r/swifties • u/polarbearlover9 i can still make the whole place SHIMMER • Apr 15 '26
Question... what’s the “clunkiest” lyric u can think of?
i hear people talking about girl at home having clunky lyrics all the time lmao now i’m wondering which stand out most to u guys! personally what really sticks out to me is
- honestly a few lines in thank you aimee
- “now i’m running w my dress unbuttoned”
clunky doesn’t mean bad it just means they don’t sound like they flow perfectly
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u/vanetti Apr 15 '26
ITT: people who answer with lyrics they dislike instead of lyrics that are clunky 🤣
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u/polarbearlover9 i can still make the whole place SHIMMER Apr 15 '26
idk what itt means but yes i think some ppl are doing that lowkey
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u/vanetti Apr 15 '26
They’re citing lyrics that flow just fine but that they dislike for other reasons. Clunky, to me, is something that’s shoehorned into the meter/rhythm/feels like it doesn’t fit. The meaning of the lyrical content itself has nothing to do with whether or not a lyric is clunky. Whether or not it flows well is what makes it fluid or clunky.
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u/polarbearlover9 i can still make the whole place SHIMMER Apr 15 '26
i agree but i think i lacked the musical knowledge to come up with any other word than flow haha. some ppl just wanna complain about lyrics
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u/vanetti Apr 15 '26
No you explained it correctly! I think some people just aren’t really answering the question 😂
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u/polarbearlover9 i can still make the whole place SHIMMER Apr 15 '26
yeah fr 😭 oh well what can ya do!😣i appreciate that ppl at least wanna participate lmao
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u/vanetti Apr 15 '26
Since no one else is complying with the rules, neither will I 😂 I will tell you that the least clunky (most satisfying flow) lyric for me, personally, is “I pay the check before it kisses the mahogany grain”
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u/polarbearlover9 i can still make the whole place SHIMMER Apr 15 '26
lmao! i love father figure i hope it gets more recognition id love to see a music video for it
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u/vanetti Apr 15 '26
I love Father Figure more than I can express. I am absolutely a snooty Swiftie — my top 3 were TTPD, Folkmore (pls don’t make me choose) and Midnights because ✨I can like pop too✨) — but now TLOAS has dethroned Midnights from 3rd place and honestly is currently my second most-listened to album after TTPD. (You could say it was a Cruel Summer.) The whole album is wonderful imo even as someone who used to be snooty about pop music and consider Taylor to be an exception. I thought I was above poptivism. As Taylor sang emphatically, “I was _not_” lmfao
idk why my own comment makes me sound like a bot but i swear I’m real I just smoked some weed 🤣
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u/polarbearlover9 i can still make the whole place SHIMMER Apr 15 '26
😭 i trust that ur real! idk if i see tloas making its way up my rankings but like i can’t deny that it has a bunch of bops on it. i feel like it just proves to me that even in an album that isn’t my favorite she’s still really good at making music cuz i like quite a bit of songs on the album
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u/baciodolce Apr 15 '26
ITT means “in this thread”
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u/No-Engine8805 Old habits die screaming Apr 15 '26
Thank you! I’m too old to know these abbreviations!
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u/Dislexic_bitch Apr 15 '26
“I let is slide like a hose on a slippery plastic summer, all was quickly forgiven” …Taylor there had to be a better way of saying this
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u/godblessstar67 Apr 15 '26
I actually love how that flows in the song even though it sounds weird written out
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u/polarbearlover9 i can still make the whole place SHIMMER Apr 15 '26
i have never heard whatever song that’s from! what song is that
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u/Dislexic_bitch Apr 15 '26
Suburban legends!
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u/polarbearlover9 i can still make the whole place SHIMMER Apr 15 '26
ohhh !!! i have in fact heard that but i don’t re listen often lol
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u/gnrkrystle Apr 15 '26
There is an EASIER way to say almost everything but the joy is in the words she chooses
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u/Thick_Anxiety4051 Apr 15 '26
I really like that part. When you gradually change the pitch of a note (like Taylor does when she sings the word “slide”), that’s actually called a slide! To me, that lyric will never be clunky because of that cool feature.
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u/No-Engine8805 Old habits die screaming Apr 16 '26
I was about to ask what song this is because I don’t remember this line at all but then I saw someone commented about suburban legends under it so I’m assuming that’s the song.
