The Great War lyric theory
Taylor Swift’s songwriting ability will never cease to amaze me. Her lyrics are so complex and layered, I am always learning from her music and fathoming new meanings that completely change how I feel about a song.
Today, I had a moment with The Great War, from Midnights (2022). I have listened to this song a million times but something suddenly clicked. I searched online to see what other Swifties think this song is about, and I found very few blog posts and forums that agreed with my theory. So I thought that I would write my own blog post to share and inspire others who are yet to fathom this song in all of its metaphorical glory.
Concept
For many fans, this song is about a fight Taylor and ex boyfriend, Joe Alywn, had during their six year relationship. For a long time this is how I interpreted the song, too, but today I had an epiphany (excuse the Taylor Swift pun!!) and fathomed that it is actually an ode to Joe for helping her through her darkest time.
The Great War tells the story of the events leading up to Taylor’s sixth studio album, Reputation, and how this caused her mental health to deteriorate. Consequently, the trust issues she developed from this traumatic experience, in a time of isolation and paranoia, filtered through to her fears about her relationship and are metaphorically represented as dreams about war within the song.
Personally, I believe that Anti-Hero and The Great War (both from Midnights) are sister songs. They both talk about the same mental health themes and fears of losing the person you love. You’re Losing Me is also tightly woven with The Great War, however it symbolises the finite end to their relationship after several years.
The structure of the song alternates between day and night, exploring how she feels when she is awake in contrast to how those deep fears and feelings are distorted in her dreams.
Verse 1
My knuckles were bruised like violets
Sucker punching walls, cursed you as I sleep-talked
Spineless in my tomb of silence
The beginning of verse 1 sets the scene of her having a nightmare. She explicitly tells us that she is sleep walking, punching walls and screaming in her sleep. This directly links to Anti-Hero, where she references the same nightmare.
I wake up screaming from dreaming
She is weak and powerless while she is dreaming, as she has no grip on reality (her ‘tomb of silence’ is referring to her being asleep).
The concept of dreams is also touched upon in Taylor’s prologue for Midnights:
“Sometimes sleep is as evasive as happiness. Isn’t it mystifying how quickly we vascillate between self love and loathing at this hour? One moment, your life looks like a night sky of gleaming stars. The next, the fog has descended.
“Why can’t you sleep? Maybe you lie awake in the aftershock of falling headlong into a connection that feels like some surreal cataclysmic event. Like spontaneous combustion"
“We lie awake in love and in fear and in turmoil and in tears. We stare at the walls and drink until they speak back. We twist in our self-made cages and pray that we aren’t – right this minute – about to make some fateful life-altering mistake.
“This is a collection of music written in the middle of the night, a journey through terrors and sweet dreams.”
…
Tore your banners down, took the battle underground
Taylor immediately tells us that the dream is about a battle. Her reference to banners could relate to those used at a rally point (a rally point in the military is a designated location where soldiers can regroup). By cross-referencing You’re Losing Me, we know that she is fighting in her partner’s army, therefore, technically, she is tearing down his banners at the rally point, which symbolises no longer being his ally.
Fighting in only your army
Taking the battle underground could be a military reference to underground warfare, where soldiers often got isolated in tunnels. This represents her escaping in her mind while she sleeps.
This is also referenced in Long Story Short:
Fatefully
I tried to pick my battles 'til the battle picked me
Misery
Like the war of words I shouted in my sleep
…
And maybe it was ego swinging
Maybe it was her
I should not be left to my own devices
They come with prices and vices
(Anti-Hero)
By using the phrase ‘ego swinging’, Taylor tells us that she has an alter ego. She demonstrates this concept in the Anti-Hero music video. One side of her is anxious, depressed and cautious, while the other side of her is confident, bubbly and reckless. Her anxious persona is scared that the reckless one is to blame for these nightmares.
‘Maybe it was her’ could be a reference to Kim Kardashian, who leaked the video of the phone call that caused the series of events that led to Reputation. Taylor is implying that if her own alter ego is not to blame for her inner turmoil, then perhaps the only other person to blame could be Kim.
Flashes of the battle come back to me in a blur
The final line of the verse implies that she is waking up from the nightmare and is trying to remember her dream.
