#it's the 'you said i needed a brave man then proceeded to play him until i believed it too'

[wavesoutbeingtossed]

anyone else obsessed with the recurring theme in TTPD about how in each instance with the three notable muses referenced, they each made a show in their own way of stepping up to Be Someone for her, only to completely cut and run (whether physically or emotionally or both).

The first love who laid on the charm offensive, "I'm not an organ donor but I'd give you my heart if you needed it," sweeping her up in this great big first serious adult love, inspiring all of the dreams that go with it, making her feel like This Is It and the actions undertaken as a result. But then bailing at the first sign of inconvenience, leaving her distrusting of her own feelings and instincts.

The longtime partner with whom she built a foundation against all odds, the one with whom (or perhaps rather for whom) she meticulously placed those stars on the ceiling. The one who at one point painted dreamscapes on the wall and sparked her darkest nights, the one who chose her mess and said there was nothing that could stop them, the one she believed in so completely she crafted a whole life around, but then accused her of abandoning the ship when he had long since metaphorically and physically left the house on the Heath.

And then of course the final boss level, the infatuation from hell who saw all this and said "I can be the one that none of the others were" and insinuated himself into her life and her consciousness until it felt real, only to vanish after the ploy did its damage.

(Of course, it's all contrasted by a fourth party with whom the trust and dreams come freely and solidly.)

It's just a fascinating study in how patterns keep repeating themselves, not only in a person's choice of partners but in people's behaviours in general. And how so much of the album is not just about specific situations but also globally about the pitfalls of relationships and dynamics and how we choose to believe. TTPD album that you are.

[bluntandsaucy]

the black dog is so ineffable husbands i'm sorry

[kingofmyborrowedheart]

The way Taylor talks about how she thought this person was going to be the one and saw her future with throughout the album only for things to end and her feel like she was almost deceived in a way is heartbreaking.

“There was danger in the heat of my touch/He saw forever so he smashed it up”

“You swore that you loved me/but where were the clues?/I died on the altar waiting for the proof/You sacrificed us to the/gods of your bluest days”

“When your impressionist paintings of heaven/Turned out to be fakes/Well, you took me to hell, too/And all at once, the ink bleeds/A con man sells a fool a get-love-quick scheme”

“You shit-talked me under the table/Talking rings and talking cradles/I wish I could un-recall/How we almost had it all/Dancing phantoms on the terrace/Are they second-hand embarrassed/That I can't get out of bed/Cause something counterfeit's dead/It was legendary/It was momentary/It was unnecessary/Should've let it stay buried/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"

“You said I needed a brave man/Then proceeded to play him/Until I believed it too”

“Hand on the throttle/Thought I caught lightning in a bottle/Oh, but it's gone again”

“Poison blood from the wound of the pricked hand/Oh, still I dream of him/Please/I've been on my knees/Change the prophecy/Don't want money/Just someone who wants my company/Let it once be me/Who do I have to speak to/About if they can redo/The prophecy?”

[my-castles-crumbling]

"You said I needed a brave man then proceeded to play him until I believed it."

~ Taylor Swift (The Black Dog) Pairing: Wolfstar angst - Rating: T

Thanks, @beautyoftheships for your help!

“Sirius, we can’t…” Remus murmured, turning his head away, barely allowing the shorter boy’s lips to graze his cheek.

“Oh fuck off, Moons,” Sirius mumbled, his breath hot against Remus’s ear. “If you try to give me some shite about how you’re a wearwolf, I’ll throw a fit. After all the dancing we’ve done around each other since third year? For Merlin’s sake, you know I don’t give a shit.”

Remus pulled back and stared at him for a moment, searching for one iota of fear in his eyes. 

“Swear, Remus. I’m never going to leave you.”

-

Collapsing on the ground, face in his hands, Remus screamed in earnest, remembering the feeling of Sirius’s lips on his. The memory now tainted by the image of a screaming Sirius being hauled to Azkaban.

And to think. He’d believed him.

