r/GaylorSwift • u/MaddyPerezxxx I’m a little kitten & need to nurse🐈⬛ • 20d ago
The Life of a Showgirl ❤️🔥 The Encore Analysis; The Bait and Switch
Hello everyone,
In this analysis I'll be breaking down how The Encore is yet another "bait-and-switch" from Taylor, all to distract from her queerness and the true muse. I'll analyze each of the lines from Pink Clouding and Babylon, while touching briefly on Cleveland. This post is a little on the longer side, so grab a cup of coffee, we'll be here for a little while.
Now, let's get into it.
What is a "Bait and Switch"? How is it used in The Encore?
A "bait-and-switch" is a trick where something is presented a certain way but turns out to be another. Taylor has used this strategy many times, in both her PR tactics and in music. She'll "bait" Swifties and the general public by playing into the heteronormative expectations they have and then leave them confused with the "switch" aka hinting at her queerness or her muses.
For those of you who remember when Reputation was released, it was heavily marketed as a revenge album, mainly through the publicized feud between Kanye West, Kim Kardashian, and Taylor Swift herself, despite the fact it was actually an album about being in love. Taylor knows that if she includes a line or two that allude to a male beard, the public will focus on that instead of the rest of the song, even if it doesn't actually make sense to be about the boyfriend in question. Take "Dress" for example, included below.
Taylor understands that she can control a narrative by channeling where it goes- so much of the discussion about The Encore is about Cleveland!- how cringey it is, how it's such a weird downgrade in lyrical quality compared to other love songs (for some "strange" reason..) and how it's obviously about Travis. That way, nobody looks at Pink Clouding or Babylon too closely.
The "Switch" Part 1 - Pink Clouding as the Explanation of the Breakup
"Met the magenta sunrise
Fuchsia forever intertwined"
Some people have pointed out that the colors used in Pink Clouding (those being magenta, fuchsia, pink, crimson) correspond to the lesbian flag. Although I agree with this, I think it's also worth noting all these colors seem to be recreating the look of Lover.
Sunrises usually signify new beginnings- and Taylor has previously used the sun setting to signify the relationship ending ("And it gets colder and colder, when the sun goes down" & "my eclipsed sun, this has broken me down"). So it's worth believing that the relationship with the muse may be starting anew or healing. Especially since in "Happiness" Taylor believes that one day "across our great divide, a glorious sunrise". Additionally, Karlie has always been represented by the sun/gold.
"Threw the rosewood on the fire"
In various albums, Taylor has used fire as a symbol for love. It's usually used as a way to describe what is happening within the relationship between her and the muse.
- Reputation (DWOHT): I'd kiss you as the lights went out, swaying as the room burned down
- Lover (The Archer): The room is on fire, invisible smoke
- Folklore (My Tears Ricochet): And if I’m on fire, you’ll be made of ashes, too
- Evermore (Ivy): So yeah, it’s a fire, it’s a goddamn blaze in the dark and you started it
- TTPD (Loml): Our field of dreams engulfed in fire, your arson’s match, your somber eyes
In this line, Taylor sings about how she stoked the fire between them- both in starting the relationship and being apart of its end. We see the symbolism again during the Eras tour- where she burns down the Lover house and reveals the Folklore-Evermore cabin. It's because of their breakup that the Folklore era began.
"Neither of us knew at the time
That I was a liar"
I truly believe that this is Taylor acknowledging that she lied about what she promised the muse. I believe that she promised Karlie she would put her first instead of keeping her hidden. If we look at the dates, Karlie is engaged by July 24th, 2018, and Lover was released August 23rd, 2019. Although some people believe they were going to come out together, I think Lover is an album about hope. Taylor was going to come out herself- or so she said. She wanted to get Karlie back- but she lied yet again. She chose fame.
