The 'Reputation' singer's new jam is an exercise in alcohol, attraction and fatalism.
Taylor Swift is back, y'all -- and she's been drinkin'.
The Reputation singer dropped "Gorgeous," the third track off her upcoming album on Thursday night (or midnight Friday morning for you East Coasters), which continues to break from the format of her carefully crafted image as an artist.
The new jam is an exercise in alcohol, attraction and fatalism for the 27-year-old singer, with plenty of lyrics that, while sometimes simple on the surface, offer new clues and insight into the personal life of New Taylor.
So, if you haven't yet, fire up the lyric video below, and then let's talk about it.
"You should take it as a compliment/ That I got drunk and made fun of the way you talk."
Right from the get-go, there's some interesting stuff. First, Swift has never made explicit reference to consuming alcohol before, and she does it multiple times on "Gorgeous" (in the pre-chorus she croons about drinking "Whisky" without the "e" all night). Second, she makes reference to a beau with an accent -- which sparked some debate on social media about which of Swift's current and/or former European boyfriend's this could be about -- Tom Hiddleston, Harry Styles, Calvin Harris or her new man, Joe Alwyn.
We think it's a non-debate. One of the following lines makes it very clear:
And I got a boyfriend, he's older than us/ He's in the club doing, I don't know what."
Yeah, as many Swifties assumed, this song is about Alwyn. Swift's current flame is a year younger than her, and much younger than her two most recent exes. Additionally, the "club" line seems like a slight dig at Harris, the EDM star with whom she went through a particularly nasty breakup last year.
Oh, and also, what basically closes the case is Swift liked a fan post on Tumblr claiming the song is about Alwyn.
Sidenote: this is oddly the second time during her Reputation rollout that Swift has seemingly drawn focus to Alwyn's age. On "...Ready for It," she sings, "Younger than my exes but he acts like such a man so."
This is kind of a weird fixation when you consider that Alwyn is not even the youngest on Swift's roster of famous flames.
Let's go down the list in descending order of current age: John Mayer (40), Hiddleston (36), Jake Gyllenhaal (36), Harris (33), Alwyn (26), Connor Kennedy (23), Styles (23).
Alwyn is very close to being the median age of men she's dated! Mathematically, the average age of her boyfriends is 31, so, besides Harris, he's the one who deviates least from the mean!
OK, we're getting off track. Let's continue.
"Ocean blue eyes looking in mine/ I feel like I might sink and drown and die."
She ain't lyin', you guys. Alwyn's got some pretty eyes.
There's not much to analyze here, so let's take just a moment to pause "Gorgeous," play Blue October's "Into the Ocean" and get lost in those piercing peepers.
Thank you for indulging us.
The last thing we'll mention is the baby voice that begins the song, saying "gorgeous," and pops up a couple more times throughout.
It has become a subject of debate as to who is the little songstress behind this word, with some speculating that it is Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds' 2-year-old daughter, James.
Swift, from her Tumblr account, confirmed that attendees of her album listening parties know the answer.
Alright, that's enough Tay for the day!
What do you think of "Gorgeous"? It's likely the last (or one of the last) listens will get off of Reputation before the album drops on Nov. 10, and fans are all about it.
Watch the video below for how shook they were listening to the new single.
