State of Grace

Today's Taylor Swift song is the meaning of "State of Grace" from her "Red" album.

In the Stories Behind the Red Songs Taylor says, "State of Grace is a song I wrote at the beginning process of making this album, and I think it helps to define what the rest of the record is about, just with one line.  There's a line in the song that says 'Love is a ruthless game/Unless you play it good and right'. That's kind of like a warning, for the rest of the record. This is what's going to happen if you don't play this right. This is what could happen if you do. It almost serves as the perfect kind of warning label for the rest of the record.  As soon as you hear that song, there are two ways this could go, you could be good to people, or you could not play fair, and both the outcomes are reflected on the record."

Who is this song about?

Taylor says in her Good Morning America preview for the song October 15th, "I wrote this song about when you first fall in love with someone the possibilities, kind of thinking about the different ways that it could go. It's a really big sound. To me, this sounds like the feeling of falling in love in an epic way." There are several clues, but one especially telling comes in the line, "Just twin fire signs, four blue eyes". Taylor has blue eyes.  Who has blue eyes that Taylor has dated?  Jake Gyllenhaal has blue eyes!  They also have the same astrological sign, Sagittarius, a fire sign.  His birthday is December 19, 1980 and Taylor's birthday is December 13, 1989.

She includes how they met.  Taylor wasn't expecting to fall in love.  In the first part of the song she talks about how life is so busy, "And all we know is touch and go."  Life is just coming and going.  And then she meets him, "And I never saw you coming/And I’ll never be the same." She feel hard, "But this love is brave and wild."

It didn't last though.  She "loved in shades of wrong".  In the liner notes it references their break up, I LOVE YOU DOESN'T COUNT AFTER GOODBYE.  In We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together she says "We break up, you call me...
i love you."  This I love you doesn't count.  And she could also be referencing the fact that she doesn't love him anymore.  Too bad, it sounds like it was great while it lasted.

Click here for lyrics to the song, "State of Grace."

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Starlight

Today's Taylor Swift song is the meaning of "Starlight" from her "Red" album.

Who is this song about?

FOR ETHEL is the lyric hint for this song.  It is a tribute to Ethel Kennedy about her marriage to Robert Kennedy.

Taylor says in her stories behind the songs, “Starlight is a song I wrote actually after seeing a picture of, Ethel and Bobby Kennedy when they were seventeen. I saw this picture about a year a half ago, and I didn’t know anything about like, what they were doing or what was going on in the picture, but I just thought ‘They look like they’re having the best night.’ So I wrote this song about what the night might’ve been like. And I ended up meeting Ethel and going and playing it for her and she just loved it. It was such a fun moment when she was just in love with the song and so happy about it. It’s just this adorable picture that to me, it just like brought forth all these potentials for how that night could’ve been.”

In the song Taylor talks about the first time Ethel and Robert met "I met bobby on the boardwalk summer of '45/Picked me up late one night/Out the window we were seventeen."  I think when she refers to having 10 kids "Oooh ooh, we could get married/Have ten kids and teach them how to dream, " she is making up a number, ie lots of kids.  They actually had 11 kids.

Click here for the lyrics to the song, Starlight.

She was able to attend the screening of the HBO special "Ethel" directed by Rory Kennedy in January.

Ethel Skakel Kennedy, center, subject of the documentary film "Ethel," poses with her daughter Rory, the director of the film, and singer Taylor Swift at the premiere of the film at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, Friday, Jan. 20, 2012. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello) AP

In an interview with Vogue in January 2011 Taylor says, “The only time in my life I have ever been starstruck was meeting Caroline and Ethel Kennedy, I got to spend the afternoon with Ethel a couple of weeks ago. She is one of my favorites because you look back at the pictures of her and Bobby and they always look like they are having the most fun out of everybody. You know, eleven kids, all these exotic animals on their property. I’ve read a lot about them.”

I'm glad she got to meet one of her icons!

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Everything Has Changed

Today's Taylor Swift song is "Everything Has Changed" from her "Red" album.

This is one of my other favorite songs on the album.  She collaborated with Ed Sheeran in the writing and on the track.  I love their voices together.  The song reminds of all the times when you first meet someone and you start to like them.  You get butterflies in your stomach and feel so elated and just want to get to know them better.

Taylor and Ed.
This picture was created by a reader of this blog :)  Talent! Please check out his Tumblr page by clicking the following link.
"I converted a photo of Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift into an Impressionist painting based on VanGogh’s Starry Starry Night."

In Stories Behind the Red Songs, Taylor says, " 'Everything Has Changed' is a song that I wrote with Ed Sheeran and he is such a talented person in so many ways. He is such an incredibly talented guitar player, and singer and songwriter and performer.  Writing this song with him was so much fun. We were sitting in my backyard writing this song and he started singing harmony on it and I asked him if he would record it with me as a duet. Because it's about this moment that both people are having when they see each other and all of the sudden the world looks different because everything's changed."