[seekmemystar]

Sirius 'when someone plays "the starting line" and you jump up, but she's too young to know this song' Black and Remus 'you said I needed a brave man then proceeded to play him until I believed it too and it kills me' Lupin

[sparkly-sediment]

messenger pigeon 2 because i had a Lot to say. do you think sniper ever accidentally nudged scouts ankle or whatever with his foot under the table because his legs take up so much space and then scout took that as a beckon for footsies and proceeded to kick him so appallingly hard in the shin that the crack echoed comically throughout their miles of empty desert. if you don't then now you can. i think scouts aware of his leg strength but he gets excited like a stupid puppy falling on its stupid face and ends up brutalizing him sometimes. i had a vivid dream they roughhoused on the floor and it was literally whimsical like sparkles and sunshine and best friend by harry nillson kinda shit until they rolled off a cliff

Sniper would stretch and accidentally bump Scout’s lev. His legs are so long it isn’t even freaky. Then Scout looks up at him with this scandalized expression and Sniper can’t not do it again. What kind of man would he be to leave a boy toy hanging? So Sniper does it again but goes higher. He nudges Scouts thigh right above the knee- so not like the dick but enough Scout is thinking about it. They’re like animals in the middle of dinner. Trying to hide their lust under the watchful eyes of the village

Scout’s excited! Scout doesn’t know what to do. His heart is throbbing in his chest and his face and neck flush. Open book, Sniper smirks at him and Scout almost combusts.

It’s during dinner and they aren’t alone at the table. Medic can probably sense his blood pressure spike like a dog or perhaps evil vampire so scout tries to play it cool and avoid eye contact.

He decides to be brave. To be a man. To play footsies with the hot Australian guy because this is American goddamnit. This is the land of the fucking free. Scout kicks the ever loving shit out of Sniper’s ankle. Tip of the shoe tilted downward with enough force to send a rocket into space. The table bounces everyone’s attention is immediately grabbed. Sniper gasps. With pain. Sniper kneels over the table and tries not to break. Tears or laughter. He cannot walk. Scout has to act like a rat brushed against him when really he was just trying to be hot and accidentally caught a DV charge. Sniper had to go see Medic and needed help walking there. Heavy limp, everyone stopped to gawk at his already purple and swollen ankle. Blunt fracture to the shin bone. Scout blinked back tears walking to the medbay and apologized incessantly until Sniper said he would rather be kicked again than listen.

After he is medigunned they have sweaty animal sex in the camper

[likeadevils]

See I don’t get you highlighting Matty for black dog because I think it’s hugely obvious it’s about Joe and their long term relationship? Also black dog is in London. It just sounds like a very long term relationship where both her and Joe have gone before with her time in London especially since it’s clear her and Joe were on and off her thinking joe cheating in the black dog is a call back to songs about him thinking he was cheating

few reasons:

“When someone plays The Starting Line and you jump up but she's too young to know this song that was intertwined in the magic fabric of our dreaming”

“Now we’re at The Starting Line” —Fresh Out The Slammer

Matty covered “The Best of Me” by The Starting Line on April 21, 2023 and May 3, 2023 which i highly recommend reading the lyrics to

“You said I needed a brave man, then proceeded to play him until I believed it too”

“The coward claimed he was a lion”— loml

“How gallant to save the empress / from her gilded tower / Swinging a sword he could barely lift” — In Summation, the epilogue

“I just don't understand how you don't miss me in the shower and remember how my rain-soaked body was shaking, do you hate me? Was it hazing?” and "Were you making fun of me with some esoteric joke?"

“Did you really beam me up in a cloud of sparkling dust, just to do experiments on? Tell me I was the chosen one, showed me that this world is bigger than us, the sent me back where I came from?” — Down Bad

“Was any of it true? Gazing at me starry-eyed in your Jehovah's Witness suit, who the fuck was that guy?” — The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived

“And I don't even want you back, I just want to know if rusting my sparkling summer was the goal?” — The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived

“Were you sent by someone who wanted me dead? Did you sleep with a gun underneath our bed? Were you writing a book? Were you a sleeper cell spy? In fifty years, will all this be declassified?” — The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived

I also think other little details, like "I may never open up the way I did for you" or them sharing their location with each other, make sense when you take into account that they were friends for a year and a half before they started dating

[taylortruther]

Who do we think The Black Dog is about? It could be Joe but that would go against the popular theory that both major Joe songs on TTPD are the track 5s on the main album and anthology.