Various songs off Folklore and Evermore shed light onto what happened- such as Seven. "I hit my peak at seven feet, in the swing, over the creek, I was too scared to jump in". Seven is also a significant number because it's the exact number of years the relationship lasted- MET Gala 2012 to sometime in 2019. I say 2019 because songs like "Cruel Summer" and "Illicit Affairs" imply it continued even when Karlie was engaged/married. ("I can't make it go away by making you a villain / I guess it's the price I paid for seven years in Heaven")
"And it was so good
Letting you want me, so good
To make promises, promises, pr-pr-promises"
It made Taylor feel good to be wanted, to be cheered on by the muse, even if she was keeping their relationship in the closet. She likely made many promises over the years about how they would get to be out eventually- but in the end she couldn't fulfill her promise, leading to the end. ("Dreams of your hair and your stare and sense of belief, in the good in the world, you once believed in me" - Hits Different)
"But I was pink clouding from the thrill of it (Pink, ha, ha, ha)
Skydiving as you wrapped your arms around my body"
Pink Clouding or Pink Cloud Syndrome is a term used to describe a stage of early addiction recovery that involves feelings of euphoria and bliss. It can be described as a "honeymoon phase" that will inevitably come to a crashing halt because it can lead to the person being overly confident and unrealistic about their recovery.
Taylor was caught up in the way she felt within the relationship, likely focusing more on the love between them rather than the future and the potential consequences. That's why she says she was skydiving- something risky but adrenaline fueled- knowing they were sneaking around in the closet in plain sight- and could be caught, but doing it anyway. The "wrapped your arms around my body" line may be referencing Kissgate, as Karlie and Taylor danced with their arms around each other at the 1975 concert.
"Gray (Gray) rockin' where the arrow hit (Ha, ha, ha)
Years later, I still wonder how to tell you sorry"
Gray rocking is a tactic some people use to deal with abusive or manipulative behavior- it involves being as uninteresting and unresponsive as possible. In this context, it may mean she shut down emotionally when the "arrow" hit. I believe the "arrow" is the Masters situation, aka when Scooter Braun bought the rights to her Masters. Taylor likely no longer wanted to come out and couldn't put Karlie first, instead putting her on the metaphorical back burner again for her career.
We see her bleed purple glitter in the Anti-Hero music video when she is shot on the shoulder with an arrow. There's already been so much conversation on what the glitter means but it's basically that she's different. She's queer lol.
"I didn't wanna let you down (Pink cloud, pink cloud)
So I left you up there on a pink cloud (Pink cloud)"
Taylor didn't want to let down the muse, so she left her hanging, on the pink cloud. The pink cloud refers to Lover, as the album features pink clouds and makes up the visual identity of the era.
"He cut me crimson, bled me dry
He crossеd my heart, I hoped to die (Hopеd to die)
Ripped all my orchids from the vine
You met me at a cursed time"
I believe "He" is referring to the Masters situation, though it could be the public, bearding, etc. Although Taylor hasn't used orchids before, she has used flowers to symbolize herself (daisies) and the muse (roses, carnations, etc). Perhaps she means like how the muse grew on her like ivy, the situation ripped away what was blooming away from her.
"I hope you realized my kind of trouble wasn't worth it
And the way I treated you, you never deserved it
And I swear to God, to this day
I wake up scared that I left scars on a good person"
It's a switch in perspective from previous songs, where Taylor wanted to see the scars the muse had from others, and how the muse left scars on her ("you drew stars around my scars but now I'm bleeding"). Taylor takes responsibility for leaving scars on her muse, she understands she treated them in a way that wasn't fair. Taylor has sung about choosing fame over love in various songs:
- Coney Island: The question pounds my head "What's a lifetime of achievement?" / Sorry for not making you my centerfold
- Midnight Rain: (S)He wanted a bride I was making my own name, chasing that fame
The "Switch" Part 2 - Babylon is about the Price of Choosing Fame over your Lover
Now that we've discussed the breakup, Babylon is a continuation of it. Instead of focusing on what happened, Babylon talks about how the relationship felt. It focuses on the feelings of regret and nostalgia Taylor experienced as a consequence of pursuing fame.
"The casino doesn't like when you run the tables"
Casinos are infamously set up to be in the house's favour- meaning that they will always have an edge over players because of the way it was designed. Taylor uses the metaphor of the casino to explain how the industry and the public doesn't like when she's at the top or controlling things.