Who is this song about?

Can you spot Taylor?

The hint in the lyric booklet is HYANNIS PORT. Do you know what famous family has a vacation spot in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts? The Kennedy's! Taylor Swift spent the 4th of July weekend with the Kennedy's in Hyannis Port.

Who was there that weekend?  Conor Kennedy! who may or may not be Taylor's current boyfriend.  I am not going to speculate.  It is about when she first met him that weekend.

 "All I know since yesterday/Is everything has changed/And all I’ve seen since 18 hours ago/Is green eyes and freckles/And your smile in the back of my mind making me feel like/I just want to know you better, know you better, know you better now."

Taylor likes to say the eye color of guys in songs, and Conor has green eyes and freckles.

Taylor is elated, and "All I know is pouring rain."  She dreams of getting swept off her feet in the pouring rain and many songs reference rain.  I'm glad she shared this special moment!

Click here for lyrics to the song, "Everything Has Changed."

Click here to see the music video for "Everything Has Changed".

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The Moment I Knew

Today's Taylor Swift song is the meaning of "The Moment I Knew" from the Target deluxe edition of "Red".

This is one of my favorite songs from the Target edition. It really expresses the feeling of a longing for someone that you love and care about, but isn't there for you. I knew right away when I heard this song who it was about. Any guesses?

Christmas 2010 was a very sad one for Taylor. In an interview with Vogue in February 2012 she said, " 'I really have this great life right now, and I’m not sad and I’m not crying this Christmas, so I am really stoked about that.' Were you crying last Christmas? 'I am not gonna go into it! It’s a sad story'."

The sad story is expressed in this song.

In an interview with Yahoo music Taylor says, " 'The Moment I Knew' "was a song about my 21st birthday party, which was the worst experience ever."

"The Moment I Knew" is about a party around Christmas time, her birthday party "Christmas lights glisten/And it was like slow motion/standing there in my party dress, in red lipstick, with no-one to impress/and they’re all sitting around me singing ‘Happy Birthday To You’." For her birthday party in 2010 she had a Christmas themed party. In an interview with People magazine she says "I definitely want a winter-themed birthday -- Christmas-themed, And I'd really like to have it in my condo. I think that would be wonderful."

She didn't really enjoy it though, the whole nights she "got my eye on the door, just waiting for you to walk in, but the time is ticking/standing there in my party dress, in red lipstick, with no-one to impress," She was waiting for someone that "said you’d be here." There was definitely "one thing missing", someone missing. The person later "called me later and said ‘I’m sorry I didn't make it,’ and I said, ‘I’m sorry too.’/And that was the moment I knew…"

Click here for lyrics to the song, "The Moment I Knew".

Who was missing at the party?

It was Jake Gyllenhaal. She knew when he didn't show up, when she stood there waiting the whole night that something wasn't right, that the magic was over, "That magic's not here no more" ("All Too Well"). Instead of coming he supposedly bought her a very expensive bracelet and coffee. Money doesn't buy love Jake. They broke up soon after that and Taylor was crying on Christmas. They tried to salvage what they had, but it didn't work out and they are "Never Ever Getting Back Together".

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All Too Well

Today's Taylor Swift song is the meaning of "All Too Well" from her "Red Album".

This is one of my favorite songs on the album. I love the music and I love the message. It starts out soft and gentle, but grows to a very full song. When Taylor performs this song she even throws in a few head bangs.
The song starts out soft, describing events and feeling associated with new love; "almost ran the red cause you were lookin' over at me", "wide eyed gaze[s]", "singing in the car", "getting lost upstate", "checks turning red",  and "dancing around the kitchen in the refrigerator light". The song takes a dramatic turn when Taylor stops recollecting what that the new love was like and tries to figure out what went wrong. "Well maybe we got lost in translation/maybe i asked for too much/but maybe this thing was a masterpiece/till you tore it all up".  In the end she resigns herself and admits that it is hard to imagine it's over because she "remembers" it all too well.

This happened so many times to me in my life.  I would fall in love with a guy and then nothing, no calls, nothing.  Luckily I eventually found someone that did not go away and I can cherish those initial feelings I felt when we first dated forever.

Taylor says in the stories behind the songs, "This is the first song that I wrote for this record.  It kept coming back to me because it told a story so well in such a full way.  It starts with meeting someone and all the details about that innocent beginning and it follows the story all the way to the bitter end.  It's a really emotional song because it does show you why loss is so painful, because it was once good and you can remember it."

Who is this song about?

Taylor Swift performing "All Too Well" January 26, 2014 at the 56th annual Grammy Awards.  (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images) 2014 Getty Images

A very prominent hint is in the lyrics liner notes, MAPLE LATTES.  Why are maple lattes significant?
Because she got them with Jake Gyllenhaal. According to People Magazine, November 26 Taylor was "in Brooklyn, alongside new boyfriend Jake Gyllenhaal. Around 10:30 a.m., the pair popped into Park Slope's Gorilla Coffee for specialty maple lattes, made with pure Vermont syrup." Jake LOVES maple lattes.

