The Depth Without Darkness in Opalite

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1:00Alrighty are you ready? Are we centered do we look good? Yes, yes, we do You look like the onyx night and I look like opalite. Yes, that's the intention Welcome to the swifty and the scholar the podcaster we examine the lyrics lore and literary legacy of Taylor Swift I am Angela McDowell this swifty And I am Dr. Cherry Coates the scholar. Yes, we did it. How you doing Uncle Jerry? You know I I'm doing well Thank you. It's a weirdly warm here. Certainly is it's mid February. It's currently 70 degrees outside Like two weeks ago. We were frozen in our houses. It's crazy We're I'm like I have flip-flops on today. Yeah, I mean I worked for a flip-flop company. So it's not that weird But it is warm outside

2:00Anyway Anyway We're gonna be showgirls today excited about that. I am excited to be a showgirl always yes So this our third song from the life of a showgirl is it we did um Yeah, we did oh, we did father figure yeah, and of course, we'll feel you. Yes. Yeah Today we're going to do opalite because Taylor has just made this a single And there is now a music video which Is maybe my favorite thing that she's done lately. It is so silly so quirky so full of joy so fun It came at exactly the right time, I think and um, I just want us to watch that music video. So that's why we're here Okay, that sounds fun people have been asking you to break down the music video Um, because full of visual metaphors. Oh, all right, and we will do that a different time. Oh Any day now

3:00But yeah, this is um from 2025 the life of a showgirl these all the songs on this album are written and produced by Taylor Max Martin and shell back when I think that's it. This is just uh I think just before this we were talking about how we just recorded Cassandra and now we're doing opalite and that is a little bit of a whiplash situation. That's a lot A lot different. Well, I will have to say, you know, you sent me Cassandra and I read it and read it and read it and read it and thought and thought and I had to actually get on my computer and I had so many notes I had to type them on separate pages and I thought Cassandra was really fascinating and with um a multi a tea of thematic ideas that that drove it and And then you gave me opalite These are written with two different pens that Taylor has. Okay. Um, yes, I would say that Cassandra is Maybe a found pen bordering on quill pen and this is pure

4:03glitter gel pen Definitely glitter gel, but you know, it's fun to highlight the the range that she writes with yeah That's why I'm as you pointed out dressed as the onyx knight. Yes, that's night with an end not with a K Right Okay, let's do it. It's just a fun little bot. It is it's just it's a fun romp. Yes, so it's very cute So okay, verse one. Yeah, or opalite. I guess we start with a title. Yeah You know as someone who took a course in mineralogy And as someone who loves to collect rocks. I've got some of them are back there. Yeah Um, you have any opalite. Oh Here's a A um amethyst ball. Yeah, there's something here. What's this? Oh, yeah, yeah Amel's a knight crystals. Oh, this is Rose quartz my necklace is those quits. Oh, yeah, that's polished rose quartz

5:06Yeah, this has only one polished side so it looks a little like it So yeah, I mean I collect oh here's a here's a tiny geode Cute. I don't know. I mean, I just these things are just sort of all around Um, as I mentioned before I once took a vacation just to go rock hunting. I've been up to Mt. Vanille down by Austin looking for Geodes and things like that um, so yeah, I do I love that stuff So her use of the word opalite is interesting to me because opalite's a fabricated Stone right, okay, so it's Man-made, but I hesitate to use you know, gendered terms Man and woman made human made human made Opalite it's it's very pretty, you know, it's opalescent They manufacture opalite so that it looks like opal sometimes it looks like moonstone moonstone is just a quartz that's highly included that means it has lots of fractures in it and

6:11um, so either one either one could be considered that um As a man-made stone, I have to admit I'm a little prejudic prejudicially disposed against it Right, you know, I I don't really care for a lot of man-made stuff Oh, you know, although I've seen it. I've seen it titrated out, you know, so Um, I've seen the process um, you know, there are also manufactured rubies emerals Um, sapphires diamonds, of course um You know, when they when they manufacture them they tend to come out without A lot of inclusions, you know, one of the charm of a of a gemstone like emerald is that it has multiple inclusions Or I think I have a The piece of quartz back there that has a little Strations and um, you know, so You know the different objects sometimes can be trapped I've got one that has a little um, water

7:13Vacuole trapped in it. Um, yeah, I mean, I you know some of the Points that I have have ghost points where they where they grew and then they stop growing and then they grew some more And so you can see the original called a ghost point. That's cool. Yeah So I'm I'm pretty fascinated by what nature does Generally Manufactured items are less expensive or less prized It's not always true, but um, opalite certainly is kind of a of a less expensive Less prized over opal in its various forms. So when I think of opalite, I think of kind of a cheap glassy Manufactured thing. Yeah, okay And personally, I would prefer Onyx Right the point is though That it is manmade. That's right. Yes. So the point is that opalite is manufactured, right? That it is something that we make and so it has our

8:15I don't know the thrust of our creativity And that's really her thematic idea. Yes. I get that. Yes. I know you do Do I still like it? Not really But yeah, so it does have a point and we can talk about that Yes Okay, verse one. Yes. So first of all, let me point out the verse form. Okay. Yeah So it has 10 lines. I think you could divide it into five and five So they're coins or quintet, but um, it's called a design A 10 line stanza and usually they're rhymed a-b-a-b-b-c-c-d-c-d And this is not rhymed that way You know, we've got habit past it trash last So you know past and last do I'm and then haunted ghosts couples know No comes close to those ghosts, but don't

