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kylieswift31 · 2 months

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Today was a fairytale funeral

“I have this dream my daughter in law kills me for the money. She thinks I left them in the will.”

I recently made a post about Cinderella and how the inner version of Taylor became exiled during the fearless era, and then a few hours later Taylor sang 'today was a fairytale' and 'exile' during the surprise song set on the eras tour. The combination of these two songs reveal the contrast between the dreams vs reality that Taylor faced as a young woman entering the music industry.

This is going to be another long really long post, but it's worth sticking around until the end...

The fairytale

Taylor's earlier albums heavily featured fairytale themes, especially within the fearless era. The song 'today was a fairytale' originally debuted on the valentines day movie Taylor Swift featured in, with Taylor Lautner playing her high school boyfriend. This movie follows the journey of several characters simultaneously, revealing the connections between them all along the way.

When 'today was a fairytale' was added to the fearless tour in 2010, it was the first of several songs performed in a black and silver cocktail dress. The visuals in the background depict a forest scene, reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet sneaking away during 'love story'. Taylor also wears a very similar dress during the 'our song' music video as she's singing "I didn't kiss 'er and I should have".

Taylor also performed 'today was a fairytale' during the 2010 Grammys where Stevie Nicks joined her on stage. For this performance Taylor was wearing a blouse reminiscent of the Romeo look that’s seen on the cover of the fearless re-record. Notably, Eric Dane from Grey's anatomy played a famous football player for the valentines day movie. His character came out as gay during a press conference when many were anticipating his retirement. And at the end of the tour Taylor wore a patriots jersey for her performance of 'today was a fairytale' at the Gillette stadium.

Exiled

Following the incident with Kanye West interrupting her acceptance speech at the country music awards show, the speak now tour reveals subtle references to this negative experience and how it had affected Taylor going forward. The 'speak now' performance in particular features Taylor interrupting a wedding that’s taking place on stage as she proceeds to drag the groom into the crowd.

After losing him along the way, Taylor reaches a lone tree in the crowd. She begins singing 'fearless' on a ukulele with a brief cover of 'I'm yours' by Jason Mraz mixed in. "I won't hesitate no more." Taylor then transitions into playing 'last kiss' on the koi fish guitar. "When we say hello, and it's magical, we never imagine that hello could someday turn into a goodbye." The combination of all of these elements is a visual representation of the outer version of Taylor saying goodbye as the inner version of Taylor became exiled.

Fast forward to the release of fearless Taylor's version and we can start to see the evidence of this separation. The lyric video for 'today was a fairytale' is full of duplicated pictures of Taylor from the past, all with varying levels of saturation. This feels like an introduction to the layers of Taylor that have developed over time. The Taylor on the left represents the exiled inner Taylor who is hiding behind a mask. The Taylor on the right represents the outer version of Taylor that is acting as a facade to conceal the layers underneath, just like a set of nesting dolls. And the middle layers represent the different versions of Taylor that have been added over the years. No matter which layer you're looking at, it is acting as both a mask and a facade for the inner and outer layers on either side.

There are many versions of Taylor seen throughout her music videos. I began seeing them as a set of nesting dolls as a way to make sense of the many versions of Taylor we've seen over the years. And it was all inspired by The Truman Show. The director (director Taylor) created Truman as a true man (regular Taylor/Taylor ™), but he was acting like everyone else around him by wearing a mask (pop star Taylor) but they saw him as a character (giant Taylor). Truman lied to everyone around him to protect the inner version of himself underneath (inner Taylor). We all have differing opinions on who Taylor is underneath the pop star persona (straight, queer etc), but the secret to seeing the innermost layer of Taylor is to understand that the outermost version of Taylor exists too. Taylor has been directing herself in the sense that she's created her own layers, but keep in mind that she wouldn't be referencing Truman's story so heavily if there wasn't someone in her life playing this role too.

A cry for help

This was just supposed to be a brief post about the connection between the two surprise songs, but it felt like Taylor was leaning over my shoulder saying "you know this is about the Truman show too right?!" So if you haven't read this post about The Truman Show yet, I'd highly recommend you do so before proceeding.