There are also countless other clues in the lyrics pointing to Jake.

In the line, "And I left my scarf there at your sister's house", Taylor references Jake's sister Maggie Gyllenhall. Taylor hung out with her when she was dating Jake.

In the line, "We're singing in the car, getting lost upstate/Autumn leaves falling down like pieces into place/And i can picture it after all these days", Taylor references an apple picking date they went on.

They went apple picking in upstate New York on October 22nd, right when the leaves would be changing. According US Weekly, "The two were spotted Saturday at the Fishkill Farms in Hopewell Junction, N.Y, where they toured fall foliage and went apple-picking. 'They were walking through the trees, having fun together," says a local. 'They looked happy. Some of the customers tried to take a photo of them, but they were hiding from them in the trees. They drove through the orchard and bought the apples on the way out.'

Taylor also references a younger Jake, "You used to be a little kid with glasses". The picture says it all.

Jake Gyllenhaal when he was a kid.

While their romance lasted it was magical and special, but sadly the relationship did not last. "And you call me up again/Just to break me like a promise". He broke it off with her, and she "remembers it all too well".  She references an "old scarf from that very first week" that he kept to remember her by. It symbolizes; all the fun times they had, her innocence, being caught up in the magic of love, and missing love when it went away. The break up was so fresh in her mind when she wrote this song.  It was amazing while it lasted and painful to remember when it was over.  "It was rare, I was there, I remember it all too well". I hope someday you find that love Taylor and it doesn't go away!

Click here for the lyrics to the song, "All Too Well".

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22

Today's Taylor Swift song is the meaning of "22" from her "Red" album.

In an interview with Ramin Setoodeh Taylor says, "Having written a song called 'Fifteen,' about how much I learned at age 15, and how that was a really heavy year for me. I learned a lot of lessons the hard way and it was a vulnerable age. And 22 is a vulnerable age, but you’re a little more brave. You’re a little more ready to take risks and live with the consequences. To me, the song '22' has a more carefree background to it. Because the age of 22 is much more carefree for me than 15 was."

Who is it about?

Dianna Argon, Ashley Avignone, Taylor Swift, Claire Winter Kislinger, April 24, 2012, celebrating Shirley MacLaine's birthday.

 Taylor says in her Paint the World Red website, "I wanted to write a song about what my summer had been like, with my friends with that kind of attitude of like 'We are in our 20's and we don't know anything and it's awesome.'  It's kind of fun to embrace that and I've got to say that's probably one of the biggest choruses on the record."

It's a song dedicated to her best friends! In the song, the names ASHLEY, DIANNA, CLAIRE, SELENA are in all caps in her lyric hidden messages.

These girls are: Ashley Avignone(@ashavignone) , Dianna Agron(@DiannaArgon), Claire Winter Kislinger (@ClaireWinter) and Selena Gomez (@selenagomez).

With her friends Taylor is "happy, free, confused and Lonely in the bEst way/it’s miserable aNd mAgical, oh yeah/tonight’s the night when we forget about the heartbreaks, its time". She can let go of her inhibitions to "dreSs up like Hipsters/and make fun of our exes/forget About the deadlines". She "gotta have" her best friends.

Click here for lyrics to the song, "22".

Who are these people? We all know Selena Gomez.

Selena Gomez and Taylor have been "best friends for four years (now five years)”. Taylor said at her "Speak Now" Nov. 22 concert at NYC’s Madison Square Garden where she performed "Who Says" with Selena.

Taylor Swift and Selena Gomez at Taylor's November 22 "Speak Now" concert at Madison Square Garden.

Selena says "One of my favorite stories with Taylor Swift was when I was going through a very hard breakup. She came to my house at 10:30 at night and knocked on my door. I opened it, and she had two big bags of junk food, cookies, Snickers and soda, She put it on the table, put her laptop on, we made a video, and she told me that now we could look forward to breakups, since we know the other one will get us junk food."

The others are friends are people who have been seen in her Twitter pictures recently.

From her LinkedIn profile Claire Winter Kislinger is the PR Director and Senior Accounts Manager at Cathy Waterman Inc. Dianna Argon, plays Quinn Fabray on the series Glee. She is a singer, dancer and an actress. Ashley Avignone is a stylist.

They get together and have fun crazy times.

Taylor's tweet April 25, 2012 "We dressed up full-time fancy and went out in celebration of Shirley MacLaine's birthday. @DiannaAgron @AshA" Top left: Dianna Argon and Taylor Swift, Bottom right: Dianna Argon, Ashley Avignone, Taylor Swift, Claire Winter Kislinger. (Picture taken April 24, 2012)

Dianna Argon's costume birthday bash April 28, 2012. L to R: Taylor Swift, Claire Winter Kislinger, Dianna Argon, and Ashley Avignone.