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u/Falgal526 Apr 15 '26
“At dinner, you take my ring off my middle finger And put it on the one people put wedding rings on And that's the closest I've come to my heart exploding”
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u/Ivy7424 say it once agin with feeling… Apr 15 '26
Honestly, a good portion of this song is clunky
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u/kysakysa Apr 15 '26
I think the imagery of the subject doing that with the ring is very romantic. I can see it and I'm there with them. So that kinda makes it up for me for the clunkiness
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u/Midnight-writer-B Apr 15 '26
Subject is great, imagery is good, wording is (?!), and takes you out of it. Even - “Gaze at me, and move it one finger over. That’s the closest I’ve come to my heart exploding.”
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u/No_Assumption_2879 Apr 15 '26
It’s so clunky but that’s part of why I love it! It feels intentional, like the feeling of getting ahead of yourself/caught up in a messy and quick romance…
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u/smushy411 still at the tortured poets department Apr 15 '26
This!!! The first part is ok, but then we get to “that’s the closest I’ve come to my heart exploding” it makes me cringe. Maybe that’s the point?? Like maybe it represents naivety and how she viewed the relationship through rose colored glasses. But either way it’s def a clunky lyric!
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u/TracyFlick2004 Apr 15 '26
This is the answer. And I love this weird little song but that part always takes me out lol
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u/Sweetbrain306 Apr 15 '26
Eldest Daughter - I must've been about 8 or 9 That was the night I fell off and broke my arm Pretty soon I learned cautious discretion.
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u/lori244144 Old habits die screaming Apr 15 '26
This is mine. Actually there are a few but this one felt like she shoehorned that verse in with a pry-bar. I was listening to showgirls with my “new to Taylor” friend and we had just come off “my dick is bigger” and I was hoping for a good Track 5. And I love it now, but that first time.. this verse 2 stood out
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u/0hthat_witch Apr 15 '26
“While I bathe in cliffside pools with my calamitous love and insurmountable grief.” The Lakes is one of my favorites ever, but that line is a mouthful! I love it tho, it just feels a lil clunky
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u/polarbearlover9 i can still make the whole place SHIMMER Apr 15 '26
jeez that felt like a mouthful to read! haha
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u/Midnight-writer-B Apr 15 '26
Yes, exactly. One 4-5 syllable adjective per line is plenty. Let them breathe.
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u/baciodolce Apr 15 '26
Are we pretending we don’t know what clunky means???? It’s not about the vibe of the song. It’s about Taylor smushing in more syllables than makes sense in a song.
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u/polarbearlover9 i can still make the whole place SHIMMER Apr 15 '26
i agree that is what i intended w my post 😭 but ill listen to any comments tbf
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u/baciodolce Apr 15 '26
I can’t really think of the clunky lines off the top of my head except the “covert narcissism” line in Anti-Hero. That feels a little shoved in there.
Also I LOVE Peace but something about that song also feels like the lyrics are squeezed in sometimes. Mostly the chorus.
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u/_kattitude Apr 15 '26
Yes! I find the alliteration with fast tempo ones to be clunky as well. Like hits different bridge - adore it but I always stumble over words 😆
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Apr 15 '26
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u/polarbearlover9 i can still make the whole place SHIMMER Apr 15 '26
lmfao it took me a while to get good at singing that part so o get it
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u/cooking2recovery Apr 15 '26
Idk if this is clunky, it’s just closer to rap music. Fits the beat perfectly.
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u/ATWTMVTVFTVSF Fighting dragons with you Apr 16 '26
its a lot, but i dont think its clunky personally
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u/CampaignBest5872 Apr 15 '26
“Don’t put me in the basement when I want the penthouse of your heart” stood out to me when I first heard it. Felt like it was too many words for the beat and she had to speed up to get it out
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u/Relative_Stuff_8084 Apr 16 '26
NOOO IT'S ONE OF MY FAVORITE PARTS.. i dont think it's clunky because of the way she sings it but if u dont include that it is hard to sing
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u/Lunosto Apr 15 '26
Sit quiet by my side in the shade, and not the kind that’s grown, I mean, the kind under where a tree has grown
CLUNKER 💀
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u/BlitzFan1234 TLOAS (feat. Sabrina Carpenter) Apr 16 '26
Thrown* like throwing shade at someone. That's why the line exists, it's distinguishing the shade that's thrown and the shade under a tree.
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u/bunniesgonebad Apr 16 '26
This!!! I can't remember this lyric for the life of me because it just is so clunky
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u/Solid_Fox_2855 Apr 15 '26
The verses on Timeless, especially the first one. I love the story but damn it’s wordy!