9:19Um, you know, so yeah, we do we do rhyme Some but not like a typical design which would be the 10 line stanza Um But she's going to sing this through so that's okay, too um The the poem starts in the past tense. I had a bad habit and now you're going to be impressed. Yes So you have mentioned what it could have should have to me. Uh-huh It feels like that would match that title. Oh, absolutely. Yeah. What would have happened? What could have happened? What should have happened with a bad habit because She is missing uh of missing lovers past, right? Yeah, and now we have a l-o-m-l Yeah, see I'm looking to you This is a little swifty Connecting songs. I I know you know, that is something that I have not been able to do Yeah, um because I haven't really given you a tons that are well. Yeah, I mean honestly yet for those of you who are listening

10:21You know the the only songs I know are the songs angel with one exception are the songs angel has given me so You know the complete extent of my understanding of her work is limited to 29 songs. Yeah, yeah, and um You know, so if she has how many songs to her 300? Yeah, somewhere in the 200s, I think yeah, so I maybe I know a tenth of her work You know you need fiber for a healthy gut But do you actually know how to get it? Quaker has been serving up fiber since 1877 with over a hundred great-tasting good source of fiber options to choose from Whether you like old-fashioned oats instant oatmeal granola or oatmeal squares quaker makes it delicious Mmm so good Get your fiber with quaker shop quaker's good source of fiber products at a store near you So Chronic migraine is 15 or more headache days a month each lasting four hours or more Botox on a botulinum toxin A prevents headaches and adults with chronic migraine before they start

11:25It's not for those with 14 or fewer headache days a month It prevents on average eight to nine headache days a month versus six to seven for placebo Prescription Botox is injected by your doctor effects of Botox may spread hours to weeks after injection causing serious symptoms Alert your doctor right away as difficulty swallowing speaking breathing eye problems or muscle weakness can be signs of a life-threatening condition Patients with these conditions before injection or at highest risk side effects may include allergic reactions neck and injection side pain fatigue and headache allergic reactions can include rash welts asthma symptoms and dizziness Don't receive Botox if there's a skin infection tell your doctor your medical history muscle or nerve conditions Including ALS Lou Gehrig's disease myestheniographis or Lambert Eaton syndrome and medications including botulinum toxins as these may increase the risk of serious side effects why wait ask your doctor visit Botox chronic migraine.com or call 1-800-44 Botox to learn more It's pretty good though. So my ability to cross reference is fairly limited So when I was doing it with this song I pretty proud myself. Yeah, yeah, that's absolutely and I feel like

12:26I mean, I feel like we could even take that further and say that you know a lot of her songs are About missing lovers past, you know, yeah, so I think it's very typical Yeah, these are the only ones I know so yeah So I wrote them down like I want credit for that. I'm giving it to you. Thank you We do have a kind of a rhythmical pattern going of missing lovers past bump bump bump bump bump bump my brother used to call it Eating out of the trash. It's never gonna last. I thought my house was haunted. Yeah, yeah, okay So we have I mean she kind of goes back and forth between iams and trokeys and I am a stressed Unstressable trokey stressed unstressable. Okay. Yeah, she's kind of bouncing back and forth Um, I don't think she's doing it. I mean, I think she's doing it probably to match the sense of the song You know, I do remember I remember hearing the song when we saw the movie. Yes You know, and so the song is kind of bouncy and fun. It matches that glitter gel 10

13:28um You know tone and so I think that the rhythmic pattern is bouncy and matches the tone of that song agree. Yeah, um, it's also very typical of English verse Overall English verse does tend to be iambic English speakers tend to use iams English speakers tend to use iam Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, um, I think I told you the story of Ricardo Montabon who once sounded before he learned to speak english said We sounded like barking dogs Just we uh Yeah, I mean, I guess I kind of is true. Yeah So for those of you who are second-language learners. Yeah, English barking dog Yeah, that's There's an internal rhythmic element to the English language Tends to do that we tend to have stressed unstressed syllables that are paired off We don't tend to have a lot um, you know We're not far see or um, you know some or do you know some languages that have multiple paired syllables

14:32um You know, so This is the way we talk. It's just kind of yeah, it is yeah, it is us and I think that's kind of The other songs that we've talked about that have this really Specific rhyme are the other pop like super pop heavy the other max martin songs like I think we talked about that with blank space Which is another max martin produced track. So I think that's just a function of working with someone who creates these like pop hits You know, I think it is it's the music that drives the rhythmic pattern more than the the poetics, right? So Yeah, I'm gonna for I'm gonna foreshadow and say is this a great poem It's fun. Yeah, exactly. Okay, so I had a bad habit of missing lovers past. So this is again in the past Yeah, I'm not doing that anymore. Right. So she's like stacks two times. She got the blue perfect going on the The past past. Okay So yeah in English tenses you we do have in a lot of languages. They have multiple levels of the past

15:38So there's the past and then there's the past that happened before the past My brother used to call it. Okay. This is gonna be a theme in her poem that she relies on the advice the close advice of others people whom she trusts So specifically her family and her family members, right? They appear in this poem. Yeah, so my brother used to call it the advice of others Eating out of the trash hilarious. Thank you Austin. It's It's a hilarious line, right? Oh, that's right Austin is her brother's name. Uh-huh. Yeah Emily Dickinson's brother. Exactly. Yeah, we talked about that Yeah, it's a hilarious line obviously Metaphorical Yeah, there's a metaphor So trash is something that you should have disposed of It is something should have been thrown away at this point and should not be recoverable And the idea that she was eating out of it instead of having real food