"Evidently, it was 'face paint Wednesday' last night. ash drew a unicorn on Claire Winter's face. Impressed." Courtesy of taylorswift.com (journal), Top right: Taylor Swift, Bottom Right, Clire Winter Kislinger, Bottom Left: Ashley Avignone.

Her friends were proud of her during her release of "Red".

Claire Winter Kislinger, 12:07 PM - 21 Oct 12

I am really proud of my friend--her album comes out in 12(!!!) hours and it's amazing. See for yourself: @taylorswift13, #RED, midnight.


Ashley Avignone,10:56 PM - 21 Oct 1
#RED

Dianna Argon, 2:36 PM - 22 Oct 12

Congrats @taylorswift13!! Look at you go... Listening party in the trailer & the French are digging it too. pic.twitter.com/j0TYjlne

Glad she is having a fun at 22 and has some great friends!

Click here to see the music video, "22".

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Deluxe Target "Red" Album Track List

Taylor has added 6 new songs to the deluxe Target "Red" album.

Here is the track list for the deluxe Target "Red" album.

1. "State Of Grace"

2."Red"

3. "Treacherous"

4."I Knew You Were Trouble."

5."All Too Well"

6."22"

7. "I Almost Do"

8. "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together"

9. "Stay Stay Stay"

10. "The Last Time"

11. "Holy Ground"

12. "Sad Beautiful Tragic"

13. "The Lucky One"

14. "Everything Has Changed"

15. "Starlight"

16. "Begin Again"

17. The Moment I knew

18. Come Back...Be Here

19. Girl At Home

20. Treacherous (Original Demo Recording)

21. Red (Original Demo Recording)

22. State of Grace (Acoustic Version)

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Red Album lyric note hints

Taylor Swift likes to give her fans clues to what her songs are about, easter eggs if you will, much like the Beatles did with their music, "They used to play around with secret messages in their records, I figured you can't play a CD backward, but with encoding stuff into the lyrics, I was able to get a similar kind of thing across." (Taylor Swift tells USA Today)

She has put them in every album, and with the release of "Red", it is no different. The clues are there, some are obvious, FOR ETHEL, HYANNIS PORT, MAPLE LATTES. Others not as obvious and will require a little digging, WONT STOP TILL ITS OVER, WHEN YOU SAW ME DANCING. Here are the hints and hidden messages from the "Red" Album. What do you think? I definitely have my ideas.

1. State of Grace, Lyrics I LOVE YOU DOESNT COUNT AFTER GOODBYE
2. Red, Lyrics SAG
3. Treacherous, Lyrics WONT STOP TILL ITS OVER
4. I Knew You Were Trouble, Lyrics WHEN YOU SAW ME DANCING
5. All Too Well, Lyrics MAPLE LATTES
6. 22, Lyrics ASHLEY DIANNA CLAIRE SELENA
7. I Almost Do, Lyrics WROTE THIS INSTEAD OF CALLING
8. We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together, Lyrics WHEN I STOPPED CARING WHAT YOU THOUGHT
9. Stay Stay Stay, Lyrics DAYDREAMING ABOUT REAL LOVE
10. The Last Time, Lyrics LA ON YOUR BREAK
11. Holy Ground, Lyrics WHEN YOU CAME TO THE SHOW IN SD
12. Sad Beaufitul Tragic, Lyrics WHILE YOU WERE ON A TRAIN
13. The Lucky One, Lyrics WOULDNT YOU LIKE TO KNOW
14. Everything Has Changed, Lyrics HYANNIS PORT
15. Starlight, Lyrics FOR ETHEL
16. Begin Again, Lyrics I WEAR HEELS NOW

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Dear John

Today's Taylor Swift song is the meaning of "Dear John" from her "Speak Now" album.

I like this song, but I don't like the person the song is about so I have been avoiding writing about this song. But it does need to be included. This song makes me think of all the stupid guys I knew before I met my husband, the ones that would constantly play games with my head. I am SO glad I found my husband.

Who is it about?

It is about John Mayer.

They first performed together on March 23, 2009 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, where they performed "Your Body is a Wonderland" together during her "Fearless" tour. During that same month John tweeted, "Waking up to this song idea that won't leave my head. 3 days straight now. That means it's good enough to finish. It's called 'Half of My Heart' and I want to sing it with Taylor Swift. She would make a killer 'Nicks' in contrast to my 'Petty' of a song." Taylor was so excited saying, "I freaked out when I heard, because I've been such a big fan of John for such a long time. I'm really excited about just the idea that he would even mention me in his Twitter!" They teamed up and recorded "Half of My Heart" together. They dated from late 2009 to early 2010, after Taylor broke up with Taylor Launter. It could have gotten over early as the end of January or the beginning of February.