It's no coincidence that Taylor has referenced Truman's story so much throughout her work because she relates to his story on a personal level. Truman kept talking about how he wanted to get out of town and travel to Fiji, each time forcing the director to retaliate by trying harder to make him stay in Seahaven and continue being the star of the show. Taylor's version of leaving town was leaving her old record label and her plans of going to Fiji was talking about wanting to come out as queer in a similar way.

The 'anti hero' music video is a direct reference to the scene after Truman's first attempt to escape. In hindsight, this attempt was set up to fail as a test run to find out what roadblocks could hinder his real plan to escape. Taylor left her old record label at this point, but her fight for her plans didn't stop there. The aesthetic of the lover era hinted at Taylor's big plans to come out at the time, but this was quickly sabotaged by the sale of her masters. Chronologically, this music video depicts the fallout from that experience.

Truman had slowly been drawing the viewers attention to the flaws and behaviour of the people around him. This gave the viewer a chance to pick up on the clues that he wasn't happy with living a life that had been scripted for him. His wife Meryl advertising a product while trying to offer to help him is seen as the final straw, but in hindsight Truman had known all along that this type of behaviour wasn't genuine. As Taylor cuts into her food, purple glitter begins to ooze out of the egg yolk. The way that the food is arranged as a smiley face feels like a metaphor for how delicate the facade is that Taylor has created to conceal the inner versions of herself. How someone looks on the outside doesn't always reflect how they feel on the inside. This is what Truman meant when he told the director that he couldn't see inside his head. Taylor is showing us that we only see the mask she's hiding behind and that the Easter eggs she's left along the way point to who she really is on the inside. We just need to view them through the context of the Truman show.

When Truman finally confronts Meryl she calls out for help even though no one else is around. It becomes clear that she is talking to the director who is in charge behind the scenes. Taylor appears to be scared as she tries to call for help, only to reveal that the cord had been cut. This suggests that the phone and house is part of a set and that the act of calling for help was just a visible way to show how Taylor feels on the inside.

Truman purposely escalated the situation with Meryl because it was a part of his plan to encourage her to leave. He couldn't progress to the next stage with her watching over him. Taylor also appeared to be scared because she was confronted with the ghosts of her past self. They follow her around the house, but the ghosts in the mirror imply that they've been there the whole time. Taylor's just drawing our attention to them now because she knows what will happen next. Both Taylor and Truman are wanting us to see the director's role in their lives because their actions have always had the same consequences.

To calm Truman down, his best friend Marlon is sent in to intervene. He walks in carrying a six pack of beer, his usual excuse to show up unannounced. When Taylor™ (the Truman version of Taylor) reaches the front door, she opens it to find the pop star version of herself. This appears to indicate that she has answered the call, but we can infer from Truman's situation that it's actually the director attempting to remediate the situation.

When Truman and Marlon get together, Marlon is subtly guiding Truman to follow the script the director has laid out. And at the same time, Truman is subtly revealing what he needs help with on the outside for his big escape plan. As the two versions of Taylor begin taking shots together Taylor™ becomes more in sync with pop star Taylor over time. This means Taylor™ is being guided, just like Truman was.

Dead inside

As we see giant Taylor for the first time she had interrupted a dinner party and the scene feels similar to when Truman tried to leave town on the bus. Truman was again drawing our attention to how strangely everyone has always reacted in his presence. In this case, the dinner party guests reacting to the giant Taylor could be a reference to her level of fame or her queerness. Either way, her size implies that she's the elephant in the room. An archer shoots her with an arrow and this shows that the giant Taylor bleeds purple glitter, just like the egg did. She attempts to drink from a bottle of wine but discovers it had run out. This is a reference to Alice in Wonderland drinking to shrink in size and suggests that the giant Taylor just wanted a chance to fit in.