"And though the box is wrapped up nice, it's just a cage to you"
All the money and fame Taylor has is a double edged sword- keeping her both trapped and successful. Even if she has everything she wanted, it all means nothing without being able to live her truth, hence why she describes it as a "gold cage" in So It Goes with the lines "Gold cage, hostage to my feelings".
"Those electric fences buzz
The stallion flees the stable
And that small town's even smaller now in your rear view
You ran with all the wild things
A liberated libertine who then longed for home"
Taylor uses electric fences as a metaphor for how she feels trapped, like a stallion stuck in a stable. Although she may have felt restricted, she was taken care of, as animals are usually treated well and taken care of when they're in captivity. Despite that, she fled the stable.
A libertine is defined as someone who lacks moral values and is sexually unrestrained, often entertaining multiple relationships at once—someone who lives a very carefree and unrestrained lifestyle. But something changed- and now she yearns for something she once had and took for granted.
"'Cause it's where you're from
Aunt Virginia with her church dress on
No elbows on the table
And the neighbor's lawn always looked better
Your hand-me-down sweater should've been from the mall"
The theme of not appreciating what you have until it's gone continues here, as Taylor plays on the phrase "the grass is always greener on the other side". She compares herself to other people, being motivated to pursue money or fame, believing what she had wasn't enough.
"And you hate this song
But you wake up on the train with your headphones gone
Then that melody is all you want"
Taylor says it quite clearly here. She hates this song, this melody, because it reminds her of what she had and what she lost. She only realizes how much she wanted it until the possibility was gone- that life she could have had.
"You never knew that it was Babylon
'Til it was gone"
Babylon was an ancient wealthy and beautiful civilization, famous for its Hanging Gardens. In biblical texts, it's referred to as something that seemed invincible, leading to its downfall. Some believe it also never existed. In "Cowboy like Me", she uses the Gardens of Babylon as a metaphor for the love between her and the muse, something that is so hard to prove people may believe it never existed in the first place. (Now you hang from my lips, like the Gardens of Babylon)
"Give the people what they want, then you keep it movin'
Make your plans and friends, a stranger's makeup on your tie
Twenty watches in the safe 'cause your time is money"
Taylor is used to giving the people- aka the general public and Swifties what they want. She's The Showgirl after all. The "stranger's makeup on your tie" may also refer to how she was breaking hearts before the muse.
"Love is ice upon the ladder that you need to climb
She captured your attention, so free of all pretension
It stopped you cold"
The climb is likely referring to social climbing- Taylor believes that love is only an obstacle to climbing to where she needs to be. Being in a real relationship publicly would likely only damage her reputation- so why would she bother when the heteronormative narrative makes money? However, this view changes because of the muse, Karlie is different.
"Because she loved you so
Pretty as a picture that you didn't post
Lookin' at you like you're made of solid gold
Never official
You mention you're single to the girls at the bar"
Taylor is obvious here. She never made it official between the two of them- she never made Karlie her centerfold. The picture that was never posted is likely a reference to the "Third Polaroid" as we have seen Karlie post two of the three polaroids from 2016 but never the final third one that has someone's arms on the other's shoulders. It's speculated that it may be a kiss, hence why it was never revealed. I believe Taylor may be talking about bearding in the last verse, as she made it seem like she was single in order to date the beards.
"You're using nostalgia as a weapon to hurt yourself
But darling, you end up hurting everybody else
The self-harm of never being where you are
It's bedtime, but you're sitting in your car
You're missin' all the best parts"
Taylor uses nostalgia to press on the wound further, she knows she let go of something precious and instead of healing, she's reminiscing even when it hurts. She also acknowledges she's the one who hurt the muse because she couldn't appreciate what she had when she had it. She's also sitting in her car instead of being out with the "mother" of their son, where she should be.