While dating him, she told Rolling Stone magazine in January 2010, "I'm always going to love Keith Urban, I'm always going to love John Mayer. I'm always going to love people like that, who I feel are truly authentic, and that's not to say that my music will ever sound like theirs, but I'm inspired by people who I feel know exactly who they are, and that inspires me to continue to figure out and inform who I am as an artist."

But Taylor knew she shouldn't date him. Her "mother accused me of losing my mind". Everyone was told her to, "run as fast as you can." John was flighty and led her on big time, "And I lived in your chess game/But you changed the rules everyday/Wonderin’ which version of you I might get on the phone, tonight". He liked to "keep the lines blurry."

She delivers a major blow to him in the song, "Or maybe it’s you and your sick need/To give love and take it away". He does seem to be all about the chase and once he gets the girl, he dumps her really fast. Taylor says that "you'll add my name to your long list of traitors who don't understand/All the girls that you run dry have tired lifeless eyes/Cause you burned them out." John has dated a lot of women including Jessica Simpson and Jennifer Aniston and hurt them really bad too. He doesn't say the nicest things about them when he breaks up with them.

Click here for lyrics to the song, "Dear John".

John responded to the song, but I think it's all malarkey, he totally deserved it because he is such a jerk! He can dish it out, but can not take it AT ALL. It will be in small print also because that is what I think of his words.

John Mayer told Rolling Stone in 2012, "It made me feel terrible, Because I didn't deserve it. I'm pretty good at taking accountability now, and I never did anything to deserve that. It was a really lousy thing for her to do. I never got an e-mail. I never got a phone call, I was really caught off-guard, and it really humiliated me at a time when I’d already been dressed down. I mean, how would you feel if, at the lowest you’ve ever been, someone kicked you even lower?” When asked about the song's line, “Don’t you think I was too young to be messed with?” Mayer says, “I don’t want to go into that.”

"I will say as a songwriter that I think it's kind of cheap songwriting, I know she's the biggest thing in the world, and I'm not trying to sink anybody's ship, but I think it's abusing your talent to rub your hands together and go, 'Wait till he gets a load of this!' That's bulls...."

Taylor responded in an interview with Cynthia McFadden in October 2012 when asked about John Mayer's response to the song, "How presumptuous! I never disclose who my songs are about."

I have a feeling some recent songs are about him, and more in her "Red" album coming out on Monday.

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Change

Today's Taylor Swift song is the meaning of "Change" from her "Fearless" album.

I like this song because it has a pop type feel and is fun and makes me feel like I can do anything I set my mind to. What is this song about?

It is about the beginning of her music career.  At first she worked with RCA records, but they wanted her to wait until she was 18 to start recording songs herself. "Basically, there were three things that were going to happen. Either they were going to drop me, or shelve me – that's kind of like putting me in cold storage – or give me a record deal. Of course, the only one of those that you want is the record deal. But they announced they were going to shelve me, and "monitor my progress" until I was 18".  She left the label, one of the biggest in the business.

She then caught Scott Borchetta of Dreamworks eye and signed a deal with his record label Big Machine Records.  The only problem was, she was the only artist on board.

"I wrote this song about being on a small record label, being a 16-year-old girl, and having a lot of odds stacked up against all of us, having a bunch of big companies on Music Row that had a lot more room in their buildings and a lot more employees than our 12. A lot of people, if given those odds, would say that’s not going to work."

"When you're at a record label that has 12 employees, you have to work harder to get on major tours. You have to work harder to get presenter slots or performer slots on award shows. There was this moment where I sat there and was like, 'When are we going to get a fighting chance? We're the smallest record label in Nashville, but we want this really bad.' I wrote the beginning to this song, and I thought someday things are going to be different. I finished the song the night that I won the Horizon Award at the CMA Awards and looked over and saw the president of my tiny, little record label crying."

The other labels "They might be bigger/But we’re faster and never scared/You can walk away, say we don’t need this/Because these things will change."  Things did change and Taylor and Big Machine Records succeeded beyond their wildest dreams. Later the song was used during the Olympics during the daily highlight broadcast.

Click here for lyrics to the song, "Change."

Click here for the official music video to the song, "Change".

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State of Grace Intro & Lyrics

Yesterday Taylor previewed her song "State of Grace" from her new album "Red" on Good Morning America.

This is definitely another pop song.  It starts out with a beat, not a guitar.  When the guitar comes in it's an electric guitar.  It is more mellow than "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" and "I Knew You Were Trouble."   After listening to it a couple of times I love this song.

In the preview Taylor said, "I wrote this song about when you first fall in love with someone the possibilities, kind of thinking about the different ways that it could go. It's a really big sound. To me, this sounds like the feeling of falling in love in an epic way. I hope you like it."

Who is this song about?

