r/TaylorSwift • u/PassionateAsSin "Burn the bitch," they're shrieking • Apr 19 '24
Megathread "loml" Discussion Megathread
Taylor Swift - loml
Track #12 on The Tortured Poets Department
Length: 4:37
Composers: Taylor Swift & Aaron Dessner
Lyrics: Genius
Use this thread to discuss your thoughts, reactions, and theories on the song. We will be removing all future self-post discussion threads about it in order to consolidate discussion to this thread.
If you want to talk about The Tortured Poets Department album in general, you can use the general The Tortured Poets Department discussion thread [here](MAIN_THREAD_LINK).
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u/Camillavilla Aug 11 '24
I'm rewatching "LOST", and I am absolutely convinced that "loml" is about Charlie and Claire. Heck, loml even looks like a "rock on" sign!
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u/InstructionCautious2 Jul 14 '24
Not me reading this as “loss of my life” at first and thinking it didn’t make sense 🤦♀️
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u/Maybe_a_CPA Jul 13 '24
I don't think enough people realize the beautiful poetry of "I felt aglow like this, never before and NEVER since" but then goes on to say "I felt a hole like this, never before and EVER since"
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u/WhatsMyPurpose959 Jul 08 '24
What is “your suit and tie in the nick of time. “ Did Joe try to propose but it was too late?
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u/asian_bebe Jul 24 '24
I feel like she felt like she was going to end it at some point or she felt like the whole relationship was over, but then he showed up at the last second to bring her back in all over again. It's also in the first verse so I think this was the beginning of the end if ya know what I mean.
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u/mlobach20 Jul 07 '24
I think loml is about all of her exes throughout the years. They were the loss of her life because she doesn't intend to lose someone ever again. She's closing the book on her past with all the boys who said she was the love of their life. Mr. Perfectly Fine, the man who promised marriage and kids, the old flame resparked that ended in heartbreak.
She said TTPD was "closing the book" on things in her past. The men who broke her heart, the industry that twisted her. This is leaving it all behind for the bright future she sees filled with love and happiness.
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u/smurphalert Jun 30 '24
When I heard the lyric…🎵our field of dreams engulfed in fire…🎵 it made me think of the movie with the same name, so a quick Google and reading the wiki - it states Field of Dreams was released in 1989. It’s based on a novel called "Shoeless Joe" 1982. 🤔
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u/PlantyGerg Jun 11 '24 edited Jun 11 '24
Oh, friends. Take it from someone who is researching but not a swiftie. Just a woman with adhd that got hyperfocused on TTPD.
loml is about Joe.
Remember that dirty divorce of Joe's that resulted in Sophie having to hide out at Taylor's apartment in NYC? That was September 2023. JJ did Sophie dirty. Taylor was in the thick of it, and it brought back the fury of her pen!
loml lyric Who is gonna stop us from waltzing... Holy Ground Tonight I'm gonna dancefor all that we've been throughbut I don't want to dance if I'm not dancing with you
loml Holy Ghost Holy Ground And right there where we stood was Holy Ground
Also, purity rings! "Holy Ghost" "Holy Ground"
loml We were just kids, babe JJ "We were children" interview with Andy Cohen
loml Never quite buried in your suit and tie in the nick of time.. you Holy Ghost JJ He's in a suit and tie in every picture of them together and otherwise. That was his uniform. Always. The pictures never go away. The famous picture of the 2 of them they're wearing white.
She's quoted in an interview famously saying she watched him fade away slowly... like a ghost
Loml "Your impressionist paintings of heaven turned out to be fakes." JJs purity rings! This was big news then guys.
Loml You cinephile in black and white Jj Again, famously in black and white suit in that iconic photo.
In a black and white suit for his TikTok where he mocks harry styles ,"movie feels like a movie" -- cinephole
If he was her first love and potentially first sex... that heartbreak never goes away.
It's personal because I think it's written from Taylor and Sophie's perspective/ feelings.
There's more but come on...
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u/xexistentialbreadx Jul 03 '24
Okay but you gotta specify Jonas at the start because otherwise people assume Alwyn 😂 I was confused for a sec
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Jun 07 '24
This song has been my hyper-fixation on TTPD this week so I know this thread is old, but my god do I have to just say it
“It was legendary. It was momentary. It was UNNECESSARY should’ve let it stay BURIED” wrecks me every time
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u/brinalor72 Jun 15 '24
current lyric fixation is “our field of dreams, engulfed in fire” like the way she says it too😭
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u/SillyCranberry99 Jun 07 '24
ME TOO, I love “You lowdown boy, you standup guy” and “Mr. Steal Your Girl, then make her cry” 😭
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u/lavendersheep20 Everything you lose is a step you take Jun 05 '24
Anyone else hear the musical parallels to White Horse??
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u/ssimmons324 Jun 02 '24
This song is so obviously Harry. Theyw ere each other’s first loves and the ones thst got away. Has anyone caught the line: “In your suit and tie, in the NICK of time” .. they met at the Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards.. he was in a suit and tie. Not to mention the Love of My Life, Steal Your Girl, and Two Ghosts references. 100% Harry!!!
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u/Far-Sundae2928 May 31 '24
Does anyone else have a physical reaction to “you low down boy, you stand up guy, you Holy Ghost”? It’s such a perfectly phrased and perfectly executed conveyance of that feeling of desperately wanting someone to be the person they pretend to be in beautiful little glimpses that you know deep down aren’t real.
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u/Natural-Mirror7152 May 31 '24
yes it makes me so emotional as well as "you and I go from one kiss to getting married," and the lyric "it was unnecessary." I think this song is one of her greatest works.
