me baby", yes it's a pet name, but i personally don't see it as belittling the protagonist. the way taylor sings it sounds like she's frustrated. i take it as the protagonist actually likes being called pet names. but because she likes it, she knows she's gonna take the feelings that those names elicit, home. and she knows she's not supposed to do that. what happens in their meeting place, stays in their meeting place. that's why she's so scared to even leave her scent on him, because scent lingers and he will take it home. also i love your takes about the power dynamics. she's clearly tangled up in something that he partakes in. but i feel like the power that he holds is not something that he actively has and utilizes. it's more like the protagonist puts him on such a high pedestal, she's willing to commit the illicit and "ruin herself a million little times" for him. so yeah, that's how i see it. sorry that it's long 😂 also i can't wait for your analysis on the theory. i have faith it's gonna be another great video ❤

@summersentiment 4 жыл бұрын

first of all, never apologize for a lengthy comment!! :) i'm glad you enjoyed and thank you for your kind words. i appreciate it ✨ i considered that interpretation for a second: like a ~forbidden romeo & juliet~ vibe but idk, for some reason i leaned more towards the cheating narrative lol 🤷🏻‍♀️ i think its bc for me, i initially saw a parallel to 'hoax'..but i'm not super sure anymore. i rly love how you're explaining your interpretation. and you bring up a good point: there rly isn't mention of another person...they do seem kind of in their own world. your take is even more heartbreaking...b/c their love would still be pure, ya know? it's just shrouded in all this hardship due to their environment/circumstance. like, it's not their fault at all. AHHHHHH mmm, i didn't consider 'don't call me kid, don't call me baby' in that context. thank you for sharing that 😊. so it'd be like an internal struggle b/c allowing herself to enjoy those pet names will make it harder for her to survive this...omg!!! i love how you compared that to feeling 'at home'. i think that's a beautiful way to describe it! i do think she may put him on a pedestal, i agree w/ you on that. i hope he is as 'in' as she is. b/c she is truly going thru a lot. and the fact that she is going to him is interesting...i wonder if she is going directly to him or if they half like a halfway meeting place?? (lol). but in terms of power dynamics that may also be interesting to consider thanks again for your comment! i rly love reading everyone's take. this album is SO intricate lyrically, there are truly endless ways to interpret the songs✨ i also agree, this song makes feel heavy too and also just encapsulated in its mood. it's a special song. taylor did this one beautifully. and thanks! as i get into the songs more im noticing there's so many ways to make sense of it ALL TOGETHER. i still don't know what my final take will be lol...changes a bit with each song analysis 😂

@tabathaarria9558 4 жыл бұрын

@@summersentiment thanks for replying, it makes my dayy 🥺 i agree. everyone looks at the song differently and it's so much fun to know what people make of it. i honestly didn't think about the idea of power dynamics until you brought it up in the video lol. it's only then that i got the pedestal interpretation thing. also you might've mentioned it somewhere in one of your videos and my braincells forget (lol) but are you gonna do the whole folklore album?

@summersentiment 4 жыл бұрын

@@tabathaarria9558 yeah its rly cool how the same song can be interpreted in so many different ways!😊 yes i am going thru all the songs!! and then i'll be making some summary videos✨

@OrinPosner 4 жыл бұрын

This is great! I really like what you said about the line "take the road less traveled by" being both literal and a metaphor and I get what you're saying about going off the path in a negative way, like she's doing something wrong. But I'm wondering if there's an additional meaning here: this line is also a reference to the Robert Frost poem "The Road Not Taken" where the narrator chooses one of two roads which are "about the same" but nevertheless he claims in the last stanza that he "took the one less traveled by." So there can also be an irony here - like with the next line "tell yourself you can always stop," the protagonist is kinda fooling herself to think she's doing anything special/uncommon. Like an "illicit affair" or a "clandestine meetings" sounds exciting and magical but it's really not, it's very common and very shady and sad.

@summersentiment 4 жыл бұрын

thank you! ✨ i love what you're saying here!! 😊 like she kind of built it up in her head as something ~dramatic~ and ~romantic~ when in reality it's toxic and has lots of repercussions. that would be the ultimate irony considering how deep she's in this now. rly love your take about the frost reference! it wouldn't surprise me if this is in fact a reference to frost...she did refer to wordsworth and just 'poets' in general in 'the lakes' so you may be spot on w/ that! thanks for your comment and for adding to the analysis✨

@Charles_S. 4 жыл бұрын

SS, another great interpretation. Im not sure if this fits into being "Betty" but if so (as it does have the same feel as Hoax) and if it's James he would have been with someone else at this time and I don't believe it's the "Other Woman" in August (or could it be 😐). Thanks again for reviewing!

@summersentiment 4 жыл бұрын

thanks for your comment! yeah, still not 100% sure where this fits in regards to theories/storylines but nonetheless it's a beautiful song. w/ every song i do, my stance changes on how everything fits together lol