Qualifications

I am the first-born of three Swiftie sisters, so I claim OG fan status. Some of my favorite childhood memories are making up dances (mostly cartwheels) to Hey Stephen, Love Story, and You Belong With Me. I have all the original CDs with the original lyrics (yes, even that Debut original lyric).

Besides my TS qualifications, I have a Creative Writing minor and often listen to songs “for the words.” My dad taught me early on that songs are poetry. His original example was Bruce Springsteen’s “Born to Run,” but I think my sisters and I have inspired him to become a Swiftie in his own right. I’ll have to ask his favorite poetic TS song and get back to you.

With that said, I am unsure why it took me until album #11 to include a blog interpretation of her lyrics. Maybe this will become a series!

The Lyrics

Long may you reign
You’re an animal
You are bloodthirsty
Out window panes talking utter nonsense
You have no idea

Strings tied to levers,
slowed down clocks tethered,
all this showmanship
To keep it, for you,
In sweetness
Way to go tiger
Higher and higher
Wilder and lighter
For you

Long may you roar
At your dinosaurs
You’re a just ruler
Covered in mud, you look ridiculous
And you have no idea

Buried down deep and out of your reach, the secret we all vowed to keep it, from you,
In sweetness
Way to go tiger
Higher and higher
Wilder and lighter
For you

You got the dragonflies above your bed
You have a favorite spot on the swing set
You have no room in your dreams for regrets
You have no idea
The time will arrive for the cruel and the mean
You’ll learn to bounce back just like your trampoline
But now we’ll curtail your curiosity
In sweetness
Way to go, Tiger
Higher and higher
Wilder and lighter
For you

Interpretation

“Robin” is track #30 on Taylor Swift’s double album, The Tortured Poets’ Department: The Anthology. Written in second person, Taylor seems to be speaking to someone much younger, whose innocence is portrayed through imagery. The first two verses describe them playing within their imagination. The refrain, “you have no idea” emphasizes that the speaker knows better. She’s watching this little kid play make-believe from the kitchen window in the yard with the dog and the mud and the dinosaurs, and she wants to protect them. Slow down the clocks, keep the serious stuff secret… It is reminiscent of “Never Grow Up” from Speak Now, when Taylor is in a rush to grow up, but when she makes it to that age she was waiting for, she realizes that childhood should never be rushed. The trouble with learning that lesson, though, is that you have to grow out of childhood to learn it.

Childhood is a sacred bubble where fantasy is supposed to be your reality. Innocence is a child’s form of confidence; children don’t know any better and therefore behave completely, naturally themselves (e.g. dance crazy, sing loudly, talk to whomever, ask hard questions). Then they learn better, and it takes confidence to maintain that youthful individuality.

The Lyric

The line that stands out to me is in the last verse:

You have no room in your dreams for regrets

She is talking to a child, who is being told they can be anything they want when they grow up; Barbie can be anything (e.g. Vet Barbie, Astronaut Barbie, Mermaid Barbie). Their dream job is within their reach because they are not planning to get derailed by mishaps, mistakes, or misfortunes. But, as adults know, mishaps, mistakes, and misfortunes are a part of life. They interfere with dreams.

Reinterpretation

Here is where my personal interpretation comes into play. A kid’s dreams are not tarnished by any poor choice or bad memory, but adults’ dreams shouldn’t be either. In the same sense that kids’ dreams have no room for wrong turns because they don’t even know that can happen, adults’ dreams can be so big that they don’t have the time to focus on the wrong turns. I know I have regrets… but my dreams are so big for what I want to accomplish in my life, my potential that I want to fulfill one day, that I don’t have the energy to focus on them. There is no room in my dreams for regrets.

xoxo,

kc

photo creds: Pinterest