16:42That's also kind of funny that like Austin's also speaking in metaphors like it just runs in the family maybe Yeah, so yeah, so you know She understands from his advice that her past lovers maybe haven't been quite up to par right Yeah, and now of course I'm wondering are they all sitting around going? Is she talking about me? And the answer is yes, yes, yes, she is You try It's never gonna last Okay I thought my house was haunted okay my house Mm-hmm metaphor, right? She uses the house metaphor in Cassandra. Yes, right? And so I know aren't I am amazing? And then it was haunted. This is again very typical Taylor Swift she loves the whole haunted ghosts the ghosts are everywhere the ghosts are everywhere Yeah, and someone surely has written a paper. Yeah, we got to find that yeah on ghosts

17:46You know when we're done with all this Okay, let me just give you a forewarning when we're done with all this I think because I do this without Research, right? I use my own resources You know, but I don't I don't go online and see what other people have said or I don't go and see if there's a paper written on ghosts in Taylor Swift's I I don't do that. Um, I really just want to rely on my own initial response right But or and yeah And it would be interesting when we're all done and we're just tired of this um you over it I know I'm tired of just saying that's another matter for people Uh, it would be interesting to go back and see what the literature does say and do uh do a comprehensive lit review Yeah, it's what we do in academic. Yeah, there was one time this was very early on and I can't remember I don't remember the specifics of like what you you mentioned a

18:49um, like a literary term or something and till I link everything that we talk about I link in the the episode descriptions so that y'all can go Learn and you know learn more about the things that Uncle Jerry is teaching us about and um You mentioned some literary term and I went to google it and I found a paper that a woman had written Using that literary term to talk about Taylor Swift songs. Oh cool. And it was like on the first page of results So it was like, you know, people are just talking about that related to I think you might have been champagne problems or something Um, so I know there's tons out there. Oh sure. I just don't know what they are Yeah, I mean, it's true that I'm brilliant, but there are there are also other brilliant people Um, and there are people, you know, who who do literary studies on songs and literature Um, you know, I have not in my own research, but uh, it's been fun to me now you have now I have

19:50Now I have yeah, you know, if if I were um a serious if if I wanted to be a serious literary scholar in the vein of Taylor Swift I would do a lit review A lot of dissertations some theses will begin with a lit review You know, what have people published in the past about this author or this particular work And then what am I going to say about it that's different from or in addition to what they have published. Yeah So yeah, it would be kind of fun when we're done to go back and do a lit review on one of these songs Well like Cassandra, which has a great deal of depth to it or ivy Which has a multi-added meaning it'll be fun to go back and do a lit review and see okay What if other people said about it and then what what could I say about it that would be different You know what what would my interpretation of Cassandra's um, you know mythological referencing in the modern world have to say about About the poem and us. Yeah, I want you to do that

20:50You know And we're done with this okay So um, yeah, she thought her house was haunted she had so many she'd been eating out of the trash so long They're just all around so I used to live with ghosts. Oh, you mean people who are are you ready Talking rings and talking candles I know I know They're dancing phantoms dancing phantoms on the terrace. I know right I also think whenever she says this one the vision that comes to my mind I think just because it has like an actual Image is the anti-hero music video that we just recently watched where she has there's like go people wearing sheets You know like right like it goes to in her house They're just like sitting around the kitchen table itself just hanging out. Yeah, that's our always picture The memories of all these crappy guys just kind of hanging out with a goofy sheet over exactly just in the corner Well, you know what she needs to do is she needs to have a priest come and exercise her demons. Oh my gosh. Look at you

21:54I know I thought of black dog Right, so I wrote I wrote that down in my nose all that's too funny so many callbacks Yeah, well, yeah, again, this is my limited 10% understanding of her lyrics. Oh, yeah, I You know, so My comment is going to be that she is referencing Previous works and motifs right which makes sense sure because she's talking about like the pack that was all wrong I was doing it all wrong and here's what I changed to like, you know Yeah, I mean this is clearly in terms of tone a light hearted ironic, you know, you could say a little sarcastic But certainly very light-toned work. Yeah, so Even though there are ghosts yes, so yes there are ghosts and all the perfect couples said When you know you know and when you don't You don't so essentially she's again seeking advice right the perfect couples now. I don't know

22:56What perfect couples she might know It's funny because this resonated for me Because Leslie my wife You know, we we got married just a few years ago and she had not been married before she waited till she found me and Which was lucky for me Um, but she it's funny because she mentions a couple of different couples that she talked with about getting married and One of Miss or cousin and she thinks that her cousin and and her cousins Husband are just a perfect couple and they are I've met them. They are just wonderful You know, and it's just it's it sweet that we seek out that kind of advice. Yeah, I do have a a story or what I think this is referencing for Taylor Oh, really yes, so um you know the perfect couple well no But well, I mean me obviously and juniper not just getting chased

23:57Chase chase not juniper Just slightly below the dog He knows that and I was like you're my favorite except for juniper and some days Taylor Swift um So there is so our good buddy Jackie Antonov Yes, he um his band is called bleachers and do you know Lana Del Rey? Yes, I do um she works a lot with Jack as well Oh, okay, and she has a song titled like her although I haven't heard yeah a lot from her lately There um Taylor and her have a song together as well. Oh, we should do that. Okay. Um not one of my favorites um But Lana Del Rey has a song titled Margaret About when Jack and his now wife Margaret met And in Margaret she says When you know you know and then that song actually features bleachers Which is Jack Antonov's band and Jack Antonov's part says