Chorus
The chorus represents a recurring dream. The lyrics in the chorus change each time, depicting a different version of the same dream happening over multiple nights (at the dead of night, a.k.a. 3am).
Ultimately, the recurring theme of the dream is that she loses her partner, but each one has a different meaning. Considering when this song might be referring to, it is no surprise that this was one of her deepest, darkest fears, as he was one of the only people she trusted.
All that bloodshed, crimson clover
Uh-huh, sweet dream was over
The opening lines clearly paint the picture of a battlefield, confirming to the listener that this it is not a happy dream - it’s a nightmare. ‘Sweet dream’ represents her (then) peak of her career, the 1989 era. After the phone call, she thought that her career was over. Taylor said in an interview:
“Make no mistake - my career was taken away from me”
…
My hand was the one you reached for
All throughout the Great War
‘My hand was the one you reached for’ brings us back to reality in two contexts. It tells us that her partner is lying next to her in bed, holding her hand to comfort her during her nightmare. We know she talks (or rather, screams) and walks in her sleep, which implies the person sleeping next to her would wake as a result. It could also metaphorically represent him being by her side throughout the events leading up to the Reputation era.
You squeeze my hand three times in the back of the taxi
I can tell that it's gonna be a long road
(New Year’s Day)
The mention of the ‘Great War’ has a double meaning throughout the song.
-
The Great War symbolises the physical setting of the dream.
-
The Great War symbolises the events between 1989 and Reputation.
Always remember
Uh-huh, tears on the letter
Taylor finds out that the person she loves has died fighting in the war. She receives a letter containing this information, in the same way a wartime widow would receive a telegram. ‘Always remember’ relates to the remembrance of a fallen soldier.
I vowed not to cry anymore
If we survived the Great War
The meaning of this dream can be depicted from the penultimate line of each chorus. Here we get confirmation that her biggest fear is losing her love, the only person she can trust (apart from her family, of course). In this chorus, she says ‘I vowed not to cry anymore’, which highlights her depression.
Taylor convinces herself that her sadness will cause her partner to leave her. She opens Anti-Hero in the same way:
Midnights become my afternoons
When my depression works the graveyard shift
I wake up screaming from dreaming
One day I'll watch as you're leaving
Her fears about the love of her life leaving her is also present in the following songs:
-
Who could ever leave me, darling?
But who could stay? -
And baby, for you, I would fall from grace
Just to touch your face
If you walk away
I'd beg you on my knees to stay
Another thing to acknowledge throughout this song is the repeated use of ‘uh-huh’. The conversational tone of the chorus suggests that she is explaining the dream to her partner when she wakes. ‘Uh-huh’ is something people often say as a sign of recognition when listening to someone talk. In this case, it is her partner who is saying ‘uh-huh’.
Verse 2
You drew up some good faith treaties
I drew curtains closed, drank my poison all alone
The second verse confirms the point in her life this song is about. Between 1989 and Reputation.
-
Just in case you don’t know what happened in the lead up to Reputation, here’s a quick recap.
In 2016 Kanye West claimed that he secured permission from Taylor to include degrading lyrics about her in his song Famous. Kim Kardashian, who was married to Kanye at the time, released an edited video of the phone call, which made it appear that Taylor approved the lyrics.
Millions of people took to social media to side with the Kardashian-West’s, with the hashtag ‘TaylorSwiftIsOverParty’.
Kim even implied Taylor was a snake in a tweet - but we all know how that backfired!! (Genius)
Quotes from Taylor about the drama:
“Make no mistake - my career was taken away from me”
“That took me down psychologically to a place I’ve never been before. I moved to a foreign country. I didn’t leave a rental house for a year. I was afraid to get on phone calls. I pushed away most people in my life because I didn’t trust anyone anymore. I went down really, really hard.”
“When people decided I was wicked, and evil, and conniving, and not a good person, that was the one that I couldn't really bounce back from because my whole life was centred around it.”
“I just wanted to disappear. No one physically saw me for a year.”
Why She Disappeared, a poem by Taylor Swift
When she fell, she fell apart.
Cracked her bones on the pavement she once decorated
as a child with sidewalk chalk
When she crashed, her clothes disintegrated and blew away
with the winds that took all of her fair-weather friends
When she looked around, her skin was spattered with ink
forming the words of a thousand voices
Echoes she heard even in her sleep:
"Whatever you say, it is not right."