It is only a guess at this point, but I think it is about Conor Kennedy or Jake Gyllenhaal. We will have to see when the CD comes out next week and see what hints are in the lyric booklet.  In the first verse she talks about how life is just so fast, "Busy streets and busy lives/And all we know is touch and go."  Then in the next stanza she talks about how "never saw you coming."  She met Conor at a 4th of July Kennedy event.  She met Jake Gyllenhaal at Gwenth's Paltrow's house. Both of these are chance meetings. She mentions that they were alone "Up in your room and our slates are clean/Just twin fire signs, four blue eyes".  Jake definitely has blue eyes, Conors look hazel to me.  Who do you think it is about?

Click here for the updated meaning of "State of Grace".

State of Grace Lyrics (Red Album)

I’m walking fast through the traffic lights
Busy streets and busy lives
And all we know is touch and go
We are alone with our changing minds
We fall in love till it hurts or bleeds or fades in time

And I never saw you coming
And I’ll never be the same

You come around and the armor falls
Pierce the room like a cannonball
Now all we know... is don't let go
We are alone just you and me
Up in your room, and our slates are clean
Just twin fire signs, four blue eyes
So you were never a saint
And I’ve loved in shades of wrong
We learn to live with the pain
Mosaic broken hearts
But this love is brave and wild

And I never saw you coming
And I’ll never be the same

This is a state of grace
This is the worthwhile fight
Love is a ruthless game
Unless you play it good and right
These are the hands of fate
You're my Achilles heel
This is the golden age of something good and right and real

And I never saw you coming
And I’ll never be the same
And I never saw you coming
And I’ll never be the same

This is a state of grace
This is the worthwhile fight
Love is a ruthless game
Unless you play it good and right

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Long Live

Today's Taylor Swift song is the meaning of "Long Live" from her "Speak Now" album.

Who is this song about?

The Agency, Taylor Swift's band

Her band, her producers, and her fans!

In the lyric liner notes the words "THANK YOU" are in all caps.

On her website, Taylor said, "This song is about my band, and my producer, and all the people who have helped us build this brick by brick. The fans, the people who I feel that we are all in this together, this song talks about the triumphant moments that we've had in the last two years. We've had times where we just jump up and down, and dance like we don't care how we're dancing, and just scream at the top of our lungs, "How is this happening?" And, I feel very lucky to even have had one of those moments, nonetheless all the ones that I got to have. 'Long Live' is about how I feel reflecting on it.

This song for me is like looking at a photo album of all the award shows, and all the stadium shows, and all the hands in the air in the crowd. It's sort of the first love song that I've written to my team."

In the first verse Taylor talks about some of the first times they performed, "The night you danced like you knew our lives/Would never be the same."  While I have never been in a band there are definite moments in my life where I knew life would never be the same, my first day of college, my wedding, and the birth of my first child.  Those are all profound events that changed my life forever.  There are also times when I've taken a certain path and as I am heading down I know life is not going to be the same.

She speaks out to the critics, "When they gave us our trophies/And we help them up for our town/And the cynics were outraged/Screaming this is absurd."  There have been many critics, but Taylor just keeps pulling out those awards and getting better and better.

Then she talks about what she wants if it all ends, "But if god forbid fate should step in/And force us into a goodbye/If you have children some day/When they point to the pictures/Please tell them my name/Tell them how the crowds went wild."  She wants her band to remember the good times and to remember her.

Click here for lyrics to the song, "Long Live".

The Agency got it's name when they filmed the video for "Picture To Burn", where they were all wearing suits.

Members of the band include: Taylor Swift (lead singer, songwriter, guitar, @taylorswift13), Al Wilson (drummer, band leader, @alsdrum), Grant Mickelson (guitarist, @GrantMickelson), Amos J. Heller (bass player, @amosjheller), Caitlin Elizabeth Evanson (fiddle player, vocals, @caitlinbird), Paul Sidoti (guitarist, vocals, @paulsidoti), Michael Meadows (banjo player, @smalltownmike), David Cook (keyboards, piano, @davidcookmusic), Daniel Sadownick (percussion, congas, @DSadownick)

The backup singers are: Carly Thomas Smith, Melanie Nyema (@melanienyema), Clare Turton, and Kamilah Marshall (@kamilahmarshall).

The dance crew include: Claire Callaway (@ClaireCallaway2) and Charity Lynne Baroni (@ChaeLynne).

Former band members include: Elizabeth Huett, (backup singer, @elizabethhuett), Ben Clark (banjo, mandolin, dobro, guitar and piano, @banjobenclark), and Emily Poe (fiddle).

(Information courtesy of http://theswiftagency.com)

"Long Live" live performance in Hollywood, CA

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The Outside

Today's Taylor Swift song is "The Outside" from her debut album "Taylor Swift."

What is this song about?

