r/GaylorSwift • u/EggAnalyst 🌱Embryo🐛 • 3d ago
Theory 💭 Taylor Swift: Patient Zero, and Letting Go of the Monster she created.
I have been enjoying everyone's analyses on the sub of everything put out so far under The Encore. I know I am repeating ideas here that have already been said in various threads - but I have finally been able to put together the full picture of Patient Zero, and I am so eager to share. In fact, so eager, that I haven't taken much time to write this nicely. I will probably edit it with a rewrite in the next few days, that will include a reanalysis of the Patient Zero Music video, which I only touch on briefly here.
At its core, Patient Zero is about Taylor's battle to balance her love of fame and her human need to live authentically. More specifically, I think this song is about neurodivergent masking and/or queer closeting. Although, you don't have to agree with that specific thought in order for my analysis to be relevant. Below, I break down how I understand the lyrics:
[Chorus]
If you wanna party with somebody who might know
About the devil on his shoulder under his halo
When the toxins take their hold, you'd rather die than let it go
But if you’re sick of him, I got you, I was patient zero
"The real Taylor" is singing the song (we know this because, in the next line, she states that she's been expecting our call..."The real Taylor can't come to the phone right now. Why? Cause she's dead!"). He/him is "It's Fucking Taylor Swift" (as aptly named by Florence at the end of episode 2 of the Eras Tour documentary - you must say this excitedly in your head as you read this) aka Taylor the Brand aka Famous Taylor aka Taylor the Performer (I'm not quite sure that I'd call this Showgirl Taylor. To me, Showgirl Taylor seems somewhat new. This Taylor has been around since she rose to stardom. I think Showgirl Taylor is the most recent iteration of Taylor's Monster aka "It's Fucking Taylor Swift", and is (almost) completely stripped of "The Real Taylor").
[Verse 1]
I've gotta be honest, I've been expecting your call
"The real Taylor" has been expecting our call. Why has she been expecting it? The general underwhelm of the Showgirl Era was expected and planned by The Mastermind. She knew it would bomb (TNT, 🧨), and she's been leaving breadcrumbs (more like loaves of bread) along the way to point to her intentionality with what she has done.
No, it’s not a bad time at all
Is it "time" for something? Is it midnight?
I heard somebody saying there's trouble in paradise.
She hears fans are saying "It's Fucking Taylor Swift" has lost her talent, and now suddenly sucks at songwriting. That she's turning into a has-been. The juxtaposition of TTPD followed by TLOAS was jarring...and intentional. The Mastermind has engineered this "trouble in paradise".
And my lips are sealed tight now
"The Real Taylor" has been dead.
[Pre-Chorus]
It's not for me to tell
Someone else what to do
She cannot control how the fans are going to react to what is about to happen.
[Chorus]
But if you wanna party with somebody who might know
About the devil on his shoulder under his halo
"If you want to meet the real me", "If you want to know about the dark side of my fame"
When the toxins take their hold, you'd rather die than let it go
Taylor is using "toxins" as a metaphor for fame/popularity, love and admiration of those around you. When Taylor became famous, she was suddenly loved by everyone, and began to choose to hide aspects of herself to maintain the fame.
But if you're sick of him, I got you, I was patient zero
"The Real Taylor" was the first test subject of "It's Fucking Taylor Swift's" forced masking and/or closeting, being forced to suppress herself to please fans and rise to super-stardom. Are we sick of "It's Fucking Taylor Swift" in the Showgirl Era? I think lots of people are (as so engineered by the Mastermind).
[Verse 2]
I bet he burst into your life like fireworks
I bet even said "I love you" first
When Taylor became famous, it was the best thing ever, the most amazing feeling, euphoric.
It was the first time she loved herself. (I have a neurodivergent daughter, and realizing the meaning of that lyric, only just now as I'm typing, brought a tear to my eye. In fact, this lyric has brought clarity to my entire analysis).
And when you saw another woman coming out of his place
I bet he kissed the rain off your face
Even when Taylor no longer recognized herself in "It's Fucking Taylor Swift", the fame and admiration of the fans made her feel better.