"Whatever you do, it is not enough."
"Your kindness is fake."
"Your pain is manipulative."
When she lay there on the ground,
She dreamed of time machines and revenge
and a love that was really something,
Not just the idea of something.
When she finally rose, she rose slowly
Avoiding old haunts and sidestepping shiny pennies
Wary of phone calls and promises,
Charmers, dandies and get-love-quick-schemes
When she stood, she stood with a desolate knowingness
Waded out into the dark, wild ocean up to her neck
Bathed in her brokenness
Said a prayer of gratitude for each chink in the armor
she never knew she needed
Standing broad-shouldered next to her
was a love that was really something,
not just the idea of something.
When she turned to go home,
She heard the echoes of new words
"May your heart remain breakable
But never by the same hand twice"
And even louder,
"without your past,
you could never have arrived-
so wondrously and brutally,
By design or some violent, exquisite happenstance
...here."
And in the death of her reputation,
She felt truly alive.
When Taylor disappeared she confirmed that she was living in a foreign country, which implies that the good faith treaties could be her partner inviting her to live with him (London). Taylor’s relationship with British actor, Joe Alwyn, was Taylor’s most private relationship, and this opportunity allowed the couple to get to know each other out of the public eye. This is further reinforced by the act of drawing the curtains.
I recall late November
Holdin' my breath, slowly I said
"You don't need to save me
But would you run away with me?"
Yes
(Call It What You Want)
Drinking poison is another way of saying that she has deep resentment. This makes complete sense following the events that took place after Kim’s leaked video. Taylor said in an interview that she felt like her ‘career was taken away’ from her - the most important thing in her life.
This is further reinforced in Look What You Made Me Do and the poem, Why She Disappeared:
The world moves on, another day another drama, drama
But not for me, not for me, all I think about is karma
(Look What You Made Me Do)
When she lay there on the ground,
She dreamed of time machines and revenge
(Why She Disappeared)
‘Drank my poison all alone’ could also imply that she drank alcohol in solitude during this time as a coping mechanism. The idea of drinking a large amount is visually explored in the Anti-Hero music video, when her alter ego encourages her to drink a number of shots.
You said I have to trust more freely
After feeling so betrayed by the Kim/Kanye incident, Taylor admitted that she developed trust issues in an interview.
“I was afraid to get on phone calls. I pushed away most people in my life because I didn’t trust anyone anymore. I went down really, really hard.”
This is also highlighted in Look What You Made Me Do, along with a reference to nightmares:
I don't trust nobody and nobody trusts me
I'll be the actress starring in your bad dreams
…
But diesel is desire, you were playin' with fire
‘But diesel is desire, you were playing with fire’ is the most tricky lyric to decode, in my opinion. What I take from it is that her lover is fuelling the fire by trying to help her heal and build her self confidence back up, however she fears that when she is back to her normal self, he may not like her anymore, therefore he is ‘playing with fire’. This relates directly to themes in Bejeweled, where she talks about her partner not wanting her when she is shining.
Familiarity breeds contempt
(Bejeweled)
…
And maybe it's the past that's talkin'
Screamin' from the crypt
Tellin' me to punish you for things you never did
So I justified it
The second half of the verse reverts back to Taylor trying to justify why she is having nightmares. She refers to ‘the old Taylor’ when she says ‘Screamin’ from the crypt’, who famously crawls from the grave in the Look What You Made Me Do music video. Once again she believes she is to blame for the downfall of her past relationships, suggesting that she subconsciously thinks she will drive her current partner away in the same way. This links back to Anti-Hero when she says:
One day I'll watch as you're leaving
'Cause you got tired of my scheming
(For the last time)
However, we know that she feels this way as a result of what the media has been saying about her character. In Taylor’s poem Why She Disappeared, she says:
Echoes she heard even in her sleep:
"Whatever you say, it is not right."
"Whatever you do, it is not enough."
"Your kindness is fake."
"Your pain is manipulative."
Chorus
All that bloodshed, crimson clover
The second chorus represents another night with the same recurring dream, but the subtle lyric changes indicates that this dream has a slightly different storyline compared to the first chorus. Once again, it retains a conversational tone, like she is telling the story to her partner when she wakes up.