Also the "you said I needed a brave man, then proceeded to play him until I believed it too" is VERY "the coward claimed he was a lion" and "you didn't measure up to any measure of a man" coded.

Also she seems to go easier on Joe in songs...so the whole bitter and scathing "I hope it's shitty in the black dog" sticks out like a sore thumb. But if it's Matty then why does the song reference a long term relationship with password sharing and old habits (if Taylor and Matty were mostly on and off).

What about the "six weeks of breathing clean air, I still miss the smoke" parallel with Daylight? TBD is my favorite off of TTPD but I can't for the life of me interpret who it's about.

idk! i go back and forth and generally land on the idea that, like other songs, joe being the cause and matty being the effect, mean they're both swirled together. i had a big brain thought about this that i'll explain what i mean at the end of this post. but first, here are my thoughts:

agree that the bitter scathing songs feel very matty-coded - but the thing is, she's clearly angry about joe, it's just more in the background. she's said in other songs that she was angry about joe wasting her youth, claiming he loved her but not showing it. it stands to reason she'd be in disbelief, and hurt, that he just... moved on, post break-up.

long-term relationship habits: tbh, i don't think location-sharing and showering together are a smoking gun for a ltr. you can easily do those things with someone you're down bad for, no matter how little time has passed. could go either way.

the starting line is, apparently, a matty thing?

i don't think "i still miss the smoke" is necessarily a daylight parallel. it could be! it bring to mind lavender haze, missing the "haze" that clouded your judgment, but it also harkens back to clean, and not wanting to fall into a harmful addiction again, which then leads me to, "one slip and falling back into the hedge maze" where you're lost and out of control. the hedge maze could be matty, but it could also be a habit of, idk, love ending.

the line that pops out to me at each listen is "all of those best laid plans" though - it reminds me so much of "my best laid plan, your sleight of hand" in hoax, and "i'm begging for you to take my hand, wreck my plans" in willow.

and "do you hate me?" feels like something you might wonder about an ex you left. but "was it hazing for a cruel fraternity" feels like the smallest man, was it a joke? a game? were you a spy? was it hazing?

but then you think about the meaning of the rest of the line: "was it hazing for a cruel fraternity? i pledged and i still mean it, old habits die screaming."

she pledged herself to the relationship, and maybe it was a sick joke. but imo this is also a broader statement: if love is a joke, i still pledged, i still believe(d) in it. if all these men played a trick on me, if i am cursed to be alone forever, i want to change the prophecy. which, again, leads me to the explanation that - if the top story is about matty, it's still about all those experiences, primarily joe, that brought her to that choice.

[speaknowworldtour]

“i tell you that i think i’m falling back in love with you” // “who’s gonna stop us from waltzing back into rekindled flames if we know the steps anyway”

“stitching ‘we were just kids, babe’. i said ‘i don’t mind it takes time’”// “and you said you’d come and get me but you were 25 and the shelf life of those fantasies has expired”

“starry eyes sparking up my darkest night” // “i thought i was better safe than starry eyed”

“your touch bought forth an incandescent glow” // “i felt aglow like this never before and never since”

“i’d die for you in the same way, if i first saw your face in the 1500s off in a foreign land… we would’ve been timeless” // “if you know it in one glimpse, it’s legendary”

“and when we go crashing down we come back every time” // “never quite buried”

“you paint me a blue sky and go back and turn it to rain” // “you lowdown boy you stand up guy”

“but it lies and it lies and it lies a million little times” // “you said i’m the love of your life about a million times”

“clear blue water high tide came and bought you in” // “who’s gonna tell me the truth when you blew in with the winds of fate”