24:57Something about like if you have to ask then that's your answer basically So she's like when you know you know when you know you know and then Jack is like yeah, and if you have to ask then You don't it's the answer's no the answer is no Well, I think that's like a direct kind of reference to that song. Oh, that's fun. Yeah Yeah, I mean, I I think that she's like all of us seeking out the advice of family Friends people we admire people who've done it right right and um and maybe the best answer is when you know you know And you know when you don't you don't so I you know essentially what she's saying is use your intuition Right go back and be Cassandra and And the feminine intuition you know in in that trope is a powerful tool. It's a powerful instrument Um, you know take it out of your toolbox and use it. Yeah So yeah, I mean there's not a lot more to this verse. No, you know usually I'm throwing down a lot of literary devices or you know

26:02um Multiple interpretive elements, but yeah, it's pretty straightforward. Yeah, it's pretty self-referential I think so too. Yeah, you know, and the use of The way I felt, you know Thinking about black dog or or LOML or things like that, you know If she's going over in her mind past relationships, which she has written about before. So why not? Yeah Um, so the pre-chorus. Yes And all of the foes and all of the friends of you know, the alliteration very cute Um, but not a iteration that strikes deeply at the heart of the tone So I think it's lighthearted. It's just I'm you know, gonna play with this all the foes the the critics who have you know written about me talked about me. Yeah, how bad I am at relationships And all the friends the Swifties, you know, the the great cadre of people who follow her and support her

27:03Um, you know, she knows that both sides are out there. Um, and they've all seen it before They'll see it again. Ha-ha And obviously it's starting. Ha-ha. This is not a series. Yeah, we're not we're not taking ourselves too seriously here We started it by talking about eating out of the trash. So Right exactly My life is a song. It's a metaphor, right? But I think it is to her life has centered on her music for so long You know, and and her life literally has been lived out in her music. Yeah, absolutely You know, at least as much as I know, you know, I mean again of the 29 songs you've shown me So many of them are about her Relationships and her joy and her angst her promises and her hopes So um, you know, I think that it's true that her life is a song and it ends When it ends I was wrong, you know, we're assured that everything ends

28:06Yeah That's kind of what I get from that right like she's like in the past She's written a little bit about you know, is it gonna be forever? Is it gonna go down in flames? I can see it end as it begins like yeah, so also another call out is that we do have an acoustic version of this song that she put out and um, not as fun, you know, but um the lyric is changed here and this one in in the Acoustic version it says love is a song it ends when it ends oh really and I can't I can't figure out why That happened like why she did that you know, I do like that too well because I think her life and love are relatively synonymous everything is just kind of intertwined and yeah or synonymously relative Sorry, I'm just playing with words now because it's a bit of a goofy. So I don't mean goofy. I mean playful. Yeah Um, and yeah, you know when she writes about her life and her loves in her music

29:08I mean name one that came out Beautifully to perfection. Yeah, just just the one this is about exactly. Yeah, it's to this point Travis is the only guy who's made it to the finish the well Close to it. He's so close Yeah, but you know, I think it looks like he's gonna get there. Yes Right, but you've you've made a list for me of the people who did not um some lasted years some lasted months some really Only one night You know, so for her The expectation is that love ends when it ends love always has an end, you know that That's finite right, you know now my love for for You know Not Diet Coke Leslie infinite infinite Right, and so it's fun that she says at the end of the pre-chorus. I was wrong

30:13Right, she says it ends when it ends kind of a shrug which is a terrible way to feel about love relationship Going into it expecting it to end. Yeah, yeah This is gonna be great for a while, but I know it'll be over soon. Yeah But in this case, I was wrong Travis has has been around has stayed around and it looks like he might be the permanent deal. Yeah Well good for you Travis So we get to the chorus. Yes But my mama told me it's all right. Oh now we're to the mama. Okay, so we visited her brother Her friends and the perfect ones and now we're at the mama. Mm-hmm. So again, she's making the rounds of seeking advice And look at the rhythmic pattern, but my mama told me it's all right. Bum-bum-bum-bum-bum-bum-bum Right, you were dancing through the lightning strikes. Bum-bum-bum-bum-bum-bum-bum-bum-bum So if there's a great line in this poem Yeah, I think this is it and I'm sorry

31:15You've got you've done this to me because you told me several times ago. This is my favorite line Yeah, I know I do like to point out favorite lines So I'm gonna say this is my favorite line. Okay. Yeah, I do a lot. I mean, it's very fun. It's it's like a such a fun image Yes Yeah, and it's metaphorical right and Yeah, it's a fun image. She's dancing through lightning strikes so You know she's You know she's been able to dodge and weave through Yes, yes, through the obstacles of life Um through the dance and through it all. Yeah, then she's still dancing, right? She's She's making it through Through all these dancing phantoms I have water in my mouth Gotcha um And she almost takes me to a place where I think oh this this is going to get serious

32:16sleepless in the onyx night So although dancing through the lightning strikes maybe my favorite line I think maybe the most beautiful line is sleepless in the onyx night. Yeah That's lovely the adjective onyx is is beautiful. Yes, a great um, but then the the use of another um mineral a You know gemstone if you will onyx is agate It's a kind of quartz um And um You know the use of that is really it's really beautiful um and when I think of onyx It's it is black But it's not always completely black. They'll they'll be striatious streaks of calcidney that run through it Calcidney is actually kind of like opalite is like an opalessened white material and um in in some um Art people will take onyx with a lot of the calcidney running through it a lot of the white streaks

33:19And they will polish it away and they'll make like cameos out of it um The You know what's interesting about onyx to is it's black it reminds us of sadness death um in the Victorian age onyx was uh frequently used as Uh, feonary jewelry Yeah, so um, it makes sense uh, so I suppose the name of the there's a novel by ws Bryant uh possession In which this pair are trying to track down a pair of lovers from the 19th century a pair of Victorian poets And they go to with me and they go to a jet shop and jet is petrified wood that's black And queen victoria after prince albert died queen victoria would tended to wear jet jewelry or onyx jewelry Yeah, because it was black she was perpetually in mourning After the death of her beloved husband makes sense. Yeah, so um you know when I see sleepless in the onyx night

