Taylor Alison Swift just dropped a new song off her album Reputation and it’s safe to say we weren’t “…Ready For It?” Swift first posted a hint about the song, (that no one realized was a hint at the time) when she posted about “Look What You Made Me Do” being out! I MEAN IT WAS JUST SITTING RIGHT THERE, AS PLAIN AS THE NOSE ON MY FACE!
She captioned it “…ready for it?” New single #LookWhatYouMadeMeDo out now.”
LISTEN TO “…READY FOR IT?” NOW AND CHECK OUT THE LYRICS/ANALYSIS
“…Ready For It?” starts off with a loud booming bass sound…. you know that sound, when you’re standing front row at a concert and you can’t even really hear what the artist is singing because you just get the bass in your ears and then you can’t hear anything once the concert is over? Yeah, that sound!
After Swift clears her throat, she prepares for her Pop/Rap song. Let’s get into the lyrics, a song we believe to be about her relationship with actor Joe Alwyn, whom she has been dating for over 10 months. <3
To watch this article in video format see video here:
Lyrics for “…Ready For It?” *Parts in bold are explanations*
[Verse 1]
Knew he was a killer
First time that I saw him
*Swift first saw Alwyn in 2016. The pair had at least previously met in October during a private concert for Kings of Leon. Alwyn was seen entering the same after party behind model Martha Hunt, BFF of Taylor Swift. Killer here could also just mean good looking. 🙂
Wonder how many girls he had loved and left haunted
But if he’s a ghost then I can be a phantom
Holdin’ him for ransom
*This line seems to be thoughts Swift had when she first saw him, as continuing on from her opening lines. She probably knew very little about him, so it’s natural to wonder if he is single, or taken, what his love history has been like. He is an actor after all, but Swift has also had her fair share of heart break and knows what the pain of that is like. Sometimes, when you go through really bad breakups, they take parts of you away. People can be left emotionless and it takes a very long time to break through that wall. So if he isn’t capable of much love at the moment, she would totally understand because she has also been through the ringer. (I can be a phantom). But she won’t let that get in the way, she’s going to be there no matter how long it takes to break through that wall he may have up (holdin’ him for ransom).
Some, some boys are tryin’ too hard
He don’t try at all though
Younger than my exes but he act like such a man, so
*These lines are everything. People may try to impress her, whether it be lavish gifts, jet-setting around the world, private planes. Alwyn is just himself, a boy standing in front of a girl, asking her to love him. <3 (Ok, we added that last part in). Although Alwyn isn’t the youngest ex (Conor Kennedy, Harry Styles and Taylor Lautner have him beat), he’s still younger than her past two, Calvin Harris and Tom Hiddleston. Even though he is younger than them, he acts like how a man should act. Not like a boy, not childish (cough Harris). Sometimes it takes men longer than women to grow up. A lot of times females can be ready for a committed relationship at a younger age, but it takes some males longer to get there. They need more time to mature.
I see nothing better, I keep him forever
Like a vendetta-ta
*Here, the meaning would appear to be that he is really the best man to have come along. Like when you think you’ve truly known what love is, when you’re in high school and you tell your parents you’re in love, but they really know better. During that time though, that’s all the love you’ve known, there isn’t much to compare it to, but as you age and you realize what’s important and how hard relationships can be when you don’t get to see the person every day out of convenience (like going to the same school) and how jobs and life just get in the way. Anyway, tangent over. She’s keeping him like a vendetta (which pretty much never ends since feuds/revenge will always continue).
[Pre-Chorus]
I-I-I see how this is gonna go
Touch me, and you’ll never be alone
*This line is particularly sad and disguised to the average person who doesn’t understand what is being said here. Swift knows all too well about the media attraction her dating life gets. In fact, after Harry Styles, she didn’t date anyone for two years. It’s hard to date her, it’s probably why most of her relationships have failed. So here, she is saying that as soon as they get together (touch me), he’ll never be left alone. There will be paparazzi following him, taking his pictures, interviewers asking about their relationship. He will be thrust into the limelight.
I-Island breeze and lights down low
No one has to know
*Islands are symbolic of a place that is generally more secluded and harder to get to. So here, although she could mean that they have been on vacations together, I think the more symbolic meaning is that they are going to be keeping their relationship on the down low. A little more secluded and out of the limelight (lights down low). In fact, the media didn’t know about their relationship for at least 6 months, and to this date they still don’t have any actual pictures of them together (minus one very grainy picture/or them hiding behind umbrellas).
[Chorus]
In the middle of the night, in my dreams
You should see the things we do, baby
In the middle of the night, in my dreams
I know I’m gonna be with you
So I take my time
*A lot of people think these lines are about sex, and although they can be, it could also just be about the way she is dreaming about their life together. The future, maybe a wedding, children, a life away from the media. She seems to be saying that she knows they are going to be together (I know I’m gonna be with you), so there is no need to rush the relationship (So I take my time).