“for a moment i was heaven-struck” // “and told me i reformed you”

“your integrity makes me seem small. you paint dreamscapes on the wall.” // “when your impressionist paintings of heaven turned out to be fakes”

“if you never looked my way i would’ve stayed on my knees and i damn sure never would’ve danced with the devil” // “well you took me to hell too”

“and all at once you are the one i have been waiting for” // “and all at once the ink bleeds”

“forever is the sweetest con” // “a conman sells a fool a get love quick scheme”

“you showed me colours you know i can’t see with anyone else” // “but i felt a hole like this never before and ever since”

“i like shiny things but i’d marry you with paper rings” // “and i wouldn’t marry me either” // “give you my wild give you a child” // “you shit talked me under the table talking rings and talking cradles”

“you would’ve been the one if you were a better man” // “i wish i could unrecall how we almost had it all”

“but if he’s a ghost then i can be a phantom” // “dancing phantoms on the terrace” // “my beloved ghost and me sitting in a tree d-y-i-n-g” // “can we watch our phantoms like watching wild horses”

“it must be counterfeit. i think there’s been a glitch” // “i can’t get out of bed cause something counterfeit’s dead”

“in my defence i have none, for digging up the grace another time” // “should’ve let it stay buried”

“the coward claimed he was a lion” // “you said i needed a brave man then proceeded to play him”

“i’m combing through the braids of lies” // “was any of it true?”

“you see me in hindsight tangled up with you all night burning it down” // “our field of dreams engulfed in fire your arsons match your somber eyes”

“and i’m never gonna love again” // “and i’ll still see it until i die you’re the loss of my life”

[regulus-smith]

OMG IM LISTENING TO THE BLACK DOG AND HOW IS THIS NOT SIRIUS' SONG TO REMUS?!?!?

'I am someone who, until recent events

You shared your secrets with

And your location

You forgot to turn it off

And so I watch as you walk

Into some bar called The Black Dog

And pierce new holes in my heart

You forgot to turn it off

And it hits me

I just don't understand

How you don't miss me

In The Black Dog

When someone plays The Starting Line and you jump up

But she's too young to know this song

That was intertwined in the magic fabric of our dreaming

Old habits die screaming

I move through the world with the heartbroken

My longings stay unspoken

And I may never open up the way I did for you

And all of those best laid plans

You said I needed a brave man

Then proceeded to play him

Until I believed it too

And it kills me

I just don't understand

How you don't miss me

In the shower

And remember

How my rain-soaked body was shaking

Do you hate me?

Was it hazing?

For a cruel fraternity I pledged

And I still mean it

Old habits die screaming

Six weeks of breathing clean air

I still miss the smoke

Were you making fun of me with some esoteric joke?

Now I want to sell my house and set fire to all my clothes

And hire a priest to come and exorcise my demons

Even if I die screaming

And I hope you hear it

And I hope it's shitty

In The Black Dog

When someone plays The Starting Line and you jump up

But she's too young to know this song

That was intertwined in the tragic fabric of our dreaming

'Cause tail between your legs, you're leaving

I still can't believe it

'Cause old habits die screaming'

THIS IS BREAKING ME (I DONT WVEN LISTEN TO TAYLOR BUT WHA!?!?!?)

[wavesoutbeingtossed]

You said it was a great love, one for the ages, but if the story's over why am I still writing pages? / You said I needed a brave man then proceeded to play him until I believed it too and it kills me

[snowbairdcodedpoetry]

you said i needed a brave man, then proceeded to play him until i believed it too

[kingofmyborrowedheart]

The “hoax” to THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT pipeline is a lot. “Your faithless love's the only hoax/I believe in/Don't want no other shade of blue/But you” to “So Long, London’s” “You swore that you loved me/but where were the clues?/I died on the altar waiting for the proof/You sacrificed us to the/gods of your bluest days.” “My best laid plan/Your sleight of hand” to “The Black Dog’s” “And all of those best laid plans/You said I needed a brave man/Then proceeded to play him/Until I believed it too.” “My barren land/I am ash from your fire” to “loml’s” “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.”