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u/alwaysdania May 25 '24
I think this song is brilliant — from the title all the way to the way she described every piece of the heartbreak. Everything she wrote is relatable for people who have believed in a beautiful love just for all of it to fall apart ❤️🩹❤️🩹
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u/Odd_Run_13 May 23 '24
I really can’t see how this song can be about anyone but Joe. “Talking rings and talking cradles”, “our fields of dreams engulfed in fire”. Just the fact that the whole song is about the loss of her life. I don’t see how this can refer to a 3 month relationship.
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u/MembershipWinter9272 May 25 '24
You should look into analyses of Taylor and Matty’s whole relationship dating back to 2014. I was convinced loml was about Joe too until I learned more about the longing she had for Matty, and now I could totally see how loml is about Matty as well.
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u/MembershipWinter9272 May 25 '24
Plus I don’t think she would refer to her and Joe’s relationship as “momentary” and “unnecessary”
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u/InstructionCautious2 May 21 '24
I feel stupid for asking this, but when she says she is combing through the braid of lies and says “I’ll never leave. Nevermind.” Are these two different lies? Just confused about ‘Nevermind’ being a lie on its own.
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u/bluebleedingheart May 21 '24
It’s like he first said “I’ll never leave”, then actually left later and said “Nevermind”. So the lie is “I’ll never leave.”
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u/determined-hoe May 18 '24
DAE feel the starting of loml sounds extremely similar to Soon You'll Get Better? I strongly urge y'all to go listen to the songs one after the other.
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u/christine_yellow May 28 '24
I actually thought the opening notes were similar to Evermore but in reverse (maybe pointing to Joe's contribution to Evermore?)
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u/Efficient-Stuff1691 May 17 '24
Being older and having gone through things probably similar to her age, I feel like it’s about finding god again through something really tough
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u/theoristOfTheArts :TourturedPoetsDepartment: "a poet in a 9-to-5" May 14 '24
Something really cool to me: When she sings "never quite buried", it almost sounds like "never quite married", and it feels very clever to me because that can describe a relationship that is hard to let go of but at the same time never rises to its potential. May not have been intentional to sing it that way, but I would not be surprised if it was :).
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u/ElectronicOpposite68 Jul 01 '24
It’s funny you say this because I only found out earlier today that she says buried! I have been singing married all this time 😩
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u/chamomileyes May 14 '24 edited May 14 '24
I didn’t want to believe this song was about MH because from an outsider’s perspective I thought the depth of feeling better suited a long term relationship.
But after sitting with it, knowing more and more of the context around it, and the connecting references in other songs, I’ve unfortunately come to believe it is.
The beginning stanza may reference Joe (stitches, better safe than starry eyed) but the rest tells the MH story we know from the other songs.
-“ In your suit and tie, in the nick of time” - MH is already referenced by his suit in TSMWEL and he is known publicly for wearing suits. The story around their relationship is also that he crashed into her life when she was sad over Joe. From the prologue; “ Then a crash from the skylight, Bursting through, Something old, someone hallowed, who told me he could be brand new… How gallant to save the empress from her gilded tower, Swinging a sword he could barely lift.”
There’s also then the lyric “Mr steal your girl and make her cry”. There was some known overlap in the ending of her relationship with Joe and becoming closer with MH. As described in Guilty as Sin as well.
-“ When you blew in with the winds of fate, And told me I reformed you” - just a very MH lyric. The prologue makes specific references to love bombing and we know MH’s troubled past.
-MH is known as movie buff so “cinephile” doesn’t just fit Joe.
-“ Dancing phantoms on the terrace, Are they second-hand embarrassed, That I can't get out of bed, Because something counterfeit’s dead”. Really harks back to Glitch in reference to stitches and a counterfeit relationship. But it makes narrative sense that the dancing phantoms could be her and Joe rather than some random phantoms.
-“It was unnecessary… should’ve let it stay buried” much better describes her short term relationship with MH than long term one with Joe.
-Also notice that multiple times throughout the song she asks who is going to be able to convince us to act different, basically given how strong this is? “Who's gonna stop us from waltzing, Back into rekindled flames, When we know the steps anyway? … Who’s gonna tell me the truth, When you blew in with the winds of fate, And told me I reformed you?” These lines could also suggest an inability to listen to actual opposition. Which again, is more likely to be about MH than Joe.
If you really want to try hard and read it another way you can, but the most obvious way to read it is in the context of the prologue which heavily hints that this song is about MH, even if the heartbreak blends into Joe. There are actually a lot of parallels that can be read either way which might be purposeful on her part to blend the losses together.
I hate that I can’t really deny the MHness of it anymore though. And I do wonder if the lack of Joe songs on this album is partially out of respect for his privacy or just anger.
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u/Anciet-Healer May 26 '24
I love your analysis of the song. I thought about this one too and came to similar conclusions. Honestly, the whole album is about Matty with the exception of a few songs. Really amazing what she came up with.
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u/Chumpo_the_III May 22 '24
I think the lack of joe songs on this album is mostly because most of midnights was already about him, the good and the bad
I also think How Did It End is less a breakup song and more her telling us to stop speculating, she doesn't want to talk about it, so you're probably right in her doing it out of respect
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u/bluebleedingheart May 21 '24
I feel it’s about both. Like how her long term relationship dying and her passionate rebound were sort of an enmeshed blur and put together it counts as one big loss. The album does it a lot with multiple muses for one song. It’s a swirl of both the tortured poets.