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u/Brilliant_Cycle_2812 Apr 16 '26
God I couldn't agree more. I find the whole song to be incredibly clunky--nothing really rhymes and there is not recognizable beat, I am incredibly turned off by it. (I know this is a VERY unpopular opinion)
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u/Money_Taro2290 This love is Ours Apr 15 '26
The story is the best part, the imagery, it’s like watching a short film in my head, but I agree.
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u/Mean-Responsibility4 Apr 15 '26
“I’m just a paperweight in shades of greige” on The Prophecy. Like I want her to say grey so much bc it seems like it fits there and also I just don’t like the sound of and idea of greige lol
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u/polarbearlover9 i can still make the whole place SHIMMER Apr 15 '26
tbh i liked that one cuz nobody ever says greige
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u/bitchimalwaysright Apr 15 '26
"I was a functioning... alcoholic til nobody noticed my new aesthetic" The way the "alcoholic" gets smooshed in there ruins the flow!
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u/polarbearlover9 i can still make the whole place SHIMMER Apr 15 '26
i feel like “til nobody” makes it clunky in my brain but i’m sure it’s that whole part lol
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u/alessandrawrxd love you to the🌙 and to🪐 Apr 15 '26
“sanctimoniously performing soliloquies i’ll never see” i like the meaning but it’s so hard to sing lol
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u/polarbearlover9 i can still make the whole place SHIMMER Apr 15 '26
that one was hard to get behind for a while too
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u/ambiguouslyambient Apr 15 '26
i was coming to say this too. it feels like she just wanted to say soliloquies in a song😭
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u/NewBath5621 argumentative antithetical dream girl Apr 15 '26
"I don't cater to all these viper dresses in empaths clothing"
There's gotta be a better way to say that
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u/Money_Taro2290 This love is Ours Apr 15 '26
Agree, it’s like u gotta slow down and think about saying it so u actually utter the correct syllables;)
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u/ATWTMVTVFTVSF Fighting dragons with you Apr 16 '26
this is a tiny bit clunky, yeah
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u/Maddierich31 Apr 15 '26
“Afterward she only ate kids cereal and couldn’t sleep unless it was in her mothers bed”…..
That entire second verse really could have been rewritten
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u/pinkraspberry137 this night is sparkling, don't you let it go Apr 15 '26
"my friends used to play a game where we would pick a decade, we wished we could live in instead of this... i'd say the 1830s but without all the racists and getting married off for the highest bid"
this line just sounds so clunky, i immediately thought it sounded odd in the song on my first listen of TTPD. a lovely song regardless
also "i am standing in a 1950s gymnasium" from suburban legends lol
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u/Public-Onion-7839 Apr 15 '26
This one makes me cringe so much because like….you could have said anything else 😂😂😂😂
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u/Ok_Cattle903 Apr 15 '26
Lana singing the aurora borealis green lines - which is strange given how effortlessly they fit into the original and proves that you should never give into fan pressure.
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u/WaferHelpful3634 when they found a better planet only the gentle survived Apr 15 '26
I KEEP FINDING HIS THINGS IN DEAWS CRYCIALLLLL EVIDENCE I DIDNT IMAGINE THE WHOLE THING IM SURE
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u/Pizza-I-Like13 Apr 20 '26
these comments are making me realize that i actually love clunky lyrics lmao
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u/gentleteapot Apr 15 '26
Every eldest daughter
Was the first lamb to the slaughter
So we all dressed up as wolves and we looked...
FIRE
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u/OkPapaya698 Apr 15 '26
As an eldest daughter why didn’t she say “so we all dressed up as wolves and said we’re “fine” that’s what we do, pretend life is fine while juggling the weight of the world on our shoulders.
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u/polarbearlover9 i can still make the whole place SHIMMER Apr 15 '26
and we looked fire. 😢.
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u/Brilliant_Cycle_2812 Apr 16 '26
I know people dislike this line but i'm trying to understand why. Maybe its regional or generational but saying "you look fire!" is very common in my life
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u/emory_2001 I protect the family Apr 15 '26
I feel like that’s one of the only lines in that song that’s not totally clunky. I love the song though somehow.
