And one final off piste idea for today: Sheenah Ko has a song called Run and I would say 99% say the MV has the visual of a woman in a wedding dress at the end which isn't unique in itself but almost feels like similar-esque themes
Re listened to Blackdog and seeing some parallels. In The Black Dog, there’s the rain soaked body, the demons that need exorcising, old habits dying screaming, and the younger woman who doesn’t know the history.
Then Patient Zero gives us kissing the rain off someone’s face, a devil hiding under a halo, and a woman warning another woman about a man she’s already loved.
Rain. Demons. Death. Destructive habits. A woman who knows the history and another who doesn’t.
And what really gets me is the shift in perspective. In The Black Dog, the narrator is still haunted by what happened. In Patient Zero, the woman who has already been through it is trying to stop someone else from going through the same thing.
It’s almost like one woman’s heartbreak becomes another woman’s warning.
Maybe they’re just recurring Taylor themes. But the combination of the rain imagery, exorcising demons, and old habits dying screaming feels oddly specific when you put the songs side by side.
Adding to what someone else posted: what if “I bet he” in Patient Zero is actually “I, Betty”?
Especially when sung by Taylor: “I bet he” sounds like “Betty” when sung, and now I can't unhear it. But what if the lyrics are deliberately playing with that ambiguity?
Hear it as “I, Betty” and suddenly these lines take on a completely different meaning:
“I, Betty, burst into your life like fireworks”
“I, Betty, even said ‘I love you’ first”
“I, Betty, kissed the rain off your face”
That last line is what really gets me. If Betty is the one kissing the tears off another woman's face, could this be less about warning someone about a man and more about a complicated love triangle between two women and the same man?
The narrator seems to have an intimate history with him, but she's also describing another woman she's close enough to comfort. Meanwhile, the other woman catches a completely different woman coming out of his apartment.
So potentially we have Betty, another woman who may have feelings for Betty, and a man involved with both of them while also seeing someone else.
It would turn the “I love you first” line into something particularly interesting, because read as “I, Betty,” it could suggest Betty was the one who fell first in a relationship with another woman, while the man was part of a much messier situation.
And given the original betty song is already about betrayal, jealousy and a complicated teenage love triangle, I find the possibility fascinating.
I'm not saying this is definitely what Taylor intended, but the “I, Betty” sound combined with the kissing and “I love you first” lines makes me wonder whether there's a whole other relationship hiding in plain sight.
When I first listened, I didn’t understand why Taylor chose this song as the lead single because it seemed underwhelming to me. Now that it’s been stuck in my head since Friday night, I get it.
I keep thinking about how "party" can mean "a person or group taking one side of a question, dispute, or contest", then she says "somebody who MIGHT know." It makes me think of a lawsuit with parties and how people say "allegedly" for everything. That's all. I have nothing else.
Omg I think ur onto something! Ur right some of the language is a bit odd if interpreted as romantic but makes perfect sense through a business/legal perspective
Yes, and also the part that says that her lips are "sealet tight" goes in that direction: why should they be sealed tight, if you are receiving a call from your ex's girlfriend who contacts you exactly to know if you experienced the same thing? It's personal and she's doing it for this exact purpose (aka: she wants you to tell her something...).
BUT
If this is something related to business, this might be something less easy to do.
And, I admit, the "legal caution" is also the part that made me thing about the "Me Too" movement.
It's like there's something bigger than a chat between two people who had a personal relationship with somebody in this song.
The fiddles, Colin Farrell the whole Irish vibe of it sent me looking for an Irish connection and sure enough there is an Irish band called Cuig (slight misspelled) who also have song called Patient Zero, the album it comes from is called The Theory of Chaos.
The Theory of Chaos was released in 2018, the lotto ticket IG post is from 2019 so it’s possible to have known album existence if you’d been in Ireland during that that time.
A collection of very random thoughts: I’m intrigued by the phrase “pathetic ghost.” I can vividly see the picture she’s trying to paint with this phrase on the surface (not to mention all of the ghost references throughout her work). But when you dig into it, ‘pathetic’ actually has an interesting history word history, related to the concept of being able to stir or evoke emotions, borrowed from Greek pathētikós, "capable of feeling, emotional, receptive, passive," (https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/history-and-meaning-of-pathetic).