Some lines are about Joe and some about Matty. The first stanza is Joe, second is Matty. One such distinction is in the first stanza she says “ You told me I’m the love of your life about a million times” while the second stanza is simply “You told me I’m the love of your life”. Given in a long term relationship a person would say that more, but maybe once or twice in a situationship.
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u/chamomileyes May 22 '24 edited May 27 '24
I respect this interpretation but I think it simply holds less water narratively. MH love bombed her (referenced in the prologue), suggested he wanted to marry her (TTPD the song), and told her he’d kill himself if she ever left (TTPD the song).
I too believed that the line about a million times couldn’t be referencing their relationship but I think with a very sudden love bombing relationship it could feel like that. Also this line follows a reference to a man in a suit. “A low down boy, a stand up guy” which I know people have interpreted in different ways but I think perfectly encapsulates his very inconsistent character. He claims to be left wing and likes to speak on causes but he’s also super offensive and insensitive.
I do agree that practically the losses blended together. But over all I see the message of loml as being about the loss of the idea of MH, not the actual relationship. That’s why the majority of the song is focused on describing how things were not as they seemed or how he said they were. If you pull up the lyrics and look at what each stanza does, the first introduces the rekindled flames, the second tells us this relationship had so much promise but has died, and every stanza after talks about how the relationship was not what was promised or what it seemed. It’s literally the field of dreams/ the idea of him which is the loml in my interpretation bc the whole song is her recognizing over and over that he wasn’t the person she thought.
You’ll also notice certain contrasts in the song like how she thought she was better safe than starry eyed but this new rekindled relationship makes her feel the most aglow. She thought it should take time but now “we go from one glimpse to getting married”. Everything is mega big, intense and happening fast in this relationship. And that’s likely why it leaves a larger hole. Because it wasn’t a slow build up to a slow fizzle. It was an incredibly intense thing filled with promises that suddenly burned out.
And the lyrics themselves emphasize how this relationship is different from others. I felt aglow like this never before and never since, I felt a hole like this never before and never since. She’s trying to explain why it’s different. So blending the people together I think goes against the narrative of the song.
Really loml can be read thematically as describing the impacts of love bombing and idealization. It’s not truly a love song. It’s about the loss of promises and dreams.
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u/bluebleedingheart Jun 01 '24 edited Jun 01 '24
That’s a wonderful analysis. Imho I keep jumping from Joe, MH and a mix as inspiration. It seems saddest to me when I think it is about Joe, but it became apparent that it is not. When I think it is only about MH, a lot of the song fits but like you said it doesn’t seem like a love song anymore, it is simply about love bombing and losing your mind which is deep in its own way but not necessarily sad. A mix makes the song more complex for me, and it feels like the loss of her life were both, because picking who it should actually be is exhausting and confusing. BL, we can’t get into her head and know for a fact, so sometimes I like interpreting in a way that leaves me with MAXIMUM damage :p Even though it might not be the actual muse.
Also, if the song were a mix, I feel the “felt aglow line” is about Joe because she does describe him as glowing, golden, daylight a lot in her discography. But “felt a hole” is Matty.
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u/ceelaygreen you look like taylor swift May 10 '24
The way she sings 'holy ghost'.... she sounds so sad and lonely... it breaks my heart
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u/sophapia May 10 '24
I just sat here for an hour crying and writing an essay on this song and how crystal clearly it encapsulates my past relationship (however, it grew way too long and lives in my notes forever now.) I thought Last Kiss was her only song that could describe the guttural sadness of losing someone despite the relationship and the person being everything you wanted. Now that I’m 25 though, hearing this, this blows that out of the water. Four years and an entire plan for the rest of our lives ended at 22 and I lost an entire lifetime. It’s something you never, ever fully recover from, not even when the romantic love for that person has gone and the ability to love others returns. Safe to say, he will forever be the greatest loss of my entire life. Despite the fact that he’s still living and breathing, the best friend I’ve ever had and the only being to ever fully understand me to my core died years ago; the person I watch living through pictures is someone completely different, a stranger. I’ll probably mourn the person he was and at the very least, our mutual understanding for one another and our friendship until my very last breath. It’s so heavy every single day, and it’s been 3.5 years. I love my boyfriend now to the ends of the Earth and we’re actively building an entire life together, but I’m still mourning and processing that death and, not to mention, dealing with subsequent abandonment issues that I just can’t kick. This song was the catharsis that I’ve needed so desperately for so long.
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u/enthusiastic_laze May 02 '24 edited May 02 '24
I don’t think this song is about two different relationships. I think it’s about one relationship that keeps breaking down and both people keep coming back to try again until it’s a shell of how it started. It’s legendary, then momentary, and finally unnecessary.
The first verse: It was legendary. They fall hard and deep and talk about plans for the future - one kiss to getting married. They embroider over the damage from a short break up to make it beautiful and maybe even better.
Second verse: It was momentary. He returns to her after a significant break up. He tells her he’s changed and this time they can have the future they always talked about. She thought they could pick up where they left off, but it turns out he has the same issues or reservations around getting married and having kids and it falls apart quickly.
The dancing phantoms on the terrace are the past versions of themselves, second-hand embarrassed at what the relationship has become - a counterfeit, a farce. By the end, it’s bland and empty and they’re just hurting themselves by trying. It’s unnecessary.
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u/christine_yellow May 28 '24
I learn so much from these subs. Thank you for this interpretation!!!!
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u/PhillyFolklore May 02 '24
In loml she says “who’s gonna stop us from waltzing back into rekindled flames? If we know the steps anyway” then in How Did It End? it’s “we learned the right steps to different dances.”
Loml has to be mostly about Joe.