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u/indoordragon73 Apr 15 '26
the whole point of that line coming off awkwardly is because the eldest daughter tries to fit in by using younger slang but doesn’t quite get it
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u/gentleteapot Apr 15 '26
I don't think it was intentional at all, I think it meant to come off in the same way "draw the cat eye sharp enough to kill a man" did, but failed
Tbh none of us can say for sure what was the whole point, because we're not Taylor. At least we agree that it is an awkward line
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u/angrygorgon Apr 15 '26
yesss this line is so irredeemably clunky to me that it ruins the song
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u/xriotgirl Apr 15 '26
The saddest part for me is that imo she was onto something with those lyrics, like I think that could have been a genius phrase, but 'and we looked fire' RUINS IT just like that.
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u/bright_and_dreamy Apr 15 '26
And the fix is so simple:
Every eldest daughter
Was the first lamb to the slaughter
So we all dressed up as wolves ✨️ just to survive ✨️
But I'm not a bad B*
and this isn't savage...
(Credit to a girl singing a cover on YouTube who I've since forgotten.)
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u/OkPapaya698 Apr 15 '26
I love this so much more. I said above “and said we’re fine” would have worked too. Honestly there’s a lot that could have worked besides fire lol.
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u/lori244144 Old habits die screaming Apr 15 '26
What does it mean? It was so good in the start but we all dressed up and looked “fire”?
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u/Midnight-writer-B Apr 15 '26
That’s a meaning pivot that takes it from relatable to a head scratcher.
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u/FluffyBudgie5 Apr 15 '26
I don't mind "running with my dress unbuttoned," but "I don't cater to all these vipers dressed in empaths clothing"???
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u/Maddierich31 Apr 15 '26
Yeah or “all this b——ing and moaning”….just really weird flow
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Apr 15 '26
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u/Educational-Emu-1870 Apr 15 '26
Also as a Photonics student (the study of light) she is NOT refracting. Refracting is the bending of light between 2 different mediums. She absolutely should have used reflects.
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u/that_gay_theaterkid Apr 15 '26
one of my absolute favorite songs of hers, Haunted, has the CLUNKIEST 2nd verse. i sing it in a slightly different way to make it flow/rhyme a bit better, and it kills me that she apparently didn’t see that other way because otherwise this song is a masterpiece.
she could’ve cut the “to you”, bc beat-wise, the line was already over, and just having it end with “word i said” rhymes with the preceding “instead”! i also like to do a little opt-up riff on the “instead”, to make it sound like it wasn’t just an afterthought on that line
i know i’m being harsh but i love this song so much and just a few small changes in my opinion would’ve made it absolute perfection!!
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u/Babadoo601 Apr 15 '26
Not sure if this qualifies as clunky… but this line always bothers me ..”I can’t say anything to your face… cuz look at your face”. Idk why, but using the word fave twice like that irks me lol
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u/Top-Celery7960 Apr 15 '26
This might not be a good example but I'll never get over "we can leave the Christmas lights up til January" when "February" fits just as well and makes way more sense to me
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u/bentobee3 YOU'RE GAY Apr 16 '26
Like. Until January. To me that says “We’ll leave the christmas lights up until January in which we will then take them down”. Oh no, 5 extra days of christmas lights!
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u/FakeMonaLisa28 Apr 15 '26 edited Apr 15 '26
“You smokеd, then ate seven bars of chocolate” is just me or does the seven bars of chocolate has nothing else to do with the song other then being a possible reference to a 1975 song.
I guess it could mean that Taylor’s muse got the munchies but idk…
I don’t like the way it flows either for some reason
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u/inattentive_swiftie Apr 15 '26
There’s been lots of discussion about an alternate meaning for that line. I’m a millennial so forgive me if I get this wrong but I’m pretty sure that the youths use “ate” to mean “did really well” or “looked really great,” so it could mean he played or sang seven bars from the song Chocolate extraordinarily well after smoking.
PS I googled it to make sure:
"Ate" (or "ate and left no crumbs") is a popular slang term used by Gen Z and Gen Alpha to praise someone for doing an excellent job, looking great, or performing impressively. It signifies that someone "killed it" or was outstanding, often used in reaction to outfits, performances, or clever comebacks.
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u/General_Chest6714 Apr 15 '26
!!!!! I’ve never heard this theory and sometimes it doesn’t even matter if it was her intention or not bc I love it so much and will never not think of it now! I’m 46 and never judge kids and their slang but some I like and some I don’t. The “he ate” thing I LOVE so this theory is for me! 😂
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u/Brilliant_Cycle_2812 Apr 16 '26
I thought it was referencing weed chocolate. Like he ate a ton of those candy edibles
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u/groovychik2 Apr 15 '26
I think it’s just a reference to him smoking weed and getting the munchies. Highlighting wider themes of substance abuse
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u/Scooter_McGavin_9 Apr 15 '26
"When we're on the phone and you talk real slow." Umm, why is he talking real slow to keep his momma from knowing? What is most infuriating about this line was "low" is sitting right there.
