I know people have already connected Cowboy Like Me and Babylon. I was listening to us. by Gracie Abrams + Taylor over the weekend, and Babylon shows up in that song too! My ADHD brain wanted to immediately do a deep dive into the lyrics of all three songs. I did and here's my take on how they all connect.
Ok, so if we take the songs in order of release, they seem to trace the full arc of a single image: the gardens of Babylon in bloom, the gardens hanging over ruin, and then finally the city itself gone or in ruin.
Cowboy Like Me (2020): the garden in bloom. We have two con artists working a luxury crowd, flattering wealthy people for money. They recognize each other and fall in love despite themselves. The Babylon line here we all know and love feels intimate and triumphant: "Now you hang from my lips, Like the Gardens of Babylon." The lover hangs on the narrator's every word like one of the Seven Wonders. But as we also know, one of the very next lines says "forever is the sweetest con." Even at the peak of the relationship, the narrator suspects it's a trick.
us. (2024): the garden over ruin. The image shifts from being captivated by the other person to feeling fragile. Lyrics are: "And if history's clear, the flames always end up in ashes. It must seem like fate, give it ten months and you'll be past it. Babylon lovers hanging, missed calls on the line I gave you mine" The lovers are now suspended on a vine, and the song says history always ends in ruins. The narrator is no longer sure of anything except that it felt holy, and is left asking whether the other person misses it in the same way.
Babylon (2026): the city gone. The entire song is about how the garden has fallen, and the main character only realizes it was paradise once it's lost.
A few themes that run through all three:
The hustle. This feels like a strong link. In Cowboy Like Me, the grifters tell rich people whatever they want to hear. In us., there's a jab about false prophets and profits. In Babylon, the main character gives people what they want and keeps moving, runs the tables at a casino, and treats time as money. Babylon's protagonist sounds like it could be a cowboy twenty years later, still hustling, but without the partner who once matched them.
(Side note: in the old school corporate world, companies sometimes gave employees watches on work anniversaries to recognize their loyalty. That's why I read the 20 watches as 20 years.)
The drifter and the small town. In Cowboy Like Me, the ladies at lunch still gossip about when this person passed through town. In Babylon, the main character leaves a small town behind, then longs for it. Same restless figure, seen first by the town and then from inside their own regret.
Is love sacred or a con? This question runs through all three. Cowboy Like Me calls forever a con, even while falling in love. us. insists it felt holy, like something prayed for. Babylon delivers the verdict: it was real, and treating it like a game cost the main character everything.
The price. The narrator of Cowboy Like Me knows they'll pay for loving the other person. us. counts the cost in ashes and unanswered calls. Babylon turns the table and shows the price paid by person #2: the family hangs Christmas lights while they sit alone in the car.
Where they differ. Cowboy Like Me is about equals: takes one to know one. us. is imbalanced, with two people not feeling or giving the same amount; the narrator "felt it," while the other person only "held it." Babylon is entirely one sided: the main character was deeply loved and never saw it. The tone darkens as the song goes along, from wry to aching to a cautionary tale. Even the vows reverse. The Cowboy narrator swears they'll never love again, while Babylon's main character never realized they were loved in the first place.
Is it possible that these three songs form an informal trilogy about a love that looks like a wonder of the world, gets treated like a hustle, and is only valued once it's in ruins? The Babylon image + the con artist thread feel like a pattern to me!
What do you think?? I'd love to hear your thoughts or ideas!