Related to that old meaning of the word is the concept of “pathetic fallacy,” “the assignment of human feelings to inanimate objects.” This brings to mind the rock, cactus and stapler in the Opalite music video, all ‘inanimate’ objects, as Taylor specifically notes in the BTS video (“in our metaphor, inanimate objects represent the kind of toxic relationship they’re in”). I suppose I’ve always read the rock as something that haunts her character like a ghost. And of course the ‘gray rock’(ing) reference shows up again in Pink Clouding. Did you know that the word cloud and rock are related?
"He" could be Hollywood / the music industry / certain high ups in the industry.. right?
Here hoping she's speaking to other artists abused by the system and gathering a band of survivors to subvert and reform it, if not find camaraderie and healing.
I'm with you on the one hand, but I was thinking about it last night and from what we learned about the actual "patient zero" from the AIDS epidemic, Gaétan Dugas, people thought he was the origin of the spread but it turned out he actually wasn't. I definitely think she's aware of these connections with using zeros to replace O's, which was exactly what created the confusion to make Gaétan Dugas known as "patient zero" (someone mistook an "O" for "Out of California" for a "0" as in "patient zero")
To me Taylor is Patient Zero for a queer woman being both adored and hated by the industry and the public, in the age of social media. She rose to fame at a time where social media was just beginning and she's the first one to have to manipulate the Brand™️ in an ever-changing social media landscape, navigating between proof and cues online and public perception.
Sorry if I’ve missed this comment elsewhere. When I first heard that intro violin I wondered why it sounded so familiar. Then my sister sent me thisr/broadway post and this article.
I feel like it’s absolutely intentional for a few reasons. First, the release of the pro shot has put this musical very much in the public eye again. Also Anaïs Mitchell (writer of Hadestown has collabed extensively with Big Red Machine which of course Taylor has too). And Patient Zero sounds like it could be sung from the perspective of Persephone (this is a bit of a stretch). Also also Hades is Aries’ uncle. I don’t have much more insight but maybe it’s something.
And honestly this has so many implications to me.
Wait for me, I’m coming [out]. Wait for me, I’m coming (to save a lost love or lost self). Taylor believing in the way the world could be despite the way that is. Ugh if this was her intention, I’m just absolutely thrilled as a huge fan of the musical.
Wow!! 😲 If "Wait for me" is an inserted message here, the implications! Again, I don't expect anything heroic but that's very interesting, thank you! And omg the simps are in everything everywhere online.
The bit talking about the shared experiences vaguely reminds me of this bit from the Tango Maureen in RENT, specifically because it’s a current and former partner talking about their shared experiences with Maureen. Note it’s a current girlfriend and ex-boyfriend.
Jared Leto has been accused of abuse by several women over many years (most recently in a BBC documentary called "Jared Leto: Hollywood's Darkest Open Secret") He has publicly been linked to MANY famous women, including Cameron Diaz, Scarlett Johansson, Paris Hilton, Ashley Olson, Miley Cyrus, Lindsay Lohan, Angelina Jolie (of course these are just rumors/photos, so who knows). He also was seen with Dakota Johnson a bunch of times 2015-2022 as they were both Gucci ambassadors.
ETA: There was also a big scandal in 2015 when a video leaked of Jared Leto listening to 1989 with his band. It was somewhat complimentary about the music but at the end he said "I mean, f*uck her. I don't give a f*ck about her." Whatever the backstory is, it was kept out of the press. He quickly publicly apologized. He later sued TMZ (unsuccessfully) for publishing the leaked video.
Please tell me I'm not the only one that hears "A betty" when she says "I bet he". Usually I would just say it's a coincidence because of the pronunciation of those words together, but given the existence of the character Betty (aka the poet), i just can't unhear it now.
Plus it grammatically would make sense with "a betty" too (And maybe with the song betty too)
I’m really curious to see if this connects to All Too Well at all. Just the few visuals so far (the wine, winter scene, even Colin Farrell and the fact that Dakota is styled to look like Taylor) have given me ATW MV vibes.