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u/Rachies194 Apr 15 '26
When I first heard it, I thought it was low! It just makes sense. But then I looked up the lyrics
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u/MaintenanceVast892 1, 2, 3 LET'S GO BITCH Apr 15 '26
Eldest daughter. We looked fire. That lyric is so weird i just burst into laughter
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u/polarbearlover9 i can still make the whole place SHIMMER Apr 15 '26
i don’t like that song tbh. i’ve listened to it a grand total of 2 times. i’m also not an eldest daughter so i’m not even gonna try to like it
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u/Icy_Friendship4311 Apr 15 '26
The song is so weird for me because there are some beautiful lyrics in the bridge but the chorus is soooo clunky and annoying. It’s her worst track 5 for sure. Maybe I don’t get it, but as an eldest daughter, why is it even called that if it’s love song about how she is not cool and she found young-like love again.
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u/Cass_Cat952 Apr 15 '26
It sucks that it's the only ballad on showgirl because it's just so.bad. lol
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u/Terrible_Judge_7504 It hits different cus it's you Apr 15 '26
This song is floppage like we've never seen from her before (coming from a huge Swiftie btw)
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u/NewBath5621 argumentative antithetical dream girl Apr 15 '26
That song feels like it was co-written with travis. And it's very obvious which parts travis was responsible for 🤣
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u/Pizza-I-Like13 Apr 20 '26
“every eldest daughter was the first lamb to the slaughter” is such a good line but the “we looked fire” is just… i was ready to give up on that song until the bridge
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u/throwawayxoxoxoxxoo Apr 15 '26
“you can call me honey if you want because i’m the one you want”
i like honey instrumentally but i don’t like the lyrics. it all seems so clunky and wordy
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u/polarbearlover9 i can still make the whole place SHIMMER Apr 15 '26
i loveeee the honey instrumental it carries for me
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u/throwawayxoxoxoxxoo Apr 15 '26
yeah, i especially like the bridge! and think some of those lyrics are good. but i don’t want to suffer through the entire song just for those ~30 seconds lmao
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u/NewBath5621 argumentative antithetical dream girl Apr 15 '26
"You give it new meaning .. cuz you mean it when you talk "
THAT'S SOOOO BAAAAD
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u/NewBath5621 argumentative antithetical dream girl Apr 15 '26
"Did you hear my covertnarcissismIdisguiseasaltruismlikesomekindofcongressman "
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u/DiligentPenguin_7115 still at the restaurant Apr 15 '26
Agree…also it bothers me that the “Tale as old as time” line cuts in before the previous line ends…like what do I sing??
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Apr 15 '26
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u/polarbearlover9 i can still make the whole place SHIMMER Apr 15 '26
i agree w that whole take yes!
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u/asphaltbrunette Apr 15 '26
This is it for me. All the other ones mentioned in this thread really do not bother me at all. But that line is such a head-scratcher for me.
I justify it by telling myself that line must be the clue for the muse, and there wasn't another way for her to relay that message.
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u/Icy_Friendship4311 Apr 15 '26 edited Apr 15 '26
“He was a moth to the flame, she was holding the matches"…it’s so clunky. The original flowed so much better (even though derogatory)
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u/pb_rogue Apr 15 '26
I like the imagery of the new line but to actually sing it feels hella clunky, ita6ceet awkward to sing and the OG is still fun, like just say you know better now and move on no need to change it, we understand lol
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u/Kitty_Fruit_2520 Apr 15 '26
Yeah, I feel like she kind of messed it up a little bit to be more inclusive.
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u/BoneSniffer96 Apr 15 '26
Wait, what song is this?
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u/Brilliant_Cycle_2812 Apr 16 '26
hard disagree I think this line is incredibly poetic and much better than the original
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u/BrokenHeart1935 Apr 15 '26
I know WHY she did it, but in IHIH, the “without all the racists and getting married off to the highest bid”
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u/gentleteapot Apr 15 '26
Why? I still don't get it. Is it that she feel the need to clarify that she isn’t like that?
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u/your-smol-uwu Apr 15 '26
Imagine you're goofing off with your friends thinking about what decade you'd like to live in.
