Taylor Swift's new song "Call It What You Want" is here, and the singer is finally addressing her hiatus and sharing more about boyfriend Joe Alwyn.
The song starts off with "My castle crumbled overnight. I brought a knife to a gun fight. They took the crown but it's alright."
These lyrics most likely reference Kim Kardashian's famous Snapchat video — you remember, the one showing Kanye West calling Swift about the "Famous" lyric "I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex" and Swift giving it the OK. Things got messy because Swift's rep previously told E! News "Kanye did not call for approval" and that Swift "cautioned him about releasing a song with such a misogynistic message." The rep also said Swift was never made aware of the lyric "I made that b-tch famous" before the song dropped, which Swift also mentioned in a response to the video.
Still, the video led to quite a bit of drama and media attention for Swift, and she stepped away from the limelight. In "Call It What You Want" she sings, "The liars are calling me one. Nobody's heard from me for months."
Nevertheless, Swift suggests she used this downtime to live her best life, singing "I'm doing better than I ever was." And it looks like her British beau is a source of her happiness. The "Shake It Off" singer adds, "My baby's fit like a daydream. Walking with his head down. I'm the one he's walking to." She also sings, "My baby's fly like a jet stream high above the whole scene. Loves me like I'm brand new."
In addition to clearly showing her love for Alwyn, these lyrics convey Swift's appreciation for her man to see past the drama and stay out of it.
Swift also admits to making the "same mistakes every time"— possibly referencing some of her past relationships — but sings "at least I did one thing right" – again, referencing Alwyn.
Despite having a new man in her life, Swift proves she's still an independent woman with lines like, "I want to wear his initial on a chain round my neck…Not because he owns me but ‘cause he really knows me (which is more than they can say)" and "I recall late November holding my breath, slowly I said, ‘You don't have to save me, but would you run away with me?'" – also giving fans more context in terms of their relationship timeline.
In summary, Swift doesn't seem to care what people think of her relationship with the actor because she is happy, singing "So call it what you want, call it what you want to."
Watch the video to hear the song and decode the lyrics.
Besides posting a lyrics video on YouTube, the singer shared a video of her singing an acoustic version of the song on Instagram. She also shared videos of her during her time away from the spotlight — and it looks like she enjoyed this downtime and got some stuff done. The pictures show her painting a picture and a room, enjoying a glass of wine and, you know, working on her new album Reputation.
Only a few more days until we get to hear the whole album on Nov. 10.
What do you think of the song? Have you picked up any more hidden messages? Tell us in the comments below.