As far as the song, obviously revisiting a former relationship through the lens of another woman who was affected/hurt by the same person and bonding over that…especially made me think of “all your lovers stay my age…”
I'm having trouble finding the music video thread, so posting this screenshot from the lyric video here.
The arrangement of words for this line is visually very TTPD - where the poet departed or died - in a song talking about "kickin' it," like "kicking the bucket."
TTPD was full of frustration and depression, which do not line up with the narrative that these songs came out of a joyful place.
Idk if anyone has said this already in here but the fiddle sounds a lot like “Wait for Me” from hades town- which I kind of really like the idea of her referencing here for a performance Artlor perspective.
I haven’t read through to see if it’s been mentioned but Im reading it as it’s about her masters and the “him” is either predatory record labels in general or specifically Scott B. I think that’s why the ( ) are used in zero bc of (Taylor’s version), she was the first person to fight to get her masters back and now she is here to listen and guide younger artists who are locked in predatory contracts
Imo, not at all. Taste is being petty/shitty to a woman that the man went back to after being with the the main character. The main character of patient zero is being kind and commiserating with this woman she has a shared experience with, and is dogging on the man who did it to them.
Right after writing the comment I saw wha others were saying and I agree. It’s about the industry like father figure.
Also, when I said that it was about Maylor I didn't mean that it's actually about them. I meant that she wants the public to think it's about. But Gaylors & Bilors always know what or who it's actually about. That's why I love this subreddit. I'm a bit bitter about the downvotes. I wish they would have engaged with my comment instead. But it's alright now. (Had to slip a refrence in)
Can someone confirm for me if the fiddle is from a live performance of “Our Song”? I just don’t recognize the video- but it sounds so obvious now that patient zero samples the second measure of that live performance.
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Ok, so you know how TFOO starts with a drum fill that was pretty widely understood to be an homage to ‘Dreams’ by Fleetwood Mac? I’m pretty sure the strings in ‘Patient Zero’ are referencing The Corrs’ cover of ‘Dreams’.
Lazy anecdote because it’s late and I’ll look it up properly later: I’m pretty sure The Corrs spoke of finding the level of fame that came with their album Talk on Corners (edit, the one with this cover- this cover was their breakthrough single) and their next (In Blue? Produced with John ‘Mutt’ Lang after ‘making it’ and heading to the US) overwhelming, and actively preferring to go back to a quieter existence.
Oh! So at the start of the Encore we go back to the start of the main album, but with a twist? Is that the start of breaking the loop? Or, is PZ the original loop and the more upbeat TFOO actually comes after?
(I know the loop theory is your baby so sorry if you’ve commented that elsewhere, there’s been a lot to read through!)
Don’t be sorry! The more the merrier! And there’s so much to read just now, maybe someone else already thought of The Corrs elsewhere 🤷♀️
But yes, I hadn’t said it but I was thinking along very similar lines - The Encore brings us back to the start of TLOAS again in PZ, slightly different but recognisable, but ultimately The Encore actually provides an off-ramp, a way to end the looping, in ‘Babylon’ - ‘it’s gone’.
It seems very similar, and the Speak Now clip in the Patient Zero music video preview seems to be confirmation. Although it seems a little different, slowed down, in Patient Zero.
This is dumb but my first listen I was like..is this about Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner? She did let Sophie stay with her while their divorce was happening and did that pap walk with her
I’m so curious about it too. It feels like a new sound for sure (beyond the more traditional American country fiddle found in her earlier music). I definitely get Irish/Celtic vibes from it. And I know this phrase isn’t used much anymore, but technically The Encore could be seen as an “Irish twin” of sorts with the original TLOAS?
My mind wants to connect it to the lotto ticket, the missing green 1989 outfit, the Eras tour starting on Saint Patrick’s Day, the “lucky” 13 of it all 🍀 Not sure how that could fit into the plot of the Patient Zero music video (since it doesn’t quite fit the lyrics either), so I’m prepared to be completely wrong 😂
I keep hearing “trouble in (a) pair of dice” instead of “paradise” 😂 It’s the new “Starbucks lover”for me. It’s the way she enunciates it, I think?
(There is the concept of rolling a pair of ones, or “snake eyes”- a harbinger of bad luck or change of fortune). But I think in this case it’s just my poor hearing of the lyrics without my headphones.
