A (mostly) comprehensive list of themes and motifs used across Taylor Swift's lyrics
I am aware that this is an unhinged fixation, but I'm here and you're here, so here we go. I decided to look across Taylor's discography and identify motifs across her body of work. Here are some rules I followed:
I grouped similar types of words and motifs together. Some lines appear in several places for this reason.
I didn't consider what we think we know of Taylor's life to pull this together.
I tried to take the lyrics literally to collect the data. As a result, some data points contextually won't make sense since they're a detail instead of the motif/metaphor for the particular work.
Lines that are similar and had a different preceding or succeeding line "counted" several times. Choruses counted once.
I omitted the non-album songs. Maybe one day I'll do it, but I'm not holding my breath.
I'm only one person, so this list isn't perfect or even complete(!), but I tried to be as comprehensive as possible. If there's anything I missed or is duplicated, please tell me so I can correct it. Obviously, this took a lot of work, so please give me credit if you use it for anything. :)
Paired lines in Taylor Swift’s discography
If you don't want to look at the whole thing (which honestly, fair), I think this is the most interesting sheet in the workbook. My favorite pairs are:
Writing songs
Our Song | I was ridin' shotgun with my hair undone in the shotgun of his car, the front seat of his car. I grabbed a pen and an old napkin and I wrote down our song.
Sweet Nothing | On the way home, I wrote a poem. You say, "What a mind"; this happens all the time.
the stars in his eyes
call it what you want | Starry eyes sparkin' up my darkest night
cowboy like me | You're a bandit like me, eyes full of stars
high infidelity | Do I really have to chart the constellations in his eyes?
Motifs and insights in Taylor Swift lyrics
If you need help getting started, here are some things I gleaned from doing this project. One for each sheet in the file:
Accidents and planning
It gets a few mentions, but most of them happen in Midnights where she admits to being a mastermind. The idea of it gets talked about in Lover, particularly in The Man.
Aim and hunting
Taylor talks about being a target most in the Red and 1989 eras. She revisits the idea again in Lover and midnights to talk about her insecurities.
Apparel and appearances
Clothing gets mentioned consistently throughout her discography. Dresses get mentioned the most, with shoes and shirts following.
Arguments and battles
These get consistently mentioned but are lowest in Taylor Swift and reputation. Battle imagery is mentioned at its highest after Lover.
Body parts
Body parts are mentioned in higher frequencies than other items, but the mentions decrease in the folklore era. Her favorite body parts are eyes, hands, and faces.
Borders and boundaries
Taylor mentions being walled off from other people most during Speak Now. Being walled off and walling people off are often a statement on being isolated or protecting something important to her.
Bright lights and shiny people
Bright and shiny are often used to describe people and things she thinks are wonderful. This is a motif she uses very consistently throughout her discography.
Buildings and rooms
Taylor often uses parts of a building to set the stage for the scene. While she most often references home, the parts of a building she references most are doors, rooms, and windows.
Celebrity and publicity
Taylor has always made statements on both throughout her discography, but the highest mentions happen after eras where she has appeared often in public conversation (Red, rep, midnights)
Celestial objects
While she sings about the sky a lot, Taylor has a particular affinity for the stars at night. It wouldn't be surprising that most of these mentions also are on midnights.
Cold and ice
This is often used to represent emotional isolation and is one used through her work.
Colors and painting
Colors get mentioned a lot in her work, and the top three are red, blue, and gold. As Taylor has grown, she's often used painting to demonstrate emotion or gestures of affection.
Communication and silence
Letters, notes, phone, and other types of communication methods
Crime
Crime is at its highest in reputation, followed by midnights. Theft, murder, and fraud are the biggest offenses.
Dancing
All albums mention dancing, but she danced the most in Red.
Death, ghosts, haunting
Death is most mentioned, followed by ghosts and hauntings. These are often about regrets, the loss of emotion, and zest for life. folklore and midnights have the highest mentions of these.
Deception and secrets
Lots of deception across the discography and song lyrics. Top 3 mentions of secrets and deception are Midnights, reputation, and Speak Now.
Dreams
Taylor doesn’t sleep much, so dreams don’t have a lot of mentions. Surprisingly, dreams are most mentioned in Red.