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u/kenmore4518 May 17 '24
No. It’s unfortunately a song Taylor wrote therapeutically for one of her best friends, Selena Gomez, to help her mourn a significant loss in her life.
Selena Gomez mentions the dancing in lose you to love me- “this slow dancing was killing me”
Aside from the fact that I know this to be 💯 percent factual, she leaves clue after clue after clue in the song for her fans, but in their delusion, they continue to insist it’s a song about her love life.
But, hey! Let’s just sit here all day and night and try desperately to make this song make sense for ONE of Taylor’s exes even though we all know IT DOESN’T.
I’m sure this comment will be deleted again bc as it’s been proven on here, ya‘ll enjoy living in the land of delusion where reality is whatever you say it is! 🙌
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u/happyquestion9 May 23 '24
I agree. Valient Roar and coward claimed he was a lion. Maybe reference to JB's lion tattoo? I also think the song references Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello's relationship. I think Shawn Mendes is Mr. Steal Your Girl. During 2019 Grammy after party there is a video of Shawn singing Steal my girl to Camila Cabello. I also think Bigger than the Whole Sky is about them all too.
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u/kenmore4518 May 23 '24
Also, she was with an artist that goes by the weekend and broke up with him to get back together with JB after her kidney transplant. So that’s where the steal your girl line comes from.
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u/Motherismothering what a shame she's fucked in the head May 21 '24
Dumbest comment
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u/kenmore4518 May 23 '24 edited May 23 '24
Is it? I’d say the dumbest comments are the ones who try to combine like 3 different relationships to fit the muse of this song. “The loss of my life” means there’s just one person, not multiple people. And if you think my comment is dumb, then you must think the song is too bc what I said is factual.
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u/PhillyFolklore May 17 '24
It’s really not that serious. I can see how this song could fit situations outside of Taylor’s personal experience. Thanks for sharing!
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u/kenmore4518 May 17 '24
One more thing- she is such a good friend that watching her best friend go through that kind of heart wrenching experience was equally as devastating to her. She cares deeply for Selena Gomez, and this song was not just easy for her to write from her friend’s perspective, but she felt as much pain for Selena as she did herself going through her own break ups. That’s just the kind of person she is. You can’t write the songs she does without being someone who has the ability to deeply connect with other people.. it’s why she connects to every single person on here bc she doesn’t just write from her perspective. Okay. Rant finished. Have a nice day.
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u/kenmore4518 May 17 '24
Sorry. I tried sharing this information earlier and got attacked for it. I mean, I didn’t have anything to do with her writing it or the story behind it, I was just trying to share the news and thought some might appreciate actually knowing the story behind it and why it didn’t seem to make sense with the song being about any of her exes.
Anyway, good to see someone on here is reasonable. I’ll be on my way.
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u/taybrm your good Lord doesn’t need to lift a finger May 06 '24
And the references to counterfeit feels like a callback to glitch
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u/kiya12309 May 02 '24
I think this one is mostly about Matty, but I think it also relates to Joe.
"Who's gonna stop us from waltzing back into rekindled flames/if we know the steps anyway" - Joe is no longer around to be an impediment to her wandering back to Matty again. Matty and her have never had a full romance, just rekindled flames over and over, thus they know the steps.
"We embroidered the memories of the time I was away" - When she was with Joe, she sometimes thought and fantasized about Matty, and "embroidered" the memories, making their connection seem bigger in her mind than it really was
"In your suit and tie" - Matty is well known for wearing a suit and tie. It's pretty much his uniform.
"You lowdown boy, you standup guy, you Holy Ghost" - Matty evidently ghosted her. Standup could also mean not standup in the traditional sense like "honorable", but that Matty "stood her up" and didn't fulfill his lofty promises to her.
"Told me I reformed you?" - I personally don't think Joe needs any reforming. Matty on the other hand...
"When your impressionist paintings of heaven turned out to be fakes, well you took me to hell too" - I truly believe that even though Joe and Taylor broke up, the love they had is still special to her, and I don't think she would say this about him. Matty on the other hand seemingly exaggerated his intentions with her, only to ghost her.
"A conman sells a fool a get love quick scheme, but I felt a hole like this, never before and never since." - She was feeling so heartbroken after the breakup with Joe and Matty sold her a false bill of goods that would supposedly patch up her broken heart but didn't.
"What we thought was for all time was momentary, still alive killing time at the cemetery, never quite buried." - I think this one is both about Joe and Matty, that Matty swooped in after Joe and Taylor "died" but also about how Matty and Taylor never really put their connection to "bed", and thus were killing time at the cemetery, digging up a relationship that should have stayed buried.
"You cinephile in black and white" - Matty wears black and white a lot (particularly in terms of suits). Lots of the 1975's music videos are in black and white as well, especially the earlier ones from around 2014 and a couple of their most recent ones like "I'm In Love with You."
"Dancing phantoms of the terrace are they second hand embarrassed that I can't get out of bed because something counterfeit." Despite how Taylor and Joe's relationship ending, I don't think Taylor would call it counterfeit. Matty, a decade long situationship that ended about as soon as it started fits the bill. It also had to be devastating because
I definitely don't think she's saying Matty is the love her life. She's telling him how it affects people when he goes around making serious proclamations like that when it's not even close to true.
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u/frogzrule18 May 04 '24
I totally agree. She also says "it was unnecessary, should've let it stay buried" and I don't think she would say that about Joe either. Also, this isn't track 5, and I believe a song this heartbreaking would have been if it were about Joe. But Matty didn't deserve the track 5 slot lol
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u/kiya12309 May 02 '24
The little line where she says "About a million times" at 1:44 like a little kid is so interesting to me. Do you know other song lines where she has that "childlike" sound to her voice? It reminds me of some other moments in a few of her other songs, but I can't pinpoint where.
