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Join us today for some lighthearted fun as we discuss Opalite from 2025’s The Life of a Showgirl. When Taylor Swift made this song a single and gave us the most perfect music video in the history of music videos, I felt like we had to cover it.
Be on the lookout for more Opalite content on Patreon!
Works Cited:
Possession – A.S. Byatt – Aff Link
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Alrighty 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
Anyway
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
But 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
glitter 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
Yeah, 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
um, 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
Vacuole 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
I 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
Um, 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
You 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
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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
I 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
um
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
um
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
So 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
That'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
You 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
um, 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
Now 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
You 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
I 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
What 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
Chase 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
Something 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
um
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
Um, 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
Yeah
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
I 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
Right, 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
You'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
sleepless 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
And 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
It'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
That 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
Um, 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
um
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
You 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
Actors 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
uh, 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
What 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
And 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
Okay, 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
It 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
You 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
Something 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
You 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
The 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
Shelter 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
So 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
Yeah, 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
You 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
So 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
I 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
Okay, 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
Um, 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
The 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
He 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
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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
larical 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
Self-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
I'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
No
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
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