#(*ahem* yes everyone I *know* but I wanted to talk about the mashup anyway so I did lol)

[wavesoutbeingtossed]

Can you talk Maroon and cowboy like me. A mashup that was beautiful but I didn’t see it. Was so depressing. Like personally made me sad

That's too bad that it made you sad, anon!

I don't think it was depressing at all! In fact it made me very happy, and it clearly made Taylor very happy too! 😂 I think it was one of the more intriguing ways Taylor's artistry in the mashups was on full display, and how she created a totally new story out of combining sections of different songs!

First of all, Maroon is definitely the favourite child lol. And cowboy like me might start giving it a run for its money. Secondly: she sounds so, so beautiful in this one! Which I say about all of them. But there's something about how you can tell how much she loves both of these songs that she gives them a little extra je ne sais quoi and it's so lovely.

The mashup can be distilled to this: I chose you, cause you're a cowboy like me.

The brilliance of this mashup is that she took what was a very bittersweet (or just bitter lol) song about a great love that faded to nothing as two lovers drifted apart, and instead turned it into an unabashed love story by combining it with another of her favourites!

By starting with the first verse and chorus of Maroon, she's telling the story of the early days of a young love, where the two lovers are so enamoured of each other that they lose track of time and are just wholly obsessed with each other. And then segueing into cowboy like me, it adds a cheekiness to it, like, "oh, on paper this shouldn't work, but it turns out we're two peas in a pod."

And "oh, I thought, 'this is gonna be one of those things,' and now I know I'm never gonna love again," in this context echoes that, but also I imagine is relevant to how she felt! It's saying: oh, this wasn't meant to go anywhere, but it turned into the greatest love to which nothing will ever compare. (Hmm maybe like going "what the hell sure" to reach out to a certain football player with a friendship bracelet and moxie on a lark thinking you'll at least get a funny story out of it, and then unexpectedly end up finding the rest of your life. But I digress.) It turns out that cowboy you found is just like you in the best ways possible, and you two will be hustling for that good life together forever! The early days of drinking the night away because you can't get enough of each other in every way possible giving way to their boots being beneath your bed for the rest of your days-- what a way to flip the script!

I absolutely love the way she delivered the bridge of cowboy like me, because not only does she sound incredible, but her cheeky and knowing grin at "that was all before I locked it down," is so incredibly sweet -- she was just a happy, happy girl! And again: she was being very loud about the theme of the mashup and her life at that point which is: forever is indeed the sweetest-- and best-- con. Once she found her cowboy, it was time to pack it up, because there was no need to look elsewhere, or wait for the other shoe to drop! They found each other and they're in this rodeo together now. (Is that too many horse references?)

Forever is the sweetest con, so I wake with your memory over me, that's a real fucking legacy to leave is sooooo interesting, because it takes what is a source of pain from the original version of Maroon (being haunted by a lover who's long since left) and turns it into a source of joy: together this is our forever, and I'm going to wake every morning knowing that! That is your legacy now! Because I locked it down! The memories we made of the splashed wine and lips I call home are part of our story we're still writing! It's such a testament to how resilient people are, and you can grow from things that once hurt you only to find your greatest joy you never even thought possible.

"You're a cowboy like me, and I chose you" is so beautiful! Not only in the way she sings it, but again, what a lovely sentiment! All the parts she chose to sing from Maroon are about choosing the other person who feels like home, and the parts from cowboy like me are about realizing that this person is your forever. It definitely did not go unnoticed that she didn't sing a single part of the "I lost you" lyrics of Maroon because: that's not the story anymore. This is a whole new chapter of a whole new story! One where the memories are going to keep being made.

Thanks for the trip down memory lane anon!