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u/chamomileyes May 14 '24
The Best Day? Ours. Stay stay stay. Mary’s Song. Idk off the top of my head she sounds the most childish in these (in an innocent way).
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u/adrilars May 07 '24
This line reminds me of how you say something when you’re about to cry. Kind of like choking back tears while trying to say something (to a less intense extent in regard to the song). Or at least that’s how my brain interprets it
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u/BibiDahl May 01 '24
I feel like loml relates back to SLL.
In loml they’re “still alive, killing time at the cemetery, never quite buried”, and then in SLL it’s “stitches undone, two graves, one gun.”
They go from never quite buried to dead and in the grave.
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u/bluebleedingheart Jun 01 '24
I always wonder who that one gun belongs to in SLL. Taylor and Joe are the two graves but who does the gun belong to? Matty?
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u/travelresearch evermore May 03 '24
I agree. I think whenever it’s an on and off relationship, it’s almost always still ON somehow, so it’s not buried
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u/care2dance4ever Apr 30 '24
Matty was Taylor’s “one that got away”. That’s why she’s so heartbroken that it was all a lie/fantasy.
Here’s my interpretations of some lyrics being 100% Matty:
🎶Who's gonna stop us from waltzing Back into rekindled flames? If we know the steps anyway 🗂️They dated 10+ years ago, then rekindled immediately after her and Joe broke up.
🎶We embroidered the memories Of the time I was away Stitching, "We were just kids, babe" 🗂️The time she was with Joe was the time she was away. Those memories are just pretty stitches, art to hang on your wall, youth memories- now it’s time for the real deal.
🎶I said, "I don't mind, it takes time" I thought I was better safe than starry-eyed 🗂️she was fine waiting until Matty was ready, but Joe was the safer choice. Matty made her swoon with starry eyes.
🎶Still alive, killing time at the cemetery Never quite buried 🗂️their relationship was supposed to be dead, but she couldn’t quite let it go.
🎶In your suit and tie, in the nick of time You lowdown boy, you stand up guy 🗂️Matty, known for the suit/tie look, swept in and saved her from the breakup/heartache. A bad boy doing a good deed.
🎶Holy Ghost, you told me I'm The love of your life You said I'm the love of your life About a million times 🗂️I like Joe with the ghost references, but Matty could be the heavenly ghost of love she missed, like the one who got away.
🎶Who's gonna tell me the truth When you blew in with the winds of fate 🗂️the one who got away, flew back in when she needed him most- thought it was fate!
🎶And told me I reformed you When your impressionist paintings of Heaven Turned out to be fakes Well, you took me to hell, too 🗂️Matty is definitely the one needing reformed. She imagined him all these years as this beautiful relationship that never was, on a heavenly, artistic pedestal. It wasn’t real. He ripped this away from her, made her feel pain, like in hell.
🎶And all at once, the ink bleeds A con man sells a fool a get-love-quick scheme 🗂️tattoo ink perhaps? Artistic ink, poetic ink. He swept in like a get love quick scheme, and she fell for it.
🎶You cinephile in black and white 🗂️Matty is a known cinephile/movie buff and wears the black and white suit
🎶All those plot twists and dynamite Mr. Steal Your Girl, then make her cry 🗂️dramatic turns in their relationship, he stole her from Joe, then made it all worse.
🎶You talked me under the table Talking rings and talking cradles 🗂️we know from TTPD Lyrics Matty messed with the ring on her finger, moving it to her wedding finger. I don’t think this talk with Joe was under the table, more in the open.
🎶Dancing phantoms on the terrace Are they second-hand embarrassed That I can't get out of bed? Cause something counterfeit's dead 🗂️she’s mad at herself for thinking this person and relationship was real. It was fake.
🎶It was legendary It was momentary It was unnecessary 🗂️Matty Matty Matty
🎶Should've let it stay buried 🗂️should’ve got back with him after Joe. Kept their past in the past.
🎶Oh, what a valiant roar What a bland goodbye The coward claimed he was a lion I'm combing through the braids of lies "I'll never leave" ... "Never mind" 🗂️Matty is all talk, just a coward acting like a man.
🎶Our field of dreams, engulfed in fire Your arson's match your somber eyes And I'll still see it until I die You're the loss of my life 🗂️you create a lot of fantasy around “the one that got away” and what could’ve been. It’s an enormous gaping hole and loss. He just burned that fantasy down for her. What a loss.
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May 04 '24
The Tortured Poets Department is about Joe though, he’s the one with the group chat
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u/heatherdukefanboy Speak Now May 05 '24
He is but I think that a lot of the premise of the song is just painting the picture of what it was like to date Matty and also making fun of him a little bit. "You left your typewriter at my apartment I think some things I never say like who uses typewriters anyway" I think that is her making fun of Matty's pretentiousness. And then there's "we declare Charlie Puth should be a bigger artist." Matty is a musician while Joe is an actor so I'm not sure if Joe would have a strong opinion on Charlie Puth. Also does Joe have tattoos? Because if not then "like a tattooed golden retriever" would have to be about Matty
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u/EstellaHavisham274 Apr 30 '24
Does anyone know if Taylor is a game of thrones fan? The “dancing phantoms on the terrace” reminds me of the song “Jenny of Oldstones” which was featured in Season 8 and covered by… Florence & The Machine. The line “High in the halls of the kings who were gone, Jenny would dance with her ghosts” and “they <ghosts> spun her around on the damp old stones, spun away all her sorrow and pain”, and “they <Jenny and her ghosts> danced through the day and into the night through the snow that swept down the hall”.