34:26It's a lovely image. It's not just black, but it's reminiscent of funeral um I guess I should say just just because I touch on the classics um onyx was actually used in ancient Rome as a symbol of Strength um, it was considered to be the stone of Mars Mm-hmm. I kind of like that. Yeah. Yeah. I think that's interesting. Um, I think of sleepless in the onyx night That makes me think of midnight's the album. Oh, yeah, because you said that was things that keep her up in the middle of the night Oh, okay. Yeah, that's nice. Yeah. Oh, look at you. Yeah. Well, you started this um Yeah, I mean, I obviously I think of the movie sleepless in Seattle Classic that classic um, I also think of the book. Uh, it's a dark night of the soul You know where you're staying up and trying to imagine You know, what's the nature of the soul and how do I negotiate this life in the next um

35:28That I don't know. I just think it's it's a lovely line and a serious one that comes in the middle of what's otherwise a very lighthearted poem um But now and you get the clear transition is like She's getting serious with onyx night and then she says oh, oh no wait, wait take it back. Yeah Glitter gel pen She's trying to be a torgent pellet for a second Just for a second. No, no, I'm a showgirl now Well, and that's why I'm thinking about onyx, you know, what does it mean in the classical age? What did it mean to the Romans? What did it mean to the victorians? You know, how does it work as a symbol of death of darkness? And then it's like oh, no, but now Stop that thought the sky is opal light. So opal light, you know, like moonstone like opal multiple colors translucent Glittering conveying light as much as it reflects and refracts Um, oh, oh, oh, oh I don't remember how she sings this but honestly like can't even get it in my head right now But like I'm like trying to like how do like how do all those oh-ohs go? Yeah

36:32Um, the sky is probably a metaphor Right, yeah, it's limitless like her future. Mm-hmm. So I think the sky is a metaphor for You know eternity the opposite of love that she found ended when it ended. Yeah So the sky is limitless eternal You know her future is yeah, she's another song all about like finding, you know being having a bad time and then finding Happiness and it's all about day. It's called daylight. Oh, so kind of the same thing. Yeah Yeah light tends to be happiness and it's just just that idea of opal light reflects some multiative color, you know And it's translucent so it conveys light. Yeah And she just seems overwhelmed with the next line up by lord Never made no one like you before um You know, so Okay, so now I get the use of opal light never made no one like you before

37:34um Onyx is is naturally occurring But you know onyx is dark and conveys another meaning um and Maybe if she has a there a serious theme here one of those serious themes is you have to be in charge of your own life Exactly. Yes, so opal light is manufactured if I'm going to find real love That is lasting and it doesn't just end when it ends. I I'm not just going to shrug again with the expectation It'll be over. Mm-hmm. I have to make it Right, it's you know, I have to be in charge. Yeah, I have to keep choosing to move forward I have to stop eating out of the trash. I have to do something different Um a fun thing that we learned um in the eras to her documentary when they're backstage her and her mom are backstage and um They're telling the story of Travis Of how they met and we had known that somebody

38:36You know, Travis called her out on their on her him and his brother's podcast and said I tried to meet Taylor when she was in town and Kansas City And they wouldn't let me meet her And I made her a friendship bracelet with my number on it But they wouldn't let me give it to her and she like they called this out on the podcast. Well apparently um Taylor's mom Andrea she's she saw that she saw of that happening and um She called up her cousin who lives in Kansas City and is a huge Kansas City Chiefs fan And said is Robin she said I called cousin Robin and I said tell me about this guy And Robin said he's great and he loves his mom Was that it that's all they told us I don't know and so um You know up to this point Taylor had like only dated these like artsy struggling Like too good for you

39:38Actors and songwriters and stuff and she said that when Andrea called Taylor and said we got to do something different I just saw that this guy brought something because she said I just really appreciated how he he was trying to come into your world He came to your show he made a friendship bracelet He was like Not trying to bring you into his world He was trying to come into your world Which is like different than these other men before and so she said I think you need to like give him a call and see what's up so we learned in that that Taylor's mom is the reason that why they're together. Yeah, wow. Okay. Isn't that funny. That still blows my mind Yeah, yeah, that is funny, but then it matches the tone of the song where she seeks out Yeah, you know the brother of the mother the friends whom she respects. Yeah So yeah, that's kind of a fun story to yeah um Okay, so yeah, you have to do it you have to take charge you have to manufacture your own

40:41uh, relationship. Yes, and she kind of ends the stanza. They ends the chorus with that, but you had to make your own Sunshine, but now the sky is opalite. Oh, oh, oh, oh Yeah, and so this whole this whole chorus. I'm just realizing is in parentheses Hmm, not not parentheses Quoting quotes. Yeah um And so all of this is her mom saying uh-huh is saying Her mom is saying all of this. Yes, it is Yet, this is all her mom's advice. Yeah, so her mom gets serious and then the mom says, but you need to take charge your life Yes, and go meet this nice boy who loves his mom That's exactly right Yes Verse two yes, okay You couldn't understand it why you felt alone um you were in it for real You Don't change page. Oh she was in your phone and you were just a pose