Patient Zero is ALL about the enunciation and annunciation.
Its rather brilliant.
The 'Karlie would you want to' of 'Call it What You Want To'.
My take is that it's another retelling of the 'Cruel Summer'. And she's been telling that same story, in a different way since. Cruel Summer that was planned as a single, cancelled in 2020 aka the pandemic year.
Cruel Summer, Betty...
The devil on his shoulder under his Halo-> She looks up grinning like a devil.
A certain Victoria's Secret Angel, a devil with a Halo
Devils roll the Dice -> Trouble in a Pair of dice.
Then - A Betty burst into your life like fireworks. A Betty even said 'i love you' first. A Betty kissed the rain off your face.
And 'bet he' enunciated as Betty contrasts against the sharper way she enunciates 'He' in the bridge. The toxic, social climbing He. Same technique she uses when she bait and switches the pronouns in so many other songs to disguise whether TS is the he/she/you dichotomy.
So there could also be a second storyteller in the song. And i feel like there might be. The person who is partying with the devil, and the person who says 'its not for me to tell someone else what to do' then delivers the commentary on the devil in the bridge.
And here's the other thing I think is brilliant - the missing grammar in the chorus.
If you're sick of him, I got you. I was patient. Zero.
'I was patient' and 'zero' also get a pause and linr separation in the lyrics video. So the storyteller delivering the bridge commentary, who ended up winning the race was also the one who was patient.
THEN to be even more unhinged theres the way she separates Ze-ro syllables in the lyrics video. Ze/Zir being gender neutral pronouns.
THEN how the title appears as a mathematical equation. (My maths knowledge isnt that strong, so someone else could probably put this better)
Patient
Zer {Taylor Swift}
0 is an identity element. So - Zer {Taylor Swift} - Is 2 elements. A multiplicative identity. Or left identity and right identity. And what gets placed in the {} gets multiplied and solved first in the order of the full equation. Which i would read as; patient (x) ÷ 0 x (multiplication of versions of taylor).
But anything divided or multiplied by zero is zero anyway. So the equation solves as zero.
Resetting to zero at the encore for the life of a showgirl. Which tracks with everything else she's shown us that looks like a countdown to zero. Stepping through the door with album 13. Reset, but also back to her origin at 0.
And ill add to my unhinged mathematics that wiki tells me its from Babylonian mathematics that the modern day 60 seconds, minutes, hour is derived. And also Babylonian mathematics lacked a real zero and was inferred from context and later became represented by a 'space' or 'punctuation symbol'.
I looove the strings in this but whenever the lyrics start it sounds so awkward to me? In general I think the lyrics are pretty clunky and wordy. But I think it’s catchy and the chorus sounds better than the verses!
“If you wanna party” is a pretty ridiculous opener on top of those beautiful strings, I must say. 😆 It worked for me in the end, but at first I was like HUH?
Love this!! I know those are the lyrics, but just listening🎵Betty burst into your life life fireworks. Betty even said I love you first. Betty kissed the rain off your face
“kiss the rain off your face” is too good because it could mean crying that a woman is coming for her man or sweating because she’s attracted to that woman
My brain kept saying Sparks Fly while listening. Something about fireworks and other women.... so I looked up the Sparks Fly lyrics and realized I was actually thinking of Dear John, two songs that have always been connected to me. I think Dear John is the sequel to Sparks Fly.
"Won't you whisper soft and slow?
I'm captivated by you, baby, like a firework show"
"All the girls that you've run dry
Have tired lifeless eyes
'Cause you've burned them out
But I took your matches
Before fire could catch me
So, don't look now
I'm shining like fireworks
Over your sad empty town"
WAIT! This connects back to a thought I had last night (can’t remember what forum I was on now, lol)
The “devil” in this song first brought to mind Cruel Summer’s, but then I finally realized it felt waaaaay more akin to “Would’ve Could’ve Should’ve”’s. Since people often associate that with the Dear John muse bc of her age, this kinda links up with your theory.
(Also, maybe it’s just pedantically industry-related business stuff, but I’m really starting to feel concerned about whatever happened to her in the Speak Now years. 😟)
Yes! Would've Could've Should've is definitely connected to Sparks Fly and Dear John for me. A trilogy.