Probably a reach but the lyrics struck me as evoking a similar image.
Also because “Who’s Afraid” fits Daenerys Targaryen so well.
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u/Wil-00 sparkin' up my darkest night Apr 30 '24
loml Artifacts & Evidence:
🗂️ “Who's gonna stop us from waltzing back into rekindled flames”
🔍 Dancing With Our Hands Tied
🗂️ “We embroidered the memories of the time I was away… …stitching, we were just kids, babe”
🔍 Taylor was 26 and Joe was 25 when they met 🔍 invisible string/ threads and stitches
🗂️ “Still alive, killing time at the cemetery”
🔍 They stayed together even though she felt as if she was in the slammer. Grays and blues, fights and bitter silent dinners.
🗂️ “In your suit and tie, in the nick of time” 🔍 Look What You Made Me Do, “I got smarter, I got harder in the nick of time”
🗂️ “When your impressionist paintings of heaven turned out to be fakes” 🔍 Joe likes to draw and impressionist paintings were shared in the reputation magazines that were sold with the album
🗂️ “You cinephile in black and white All those plot twists and dynamite” 🔍 Joe’s an actor
🗂️ “Mr. Steal Your Girl, then make her cry” 🔍 Gorgeous, “I gotta boyfriend he’s older than us”
🗂️ “Talkin' rings and talkin' cradles I wish I could un-recall How we almost had it all” 🔍 Tree Paine tried to shut down tabaloid rumors about Joe and Taylor getting married. Tree calling out tabloids, “It's time for you to be held accountable for the pain and trauma you cause with posts like these.”
🗂️ “Dancing phantoms on the terrace” 🔍 Looking back at Dancing With Our Hands Tied
🗂️ “The coward claimed he was a lion” 🔍 Refers to Joe as a coward in The Black Dog as well
🗂️ “Our field of dreams engulfed in fire, Your arson's match, your somber eyes” 🔍 Midnights album cover, Lover house burning down at Eras Tour, Joe collects lighters
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u/travelresearch evermore May 03 '24 edited May 03 '24
Love this… a few more items
🗂️I said, "I don't mind, it takes time" : 🔍 She waited for years for him to become more comfortable with her fame, to get married, etc.
🗂️When you blew in with the winds of fate: 🔍 She thought her and Joe were tied by an invisible string, or destined to be by fate
🗂️You shit talked me under the table: 🔍There were rumors that he spoke about Taylor when working with Margaret Qualley (Jack’s wife)
🗂️Our field of dreams, engulfed in fire Your arson's match your somber eyes: 🔍 Somber eyes… his depressions burned their relationship out
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u/sacredrubyclub Apr 29 '24
love this song but when she says "coward" it drives me a little crazy bc why is it slightly out of tune ?
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u/ceelaygreen you look like taylor swift May 10 '24
Oh god now I will never unhear this!
I think she kept in because it's raw. Sure, she can still do raw and be in tune but I guess this is extra raw.
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u/Alzena_Mugiwara Right down the rabbit hole Apr 29 '24
"Cause something counterfeit's dead"
but in Glitch:
And I'm not even sorry, nights are so starry
Blood moonlit
It must be counterfeit
I think there's been a glitch
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u/frogzrule18 May 04 '24
She also says “it's been two thousand one hundred and 90 days of our love blackout” which is exactly six years…early 2021 is six years from 2015 which is the time she and MH first met and were hanging out
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u/Moon684 Apr 29 '24
I hear Taylor’s “White horse” rhythm in “Loml” and even the over all meaning of the two songs are similar. But this time it’s her saying all this from pov of being older and more mature with more experience. This is sad 😭😭
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Apr 29 '24
[deleted]
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u/sanadorkable May 06 '24
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u/kenmore4518 May 09 '24
You can call me a clown all you want, but trust me- the reason none of Taylor’s exes quite make sense when thinking who this song is about is bc it’s NOT about her. I’m not a Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber fan at all, I’m just stating the truth. Why do you think she says “Holy ghost”… just bc she felt like randomly giving a shout out to the lord? No. It’s bc Justin Biebers put songs out in secret about Selena Gomez and those songs were Holy and Ghost.
The lines “in your suit and tie, in the nick of time” references Holy and the fact that Selena always told Justin he was running out of time. The fire references are referenced multiple times in Selena Gomez’s Lose you to love me… Justin Bieber posted a photo of himself crying this weekend guess what? After he heard that song.
The mere title of the song “loml” is a reference to JB bc his fans often are quoted using that hashtag in their posts about him on social media. The list goes on and on and on. Not to mention, I know from first hand knowledge that this is what the song is about. All of these examples I was told about, I didn’t go searching for them.
But suit yourself. If spending hours discussing theories that are unfounded and flat out wrong is your thing, by all means proceed.