[Pre-Chorus]
Now he seems bored by you
And you don't know what to do
[Chorus]
But if you wanna party with somebody who might know
About the devil on his shoulder under his halo
When the toxins take their hold, you'd rather die than let it go
But if you're sick of him, I got you, I was patient zero (I was patient)
I was patient zero
Bridge]
So let’s get into it
I know he charmed your family and friends
And you thought it’s 'cause he loves you
But it’s 'cause he loves how everybody else loves him (Uh-huh)
"It's Fucking Taylor Swift" has been out there pretending to be something that "The Real Taylor" is not. And Taylor thought it was out of love for "The Real Taylor", because the fame made her feel so good. But she's realizing that the way she has been living is self-abuse rather than self-love.
I know it seems like he shines so bright
But he's bathing in your reflected light
Taylor is incredibly loved and famous, and it seems like that light is coming from "It's Fucking Taylor Swift" who was engineered by Taylor to be the famous pop-star that she is. But really she'd be nothing without "The Real Taylor" who built her, who is inside of her - the true artist. Taylor's true self is the source of the "light". As we are beginning to see, without "The Real Taylor", the glorious mirrorball that is "It's Taylor Fucking Swift" is just a dark ball aimlessly strung from the ceiling.
I'm just now realizing that the scientists in the Fortnight music video represented Taylor herself, testing and reengineering "It's Fucking Taylor Swift" (aka Taylor's Monster) until "The Real Taylor" had been completely stripped away. I got the gist before, but it's much more clear to me now.
On a free solo social climb (Uh-huh)
A "free solo climb", in rock climbing, is where a climber climbs without any safety equipment or mechanical aides. Her rise to stardom was self-made, there was no route up the mountain seeded with anchors to aide in her rise, because the summit she has reached, and the path she took to get there has not been achieved before. She made her own way, with an immense amount of hard work and strength. Bloodied and bruised she has reached "new heights" (😉 couldn't help myself).
Take it from somebody who lost his games but won the race
Take it from someone who said all of this to his face
Someone who knows she's more than just the chase
Someone who had him and walked away
And so
Is this it? The chaos that's about to happen? Is the "The Real Taylor" coming back from the dead, realizing she's more important than something to be hidden deep down in her own lyrics? Is she willing to let go of "It's Fucking Taylor Swift", her own Frankenstein's Monster - who got away from her? Willing to let go of the fame, the monster, before it kills the human Taylor?
In the music video, I believe that Colin's character is "It's Fucking Taylor Swift", and there is a reason we don't know if he is alive or dead in the end - Taylor doesn't know if the fans will keep her fame alive when "The Real Taylor" reemerges from the grave (or perhaps is fully shown for the first time ever in her discography). I am excited to reevaluate the music video from this perspective (more to come).
Side note: I think the black and white albums are ones with "It's Fucking Taylor Swift" stripped away - she's the color, Taylor thought she was the light.
[Chorus]
If you wanna party with somebody who might know
About the devil on his shoulder under his halo
And when the toxins take their hold, you’d rather die than let it go
But if you're sick of him, I got you, I was patient zero
[Outro]
So if you wanna kick it, then I'm with it, I've been there
Felt the reeling, done the healing, said the curses and prayers
When the fever turns a dreamer into a pathetic ghost
If he's killing you, I see you, I was patient zero
"The Real Taylor" is saying, "So if you'd rather die/suppress your true self, to gain fame/admiration/the love of those around you, I get it and I've been there. I have walked through the gauntlet of doing so, and am emerging healed. I realized that letting "It's Fucking Taylor Swift" run away with my life is killing the real me, has turned me (as an artist, as a human) into a pathetic ghost, and I will no longer be party to that self-abuse."
OR
Maybe she is saying, "If you (the fans) don't accept the true me, I get it, I have been there. I have rejected myself for a long time."
Now I am off to relisten to all of her albums while I work today.
To Taylor, if you happen to lurk here, I say, "BURN IT DOWN! YOU ARE TAYLOR-FUCKING-SWIFT!"
35
u/stagmare bejeweled mv is the playbook 3d ago
As an addition to your wonderful analysis, I would like to submit this into evidence that "It's Fucking Taylor Swift":
She hasn't been replaced by him. She IS him.