Truman and Marlon found a way to communicate with each other very subtly in plain sight, to the point that it's undetectable unless you're looking for it. The pop star Taylor is doing the same thing, but in a way that makes it seem like she's teaching Taylor ™ bad habits. Taylor™ takes notes as pop star Taylor explains the rules she needs to follow to keep up the facade that is concealing the inner versions of Taylor underneath. This feels like a true man bootcamp.

Taylor™ eventually throws up some of the purple glitter, implying that this outcome was a part of their plan. This reminds me of the phrase that suggests to 'chew the meat and spit out the bones'. It has a biblical background to encourage discernment, but in this situation pop star Taylor is showing Taylor™ how to read between the lines in order to see the helpful advice she is sharing.

The old Taylor is dead

From the director's perspective, Truman was trying to escape because he had found out that his father was still alive. So to prevent Truman from leaving he reunites them. Marlon guides Truman to follow the script as they're reunited. This feels like the end of Truman's story as it cuts to the director's point of view behind the scenes but we eventually learn that Truman had been working towards a bigger plan the whole time. Pretending to go back to normal was a part of the plan to lull the director into a false sense of security, allowing Truman to leave when he least expected it.

A similar scene plays out as Taylor™ and pop star Taylor are reunited with the giant Taylor. With the added context of Truman's story, this now seems to be an attempt to placate them too. If we know that the pop star Taylor was subtly teaching Taylor™, we can begin to see the signs that they were both working towards a bigger plan. All we have to do to understand their motive is to read between the lines.

If you open up a nesting doll and put it back together again without the inner layers, you're essentially creating a horcrux. This is what happened when Taylor lost access to her masters and what the many versions of Taylor represent. Slowly over time she's been rescuing each layer piece by piece. And once they're all reunited Taylor will become complete again.

The koi fish guitar and the purple glitter are a clear reference to the speak now era, and the purple colour is often associated with queer women. These connections point towards the giant Taylor being associated with the speak now era. The director allowed them to reunite with the giant Taylor because she was the lesser of two evils for the director to choose from. The aesthetic of the lover era and the music videos that went with it appear to be a compromise intended to prevent Taylor from going after her bigger plan.

I mentioned earlier that the inner version of Taylor became exiled during the speak now tour. In hindsight, the red version of Taylor then became a decoy to draw our attention away from the speak now era so that we didn't realise that she was left behind. "'Cause you never gave a warning sign. (I gave so many signs) So many signs, so many signs. You didn't even see the signs." The tree where Taylor was exiled is featured on the cover of the book in the 'all too well' short film and the only lingering evidence of her existence is the red scarf.

The bigger plan Taylor™ and pop star Taylor were working towards was hinted at with the koi fish guitars. Pop star Taylor was smashing her guitar, drawing our attention to the speak now connection. This distracted us from the second koi fish guitar Taylor™ was holding onto, concealing their bigger plan hidden in plain sight. And it's all linked to the koi fish. In the 'lavender haze' music video, Taylor pushes down the walls of the bedroom to reveal that the house was all a facade. She then proceeds to go to sleep on a cloud while surrounded by koi fish as they swim by. This is a reference to the phrase 'sleeping with the fishes', a term used to imply a dead body had been dumped in the ocean. This suggests that Taylor™ and pop star Taylor are working together to rescue this version of Taylor. And how do we know which version is still missing? Taylor showed us with the midnight mayhem with me videos when she paired track 1 with 'lavender haze'. This implies that Debut Taylor is the original version of Taylor who is dead sleeping with the fishes.

The funeral

"And if I'm dead to you, why are you at the wake?"

Looking back we can see that Taylor Nation has been going live to draw our attention to the 'I don't wanna live forever' surprise songs, but more specifically the difference between live vs live. And just like Truman, Taylor™ doesn't want to be live forever, hence the funeral. Taylor's direct references to The Truman Show deviate with the funeral scene, but the main characters do correspond to Truman's family to draw our attention to their intentions. This means that Kimber is Truman's wife, Preston is Truman's mother and Chad is Truman's best friend. I've been going back and forth trying to decide if they could represent Taylor's family or herself, but ultimately I believe it's about fans. As the funeral starts, Kimber is using a selfie stick to fix up her lipstick. "Once you fix your face I'm going in". This action feels like the funeral is a big performance for her rather than a somber occasion.