A young Taylor Swift

It is about herself in middle school.  She grew up on a Christmas tree farm in Wyomissing, Pennslyvania and started noticing she was different. Taylor says,  "All the girls at school were going to sleepovers and breaking into their parents’ liquor cabinets at the weekend, and all I wanted to do was go to festivals and sing karaoke music. All of a sudden there were all these little cliques. There’s cool girls and they have straight hair and you don’t – things start dividing you up and I was really fascinated by that. I would go to school and not have anyone to talk to, but what I could look forward to was going home and writing something about it."

"For me, I was facing a lot of things at school where I found myself on the outside looking in. I was not included. I would go to school some days, a lot of days, and not know who I was going to talk to. And that's a really terrifying thing for somebody who's 12."

She didn't fit in, she was different and she writes about it in "The Outside".   She "tried to take the road less traveled by" but "nobody ever lets me in."

I think every girl can feel like this when they go through middle school.  I did.  There was that one year where nothing seemed to go right, I was on the outside of all the circles.  I would go to school and not have anyone to hang out with, and the people I did eat lunch with didn't really like me.  Luckily for me that all changed and the next year and every subsequent year was better after that. Now I'm a grown adult and can hardly remember the loneliness of that year.  Taylor I can really relate to this song!

Click here for the lyrics to the song, "The Outside".

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Safe & Sound

Today's Taylor Swift song is the meaning of "Safe & Sound" from the Hunger Games Soundtrack.

What is this song about?

This song is about the Hunger Games!

Taylor surprised everyone when she announced it's release over Twitter.

8:31 PM- 22 Dec 11
"Something I've been VERY excited about for a VERY long time is going to be happening VERY soon" 

8:37 PM - 22 Dec 11
"(and I'm not referring to Christmas)"

9:55 PM - 22 Dec 11

"And this is it, the big surprise... Go get it! #TheHungerGames http://instagr.am/p/a2sQb/"

The song and video are filled with symbolism corresponding with the Hunger games books.

Taylor says in an interview with MTV in February 2012, “I felt like I really needed to pay tribute to this movie and tell this story. There’s a moment where I find the Mockingjay pin and hold it up -- and having a music video with that much symbolism in it is not something that I’m used to. Because everyone who’s a Hunger Games fan knows what it means when there’s fire in the trees, what it means for the house to be burnt…Everyone can take their own meaning away from it but it all goes back to the symbolism of the book.”

The mockingjay pin is a pin that was given to Katniss Everdeen before she took place in the Hunger Games. These games symbolize the power terror the capital wants to imprint on the minds to the citizens of Panem. 12 districts of Panem must send two children each to the capital to take part in a "survivor" type television spectical, except they do not get voted off, they are killed by one another.  The last one standing is the victor.

What other symbolism is in the video?  Tonz.  For starters the video is filmed in a graveyard.  There are many deaths in the Hunger Games.  There are constant fires, a tactic the Capital uses to destroy their enemies. The house the two people are in is burnt down, as Taylor finds out when she later visits.  There are fires in the background for both Taylor and the two inside the house.  At the end of the video the sky looks like it is on fire. Taylor also carries flowers that could be reminiscent of the flowers that Katniss placed over Rue (a fellow competitor in the Hunger Games) when she died.  Taylor herself appears in the video lying down as if she was dying with her arms clasped together over her chest.  At the very end of the video we see Taylor closing her eyes symbolizing death.

The lyrics could symbolize many relationships that Katniss had with her friends and herself.  At the beginning of the book Gale and Katniss hunt together and she must leave him to go to the capital, her relationship with Peeta, she doesn't leave him alone in the hunger games and helps him come back to full strength, her relationship with herself, she keep going and protect her family even though "her music", her father is gone.  But the relationship the song is driving at is Katniss's relationship with Rue.

"The war outside our door keeps raging on
Hold onto this lullaby"

Katniss sings a lullaby to Rue as she is dying.

"Just close your eyes
The sun is going down
You'll be alright
No one can hurt you now
Come morning light
You and I'll be safe and sound"

Rue will be safe and sound and no one can hurt her anymore.

Click here for lyrics to the song, "Safe & Sound".

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I Knew You Were Trouble Lyrics and Intro

Yesterday Taylor previewed her song "I Knew You Were Trouble" from her new album "Red" on Good Morning America.

This song is definitely a pop song.  It has a catchy chorus, a distinct beat and her voice is definitely in pop mode. I think it will go far in the pop world.

Click here to see the video and read the video intro text.

In her preview of the song Taylor said, "The song we're releasing tonight ... it's a song that's one of my favorite songs on the album because it sounds just as chaotic as the feeling was when I wrote it. It's a song about kind of being frustrated with yourself because you have your heart broken and you knew when you first saw that person you saw all these red flags and you just went for it anyway, 'So, shame on me.' "

Who is this song about?

My guess already after only hearing it once and reading the lyrics is John Mayer, saying this guy "never loved me or her or anyone or anything."  And that as soon as she "fell hard" he "took a step back."  How many women has John Mayer tried to get just so he could dump them?  Taylor definitely knew he was "trouble when you walked in" and in the end "heard you moved on from whispers on the street" and she knew she was just "a new notch in your belt."  It certainly sounds like Mayer and he is trouble!