Uh-huh, the bombs were close and
The lyrics of the second line change, which gives us the sense that danger is getting closer and closer. This could symbolise the impending destruction of her relationship. Alternatively, it could represent the destruction of her mental health.
My hand was the one you reached for
All throughout the Great War
Always remember
Uh-huh, the burning embers
The key words in the next passage are ‘burning embers’. This is a perfect way of describing a relationship that is dying out, implying that their relationship was once passionate like fire. Although, one thing to keep in mind here is that embers can be reignited, so there’s still a glimmer of hope that the relationship could be revived. An alternative way to look at this could be she, as a person, is a duller version of what she once was.
I vowed not to fight anymore
If we survived the Great War
The penultimate line in this chorus once again depicts the deeper meaning of the dream. This time she says ‘I vowed not to fight anymore’, which suggests that she feels like she is the one who causes conflict in the relationship, which will ultimately end in him leaving. Another nice link to Anti-Hero. This is also explored in The Archer and Afterglow:
Combat, I'm ready for combat
I say I don't want that, but what if I do?
(The Archer)
It's all me in my head
I'm the one who burned us down
(Afterglow)
Uh-huh
Uh-huh
The added ‘uh-huh’s’ here tell us that there’s more to this dream than she is letting on. She hesitates and then goes on to continue her recollection of the dream in the bridge.
Bridge
It turned into something bigger
The first line of the bridge confirms that she is continuing where she left off in the chorus.
Somewhere in the haze, got a sense I'd been betrayed
The reference to ‘haze’ represents the year (honeymoon period) she spent in private with her partner (verse 2), and directly relates to Lavender Haze. It also symbolises confusion and uncertainty, which is also referenced in You’re Losing Me:
And the air is thick with loss and indecision
(You’re Losing Me)
I just wanna stay in that lavender haze
(Lavender Haze)
Taylor tells us she senses that she has been betrayed by her partner, which relates back to how she has felt in past relationships (verse 2), but has no evidence. Around this time, she also experienced betrayal of friends in both a personal and professional context (Karlie Kloss and Scott Borchetta), as well as Kim and Kanye.
Due to her current trust issues, she believes that anyone and everyone has the capability to betray her, which is also explored in the Anti-Hero music video:
In hindsight, now we know that her relationship with Joe ended, she visits this feeling in Hits Different:
I trace the evidence, make it make some sense
Why the wound is still bleedin'
…
Your finger on my hair pin triggers
The next line conjures the imagery of her and her partner meeting on the battlefield. A hairpin trigger refers to a firearm that responds with a very slight amount of pressure. I always imagine that he reaches out to embrace her face, however her hair pin is the trigger and she is the grenade (and explodes). Interestingly, this is also mentioned in You’re Losing Me:
You might just have dealt the final blow
…
Soldier down on that icy ground
Looked up at me with honor and truth
We are then painted the scene of her partner injured on the ground, looking up at her with ‘honor and truth’. This implies that her partner has been nothing but good to her and hasn’t done anything wrong to deserve to be treated this way. It further reinforces how she feels like the problem in the relationship.
Broken and blue, so I called off the troops
‘Broken and blue’ symbolises how she thinks her partner would react to her ending the relationship - heartbroken and sad. The line that directly follows, ‘so I called off the troops’, tells us that she has a realisation of regret, and perhaps panic. She realises in this moment of loss that she is deflecting her trust issues on to the person she loves the most, out of fear. This is also highlighted in Afterglow:
I blew things out of proportion, now you're blue
Put you in jail for something you didn't do
I pinned your hands behind your back, oh
Thought I had reason to attack, but no
Why'd I have to break what I love so much?
It's on your face, and I'm to blame
It's all me in my head
I'm the one who burned us down
But it's not what I meant
Sorry that I hurt you
I don't wanna do, I don't wanna do this to you
I don't wanna lose, I don't wanna lose this with you
…
That was the night I nearly lost you
I really thought I lost you
These final lines express her desperate relief that this was just a dream and not reality. We know from other songs like Cornelia Street that one of her biggest fears was losing this person.