Next, Preston gets up to read out the will. Kimber and Preston both sound distraught when they discover that Taylor left everything to her cats and all that's left for them is 13 cents each, but the delay in Chad's reaction suggests that he's not surprised but is playing along to keep up appearances. The 13 cents is a reference to Taylor's favourite number and a cent is typically a penny, but it’s also a unit of measure in music. I'm not familiar with US currency, but many versions of the penny seem to feature a shield. The inscription on them reads 'e pluribus unum' which translates to 'out of many, one'. This motto represents a union formed by many states. This implies that there is a maximum of thirteen versions of Taylor, and that once limit is reached they will reunite again as one.

As they continue to argue over the will, Chad and Preston point out that Kimber is wearing Taylor's dress from the fearless tour. She gets upset over this, claiming that "we were very, very close and I miss her!" Knowing that her character is referencing Truman's wife Meryl, this emotional outburst now feels contrived as if she's putting on a show.

The fight escalates when it's pointed out that Chad is recording the funeral for his podcast 'life comes at you swiftly'. This suggests that he's using the recording for ulterior purposes. The argument turns into a fight as Chad accuses Kimber of killing Taylor. "Kimber was the last one with her. She didn't fall off that balcony, she was pushed!" This implies that Chad knows more than he's letting on and is purposely escalating the situation to create a rift between them all.

If the cents represent a new era of Taylor, midnights being the 10th era suggests that they have almost run out. Therefore Kimber, Preston and Chad's disagreement and outrage is a genuine reaction to how little time they have left, not the money. While everyone is distracted, Taylor gets out of the coffin but no one notices because they're too busy fighting amongst themselves. This version of Taylor is wearing a teal and green shirt, colours associated with the debut version of Taylor. But if we've already established that the original version of Taylor is in the lavender haze, does this mean that debut Taylor is the original Taylor™?

Just like Truman learnt at a young age that he needed to fit in and follow the script like everyone else, Taylor did too. "When you are young, they assume you know nothing". If Truman was the 'true man', the more accurate description for Taylor would be the 'good girl'. All her life that's who she was expected to be so that's who she tried to be. Underneath that outer layer, is another layer, and another layer and so on of Taylor's attempts to be a 'good girl'. Each layer of nesting dolls may look identical or completely unique to the next, but in the end there's only one left that's not hollow at it's core. This is the innermost version of Taylor.

"Changed plans and lovers and outfits and rules.

All to outrun my desertion of you."

If Taylor learnt to conceal her inner self before debut, then each layer since then has been her attempt to replace the part of herself that was left behind. This suggests that reuniting all thirteen layers of Taylor was the bigger plan she was working towards all along.

The will to live

"But who got the beach house?"

"She's having it turned into a f*cking cat sanctuary!"

Taylor didn't leave her children very much in the will, but she did request that the beach house be turned into a cat sanctuary. It's common knowledge that a cat typically has nine lives, but knowing Taylor her cats would have 13 lives instead.

To tie it all back to the 'today was a fairytale' connection that started all of this, the thirteen versions of Taylor are woven together in the same way the multiple storylines of the characters in the valentines day movie tell a bigger story together. They each have a story to tell individually, but together their lives weave together to create a patchwork of who they are as a whole. Each version of Taylor is connected through the invisible string, and Taylor has left subtle clues throughout her career to guide us along the way.

Speaking of subtle clues, is there really a secret encoded message hidden in the funeral scene?

There is if you read between the lines!

Chad points at the picture of Taylor with her cats after he asked about secret encoded messages. Taylor overhears this and pokes her head out of the coffin before anxiously glancing at the picture of herself to make sure no one had picked up on her secret encoded message. These subtle actions link the picture that's just out of view at the same time to what they were talking about it. I know that this picture of Taylor with her cats is not new information, but I do think we have failed to uncover the significance of it.

