Therapist Reacts to: This is Me Trying by Taylor Swift!

[@Teehee28]

This is me trying is the literal anthem for gifted kids whose lives went to shit at age 12 and never went back to how they used to be

[@erindelge5055]

So many gifted girls weren’t diagnosed with inattentive ADHD, and we grew up feeling like we wasted our potential. Those lines make me cry every time. Taylor gets it 🩷

[@erindelge5055]

So many gifted girls weren’t diagnosed with inattentive ADHD, and we grew up feeling like we wasted our potential. Those lines make me cry every time. Taylor gets it 🩷

[@sarak2681]

Or adults after they’ve graduated college.

[@liammcfarlane13]

This song was a direct attack... "They told me all of my cages were mental, so I got wasted like all my potential" "I was so ahead of the curve that the curve became a sphere, fell behind all my classmates and I ended up here". I was one of the brightest students in primary/elementary-middle school, then I was above average in high school but I got complacent and didn't try as hard as I could have and just ended up falling behind. Now I see former classmates graduating and getting their degrees meanwhile I have no idea what I want to do with my life 🤷🏻‍♂

[@melfitch2088]

"It's never too late to be who you might have been"

[@sailsoftime]

I can feel you. I'm going through the same

[@maianjb]

I'm here to make you feel better okay, I know exactly what you just wrote You are not alone

[@ednnacadena]

I’m trying too

[@maianjb]

@@ednnacadena and I'm proud of you

[@anniemayfield4589]

“It’s hard to be at a party when you feel like an open wound” reminds me of this quote (I actually think it was from we bought a zoo) it said “their happy is too loud”

[@jclyntoledo]

I'm not sure I understand the connection since they both seem like they're talking about two completely separate things

[@piesause1376]

I love hearing you talk and dissecting the song. Can't wait for Forever Winter, It's my favorite song on the album Red.

[@mendwithmere]

Thank you! Just posted :)

[@avokittypup]

Forever Winter somewhat saved me! It's my favourite too. It broke me when I first heard it because it was literally me, partially at least.

[@jamyamoline5510]

This song means the world to me. I’ve experienced depression and this song just hits so close to home. I can’t listen to it without crying

[@erindelge5055]

I cry every time but I still listen to it almost daily 🩷

[@thelifeandtimes.ofazombiegirl]

Same here from depression & severe anxiety & also as a recovering addict that is sober. (And also recovering from a severe self harm addiction) It looks to others like I'm not but I'm trying my best. This is my anthem from Folklore.

[@stephie8978]

Same. I’ve tried to have family listen to this to explain that I’m really trying, but they don’t get it.

[@biancatrindade3711]

This song is one of my favorites on the album, it was a warm hug that was sometimes lacking around, for years struggling with anxiety, depression, misdiagnosed Bipolar Disorder, and it was always difficult with the people around, Taylor always being my place safe, and the music seems to bring the words that are missing in moments of extreme struggle.

[@tisthedamncrisis]

"pouring out my heart to a stranger" makes me think about her songs and how she deliberately pours herself entirely on her lyrics, the strangers being the listeners; "but I didn't pour the whiskey" would be for me a way of saying that this is not enough for them, they want the spicy part of her life, they don't want emotions straight away, they want gossips... okay maybe I'm clouding but that's what I thought literally the first time I read it with full attention. she poured her heart out before serving the whiskey.

[@tisthedamncrisis]

resume: I didn't even pour the whiskey and I'm already pouring my heart out.

[@lovingherwasgay]

Great take! I saw it as "yes, I ended up here, pouring my heart out to a stranger, real low point in my life, but at LEAST I didn't pour the whiskey. THIS is me trying. at least I didn't relapse into unhealthy coping mechanisms"

[@jclyntoledo]

​@@lovingherwasgayyeah honestly I think that's exactly what it was supposed to be

[@missc-uw2nc]

I didn't become a Swiftie until I was in my 30s, and my 20s were spent living in a spiral of bad choices and reckless behavior that I shouldnt be alive to talk about.. I first heard this song when I was 7 years clean and Taylor always has a way of making me feel seen, heard, understood and gives me, thru the sadness of looking back on these dark times, a feeling of giving me a big hug❤

[@shewhowatchesalot]

I would love to see the reaction/breakdown of My Tears Ricochet please

[@mendwithmere]

Oh I was waiting for that suggestion. It may have to be a bit bc it’s deeply personal to me and I’ll likely cry like a baby. I actually have “my tears ricochet” tattooed :)

[@poisonivy-1241]

Thank you for considering our requests. This song really has a special place at this point in my life. I’ve been struggling with some mental issues and feel like I am wasting all my youth, health and energy trying not to feel bad and get out of this situation. I feel like I’m missing out everything because of the mental cages in my mind and I really feel anxious about being like this for the rest of my life. I’m trying so hard everyday and want to be my old self again. I couldn’t believe how much I could relate to a song written by somebody else. It also makes me feel that I’m not alone. I really liked seeing your reactions on this. If you would like to do more, “right where you left me” is also very well-written song about a woman being frozen at the moment when her lover breaks up with her. She is a songwriting genius.