(Are you ready for it?)
Then she asks the infamous question, “Are you ready for it?” Meaning, all the attention and new fame that comes with dating her. She goes on to explain in the next verse.
[Verse 2]
Me, I was a robber
First time that he saw me
Stealing hearts and running off and never saying sorry
*Here Swift switches gears and talks about how Alwyn must have perceived her the first time he saw her. Saying she was a robber is referring to hearts and past relationships. Basically, he only knew the media version of her, not the real version. In the media version of her, she just dates guys for a few months and then breaks up with them, after getting material for new music. That she doesn’t really care about these men (never saying sorry).
But if I’m a thief then
He can join the heist
*So here Swift is saying that if all the things the media says about her are true, and she’s just a robber of hearts (a thief) he can join in on it because the reward is their love.
And we’ll move to an island-and
He can be my jailer
*They are going to keep their relationship private (not actually move to an island, but who knows that could happen someday) and he’ll be the one to keep her (jailer) out of the limelight. She doesn’t care because she believes in their relationship.
Burton to this Taylor
*Richard Burton was married to Elizabeth Taylor so Alwyn can be the Burton to this Taylor (Swift). Elizabeth Taylor was married 8 times and Swift has 8 exes! But despite that, their love spans across a decade. Elizabeth had lost her youth in early fame (much like Swift) and when she got together with Burton, he also took off. He was talented and a success, but was taken to the next level of fame due to their union (It’s no doubt Alwyn is talented and successful on his own, but like Swift said earlier, now he’ll never be alone). Together they made it big and always loved each other.
Every love I’ve known in comparison is a failure
I forget their names now
*Can we take a moment to laugh at how great this line is?! Her past relationships, as great as they may seem don’t add up to what she has now. SO MUCH, THAT SHE DOESN’T EVEN GIVE THEM A SECOND THOUGHT, SHE HAS FORGOTTEN THEIR NAMES! lol
I’m so very tame now
Never be the same now, now
*Swift is not the boy crazy, dating machine the media makes her out to be. She’s ready to really give love a chance, to keep her private life private. She’s not the same person she was before him, and now that she has seen so much that has failed, she’s going to protect what she has. There’s no need for show boating, lavish expenses or anything even close. Like she said earlier, he doesn’t even have to try (to impress her).
[Pre-Chorus]
I-I-I see how this is gonna go
Touch me and you’ll never be alone
I-Island breeze and lights down low
No one has to know
(No one has to know)[Chorus]
In the middle of the night, in my dreams
You should see the things we do, baby
In the middle of the night in my dreams
I know I’m gonna be with you
So I take my time
(Are you ready for it?)
(Ooh, are you ready for it?)
Post-Chorus]
Baby, let the games begin
Let the games begin
Let the games begin
Baby, let the games begin
Let the games begin
Let the games begin
*This is the only other lines that are new for the rest of the song. Let the games begin, let everything that comes with dating her come their way. Again, she is asking are you ready for it? We think he is. 🙂
[Bridge]
I-I-I see how this is gonna go
Touch me and you’ll never be alone
I-Island breeze and lights down low
No one has to know[Chorus]
In the middle of the night, in my dreams
You should see the things we do, baby
In the middle of the night, in my dreams
I know I’m gonna be with you
So I take my time
In the middle of the night[Post-Chorus]
Baby, let the games begin
Let the games begin
Let the games begin
(Are you ready for it?)
Baby, let the games begin
Let the games begin
Let the games begin
(Are you ready for it?)
This is only the second song off Reputation and we can’t wait for the rest!!
Fans are wondering if the next song will be called “A Second Glance” or now that we’ve caught on to Swift’s trickery is she trying to out play us?
Categories: Music, Pop, Review, Single Review, Taylor Swift
This was such a great song! I’m loving it!
This is a great song and clever , she is a Genius
wonderful analysis !!!
Omg this analysis makes me appreciate her writing skills even more than I already do! Who knew that underneath that heavy bass trap, it really is just a poetically phrased song that reveals sadness and vulnerability but which also gives hope for love after all. Omg Swift, you’d done it again! You do you girl!
Also, the rest of you haters who are about to shit on this if you think the writer is reaching, please take a mirror and reflect yourself first before commenting/insinuating that she is even remotely “rapping” on this track or ripping of somebody’s work, or is making the song about dissing her exes etc. Clearly, YA’LL are reaching.
Haha it’s ok, they don’t even think it was actually Taylor who liked it on Tumblr. Anything that goes against their agenda they choose not to believe, even if she came out and said it herself
Yo, just because a media outlet uses Tumblr to share articles does not dimish the work down to a “fan theory.” It’s another platform to share articles. The ARTICLE was not an in depth Tumblr post, it is simply an article being shared on another platform