I hope I never lose you
I'd never walk Cornelia Street again
Verse 3
We can plant a memory garden
Say a solemn prayer, place a poppy in my hair
For me, this final, short verse represents the release of the Reputation album. The ‘memory garden’ are the songs she wrote which helped her to heal and to grow as a person. Reputation is, in essence, Taylor’s rebirth. Quite literally.
-
I'm sorry, the old Taylor can't come to the phone right now
Why? Oh, 'cause she's deadBut I got smarter, I got harder in the nick of time
Honey, I rose up from the dead, I do it all the time -
I once was poison ivy, but now I'm your daisy
-
Is this the end of all the endings?
My broken bones are mending -
Nobody's heard from me for months
I'm doing better than I ever wasAll my flowers grew back as thorns
Windows boarded up after the storm
He built a fire just to keep me warm
All the drama queens taking swings
All the jokers dressin' up as kings
They fade to nothin' when I look at him -
And I woke up just in time
Now I wake up by your side
My one and only, my lifeline -
Said a prayer of gratitude for each chink in the armor
she never knew she neededStanding broad-shouldered next to her
was a love that was really something,
not just the idea of something.And in the death of her reputation,
She felt truly alive.
The couple pay their respects to the sacrifices they had to make as a couple during this time, but also to the part of herself she lost when the world turned against her.
There's no morning glory, it was war, it wasn't fair
And we will never go back
The final two lines are very matter of fact. This traumatic event happened. Life’s not fair, but we made it through. Together.
Chorus
To that bloodshed, crimson clover
Uh-huh, the worst was over
This lyric change implies that this dream is happening after the release of Reputation.
My hand was the one you reached for
All throughout the Great War
Always remember
Uh-huh, we're burned for better
The lyric change here acknowledges how they are scarred from the trauma, but it has made them stronger, as individuals and together. This reminds me of lyrics from Cardigan and Dancing With Our Hands Tied:
You drew stars around my scars
(Cardigan)
I'd kiss you as the lights went out
Swaying as the room burned down
I'd hold you as the water rushes in
If I could dance with you again
(Dancing With Our Hands Tied)
I vowed I would always be yours
'Cause we survived the Great War
Lastly, Taylor confirms how they have got through the dark times together and declares her deep love and loyalty, by making a vow like in marriage.
I wanna be your endgame
I wanna be your first string
I wanna be your A-Team
I wanna be your endgame
(End Game)
And all at once, you are the one I have been waiting for
King of my heart, body and soul
(King Of My Heart)
This is also the first time that she has reassured us that she is fine now, reminiscent of Long Story Short and in Why She Disappeared:
Long story short, I survived
(Long Story Short)
"without your past,
you could never have arrived-
so wondrously and brutally,
By design or some violent, exquisite happenstance
...here."
(Why She Disappeared)
Outro
Uh-huh
Uh-huh
I would always be yours
'Cause we survived the Great War
Uh-huh
I vowed I would always be yours
Lyrics from Reputation which demonstrate how her partner helped her through ‘The Great War’:
-
My reputation's never been worse, so
You must like me for me -
My baby's fly like a jet stream
High above the whole scene, loves me like I'm brand newAnd I know I make the same mistakes every time
Bridges burn, I never learn, at least I did one thing right
I did one thing right
I'm laughin' with my lover, makin' forts under covers
Trust him like a brother, yeah, you know I did one thing right
Starry eyes sparkin' up my darkest night -
I, I loved you in spite of
Deep fears that the world would divide us
So, baby, can we dance
Oh, through an avalanche?
And say, say that we got it
I'm a mess, but I'm the mess that you wanted
Oh, 'cause it's gravity
Oh, keeping you with me -
Even in my worst times
You could see the best of me -
Here's a toast to my real friends
They don't care about the "he said, she said"
And here's to my baby
He ain't readin' what they call me lately
What’s sad about this song is how we now know this person wasn’t actually ‘the one’ for her, with the added context of bonus track, You’re Losing Me:
I gave you all my best me's, my endless empathy
And all I did was bleed as I tried to be the bravest soldier
Fighting in only your army
Watch Taylor’s heart-wrenching mashup of The Great War x You’re Losing Me from The Eras Tour.
What do you think? Could I be on to something? Please share your thoughts on this song in the comments!
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