[@haydenswords]

convinced she wrote this song about me when I was closeted dealing with coming out as trans to myself a couple years ago

[@mendwithmere]

Hi Hayden! I’m glad that you accepted yourself and I hope you have support now from family and friends and that they have accepted you. Sending you ♥️

[@gabrielamendes3533]

Omg, i'm so glad that I found this, because some months ago I decided to bring this song to my therapist because i identify a lot with it, and I got the same interpretation. I was thinking it was like talking to someone and telling all the things i'm passing through, but then i read the part "and it's hard to be at a party when i feel like an open wound, its hard to be anywhere theses days where all I want is you, you're a flashback in a film reel..." and i realized this is something i would say to my inner child, like it was a letter for myself from the past, and it got a completely different sense, i should say that is sadder than before! Thank you for your words, it's a great channel for swifties who are struggling with their mental health ❤

[@i-liv-you7423]

Watching her is LITERALLY therapy

[@GoldenPerception]

If you haven’t watched the Long Pond Studios Folklore Sessions, she’s talks really candidly about her thought process writing this song. Highly recommend!

[@stephie8978]

Yes! I got Disney + for the Eras concert. But then discovered the Long Pond Session documentary and this album meant so much more to me

[@sarak2681]

Yes their explanation is spot on and soo great!!

[@jennpower6147]

Frame this as a high school student who is a people pleaser, a high achiever in school, overloaded with extra-curriculars, on hemodialysis and with more than a full scholarship to university: the future was medical school. Now realize how Taylor grew up people pleasing, being the good girl, excelling in writing songs and being America's darling. Then everything crashes, the transplant fails as you receive the acceptance letters to med school and you have to make other plans. For Taylor it was the #taylorswifti5over (I won't type it) and that people pleaser has to die and you have to craft new plans. So she comes back angry and accepting the role of the snake - for me it was learning to not give too much credit to what other people think. The line all of my cages were mental, so I got wasted like all my potential is the shedding of the people pleaser, good girl side and finally living life on your terms. I don't know about Taylor, I can have a very sharp tongue when I am angry, but immediately regret it the moment it is out of my mouth. But when you take stock of the years you've spent, for me in school, but for Taylor doing her music from her mid-teens she was an adult well before her friends "I was so ahead of the curve became a sphere" eventually you realize your friends have found love, maybe gotten married, and had kids - and you feel like you are behind them in growing up. So you "pour your heart out to a stranger (therapist, bartender whatever) but you decide not to lose yourself either off a cliff or in the bottle. This is the anthem for people pleasing, good girls who just want some attention from something like a report card, too bad they don't give them as an adult. This is my favourite Taylor Song and I have plans for a small tattoo remembering this idea that you have to try and work at being present without needing outside confirmation that you are enough and what you are trying to do is enough and you are worthy of existing.

[@melfitch2088]

TS is so talented and brilliant with how she writes her lyrics! I'm also very impressed with your ability to take her lines and explain them in a way that I've not seen in reaction videos. If you're the first to be using reaction videos as a way to deal with psychological topics, then I'm double impressed! It's like you're taking poetry and pulling it apart in order to teach. THIS IS TRUE MUSIC THERAPY! Please keep doing what you're doing! Music is so relatable and healing...

[@TheCinder24]

Now that we have heard the 1989 vault tracks, this song hits different.

[@BrittinatreeD-Y-I-N-G]

Whatttt I need to listen to that Adele song from that viewpoint. Also this song makes me cry hardcore every single time. 😢

[@womanwithaname]

I love listening to you. I'm a psychotherapy student from Austria and a Taylor Swift fan and I always dissect her lyrics myself. So nice to hear your impressions :) greetings from Vienna

[@bobbyrw1398]

Another great reaction. Thank you. You sharing your professional insights on lyrics like these will help a lot of people with their struggles.

[@tomenrico6199]

Watch the Long Pond Sessions version of this song. It includes a conversation between Taylor and Jack Antonoff where Taylor explains her thoughts as she wrote this song.