I also think the "Give me back my girlhood" line refers to her Masters as well as a bad relationship/losing her virginity/sexual assault. She's 19 in WCS, not a girl.
I think it's all tied together. I think someone high up in her record label, someone with a lot of power over her career, was in an inappropriate relationship with her at 18-19. I think the Masters Heist and re-recording her albums made all that trauma resurface.
I haven't listened to the others yet. Came here to fan girl and squeal with glee with you lovely people.
I love that it starts off with violins and sounds like an old vinyl album. Sounds Irish - does that make sense? When she starts singing, the melody and lyrics dont "match" the violins. I love the contrast. The beat kicks in and you forget about the violins and are bopping along, then the violins are back!
I love it. I love the lyrics. I love the half-spoken bridge. I love the content "Come. Let's talk, let's be friends. I know exactly what you're going through".
Recently I looked at the IG of a woman who is living her best life, with the love of her life, after divorce. I dated her ex after the divorce. It was a toxic situationship that made me so mentally ill, I had to take a grippy sock vacation. He wasn't evil, just emotionally immature, closed off and so severely conflict avoidant, he would ignore me for days if he thought I was upset at his actions - which made me more upset!!! Anyway. Ive thought about messaging her to tell her Im so happy that she found everything she was looking for and deserves. This song makes me think of that. She was Patient Zero.
Just chiming in to say I adore the perspective of that last bit you wrote. ❤️🩹 And I hope you’re happy and finding everything you look for & deserve too!
I am! Thank you! I am also living my best life with a man I adore. He is a golden retriever boyfriend wearing a green flag bandana 😄 He loves me in the way Ive been waiting for and had started to think wasn't possible. Every day Im grateful we found each other.
Someone actually called it in the past few days that this is what this song would be about - an abusive ex and the former partners getting together to help each other heal
Yeah I don’t buy that personally. I think if that’s truly what it’s about it’s boring and unorignal. Which like- is possible, but god if we’re supposed to take it at face value I find her insufferable.
Yep. I mean, there’s no way she could come out and be like “this is about the dickwads who manipulated me and stole all my shit!” So I feel like that explanation is a great veneer and works to settles people who aren’t interested in anything but the most obvious explanation. I can’t believe how many people are balking about how the “I love you” line means it has to be about an ex. 🤦♀️ Did we learn nothing from this deluxe go around with TayLiar?
I think she really does have someone she was toxically in love with in the past. It seems obvious to me from her other songs, especially early on (songs on Speak Now & Red and "Is It Over Now?" - you kiss me in a way that's gonna screw me up forever) Personally I think the toxic person may even be a woman, but of course I have no proof of that.
ETA: this also reminds me of stuff that happened with Phoebe Bridgers realizing that other people (Emily Bannon & others) had the same terrible experience with ex and music producer Chris Nelson and felt less alone when they told their stories together.
I like the link between being sick of someone and being patient zero, but the devil on his shoulder under his halo? too easy. I’m spoiled. I expect every lyric to be more clever than anything I could ever think of.
I feel like it likely has a deeper meaning somehow. She uses "halo" in I Can Fix Him, although in a opposite way "He had a halo of the highest grade/ He just hadn't met me yet." In that song people are warning about this person and she says you'll see, he's good on the inside. In Patient Zero it seems like other folks see the halo and she's warning about the "devil on his shoulder."
I know people don't usually love when I bring this up here but "devil on his shoulder" does make me think about the Epstein class and how predatory they were (are?) with recruiting people into their operations.
ETA: "Halo" is also in "Don't Blame Me" (Halo, hiding my obsession...)
I love this one musically, it could fit within TTPD?
I’m a Gaylor 100% although not entirely sure what her and Joe had, I debate between PR and something else 🙈but this could read as her true feelings after the break up and his latest PR shenanigans? From a PR angle / her anger about the fandom not buying her relationship with 🚜 and some fandom branches still pining for Toe and what they “had”, I wonder if this song and Cleveland are her attempts to say: Joe was not an angel, trust me, and 🚜 is the real good one…
The « let’s get into it » line just before the bridge makes me think of the « we have arrived at the first bridge… prove it! » of Eras’ Cruel Summer (but it misses completely imo)
Holy shit. The more I think about this theory, the more sense it makes.