I Knew You Were Trouble Lyrics (Red Album)


once upon a time, a few mistakes ago
i was in your sights, you got me alone
you found me, you found me, you found me…
i guess you didn't care and i guess i liked that
and i when i fell hard, you took a step back
without me, without me, without me…
and he's long gone when he's next to me
and i realize the blame is on me, cause

CHORUS
i knew you were trouble when you walked in
so shame on me now
flew me to places i’d never been till you put me down
oh i knew you were trouble when you walked in
so shame on me now
flew me to places i’d never been
now i’m lying on the cold hard ground
oh oh trouble, trouble, trouble
oh oh trouble, trouble, trouble

no apologies, he'll never see you cry
pretends he doesn't know that he's the reason why
you're drowning, you’re drowning, you’re drowning…
and i heard you moved on from whispers on the street
a new notch in your belt is all i’ll ever be
and now i see, now i see, now i see…
he was long gone when he met me
and i realize the joke is on me
hey!

REPEAT CHORUS

and the saddest fear
comes creeping in
that you never loved me
or her...or anyone...or anything
yeah

REPEAT CHORUS

i knew you were trouble when you walked in
trouble, trouble, trouble
i knew you were trouble when you walked in
trouble, trouble, trouble

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Red Album Track List

Red Album Track List!!!!!!!!!

1. "State Of Grace"

2."Red"

3. "Treacherous"

4."I Knew You Were Trouble."

5."All Too Well"

6."22"

7. "I Almost Do"

8. "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together"

9. "Stay Stay Stay"

10. "The Last Time"

11. "Holy Ground"

12. "Sad Beautiful Tragic"

13. "The Lucky One"

14. "Everything Has Changed"

15. "Starlight"

16. "Begin Again"

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Forever & Always

Today's Taylor Swift song is the meaning of "Forever and Always" from her "Fearless" album.

Taylor Swift performing "Forever & Always" at the 2009 CMA awards.
Photo credit: Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images

Taylor told Rolling Stone magazine, "the two songs that were completely last minute were, on the first record, 'Should Have Said No,' and on the second album, 'Forever and Always.' Both of them had to do with something really, really dramatic and crazy happening to me and me needing to address it in the form of music."

Why did Taylor add "Fearless" last minute to her album and who was it about?

Taylor Swift and Joe Jonas

It is Joe Jonas.  He "broke up with me over the phone in 25 seconds when I was 18. ... I looked at the call log — it was like 27 seconds. That's got to be a record." (Taylor Swift told Ellen DeGeneres).

Taylor told People magazine, "I'd never had that happen to me before that way, with that abruptness. I thought to myself, "This needs to be said." It's a song about watching somebody completely fade away in a relationship and wondering what you did wrong and wondering why things have changed."

It just so happens that Joe met someone while filming his music video "Lovebug", Camilla Belle.

The secret message in the liner notes is "IF YOU PLAY THESE GAME WERE BOTH GOING TO LOSE."  Camilla and Joe broke up eventually and Taylor has moved on.

Taylor told MTV news she felt "like I owed it to my fans to be like, 'Look, it happened, you weren't crazy,' and address it, And I addressed it, and, you know, that's a chapter in my life that's closed now."

Click here for lyrics to the song: "Forever & Always".

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Superman

Today's Taylor Swift song is the meaning of "Superman" from her deluxe "Speak Now" Target album.

photo credit: Amanda Faria

At a concert in Kansas City, September 24 Taylor played this song and told the audience,  “This is about, well, a guy, as usual. This was a guy that I was sort of enamored with. This song got its title by something that I just said randomly in conversation. He walked out of the room, I turned to one of my friends and said, ‘It’s like watching Superman fly away.’”

Who is it about?

John Mayer!  We all know that "Dear John" is about John Mayer.  I haven't bothered to write that post yet because it is very obvious.  But this song is about him too.  The clue lies in the liner notes.  The liner clue notes in Dear John is LOVED YOU FROM THE VERY FIRST DAY.  This just happens to be a line that appears twice in "Superman", " 'I loved you from the very first day".

In the song Swift describes the man as "Tall, dark and beautiful, He's complicated, he's irrational", but she hopes that "someday you'll take me away and save the day", and hopes he "don't save some other girl", and "don't forget about me." Some other major clues are in these lines, "Something in his deep brown eyes has me sayin', "He's not all bad like his reputation, And I can't hear one single word they say."  John Mayer does have brown eyes, a bad reputation and she did not listen to others warnings about him.  I do not like John Mayer very much, maybe that is why I haven't written the posts about the other songs that are about him.  He led her along while she was, "Wishing the flowers were from you, Wishing the card was from you" and waiting, "right here on the ground, When you come back down."  Boo John Mayer.

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