[@thelifeandtimes.ofazombiegirl]

You spoke my truth describing this song

[@aubreemcclennen92]

The first verse is about mental health and about how you know you're in high school and you have the shinies wheels and you get out and like there's no course on life and the second one is about a diction and you know backing away from the cliff and that is just trying and she said quote how many people that are fighting addiction and mental illness and anxiety you know get asked everyday how they're doing because they're fighting something every single day you should definitely check out the backyard

[@rianray_music]

Love your reaction and explanation

[@angulargyrus2722]

I recommend Mirrorball!

[@A_b_b_y_89]

Finally, someone who understands🥺💕

[@NickyBeaverNB888]

Hi there, i have a slightly different take on “this is me trying”, you see, i used to be healthy, looked after my family, was social and did sports a lot. Then a rare condition damaged my back and pelvis and I became a disabled person over night (more of less). Taking many drugs for the pain, got mind fog and depressed and was told all was inoperable and it would claim my life years earlier than than the normal age. Then I had a hard time adjusting the totality of my life, my shiny wheels (metaphor) became rusty as i was not allowed sports, walking, house work, hobbies… so I did think of “the lookout drop “ solution myself. To live knowing your already horrid pain is going to get worse and to know you will end up in a bed sooner rather than later does that. Well, i didn’t because I was and am trying. To live when I have nothing to live for other than my family. This song is very much addressing such issues. Me trying is unnoticed by most..it’s frightening, my world is relentlessly hard and trying.. Taylor stated that this song was about snd folks like me, who are brave because they have to be.. and when I’m at my worst, others think I look good because I am so depressed, i cannot eat.. hope this helps, Nicky

[@perrycoffey5410]

Real sorry to hear this

[@lody272]

i am so happy that Taylor's music can bring you a little bit of that reconforting feeling. i'm thinking of you. you're seen

[@jclyntoledo]

​@@lody272Sorry but I think there's a typo here I'm not sure what you're trying to say

[@holysheikh]

watching this for free therapy lol

[@mattg4538]

I was at the top of my class in college and now I'm on medical leave from a prestigious job at a top tech company because of addiction, and it's not the first time, so I really can relate to this song. I don't even know how to start fixing things because I let all the non-career parts of the car fall off along the way and I'm not really left with anything.

[@jclyntoledo]

Don't give up, keep trying bc you can become clean (drug and alcohol free) again

[@sarak2681]

I can relate.

[@boygenius123]

I LOVE YOUR REACTIONS!!!!! i recommend the archer by taylor

[@castlebyerslives7021]

as an ADHD girl, this song feels like my anthem

[@lorenamacedo3879]

I had a feeling, as a person who is also dealing with mental illness, that the line "they told me all of my cages were mental" kinda sounded like someone comes to you and says 'oh, but, why are you feeling so bad, everything is fine, this is thing is only inside your head, you can get get rid of it', like, depression or anxiety or addiction, is something we could simply realize is been droven by thoughts and feelings there aren't real, they're 'only inside our heads', like our "mental cages", because I get that a lot from people who don't understand the diseases...

[@tanyafletcher7567]

She talks about this song on Long Pond. It is not about her but someone who is struggling.

[@richardh776]

You should react to Tolerate it on Evermore album by Taylor.

[@kakeen1977]

if you look at the video "it's me", she shows her self on the roof, drinking a lot by herself In other songs, she has mentioned drinking alone ... I can't remember which song but it's one line. I'm wondering if she turned to alcohol when she was going through her hard time Talking to strangers, but didn't pour the wiskey, reminds me of somebody, sitting in a bar, talking to strangers and drinking soda instead of alcohol Or maybe one of her close, friends or family was an alcoholic ? It does sound so much to me like alcoholism

[@sergio-pc4pk]

Could you please react to Funeral by Phoebe Bridgers please?

[@prantik2006]

Can you react to "Ronan (Taylor's Version)" ... I think you'll love it ☺️

[@C-Iris]

I really liked your interpretation!

[@SavageSoldiers-oe3rf]

Oh mylanta have I been trying....staying in city, hoping to see you

[@Avacado-b2h]

Literally every verse in this song is so relatable 😭💔. EVERY FREAKING LYRIC!!!!!

[@GiGi-lg1dl]

You should analyze TS’s own lyric videos, as her visuals provide info. In this case, it’s a blank drive-in movie screen...that, frankly, also appears in the opening of Jake’s movie, “Nightcrawler”. However, I love your analysis, and it is likely correct, although it could be dual meaning, as she often does.

[@stephie8978]

I can’t find official video for this song. Many other videos on it but not with a movie screen.