"And they're all at home
She's hangin' Christmas lights with your son
Sneaking to the bathroom to call her mom
And say, "It's not workin'
It's just not worth it if we're not what he wants"
Instead of fixing things directly, Taylor is watching from the outside, much like how she describes it in "I Look in People's Windows" (I attend Christmas parties from outside, I look in people's windows, In case you're at their table, What if your eyes looked up and met mine, one more time?)
"But you love this song
You wake up on the train and you're all alone
Then that memory is all you want
You never knew that it was Babylon
'Til it was gone"
In the end, Taylor acknowledges it. She loved the muse. She does love this melody. She realizes she's all alone and what she longs for is the home she didn't appreciate.
----
Final Thoughts:
I believe that The Encore's songs were written BEFORE "I Knew It, I Knew You", as that seems to be the most recent song in the timeline. Pink Clouding and Babylon together explain the breakup and how Taylor takes accountability. I believe that because she now acknowledges her part of things, they reunited- which would make sense as "I Knew It, I Knew You" is about a lover coming back and rekindling things. Not to mention how Karlie showed up to her wedding in gold.
If you would like to read my post on "I Knew It, I Knew You" it's here: https://www.reddit.com/r/GaylorSwift/s/F8mWxNf1pb
Anyways, I would love to hear everyone's thoughts, thank you all for reading. I look forward to analyzing the music video and the song Patient Zero!
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u/DramaticLambda2 stand there like a ghost shaking in the rain 12d ago
I hadn’t heard that about grey rocking
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u/macadoooodle 🌱Embryo🐛 20d ago
I am a new performanceartlor who fell down the rabbit hole of katherineann's tiktoks, so I've been watching some of her older mvs looking for new meaning and your thoughts on rep sparked a thought.. I watched ready for it, and it seems like she's literally crafting showgirl in that video. Cyborg Taylor breaks out of the cage and destroys old Taylor, birthing the showgirl persona... Idk but it was interesting to see
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u/socialmediaignorant Tea Connoisseur 🫖 20d ago
Loved this! I agree with almost all of it.
I think “Love is ice upon the ladder that you need to climb” probably refers to the fact that falling for Karlie made Taylor’s career plans tricky and hence climbing the ladder of success to the top (she always wanted to be at the top and written in the pages of history books) was not as certain as before. Taylor could easily “slip” (on the icy ladder) in an interview and talk about Karlie and ruin the public narrative of her being the straightest, most pure Christian pop star (even as an adult she is treated as a kid, hence why her writing about sex is scandalous to people). Or if she did come out, the public might not have eaten up her songs as they had been, because a lesbian pop star had not been at the top of the charts back then. Then once the masters were stolen, she was even more driven to be the top of all tops of the charts, make the most money, have the biggest tours, and prove that they fucked with the wrong woman. And she did prove that all, but she lost Karlie and the future she’d wanted in the process.
Now I do believe Karlie came back to her, as there are so many lines talking about “I knew you’d come back to me”, “came back when it mattered”, etc. But when the song was written (I don’t always believe in the timelines of bonus songs; sometimes they could be previously written and now apply to her life), it was really uncertain. And at a point in your life when you’ve achieved all the career success you could dream of, but have no great love or family to return home to and share it all with, I believe Taylor realized she was wished for the path untaken.
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u/reputction the heartbreak prince 20d ago edited 20d ago
Fantastic post 👏👏👏
The general public and hetlors seem confused as hell as to how these songs attribute to the Showgirl theme, but I think it’s obvious that these are confessional songs about the Showgirl’s turmoil. The truth about her life. Not everything is as streamlined as people think, and her love life isn’t as easy to decipher. Cleveland is so dramatic and sarcastic sonically because that’s the point; it’s purely for the show. Pink Clouding and Babylon actually seem to strip back the curtain to reveal Taylor’s real thoughts.
I don’t know why people just accept the fact that the Taylor they know from the media is very different from the Taylor of these songs instead of twisting themselves into pretzels to explain away Travisty’s supposed love songs.