To understand this picture we first have to consider Truman's motivations to leave Seahaven. If Marlon was guiding Truman to aid his escape, the director was using Meryl to prevent Truman from leaving. And the next step in his plan was for Meryl to conceive, give birth and replicate Truman's life in the spotlight. The idea of being responsible for another person living the life he had is what motivated Truman to finally leave.

Scott Borchetta and Scooter Braun had initially told Taylor that they would only permit her to use her older music or video footage within the first year after she left her old record label if she agreed to their terms. This included but was not limited to saying:

"If I agree to not re-record copycat versions of my songs"

This clause went against everything Taylor had ever wanted: to own her own work. Embracing the queer side of herself was a big part of Taylor's journey initially, but creating change for everyone following in her footsteps is her greatest plan above all else.

"You look like Taylor Swift™ in this light. We're loving it."

The long pond studio sessions begins with Taylor talking about how she had created a studio in her home called kitty committee studios while in lockdown. As it comes to an end, Taylor and Jack are talking about how her cats are often fighting in the background while she was recording.

"If I was to close the door on them, they would meow, so they need to be free range cats. Cage free."

Benjamin Button is Taylor's third cat, the one she received during the 'Me!' music video from Brendon Urie. This moment is monumental as it signifies Taylor owning her first album. The significance of this suggests that Taylor was never planning on coming out during the lover era, it had always been about wanting to have access to her catalogue.

"Hey kids, spelling is fun!"

There is no I in team, but "you can't spell cats without TS!"

What's the time Mr Wolf?

Truman's director was concealed within the moon structure he created in the sky of the dome above Seahaven. At the end of the 'karma' music video Taylor and Ice Spice both lasso the moon and saturn with gold and silver thread. This implies that there are two seperate directors influencing her actions from behind the scenes and that her plan involves stopping them, and not leaving her career.

"And you poke that bear 'til her claws come out and you find something to wrap your noose around."

We need to keep in mind that Taylor's references to the Truman show throughout her music videos are a way for her to leave breadcrumbs without leaving a trace. The purpose of this is to avoid directly naming names. And just like Truman, the whole point of the story was to slowly expose us to the director's role in her life. I keep referring back to Truman's story in the same way because there's so much of Taylor's personal life that we'll never be privy to, but ignoring the role of the director means that we're completely missing the truth sprinkled in amongst the lies throughout her discography.

"'Cause for every lie I tell them, they tell me three."

Taylor left many clues in the 'midnights mayhem with me'. But the biggest clue of all was hidden in the title. MMWM. For every truth Taylor has woven into her songs, she's covered it up with three lies. In a previous post I pointed out how Taylor had used the McDonalds slogan to troll everyone by linking her truth with the most recognised symbol of all, the M logo. "We're loving it." And it all stems from her favourite number 13. Believing that Taylor is singing about a Woman or Man depends on what side of the street you're standing on (and if you're looking up at her or looking down at her). If the 3 represents women, the 1 represents the fine line or tightrope that Taylor has had to walk as she added whispers of her truth in plain sight.

"Lost your balance on a tightrope. It's never too late to get it back."

The significance of Taylor's cats doesn't stop with her catalogue. I'll leave it up to your imagination to discover how Taylor has been using the word to troll the directors, but on a more serious note we need to take a closer look at the meaning behind "Karma is a (copy)cat". When Taylor was told that she couldn't create copycat versions of her work she followed that direction meticulously. But just not in the way you think.

"But the story isn't mine anymore."

Taylor didn't rerecord her albums, she just retold the story.

Losing the rights to her own history is why Taylor didn't hesitate leaving everything behind when she left her old label. Instead, she started telling her story in her own way. And lover was the beginning of retelling her-story from debut. Folklore is retelling the story of Taylor™. Evermore is retelling the story of the princess that became frozen in time from speak now. Midnights is adding context to her-story from red. TTPD is the reality of her time in 1989. And there is no TS12 because there will be no explanation. TS12 is the inner Taylor, Taylor Swift. Who Taylor is at 12am is the same Taylor that started at 12pm.