41:48What do you get from this? You know, I didn't know who she was in her phone So I think that that first verse is about tail is Taylor and her mom and about Taylor's relationships And I think this verse is about Travis's relationship before. Oh really? Yes. Oh Okay, I didn't know you had a relationship before yes We're not gonna get into that because that's weird um But yes, he was how weird She just she won't stop now like she's still like uh Like she's kind of just known as like Travis's ex who hates Taylor now um But I think this is about her like so I think I think this is about him So this is her I think talking to trailers Travis like you couldn't understand it Why you felt alone in that relationship because you were in it and you thought she was in it too But she was just in her phone

42:48And she was just dating you to like look good on Instagram together and like Yeah, this is me with Travis Yes, this is me at the games. This is me after the game. This is me out. Yeah I get it. Yeah Oh And why it's okay, so this is one of my other favorite lines and Just because it's got two different meanings um, why don't we try to love love and then in parenthetical inclusion love come up love So why don't we try to love love why don't you Just love the emotion, right? It's time that you just embrace love and and then she says love Which is a an imperative verb comma Love which is the noun of direct address Am I using too many grammar terms for you? Maybe Yeah, so the the fun thing about the parenthetical inclusion is it's got a comma between it. So you've got to love my love

43:49Okay, yeah, I get you. Yeah, so the second love is Travis. Yeah, she's calling him love. Yes The first love is the imperative verb form telling him you have to love do it. You must love my love Got you. Yes, right and but the first love love is you've got to embrace the emotion when you have it Right, so you've got to love love and you've got to love love my love So yeah, it's a fun play on words because it's love love love. Yeah, but separated by the common There's a question mark in between. They all mean different things. They all mean different things. Yeah, that's nice Yeah, I think that's fun. It's a fun play on words We give it all we've got give it all we got. Okay, so this is a cliche and she doesn't do anything with Completely non-tailor swifty Yeah, that's very true. Yeah, usually she takes cliches and twist them or gives them a funny ending or gives them a sarcastic or satiric or Something but no, this is just the cliche. Yeah, give it all you got

44:55It also sounds very much like something you'd tell a football player It does it does like sound like yes agreed. Yeah, it's just go out there and give it all you got Give it a hundred percent. Yeah, leave it on the field Yeah, or something maybe that he says and so she's like echoing it back to him or something Wondering is is this football lingo You know, I had a basketball coach once he would end our locker room talk before the game. You'd always say um You know get out there and have fun, but remember it's more fun to win than to lose He's not wrong. No, I always thought that was funny. Get out there and have fun, but remember it's more fun to win than to lose Yeah Get out there and get it all you got um You finally left the table uh-oh or uh-uh um, so you know You finally left the table of eating trash

45:57You know, so we're echoing the whole eating metaphor from the very first answer. Yeah You know, and literally push away from the table push away from this banquet You know the smorgasbord of guy after guy after guy after guy And what a simple thought you're starving till you're not You know, so yeah eating trash ain't no fun. Yeah, she's been starving up to now So again, we have this metaphor if there is a consistent metaphorical use in this poem It surrounds eating. Yeah, it certainly does doesn't it? Yeah, so love as food. She's been starved for love up to now Yeah, so she uses tables a bit um There is in the song lover um She says It's like all about it's like kind of like these are all the things that I will do and I do do for you, you know blah blah blah Did you say do I do I did I was hoping you would you would just let it let me know I'm not going to

46:58Something you would just let that pass Yeah, just let the do-do pass Okay Anyway um She says at every table. I'll save you a seat. Oh, and then on the eras tour there's a song from um uh evermore Uh called tolerate it. That's like my love should be celebrated, but you just tolerate it and the performance Changed the song for me Sorry, I know that's rough. That's a that's a funny. That's a fun line. Yeah Yeah, that we'll have to do that one soon because I really do this this performance like change the song for me Yeah, there's a big difference being loved and being tolerated. Yes Um, but at the the performance for this song is just a huge long table and there's a guy sitting at one end and Taylor is like Throwing stuff off the table and she's up on the table crawling towards him and he's just sitting there like nothing

48:00You know, and so I feel like she uses tables quite a bit to be like, you know, it's sort of like the house It's like the place where you gather, you know But even at those tables like these other the other people Both Travis and for Travis and for Taylor like they're just not giving you anything nothing to eat Well, that's fun though. Okay, the pre-chorus Of all the foes and all the friends so we're back to that um Have messed up for them mess up again. Ha ha. Kind of cute Life is a song it ends when it ends and you move on which is a little different from You know the middle line have messed up before they'll mess up again And I was wrong and she says you move on. So yeah, you I guess you just move on Um That's when I told you that's when I told you now she's the one giving advice. Yeah. Okay She's repeating her mom's words. Yeah, it's all right. You were dancing through the lightning strike sleepless in the onyx night

49:03The sky is opalite. So you you make you find your joy you make your joy Oh my lord never met anyone like you You had to make your own sunshine sunshine. It's opalite. So pretty much a repetition of the previous. Yes Um, but now she's like owning her mom's words, which is pretty cool. And then we go to the bridge. Yes The bridge. This is just a storm inside a teacup. Okay, it's kind of a cliche a tempest in the teacup Except now she is manipulating the tea cliche just a little bit And it's also a metaphor right storm inside a teacup. So it's just a tiny tiny bit of a kerfuffle Yeah, I've definitely heard that um saying before but I didn't really know like what it meant So is that just saying like this is just it seems big because it's in a tiny In a tiny space. Yeah, it's just it seems big because right we're in it right now. Right we're in it right now It's just a little bit of a hiccup. It's not that big a deal. Gotcha