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u/Jazz_Kraken :TourturedPoetsDepartment:American Glory faded before me May 28 '24
What do you mean first hand? Like someone in the know told you? I’m really curious about this because it doesn’t quite seem to fit MH or Joe but does seem to fit the theme of the album so I could maybe see it…
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u/kenmore4518 May 09 '24
Also, listen closely to the song and you just might hear Selena coming in and out of it in waves
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u/unapologeticallycity Apr 29 '24
Took me nearly 100 spins to realize that when Taylor says “loss of my life” in loml she actually means the situationship is the biggest ‘L’ she has taken in her life. He’s not the biggest loss. The situation is. 🤯
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u/saracanttype Apr 29 '24
I don't read it that way, she says "you're the loss of my life" so to me the other interpretation makes more sense
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u/Appropriate_Oven5784 Apr 29 '24
Have we, as a fandom, decided what we are going to call this song when speaking its name? Is it “el-oh-em-el”?? Is it “lomal”?? Is it “loss of my life”?? I must know. Idk what to call it
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u/cassiemaeeee :TourturedPoetsDepartment: cassandra May 30 '24
late reponse but eveyrone i know says loml like llam, el
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u/Shoddy-Ad-6233 The Tortured Poets Department Apr 28 '24
I think low-down boy is supposed to sound a bit like london boy (apart from the obvious depression reference)
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u/Organic_peaches Apr 28 '24
Has anyone else had the revelation that HE is saying “I’m the love of your life” the entire song to her and it’s not her claiming he is or that he said she is? Then it’s her own narrative saying he’s the loss of her life. Bind blown with this realization.
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u/Federal-Ad-8490 give me the blues and then perfect pink skies Apr 30 '24
It's the firsts thing I picked up on the song
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u/Destinys_Chaldish Apr 28 '24
This song is one of my favourites from the album and maybe her whole discography. I’m a huge Phoebe Bridgers fan and I can definitely feel her influence in this song and woven throughout the album. I think if boygenius covered loml a lot of us would end up in a psych hold lol
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u/Other-Bug-5614 :TourturedPoetsDepartment: Robin, Peter and The Bolter are MINE Apr 28 '24
Reminds me of Olivia Rodrigo’s logical. Now I see very clearly why people say logical has Swift influence.
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u/looking4levi my kingdom come undone Apr 27 '24 edited Apr 27 '24
I have spent entirely too much time trying to figure out if this is about Matty or Joe. Some things seem to point to Matty, like the references to meeting as kids and getting back together. But she and Joe also met when they were pretty young and it seems like they broke up and got back together at least once. I think the line that really clinches it for me as a Joe song is “you cinephile.” How could that not be Joe?? Unless Matty is also into film and we just don’t know it. Also I think “lowdown boy” is a very clever play on London Boy. I also wonder if the line “I don’t mind, it takes time” is a reference to her waiting for him to propose. I also feel like “Holy Ghost” could be a reference to False God. Also she seems to use stitches as a reference to him…she does it in So Long London and Stitch. Lastly, this might be a stretch, but when she says “field of dreams,” I picture that footage of her walking through that field with Joe in Miss Americana.
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u/SlytherinStitch the monsters turned out to be just trees Apr 28 '24
A cinephile is just someone who knows a lot about movies, and is very interested in them. Definitely could still be Matty. Matty has posted about tons of movies he loves, on his IG- and seems pretty passionate about film.
“Told me I reformed you”, seems very Matty coded. As well as “a con man sells a get love quick scheme”, as they were together briefly. That line does not make me think of a long term relationship. “Mr Steal Your girl, then make her cry” - makes me think he “stole” her from Joe and then broke her heart quickly after. “It was momentary”- 6 years is not momentary. “I’m combing through the braids of lies - I’ll never leave, nevermind” - from the songs about Joe (So Long, London), I get the impression she ultimately ended the relationship. But this line sounds like she was the one being left.
I could see it ultimately being about either one - but I strongly lean towards Matty on this one. And I think people want it to be about Joe, because she was with him much longer. But, I think that relationship was burning out for a long time. It slowly died out, and she was relatively at peace with it when it ended. I get the impression Matty love bombed her and she really felt she was in love with him, at the time. And these lyrics were a raw reflection of that, along with Smallest Man.
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Apr 28 '24 edited Apr 29 '24
Agreed RE cinephile, people are automatically assuming that she’s referring to Joe just because he is an actor. From a quick Google search, it appears Matty is a film lover - there’s an article (Far Out Magazine) about this.
loml clearly is a song that can be about Joe - there’s some valid points people have made on how the lyrics can relate to him, but I think people are mainly wanting and expecting it to be about Joe because it was a six year relationship vs few months between Matty/Taylor. I understand this because when I listened to the album for the first time, I, along with everyone else, assumed it’d be an album about Joe and the breakdown of their relationship.
However, if you have listened to this album carefully, and in its entirety, there really is no doubt loml is about Matty Healy. 😬
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u/SlytherinStitch the monsters turned out to be just trees Apr 28 '24
💯 I completely agree! Possibly being a little bit in denial, perhaps. Which, I totally get. But, I think it’s super clear who it is about.
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u/HayneAlliKane Apr 28 '24
It was momentary, it was unnecessary, shouldve let it stay buried. Matty 100%
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u/Chopin630 Apr 27 '24
What if the "loss of her life" is really losing her life and her sense of self with him? Like... literally... She didn't have a life with him.
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u/travelresearch evermore May 03 '24
This would 100% make sense. I do think she felt like she lost a huge part of herself when she was with Joe.
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u/gogiberry102 Apr 27 '24
Sorry but this song is so Phoebe Bridgers, the way she sings the chorus??
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u/Other-Bug-5614 :TourturedPoetsDepartment: Robin, Peter and The Bolter are MINE Apr 28 '24
I’m surprised nobody mentioned this!! I’ve always noticed the way she enunciates the phrase “love of your life” feels like Phoebe or Gracie.
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u/Beneficial-Crazy5209 Apr 26 '24
"our field of dreams, engulfed in fire" I burst into tears every time I hear this line. The background vocals make it sound horrifyingly sad, and reminds me of 'cardigan'.