[n0blefl0wer]

My Marauders era analysis of The Black Dog

Marauders fans are so excited about Taylor Swift having a song named The Black Dog. And yeah it’s cool cause Sirius is a black dog and Taylor’s Mskingbean89.

But I’m here to ruin your fun.

The Black Dog is about Nobleflower after Narcissa’s engagement to Lucius.

Here goes nothing:

I am someone who until recent events You shared your secrets with {...} And so I watch as you walk Into some bar called The Black Dog And pierce new holes in my heart

Narcissa knows that Alice is hurting, and that it's all her fault. And while she chose to go through with the engagement, she's still mourning not just the physical intimacy, but the emotional intimacy she shared with Alice.

I just don't understand how you don't miss me In the Black Dog When Someone plays 'the starting line' and you jump up, but she's too young to know this song that was intertwined in the magic fabric of our dreaming

It baffles Narcissa how Alice can seem to move on so quickly from what was a life-altering love for Narcissa.

Old Habits die screaming

This speaks for itself. It feels wrong to call Alice a habit, but she was. And she was so much more. But it was easy for Narcissa to love her. It was as easy and natural as breathing. Now that she's had to give up that habit, everything else feels wrong without Alice in her life. It's a near indescribable pain.

I move through the world with the heartbroken {...} And I may never open up the way i did for you And all of those best laid plans

Here it's confirmed what we've known, Narcissa is heartbroken after losing the love of her life. And while she was quick to get engaged to Lucius, she knows it will never come anywhere close to what she felt for Alice. She'll never feel that way, that safe, with anyone ever again. And while she felt she did the right thing by following her parents' wishes (the best laid plans) it wasn't the right thing for her.

you said i needed a brave man then proceeded to play him until i believed it too and it kills me

Alice would often joke about how Narcissa needed some great man from a great pureblood family to complete her. So she began to jokingly "take car" of Narcissa, but that eventually evolved into a loving, devoted relationship until Narcissa believed she didn't need to marry. So it was a rude awakening to both her and Alice when Lucius proposed.

Do you hate me? Was it hazing? For a cruel fraternity I pledged And I still mean it Old habits die screaming

After spending so much time with her own thoughts, in her own depression, Narcissa begins to take on a scorned (some might say brainwashed) view of the relationship. She starts to blame Alice for it all. But despite the pain she knew she would face, she still entered into that relationship with Alice. And she begins to wish she never did, but those thoughts mix with the lasting feeling of love she felt.

Six weeks of breathing clean air i still miss the smoke

Even though everyone tells her its better for her to be with Lucius, she still misses the love of her life

were you making fun of me with some esoteric joke?

Narcissa's not stupid. She knows that Alice blames her for it all burning down. And she knows Alice will only shit-talk Cissa among her close friends.

Now I want to sell my house and set fire to all my clothes

Narcissa is at such a dark spot in her depression here. Everything reminds her of Alice and she just can't take it

And hire a priest to come and exorcise my demons even if i die screaming And i hope you hear it

While in that deep, dark depression, Narcissa contemplates hiring a priest to get rid of her inner 'demons' that she's battling. But the idea that she might die screaming heavily insinuates that those demons - the memories with Alice - are too much to leave behind; they're so deeply ingrained in her that they make up the fabric of her being. Narcissa hoping Alice hears it is a pivotal moment in the song. She wants Alice to hear the pain that would be caused if those memories were to be ripped from her

And I hope it's shitty in The Black Dog When someone plays 'The Starting Line ' and you jump up, but she's too young to know this song That was intertwined in the tragic fabric of our dreaming cause tail between your legs your leavin'

This mirrors the first chorus, except it’s more angry. Narcissa hopes Alice doesn’t just miss her, but is miserable in those moments that remind her of what she had.

[midnightsslut]

not sure these are connected but ‘my best laid plan / your sleight of hand’ —> ‘and all of those best laid plans / you said I needed a brave man / then proceeded to play him until I believed it too’