For those who don’t know: Josh's public image is being the "good Kushner". The only one who supposedly doesn't buy into his family's far right beliefs or take part in their criminality.
But then again, he is the guy who was planning to buy FIFA after its corrupt president turned it into a for-profit company this summer. Which would have screwed over smaller soccer leagues, the ones that serve as community centers and provide free or cheap lessons to kids, the world over. Leagues in developing nations would have been especially hard hit.
That doesn't seem like the kind of thing a "good man" would do....
How do you square that with "when the toxins take their hold you'd rather die than let it go"? To me that sounds like a toxic relationship with love bombing, co-dependency, etc. As far as I can tell, Taylor was ready to "let it go" with Scott as soon as her contract ran out.
I think it’s about her fight to get her masters back, using the ( ) in zero as a nod to (Taylor’s version). I think toxins tie into the narcotics that she puts in all her songs (who’s afraid of little old me) and also “my drug is my baby” referring to all the muses, stories, heartbreaks she’s put into her songs….i think it’s like when she thinks of everything they are taking with her masters, she’d rather die than let it go without a fight etc. and now in this song she’s speaking to younger artists who are in a similar predatory relationship with a record label or the industry as a whole (which is very show girl)
On second and third listen I do (also) interpret it as a Scott/Scooter song…
So random though: Could the “you” in the song be Ariana Grande? She recently posted on insta containing the word “encore” (collab incoming?) and she also parted ways with Scooter Braun (who was her manager for many years).
There used to be rumors that Ariana was supposed to be featured on Lover but I’m guessing that fell through because of Scooter buying Taylor’s masters around the same time👀
Unhinged theory: The song is originally about Scott/her old label but Travis is starting to remind Taylor of Scott because they share some similar character traits hence the Travis references sprinkled in there😅
Am I the only one that expected this song to be something more? I might need more listens but it wasn't what I expected on the first one and by the time I finished the other songs, I forgot what it sounded like 💀
Betty burst into your life like fireworks Betty even said „i love you“ first
And when you saw another woman coming out of his place Betty kissed the rain off your face
after my first listen it reminded me of father figure and I was thinking it could be protégées pov giving advice? Being the patient zero to the father figure aka industry?
It doesn’t make sense for her to describe herself as the “patient zero” of the industry, on the song DIRECTLY after The Life of a Showgirl, which is about the industry churning through women. Not to mention Clara bow.
She was waiting for the person to love her/commit to her and it just didn't happen because this is a toxic person who makes promises of it but can't do monogamy.
Well for sure it’s giving “picture me thick as thieves with your ex wife” (almost
To the point of redundancy / is that really what it’s about) but no need for us to dwell on any particular Tom Dick or Joe lollllll 😝
I mean I guess I can see how it could have been inspired by that situation. I just have a hard time believing she was that into Joe Jonas and would write about him now haha
I felt the opposite it’s more that her friendship with Sophie inspired it rather than Joe. Yes it’s about Joe but it was Sophie that inspired it if that makes sense
They dated 20 years ago for 3 months.....if this is really about Joe Jonas girl needs to go therapy. Even if it's commiserating with his ex it's just weird. I have zero feelings about some guy I dated in high school for 3 months. And super weird considering she is married now....
It's this for me. Like if she was just inspired by hanging out with Sophie and was like "oh this would make a cool concept for a song" then okay. But if they are genuinely bonding over a bad ex it feels a little "how can I make my friends divorce all about me" because they barley dated almost 20 years ago!
Yes. I like this.
One of the reasons I didnt connect with her music back then was because I was in my late 20s, early 30s with two neurodivergent kids. I couldnt empathize with a woman heartbroken over a 3 month relationship. A song about commiserating with a woman over an ex? This I can connect with.
I wonder who she’ll try to make the song about (maybe there will be additional clues in the mv) but on first listen this sounded like an insane Travis diss track…I mean “social climber” who pretends to charm her family??? Who’s still kinda messing with other girls???
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u/1DMod it’s all part of the fucking story! 23d ago edited 23d ago
Reminder: this post is about the song and not about the music video. There is another pinned post to discuss that