'e pluribus unum'

"Midnights become my afternoons"

But wait, there's more!

There are more layers to the clock than just the twelve numbers.

If the eras are the chapters of Taylor's story, the midnights track list is the manifest. This is the role Taylor played as her own director, or in other words the mastermind. The manifest is her evidence explaining why she created Taylor™. Each track lines up with the ending of an era, starting with the inner Taylor lost in the lavender haze. Debut is in exploring new love with maroon. Fearless is paving the way for Taylor™ as the anti hero. Speak now is exiled as Taylor™ in the snow globe/fish bowl with snow on the beach. Red is leaving the old Taylor behind with you're on your own kid. 1989 is in the getaway car with midnight rain. Reputation is dreaming of purple skies and galaxies with Question...? Lover is playing with fire in vigilante shit. Folklore is reflecting on the diamonds frozen in time with bejewelled. Evermore is preparing to cross the line with labyrinth. Midnights is weaving the invisible string with karma. And TTPD is providing the evidence of how the inner Taylor became exiled.

The next layer reveals the four quadrants, just like the midnights vinyls. These reveal the fantasy vs reality of Taylor's history. "One for the money, two for the show". If we look closely we can see the evidence that the two directors are scripting both Taylor's career and her love life. This is in the form of limiting her music and forcing her into PR based relationships. The first quadrant reveals the dream Taylor had of owning her own music. The second reveals how convincing PR relationships can be. The third quadrant reveals Taylor's plans to reclaim her life's work and history. And the forth quadrant reveals Taylor's current fight to experience a love life without outside influence.

"And I hope it's shitty in the black dog"

"Karma is a cat purring in my lap because he loves me"

Truman spent his life feeling trapped in his hometown as he kept the truest parts of himself hidden. So much of Taylor's music videos point to feeling the same way. On the outside she is projecting the good girl version of herself, but underneath she feels abandoned. And both are in pain because they have been exiled from each other.

Many of Taylor's albums are full of fantasy because that's the life she's created for herself to maintain the facade and the man wall is the remnants of her dreams. The only layers that depict Taylor's reality are the albums that correspond with her real cats in the picture from the funeral scene. During the lover era, Taylor assigned a cats movie character to each of her albums. The big cat in her lap is Benjamin Button. He represents Taylor's future with debut and lover. Meredith Grey is tucked in underneath. She represents the life of Taylor™ as speak now and evermore. And Olivia Benson is behind her. She represents Taylor's history with 1989 and TTPD.

The 'fortnight' music video was a stark contrast with the asylum feel compared to the rest of her discography because that was our peek behind the magician's curtain. It reveals that the deeper meaning behind the tortured poets department is that both halves of Taylor are being tortured. To understand the severity of this, we have to envision the clock as a globe. The equator becomes the fine line the inner and outer version of Taylor is walking along. Taylor™ is in the glass display box performing for the world to see. Meanwhile, inner Taylor is buried and exiled underground. The men in Taylor's music videos frequently represent the other half of herself. In reality, they are orbiting each other but never allowed to touch.

Taylor's end game is to break down the facade of Taylor™, remove the mask to expose her inner self and reunite the two halves of herself once more. After all, it's delicate.

The tortured poets department is called that because Taylor isn't the only tortured poet. So many artists and celebrities from the past have been tortured in some way. Taylor's not the only one that's breaking down their facade and this is what all of the willow orbs represent. It takes someone with enough power and attention to be able to create lasting change, and Taylor's the one that's going to change everything. In 'look what you made me do' Taylor is sitting at the children's table teaching them all of her bad habits. But we have to keep in mind that this is the pop star/anti hero version of Taylor.And her partner in crime is none other than Jack Antonoff. They've been sharing Taylor's tricks with the next generation of artists to prevent them falling into the same trap that Taylor did.

They're creating copycats of Taylor.

"Karma is a cat"

"Every bait and switch was a work of art"