50:04Shelter here with me my love. So shelter under the storm. So again, she's extending that metaphor Thunder like a drum. So she's pushing that metaphor down through the bridge. So it becomes a conceit. It's a conceit Yes, so This life will beat you up up up. This is just a temporary speed bump. So she's changed the metaphor I do like the line this life will beat you up because you feel the beating of the the thunder like a drum So like a drum similarly the thunders yet another metaphor for the for the tiny upsets that we face Um, so yeah, this is kind of fun in terms of the literary devices I think the bridge is is the more complex element in the form This is just a temporary speed bump You know secondary metaphor And but failure brings you freedom and I can bring you love love love love

51:04So unlike the previous four loves Yeah, where she had two messages. I think this is pretty much just this the one Just the one this is my favorite part to sing Was that right? Yeah in the car. Can you sing that? I will not on my microphone now How many of you would join patreon to hear Angela sing Just as long as I don't have to sing they love when you sing I will sing only if it's to ballad meter and I can sing it to the tune of uh The yellow object said clamp it said clamp it yeah um And then we go to the chorus. It's got my favorite word baby in it. Yes, don't you sweat it baby It's all right Oh, please But this is a glitter gel pen song, right? It's got to have a baby in it. We got to throw a baby in there Uh, don't you sweat it? It's cliched, but you know what she's gonna embrace the cliché. That's okay Because she says it's all right

52:04Yeah, yeah, I kind of feel like that bridge in this last chorus. I always picture her Saying that to Travis like after he's had a bad game or something like it feels like something that He would that she would say to him. Yeah, that she would say yeah And then she's dancing through her there dancing through lightning strikes Strikes sleepless in the onyx night. The sky is opalite remember it's glistening multifaceted multi-colored and limitless um Never met no one like you before and then no No, so apparently she's never found anyone quite as open clear and honest and Limitless as good old Travis You had to make your own sunshine, but now the sky is opalite beautiful. It's lovely It's just a fun little song. It is fun. Um, you know, there are some themes, right? Yes The theme of personal development Okay, yeah, right. Yeah theme of perseverance. Don't give up. They're gonna be lightning strikes

53:09You know, there might be a storm in a teacup. There might be a temporary speed bump, right? Perseverance I think there's also a juxtaposition of the past in the future Um, remember we began in the past tense. I had a bad habit Right. I no longer have it because I have you love love love love love Um, you know, she met some really bad people who were like trash, but now Um, you know, I've never met anyone like you. No No, no So past versus present Um, and I did kind of skip by the um, comparative between light and darkness You know, there's some nice work going on between light and dark. Yeah, great between opal light and Onyx both of which begin with the letter O, you know, so they're kind of Bookend each other. Okay. Yeah, different ends of a literal spectrum. Yeah. Yeah

54:11So that's fun Um You know, I don't mean to When I use a word like cute, I don't mean to say it isn't a good song Um, but it's as a poem. It's cute. Yeah. Yeah. It's just a sweet little there's there's not a ton of depth here Yeah, I think there's more than there is just on the surface a little bit more But it's not a You know, it's not Cassandra or Ivy or right um, so long London or yeah, the poetic devices aren't as um Complex and they're and I don't think that she intends them to be yeah, you know, I think it's it is a celebration Agreed. Yeah, so that's part of the tone is the celebratory tone of the work Um, really does come through So and just as you say you can't start out with talking with a line like eating out of the trash and and expect anyone to think this song is going to be filled with darkness and death

55:12I love things said darkness and depth because Taylor did describe Travis as Depth without darkness. Oh really and that's exactly what this song is. Yeah, I couldn't agree more depth without the darkness There's no onics here. Yeah, yeah, a great Okay, anything else. I don't think so it's fun Um, we are going to I think we'll just watch the music video. Okay, um, the music video is a 90s dream Which is my favorite. I love it so much um as I said before we will um after Uncle Jerry sees this and I think I'm going to Assign you. This is fun. Now I get to be the one assigning instead of you being the one assigning. You always assign No, I know, but I mean like in your career. Oh, yes Yeah, you mean for the past 48 years I was making the assignment. Yes. Um, I kind of want to break down the music video As if like in the same way that you do this

56:14Okay, for its visual imagery metaphor and that kind of thing. Yes, sure. Okay, so we're gonna watch it And we'll be right back and then we'll talk about all of those things Edilator date, but we'll be right back. Okay Okay, yes about time Um Give me thoughts What it's so fun Um, are we gonna do this later on or am I good? You can talk about it now, but I want you to have like time with it later Yeah, Donald Gleason is one of my favorite actors. Yeah, um, I think he's brilliant I think his dad is brilliant. You know, uh, his dad was in um Banshees of in his share Yeah, my favorite baby. He was nominated for the Academy Award Um, but the younger Gleason was in Brooklyn And I'd love that movie that is a matter of fact the first movie Leslie and I ever saw together It was on I think our third date Um, and it's a brilliant movie with Sareesh Loet Ronan. Yeah, I think she's amazing. Yeah, me too

57:21Um, and he's in the movie about time which I just love it is, you know, everybody's got a guilty pleasure Is that with um Rachel McAdams. Okay, I was gonna say Regina George, and I was like that's not really And Bill Nye. Yeah, yeah, yeah, he he kills me every time Yeah, so it's it's a goofy quirky Call it a sci-fi romance. I don't know. It's uh, it's written by Richard Curtis who also wrote love actually Ann Brooklyn and It Richard Kurt so love actually there's that movie Valentine's Day that's like the same style with like all the The ensemble cast and Taylor was in that. Oh, was she really? Yeah. Oh wow You know, I didn't realize she was in cats. We're gonna say it's catch was on Netflix. It was going off I thought maybe I should watch it. It's terrible. It's so bad. Um, yeah, yeah, of course based on um lyrics by uh T.S. Eliot um

