It's 3am And I'm Sobbing Over This.

The Alcott Analysis

So now that The Alcott has officially been released I wanted to do an analysis of some of the lyrics and how I think they might relate to Taylor. Disclaimer: I know Aaron said Matt wrote the main parts of the song and Taylor only added the dialogue parts so many of these connections might be a coincidence, but I also think it’s possible Taylor could have had more input on the song than they’re letting on since there are so many themes and motifs that perfectly relate back to Taylor’s music. This is just meant to be a fun clown theory

Like many others pointed out, the whole first verse is very “Help I’m still at the restaurant, still sitting in a corner I haunt, cross legged in the dim light, they say ‘what a sad sight’” and seems like the opposite pov of RWYLM

“It’s the last thing you/I wanted, it’s the first thing I/you do, I tell you that I think I’m falling back in love w/ you” // “I love you ain’t that the worst thing you ever heard” // “Uh oh I’m falling in love, oh no I’m falling in love again”

“I had to do something to break into your golden thinking” // “Lost in the labyrinth of my mind…you would break your back to make me break a smile”— this is directly related to the following ⬇️

“And there you are sitting as usual w/ your golden notebook, writing something about someone who used to be me…I sit there silently waiting for you to look up” // “Did you ever hear about the girl who got frozen, time moved on for everybody else, she won’t know it, she’s still 23 inside her fantasy, how it was supposed to be…and you’re sitting in front of me” -> Taylor is stuck in her own head reminiscing and writing about the past (the golden age) and this person sitting in front of her is trying to break her out of this nostalgic escapist mindset. I think this may be a direct reference to the film Midnight in Paris which is all about nostalgia and escapism–much like the song Paris on the Midnights 3am edition–and specifically to golden age thinking, a phrase used in that film. Here are some tidbits that I think are worth noting

@chickawah23​ made a really great post about the possible Midnight in Paris connections. Here’s a screenshot from that post that does a good job summarizing the important parallels

There definitely seems to be a connection between Midnights, the stories of 13 sleepless nights, and the folklore chapters that were released in Aug 2020, specifically the sleepless nights and escapism chapters. I think it’s interesting that exile is the last track of the first chapter and first track of the second chapter–almost like the second chapter is a direct continuation of the first which again links Midnights to this escapism theme. And there’s been a lot of exile references lately (exile ends, doors, 8/3, etc)

Even though the back and forth dialogue between Taylor and Matt at first sounds argumentative, I think it could also be read in a positive way. This person is going to ruin and wreck Taylor’s plans and Taylor is going to gladly let them. She welcomes the curse on their house. “I’m begging for you to take my hand wreck my plans that’s my man” // “For you I would ruin myself a million little times” // “I wish to know the fatal flaw that makes you long to be magnificently cursed…He’s gonna burn this house to the ground…So yeah it’s a fire it’s a goddamn blaze in the dark and you started it” // “Dear reader, burn all the files, desert all your past lives” // Taylor is the one that chooses to burn the lover house down. She’s the one holding the lighter on the Midnights album cover and striking the match in the lavender haze mv (here’s a really great post about what that might signify). Furthermore, the willow performance and description make me think that the curse on Taylor’s house was actually her own doing–she’s not only letting this person wreck her plans but is helping them do so. So the burning, wrecking, ruining, cursing/spell casting are all metaphors for the same thing—destroying Taylor’s closet and possibly her career as a result of that

Honorable mention: The beat almost sounds like a heartbeat no? Wildest Dreams??

I, for one, love to innocently touch my gal pal’s chest. And hips. And face (with my lips).

do you interpret mastermind as "i orchestrated/designed the entire relationship with my beard" or as the genuine "i wanted to be with you so i planned out everything and none of it was accidental"?? or both maybe?

i completely believe it’s about taylor and karlie oh my goodness no contest.

it fits so many kaylor songs and how we think about their relationship.

but not just how taylor planned out how she was going to win karlie’s heart, it’s also a song that has a cute surprise twist midway through the song where it’s revealed that her love interest was also wooing her and knew she was being wooed!!

Ask everyone who thinks Dress is a song is about her British beau if they knew who he was in 2017.

“Everyone thinks that they know us but they know nothing...” - Dress

And if they say they did, ask them to share what they knew about him besides his connection to Taytay. And if they say Billy Lynn remind them that his debut film was not released until November 18, 2016. And she wrote dress before then. And if they say they knew him from the 2016 Met gala, they’re lying. lol

Take me to the lakes where all the poets went to die. I don’t belong, and my beloved, neither do you.

Those Windermere peaks look like a perfect place to cry. I’m setting off, but not without my muse.

I want auroras and sad prose. I want to watch wisteria grow right over my bare feet, ‘cause I haven't moved in years. And I want you right here.

A red rose grew up out of ice frozen ground with no one around to tweet it. I bathe in cliffside pools with my calamitous love and insurmountable grief.

Take me to the lakes, where all the poets went to die. I don't belong, and my beloved, neither do you. Those Windermere peaks look like a perfect place to cry. I’m settin' off, but not without my muse.

No, not without you🖤

Has anyone done a masterpost of the blurry background home clips from the Lover MV? I know the sparklers with Karlie as well as the guitar KIWYW performance have been identified. I was watching it again today and when the lyric "take me home" comes on, there's an owl/bird in the background and I seem ti recall something with owls related to the Big Sur trip?

i am positive someone did at the time but i can’t remember who and i can’t locate a reblog

anybody have a link to a post?

i was able to recover these

bi rice crispies ↓

big sur falcon pic ↓

it is thought there might be a daisy (maybe not the daisy but a daisy) in this ↓

here’s the sparkler one ↓

and this is just something i pointed out about the union jack symbol that makes an appearance ↓

ah what the heck i’m feeling festive i’ll add this too ↓

i think it was also pointed out that there’s a pic of taylor jumping off a dock, and karlie had recently posted a pic of her similarly jumping off a dock

Kinda obsessed with how you can hear the rain

there's also a lot of word "red" mention on 🎃 messages.. aside from "question..?".

THEN SHE SANG QUESTION..? the other night and RED last night.

So TS is sending signals?? 🧐

🎃 To those who have requested I give some kind of sign or signal to prove my validity - I see you. In fact, I am one step ahead. If you read my messages closely, and hold them to the light in the coming unfoldings, I think you will find many connections and foretellings. I have a feeling we all share a similar taste in MUSIC.

Tonight's folklore speech was VERY interesting from a JackOLantern Anon perspective...👀 She said "woodsy and foresty" (in that order, just like in JackOLantern Anon's 10th message. "You wander through the WOODS. Deep in this enchanted FOREST") she also mentioned parchment, feathers (I believe JackOLantern Anon called the dandelions "feathery"), typewriters, and CANDLES. And went on to talk her usual talk about how much fun she had infusing her real emotions into fictionalized characters for folklore...And one more thing, in the message about falling from the glass castle, wasn't a free fall mentioned? Tonight's surprise song was Red, which has the lyric "trying to change your mind once you're already flying through the free fall" 👀

👀

🎃 You wander through the woods. Deep in this Enchanted Forest

🎃 You finish scrawling on the parchment.

🎃 There is a tealight candle at its center, the dancing glow casting shadows from deep within the carved, jagged-toothed smile.

🎃 You will reach the ground either way, whether you float like a feather or freefall like a meteor.