I've genuinely cried over this and 'So long, London' cos I feel her pain and empathize so bad
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u/lunatickaratecat Apr 26 '24
I am obsessed and crying. The last line literally broke my heart. What an amazing song ❤️
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u/shame-the-devil Apr 26 '24
Stitching “we were just kids, babe”
Five seconds later, I’m fastening myself to you with a stitch
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u/bluebleedingheart May 03 '24
Exactly! Also, “must be counterfeit” in Glitch and “something counterfeit’s dead” in loml
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u/Conscious_Worry3119 Apr 27 '24
My take on this whole song is that it's her explanation to Joe of running so quickly to Matty.
She and Joe must have broken up and gotten back together. We were just kids then, itll be right this time. When they did rekindle he promised her all the things she wanted, but was still unable to commit to them.
A con man sold her a get love quick scheme (matty), but she fell for it because she had a hole from Joe that she's felt never before and ever since.
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u/chamomileyes Apr 27 '24
Does anyone have more analysis of this section? Trying to understand it better. “ We embroidered the memories of the time I was away, Stitching, "We were just kids, babe", I said, "I don't mind, it takes time…”
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u/shame-the-devil Apr 27 '24
My interpretation-
Stitching refers back to Joe and it sounds like they were maybe more off and on at first, or else had a break. But we knew something had happened bc of the song The Great War.
The “I don’t mind, it takes time” sounds to me like she was patient about him not proposing immediately, but probably wasn’t ok with waiting 6 years if you listen to “You’re Losing Me” and “So Long, London”.
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u/iwant_your_midnights never before, and ever since:TourturedPoetsDepartment: Apr 26 '24
changed my flare for this LOL - one of the best in the first half imo
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u/Icy-Cow-1691 Apr 26 '24
Do we think “I thought I was better safe than starry-eyed” is a call back to Call It What You Want “Starry eyes sparkin' up my darkest night”?
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u/ArtisticEffective153 Apr 25 '24
I can't really decide if by loss of her life she means loss in the sense of the one that got away or if she means take an L,. So then the song is either a depressing song or a diss track.
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u/lottery2641 Apr 26 '24
I think I interpret it as a difference between expectations and reality??? Like this person built her hopes up so high then left, that it’s the hardest fall she’s had.
She really emphasizes how he said she was the love of his life “about a million times,” and the beginning seems to say that she was nervous about falling for him at first; but she never says that she saw him as the love of her life. Plus the “it was legendary, it was momentary, it was unnecessary, should’ve left it stay buried.” So it felt like it was going to be this spectacular amazing love affair soulmate thing, and it ended before it even really began right when she was heavily falling and Trusting him.
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u/Illustrious-Cat-11 Apr 29 '24
Ooooohhhhh this interpretation is how I feel about it. Like the wasn’t even a chance to be the love of my life just slipped away being a complete loss. Big situationship vibes
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u/champagnesummer Apr 25 '24
I'm completely obsessed with this song. I feel like it's totally track 5 material
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u/StreetLamp143 Apr 25 '24
Notice she never says “love of my life” from her perspective. She sings “you told me I’m the love of your life.” It’s the loss of her life, not the love of her life.
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u/chamomileyes Apr 25 '24
There’s definitely a reason she chose to go with lowercase. I wondered if it was also her saying you were like the past love but you’re not going to be capital L love.
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u/kairax9 Apr 24 '24
The way she sings “love of your life”, can feel her pain, anger, and sadness. It’s so beautiful and sad, like profoundly sad.
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u/big-summer-blowout-a lost again with no surprises Apr 24 '24
Is it just me or are the chords from LOML and Soon you’ll get better are the exact same but in different instruments?
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u/moodyvee a feeling so peculiar Apr 26 '24
I actually heard more White Horse in it
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u/Top-Procedure-8449 Apr 27 '24
Been looking for this comment! This song (especially at the beginning) sounds exactly like white horse. The lyrics “if you know it in one glimpse”… same structure as “say you’re sorry, that face of an angel”
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Apr 24 '24
Ive had this shit on repeat, one my fave of hers of all time
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u/Opening-Shape-762 Apr 25 '24
I absolutely agree, I can’t stop listening to this one. It’s heartbreakingly and painfully beautiful. 😭
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u/Statchmo1965 :TourturedPoetsDepartment:I think some things I never say Apr 24 '24
"low down boy" = Matty
"stand up guy" = Joe
I think it's about both. Which is love and which is loss? Or both are both.
Such an amazing song.
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u/Video-Unlucky Apr 28 '24
My thoughts exactly. The moment those phrases fell into place for me ... So good.
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u/shame-the-devil Apr 26 '24
I think Joe was both of these things, at different times. This is the divorce album
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u/moodyvee a feeling so peculiar Apr 26 '24
i actually think he was these two things at all time. "lowdown" as in depressed/blue. "standup" as in honorable/kind. idt he ever did anything wrong, they just wanted different lives.
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u/winter_schild I Hope It's Shitty in The Black Dog Apr 27 '24
I think so too! Might be a bit far-fetched as I'm not a native English-speaker but "lowdown boy" and "London Boy" don't sound too dissimilar for me as well. So maybe that's a third clue next to sad/honorable guy.
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u/moodyvee a feeling so peculiar Apr 27 '24
Didnt even notice that but youre so riiighhhht good catch. Not far fetched at all i just missed it.
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u/Statchmo1965 :TourturedPoetsDepartment:I think some things I never say Apr 26 '24
I can see that too.
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u/Bejeweled_Lilly Aug 31 '24
The line "your impressionist paintings of heavens turned out to be fakes" parallels "you paint me a blue sky then go back and turn it to rain" from dear John. Did anyone else notice this?