Fairytales and kingdoms
Fairytale and kingdom motifs are consistent across Taylor’s discography and lyrics. Queens are her most referenced royalty, with mentions starting in Red. Taylor also believes in magic, but mentions of it start to dwindle after Speak Now.
Family and friends
Family and friends get equal mentions across her discography. Surprisingly, her friends and family are least mentioned in Taylor Swift, Red, 1989, reputation, and Lover.
Fate and omens
This category also includes signs or warnings she might have missed. While this category isn’t mentioned often, it has most mentions in Midnights, when she reflects on her life.
Films, Performance, Photos
These types of media are often used to symbolize memories or events that happen in the public eye. Taylor has most often used photos/pictures as a symbol for memories.
Fire
Fire is most mentioned in reputation and midnights… Albums that coincidentally follow periods of heightened fame or critical acclaim in her life.
Furniture
Furniture gets mentioned infrequently, and often with buildings and rooms. Her most mentioned furniture are beds, followed by chairs and drawers.
Games, Winning, Losing
Love’s a game and some relationships are all about keeping score, as this is most used in Lover. Keeping score is also a motif she uses a lot when it comes to romantic relationships, contentious relationships, and the public.
Gender roles
Gender roles are mentioned throughout the discography, but most often are mentioned in Midnights and folklore. Lover has a whole song dedicated to gender roles, but it doesn’t get mentioned in many other places after that.
Growing up
Taylor sings about youth/innocence and coming of age a lot, most often in Fearless, Speak Now, and Red. Subsequent mentions of youth/innocence and adulthood/maturity are often from a place of reflection on later albums.
Health and substance use
Alcohol is the most mentioned substance by Taylor. Taylor has also mentioned mental health consistently through her discography. Midnights has the most mentions, followed by reputation and Lover.
Highs and heights
Taylor has used heights to convey integrity, increased emotions, and precarious situations and challenges. This is most used in folklore.
Honor and integrity
Taylor has mentioned honor as a trait she values through her lyrics.
Locations
Taylor has compared big cities to small towns across her discography, most notably starting in Fearless. Unsurprisingly, her favorite city is NYC, followed by London.
Money and treasure
Money is often used in relation to consequences or the value of her work. Treasure is used when talking about things precious to her. There is sometimes overlap between the two. This motif was most used in evermore.
Music and writing
Taylor uses this to talk about her own life. This one is the most literal motif.
Name drops
A list of all the names dropped in Taylor Swift’s lyrics.
Perception
This includes perceptions she has of herself and other people have of her. There is a sense of rebirth and growth throughout these lines.
Plants
Taylor talks about flowers most consistently across her discography. While roses are the most mentioned, an interesting tidbit is that most of the mentioned flowers are red or purple.
Relationships
Of all the relationship instances, Taylor mentions infidelity or the presence of another person more often than marriage. This motif is explored most often in evermore, followed by Fearless and Speak Now.
Religion
Religion is used to talk about love, in its best and worst times. It’s also used to juxtapose opposing ideas, like innocence and guilt. While present across her entire discography, it’s most used in Lover.
School
Taylor has used school-related motifs to talk about learning and relationship dynamics similar to those stereotypically found in high school. Consistently used across the discography, it was most present in Lover.
STEM
This one is for the STEM Swifties. She doesn’t often use STEM motifs, but when she does, it’s often about events that emotionally shake her or about being a calculating mastermind.
Times and seasons
This one’s a doozy. Taylor mentions summer most often, followed by fall. Her favorite time of day is night time (obviously), most specifically 2am.
Transportation
Taylor most often talks about ground transportation (cars) in her discography. She also talks about roads when talking about her path in life and the choices she makes. Red mentions transportation motifs the most.
Water
Taylor loves rain and it makes the most mentions across her discography. Water is most mentioned in Fearless.
Weather
Weather is used to convey an emotional state or omen. Unsurprisingly, rain is her most mentioned weather phenomenon.
Wounds and weapons
Weapons have often used to describe how people have hurt her. This includes backstabbing, insulting her, and focusing on her deepest insecurities. She explores this most in folklore and 1989.
I could find a lot more symbolism about this but that would literally take a thesis to explain. Anyway, I’m keeping this list updated as we continue through the rerecords! Speak Now coming out on Friday so I’m really excited. Enjoy!