My next three ear worms from TTPD are Down Bad, Alchemy, and … But Daddy I Love Him.
I’m trying to get to the point where I rank the songs in the album but it’s so hard because it depends on the day, time, month of which songs I’m skipping or repeating!
I’m trying to cover the “first anthology” or first album of TTPD and then I’ll cover the 2am Surprise, 2nd drop.
Okay, my initial notes I wrote down as I listened to the album for the first time were
Down Bad – so good
Alchemy – gorgeous
and I didn’t write anything down for Daddy but man, that song GREW on me! FWIW, I wrote down “sobbing” for loml.
So for my “so good” song, Taylor has said that she wrote Down Bad about being completely obsessed with a love interest but then “down bad” in the sense that they’ve turned you into a big complete mess. The metaphor with the aliens is basically she was in this situation and someone plucked her back down to earth and she’s lying around miserable and just wants to go back. First being love-bombed and then completely abandoned. So we are all assuming she’s writing about Matt again!
However, so relatable and poetic. I think we all collectively agree that sitting around miserable feels exactly like teenage petulance. Where does she come up with this?
Now I’m down bad crying at the gym
Everything comes out teenage petulance
“Fuck it if I can’t have him”
“I might just die, it would make no difference.”
It’s just such a bop and so fun. The way she whips out “fuck it if I can’t have him” just brings out that bitchy moment that again, is always so relatable!
When you listen to it, she just has this tone to her voice when she starts singing about being at the gym. She sounds so resigned to be working out and miserable while she just wants to be back with her love. I LOVE it. It just hits so hard.
Staring at the sky, come back and pick me up
Fuck it if I can’t have us.
I might just not get up
I might stay down bad
Like I lost my twin
Fuck it if I can’t have him
Down bad
Waving at the ship
Fuck it if I can’t have him
Then you get to the bridge where she goes on about wanting to be with her alien hostile takeover and how could she be left alone. And the music slows down and she really punches the lyrics and is so emphatic.
The last “fuck YOU” if I can’t have us.
How dare you think it’s romantic
Leaving me safe and stranded
Cause fuck it I was in love
Fuck you if I can’t have us.
So good.
Alchemy – SO GORGEOUS!
This song has moved the conversation over to Travis Kelce and it’s so gleeful. She loves the fact that he’s in love with her. That they found something together and they are winning. The way it starts out calling out an amazing feeling.
This happens once every few lifetimes
These chemicals hit me like white wine
In Little Old Me she talks about putting narcotics in her songs and I swear, if any song had narcotics in it, it’s this one. The way she swings the verse gets me EVERY SINGLE TIME. I will just fast forward 20 seconds just to swing this verse and how the music builds behind it.
So when I touch down
Call the amateurs and
Cut ’em from the team
I’m literally picturing choreography of a ballet, with all the swoops and bends, and you can just hear the drugginess in her voice, it’s so addictive! The next “swoopiest” song with an addicting verse is probably So High School. That’s in the 2am surprise side though!
What’s hilarious about a particular line is that she manages to throw in clowns – which was a whole THING that I’m not embarrassed to say I did a deep dive with a friend on what exactly happened. But basically Travis had a publicist who reshared an image from her best friend that had a clown face over Taylor’s face. She was fired after so the speculation was his publicist was not happy about him dating Taylor and… we can all speculate! But seriously, if this is about that, Taylor is so vindictive and genius to call that out… Yes, DITCH that girl, I’m taking the crown, and never come at me again, you will LOSE. What’s actually more impressive is that Taylor’s publicist Tree Payne (all hail this queen) managed to keep most of the reporting out of the news and it’s just all over TikTok
Ditch the clowns, get the crown
Baby I’m the one to beat
Cause the sign on your heart
Said it’s still reserved for me
Honestly, who are we to fight the alchemy?
Have to call out the incredibly punny “heroin” and “heroine” play on words, which is adorable. Plus the way her background vocals lilt out the “streak” and then “E” and then “me”. IT’S SUCH AN EAR WORM. But anyway, Taylor is absolutely admired and amazing, a total heroine, and it’s so cute if Travis said that to her.
These blokes warm the benches
We been on a winning streak
He jokes that it’s heroin but this time with an “E”
Cause the sign on your heart said it’s still reserved for me
Honestly, who are we to fight the alchemy?
Then, another best line:
Where’s the trophy?
He just comes running over to me
Loooove this so much. And she PUNCHES that “me” at the end. So smug and secure. It sounds so good. Then the ending repeating the beginning is just beautiful.
I have to say there are some amazing endings to these songs. In loml, throwing out “loss of my life”, in ‘I can fix him” the ending saying “maybe I can’t”. In So Long, London, she ends with “maybe you’ll find someone”. Ouch. Man, I want to write down all the last lines in some of these songs now.
But Daddy I Love Him…
Okay, this wasn’t an immediate favorite. But at some point, maybe the 4th or 5th listen, I just got addicted.
The way she meanders through the church-going people, the music slowly building, the way she ups her pitch in this verse…
Too high a horse
For a simple girl to rise above it
They slammed the door on my whole world
The one thing I wanted
And then immediately slams on this verse:
Now I’m running with my dress unbuttoned
Screaming “But Daddy I love him!”
I’m having his baby
No, I’m not, but you should see your faces
I’m telling him to floor it through the fences
No, I’m not coming to my senses
I know he’s crazy but he’s the one I want
It’s literally the “driving down the highway in a convertible with your arms up” shouting those words type of vibe.
This song is thought to be about the fans reaction to how she hooked up with Matt. Which, possibly. Although I did have a long discussion about it could really be about Travis because the fan reaction to HIM was bad at first. Especially when he was going out and drinking at night, especially after the shooting after the AFC championship. We clearly talk about this too much. But she doesn’t care what anyone thinks and she’s going to do what she wants. Okay then, that’s a lot of us. It’s interesting though that if it is about Matt, it flips at the end where she’s with Travis, her daddy loves him now and everything’s just roses. So… it does make sense that it’s about Travis! Especially since in the Eras tour she puts Daddy right before So High School. I’ll have to thank N for giving me all this data ?
And then she throws in some of these verses:
He was chaos, he was revelry
Bedroom eyes like a remedy
And this is the most gleeful line, I’ve seen it in so many memes already. Also, it’s SO unhinged. I love it so much.
I’m having his baby
No, I’m not, but you should see your faces
Her celebration in her voice of her wild boy and all this wild joy is beautiful. She wants to follow her heart and eff everyone else.
You ain’t gotta pray for me
Me and my wild boy
And all this wild joy
If all you want is gray for me
Then it’s just white noise
And it’s just my choice
The vindictiveness in her voice, her resoluteness of what she wants to do
I’ll tell you something right now
I’d rather burn my whole life down
Than listen to one more second of all this griping and moaning
And then the ending! Did she move to Travis? Is it all just make believe? Does it matter? No. But you should see your faces!
Now I’m dancing in my dress in the sun and
Even my daddy just loves him
I’m his lady, and oh my God
You should see your faces
Time, doesn’t it give some perspective
I love the comment about perspective because isn’t that true?
And the ending line to this song. Ha! Perfection:
But oh my God you should see your faces
Out of the four I’ve covered, what’s my favorite… nope, can’t decide! Dang it! But they are the top somewhere! At least this month…
TTPD Deep Dive
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