[@GiGi-lg1dl]

@@stephie8978 look for “lyric video”

[@derlis_whatever7033]

You should react to everything i wanted by Billie Eilish

[@mendwithmere]

Will do! Thanks for watching!

[@khairulrizal2487]

LOVEEEE YOUR REACTION ! PLEASE REACT MORE TO TAYLOR SWIFT ALBUMS , SONGS

[@hannahshmulsky7119]

Thanks for this breakdown video!! ❤❤ I feel like this is me, hypothetically going to see my “good” ex, after not seeing him for six years and being involved with three covert narcissists in the interim. We were together 5 years. We broke up because we couldn’t make a long distance relationship turn into a regular one….and it was so good during our times together that the time apart shredded me. I had to take the dagger out and end it. Not only could I not replace him, I found myself surrounded by trash and trauma after I left him behind. I dated 3 narcissists in a row! 😢 Total nightmare. I’m not quite the same person I was before I went through all the manipulation and abuse. Even if the old obstacles were taken away (difficulties with emigration), would it still work between us? Would I screw it up because of my pain? “This is me trying….” one thing about me, I never quit trying. Plus this song is such a banger, listen to that bass line!! ❤ I’m a pretty new TS fan and only recently started listening to Folklore and Evermore…. they’re blowing my mind sonically as well as lyrically. She really is a mastermind ❤❤❤

[@stephie8978]

I just love this song, and analyzed song the same way. I don’t like the weird voice edits tho. Distracting. Just me. There’s a video of her talking about this song. About how people who struggle with depression or addiction- other people think they are really messed up when they might actually be trying their best.

[@emmettseggsack]

I know songs about addiction resonate with you, so I think you would like Wishful Thinking By Gracie Abrams which talks about her struggling with praying her s/o will grow up and get over his addiction

[@annaorihuela6401]

I think you would really love the Long Pond Studio Sessions! I would love to here your reaction to her explanations of each song

[@alexandra28m]

She wrote this song about me

[@brandiet1072]

You should listen to Orange Juice by Noah Kahan. It’s about addiction! And soooo good!! Love your reactions!

[@jewleenelson1002]

Not a Taylor song, but I would love to hear your thoughts on ‘Em Beihold’s Numb Little Bug!

[@mendwithmere]

Ooo thank you!

[@soniclyqaulan]

you should react to her song from folklore album peace

[@Sneha-ld1tu]

most channel only react and you respond❤❤

[@direwolf6234]

life isn't fair and things don't go according to plan .. and one day you look around and wonder wait how am i in this place this wasn't the plan despite all your best efforts & intentions .. and you haven't lived up to your potential or worse didn't get the breaks only the obstacles and you lose your momentum and faith and end up circling the drain ... the sadness & regrets aren't ever going away ...

[@BrittinatreeD-Y-I-N-G]

Slam dunk interpretation of my brain and how badly I relate to the song.

[@bchris7350]

I’d love you to do a reaction to anyone by Demi lavato

[@ceciliavillar3692]

please react to mirrorball!!

[@fia_cyann]

Oh god my perspective changed..

[@johntan371]

Next The Archer by Taylor Swift

[@lynnetrathen4587]

Yep I agree that Taylor is talking about herself 😢

[@Rainbowbrite10]

This is me trying is about Taylor saying to her man look "I'm trying to give us a chance again". Even though you treated me like crap I'm trying to meet you half way and give US another chance". And so she goes to him to meet him. It's not her talking to herself. She's trying not to shut down.

[@bethd2439]

She has explained the song and this is not even close to what the song is about. It is about mental health, addiction and other life struggles. The song is about relationships but how someone struggling and failing is expressing that they are trying to overcome the demons that have led to the failures and hurting the other person. It is most definitely not about that other person hurting her. You are correct at least according to her that this is not autobiographical and taking about or to herself, except to the extent that she also experiences these struggles at time like most all of us.

[@nanubatuta]

Please react to clean!

[@gissela3436]

Can you do out of the woods?

[@poojaahuja3934]

😢😢😢

[@sarak2681]

Meredith, so I get the idea of “I was so ahead of the curve, the curve became a sphere”, and I think this happened to me, but with the bell curve how does being ahead literally become a sphere? I don’t get it lol.

[@sarak2681]

Perhaps like you’re too smart for your own good that you or others don’t know what to do with it or you’re so smart that you have ADD and can’t put it to good use so you spin around back to below the curve on the chart?

[@AlyssaPerrine]

if you don't mind me asking, what type of therapist are you? i really adore your videos :)

[@dd6908]

Love the reaction but wish it wasn't edited with those slomo clips. 😅

[@angulargyrus2722]

I recommend Mirrorball!