58:23The song midnight it isn't in old possums book of practical cats, but now I go off. Yeah, I do tend to do that Yeah, that's okay lots of connections. I know I love Richard Curtis's work I think love actually he's just a fun Christmas movie You know, and so yeah about time is just Pure fun and and he's great in it, you know, he's also glee since also in um The Harry Potter movie he's bill weasley and he's in he plays some general in The last three of the Star Wars trilogies Yeah, yeah I mean he's great You know, not great movies I don't know Yeah, so he she like pulled everybody from that so he made that joke He's just trying to make a little joke and then Taylor's like actually I'm gonna hire you And then she's like not just you but everybody else on this couch right now including Graham Norton Who's just hosting right like how fun and they all did it even kill Ian Murphy

59:25He wasn't in it, but he's voice yeah, but his voice is the the info martial art at the beginning That's his voice, okay, that's fun. I love the style of it. I love the commercial. Yeah, I mean it reminds me of It reminds me a little of some of the things we're heard in kill bill You know if you saw kill bill one or kill bill two, you know He loves that kind of retro sound and feel So yeah, that was fun. It was cute Very glitter gel pad lots of glitter gel. Yes, yes Glitter gel that she smooths on her Score more with the college branded Venmo debit card and earn up to five percent cash back with Venmo stash Got paid back with the Venmo debit card You can instantly access your balance and spend on what you want like game day snacks gear tickets and more The more you do with the more cash back you can earn Plus there's no monthly fear minimum balance sign up now at Venmo.com slash college card The Venmo master card is issued by the bank court bank NA select schools available Venmo stash terms and exclusions apply at

1:00:28Venmo dot me slash stash terms max $100 cash back per month My day kicks off of the refreshing Celsius energy drink then straight to the gym Pre-K pick up back home to meal prep time from a fire session shift one more Celsius gotta keep the lights on when the three alarm hits I'm ready Celsius live fit go Grab a cold refreshing Celsius at your local retailer or locate now at Celsius dot com Yeah Yeah, so more more to come on that video, but I just love it so much like I can't stop thinking about it I just think it's so fun it it it's Has it once you dig into it more there really are like a ton of visual metaphors in there and it's I don't know It's just so fun and it's like it really tells a story to me and so I'm excited to talk more about that Q's it can be yeah Okay, you ready to great. Oh sure All righty All right, opalite from the torture. No, we're not tortured anymore. We're showgirls now the life of a showgirls

1:01:36larical strength Oh, you know 92 okay fair enough fair enough um narrative and structure Narrative yes Tells the story about what was and what is um I'll say 91 Okay Um, then we have production and atmosphere That video is fun over the top. It is pure dance and joy I do When I was watching unless that I want to see my grandkids dancing it Yeah, they'll be good at that dance. I think so too. Um, I'm gonna say I would watch that again again. I'm 99 Okay, that was absolute fun. I agree lore and literary references. Oh literary references. It's like a zero, right? Yeah, I mean, I don't want to give it a zero, but you know, I'm gonna tailor lore you

1:02:37Self-referential it is self-referential And we do have a a scattering of metaphors and and one One great line with dancing through the lightning strikes and Uh, and I do love the line about the onyx night. Mm-hmm kind of lovely. Yeah. Um, well, let's say 88. Okay And then emotional impact. Oh, I was just heart struck by it. I was just overwhelmed by the love love Love love Um, you know, I okay, so I I never knew anything about her private life. I mean, just a tiny tiny Thumbnail sketch in her private life and you've told me so much more than I ever needed to know um And you're welcome Um, and You know and nevertheless, I am happy. I'm happy that people find joy

1:03:37I'm happy that people find happiness. So if she and Taylor have found happiness Good on them. I am not gonna rain on that parade. Let's give it a 90. Okay And that gives us a 92. Okay. Yeah. Yeah, you know, as a song. I mean, that's where it hits for me for sure You know, it's not a great literary work like as a poem You know, this is not Shakespeare, right? Um, none of us are this this isn't Even Matthew Arnold Exactly, right? Yeah, born in 1822. I died in 1888. Matthew Arnold was the son of Thomas Arnold. Okay. Sorry. I won't teach that lesson Yeah, um, yeah, it has a purpose. It did what it's supposed to do. It is a relicking fun song. Yes, yes And like I said, I would listen to it again Um, you know, what I study it as a poem Did you need um, days like you did with Cassandra? No

1:04:38No No, yeah, when I got Cassandra, I thought it's this is gonna take a while. This is Yes, I'm gonna have to come back to it and study it and think about it and you know, I kept going through all the different There are so many stories and in Classics about Cassandra and the way they use Cassandra and how we talk about the Cassandra Complex and modernity and then there's Opalite Yeah, different the sky is open and it's glittering pretty and fun and Could last forever. Yeah, we hope it does. We hope so. Yeah Okay, anything else? No Happy for your Taylor. Yeah me too. Honestly, that's kind of what I get out of all of this Especially the video when you really study it. It's like oh, yeah, she's like telling everyone that This is all perfect and great and I'm having a great time Yeah, okay, so make sure you're subscribed everywhere right review all the things on all the things on all the places y'all know what to do

1:05:38And you can follow us on Instagram and tic-toc at swepty and scholar pod You can follow Uncle Jerry at Dr. Uncle Jerry Dr. Uncle Jerry and on Instagram and you can follow me on Instagram at Angela Wyatt McDow And we will see you next week. Thank you all. Bye