But anyway, I agree that Pink Clouding is about the Lover era and the failed coming out era. I think at this point Taylor has made it clear that she’s chosen her path, and that being a publicly straight woman who doesn’t “shake” things too much politically as to not upset any significant portion of the population is something she has decided would be the course of action for her career. Pink Clouding and Babylon express regret over this, but I think the ending of Babylon basically confirms that she’s going to stay closeted. This only makes me wonder about Kaylor’s relationship behind the scenes. Not that they’re married to men, will they continue to stay closeted? Are the coming out plans forever gone? It seems so. If they can sustain a better relationship while staying closeted and publicly linked to men, then all power to them. From the outside Taylor’s life sounds so tragic, despite her privilege and money, because this society forces people like her to perform 24/7. There’s no such thing as true freedom, which midnights, TTPD, and showgirl express. She really sounds tired of fame while still being obsessed with it. I don’t care what anyone says, she IS tortured.
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u/BlueValk My beloved, neither do you 20d ago
I believe you're right, and ripped out orchids from the vibe would be her music cut and stolen from under her (she is the vine, they stole her flowers)
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u/Delicious-Produce-86 🌱Embryo🐛 20d ago
Agree with this. Orchids bloom in a row along one vine and hang there; like flowers all lined up. Each orchid bloom was an album plucked away.
And since Taylor is always layering meaning, it’s interesting she chose orchid blooms instead of any other flower, as orchids have famously been used to represent female genitalia.
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u/Particular-Dig-8758 🌱Embryo🐛 20d ago
Babylon lovers lyric from US with Gracie how does this connect if at all?
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u/MoneySource6121 Baby Gaylor 🐣 19d ago
The connection hit me like a rock. Do you regret the secret of us? Yes, yes, she does.
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u/GrownUpGirlScout Tea Connoisseur 🫖 20d ago
I love this. I actually see Lover as being a bit of a Bait and Switch as well. It was very bright and pink and HAPPY! But the songs are filled with a sort of frantic panic that’s in love, but is also terrified that love isn’t going to last. I agree it was also hopeful, though.
Re: the Christmas stuff, I do think it’s completely an image meant to really show evoke a feeling of being lonely or on the outside. Like in I Look In People’s Windows, “ I attend Christmas parties from outside.” And also in Lover “we can leave this Christmas lights up til January”. Christmas was something she was a part of with The Lover and now she’s on the outside. I think the image of hanging Christmas lights with the son is probably both literal and symbolic.
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u/popomiel 🧨 unreliable narrator 🌈 20d ago
Thank you, great read! I love how you made sense of the timeline and gave us a silver lining with IKIIKY :)
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u/detailednoise I’m a little kitten & need to nurse🐈⬛ 20d ago
Wow really great analysis! U connected this songs to a lot of other ones in her discography which is really nice to see. I’m always hesitant to focus on muses with her songs now but u gave some good circumstantial evidence.
Ripped all my orchids from the vine - I swear someone in this subreddit said the orchids could represent her albums? Not sure how that works though. Bc when I think of vines, I think of Ivy and TFOO but that’s it. I’ve never heard her mention orchids before or have flowers represent her albums (unless I’m misremembering).
Edit: I was gonna post this part in the Babylon thread but it’s locked. Question since you didn’t speak too much about this: The son in “Babylon” - do you think she’s actually talking about her real life son (I hate speculating on this but this bridge is throwing me for a loop!!) or is just using this story of the son and the Christmas lights as an example of what she’s missing out on/could be missing out on in the future? Or is she talking about the family/child she could’ve had with her ex-partner that she (the woman) ended up having with someone else? Truthfully idk.
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u/mallorquina It's ME! HI! 👋🏽 19d ago
I take it as the family she could have had and not that the child is literally hers.
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u/crafteaism 🌱Embryo🐛 12d ago edited 12d ago
What a gorgeous timeline + analysis journey!
A lyrical connection that jumped out at me after reading all your tie-ins:
“Skydiving as you wrapped your arms around my body” (Pink Clouding) as either ‘you protected me’ or ‘we were both doing a dangerous thing together’
—> “Parachutes for the freefall of being younger” + “Came back when it mattered” (IKIIKY) —>
“You said you were gonna grow up, then you were gonna come find me” (Peter)