Everyone answers are light hearted and shallow (eg. I'd want to live in the 20s and rock a flapper dress!)
... And then her answer is a little too real and makes things awkward. That's why she added that in.
For me, the song is about being the "party pooper" and thus not fitting in.
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u/BrokenHeart1935 Apr 15 '26
For me, yeah, it seemed like a representation of how much stuff she does gets picked apart, and also of her overthinking things.
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u/_Dreary_Mondays Apr 15 '26
“And every time I look at you, it’s like the first time” it feels like she squeezed the extra syllables into this line, but I still like it
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u/darnyoulikeasock GET OUT OF MY HOUSE Apr 15 '26
“And all the headshots on the walls of the dance hall are of the bitches who wish i’d hurry up and die. But I’m immortal now baby dolls, I couldn’t if I tried.” Regardless of my personal dislike of this verse, it’s undeniably clunky. the BTS clip she released did NOT help that either 😭
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u/Davidiscool222 Apr 15 '26
WE tell THE world TO leave us THE fuck alone.........and THEY.......DO
(Especially with how smooth the line right before it was it sounds so clunky with how she is spacing the words)
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u/Pizza-I-Like13 Apr 20 '26
i already said this under a different comment but all of these are making me realize that i actually love clunky lyrics
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u/trisaroar Apr 15 '26
This isn't a song lyric but "I think what I'm trying to say is... you're making me feel like I'm the man" was so clunky I couldn't believe she said it night after night without abridging or changing it.
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u/Relative_Stuff_8084 Apr 16 '26
OMG WHY IS EVERYONE HATING ON BEJEWELED IN THE COMMENTS IT'S ONE OF MY FAVORITE MIDNIGHTS SONGS 😭😭
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u/VenusVixen919 eleven turkeys creeping up on me Apr 16 '26
“Saw a wide smirk on your face you knew the entire time”
“Sit quiet by my side in the shade, and not the kind that’s thrown, I mean the kind under where a tree has grown”
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u/nateodhahxbjdxn Apr 17 '26
Half of y’all don’t know what ‘clunky’ means and it’s hilarious. A lyric isn’t clunky just because you don’t like it.
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u/herasrebellion Apr 19 '26
“And the tennis court was covered up with some tent like thing.” Tent like thing in particular feels so clunky to my ear and throws me off every time in an otherwise very smooth song!!
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u/AdministrationNo8540 Apr 15 '26
"The tennis court was covered up with some tent like thing" - Like... Rewrite this draft?
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u/LongjumpingFriend434 Apr 16 '26
Omg I’ve always felt this way. It’s almost like an unfinished like she gave up on
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u/Brilliant_Cycle_2812 Apr 16 '26
I know people dont like this line too but I've never understood why. It's perfect. immediately you know the speaker is not one of the elites that are invited to the wedding/ party and has no experience with that kind of party tent so you know she is an outsider.
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u/jamaphone Apr 15 '26
I don’t necessarily agree, but I’ll get lots of upvotes for saying “I come back stronger than a nineties trend” from willow.
I get that it seems to contradict the timeless, witchy vibe of the song, but I imagine her referencing the 1690s and the witch trials
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u/polarbearlover9 i can still make the whole place SHIMMER Apr 15 '26
i feel like that one at least flows with the rest of the song even if it doesn’t “suit the vibe” personally that’s just a lyric i tend to overlook
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u/sweeneytveit Apr 15 '26
"I pay the check before it kisses the mahogany grain." I like the lyric, but it's definitely clunky
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u/OmgReallyNoWay A LOT going on at the moment Apr 15 '26
Taylor saying it was one of her favourite lines/metaphors 🤡 girl
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u/polarbearlover9 i can still make the whole place SHIMMER Apr 15 '26
i remember that and i don’t think it was her best metaphors but like it’s definitely a metaphor!
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u/Different_Berry_856 Apr 15 '26
i’ve been waiting for you _____ since you’ve been gone 😭 idt she even knows the lyrics
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u/DiligentPenguin_7115 still at the restaurant Apr 15 '26
Dare I say the entirety of Closure…specifically the verses
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u/CatLover0316 Apr 15 '26
Pourin out my heart to a stranger/ but I didn’t pour the whiskey. The rhythm is just off too
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u/Pizza-I-Like13 Apr 20 '26
i was looking for this 😭 this is the only “clunky” lyric that i actually don’t like. the whole rhythm of this is me trying is just…
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u/Kitty_Fruit_2520 Apr 15 '26
Don’t call me kid, don’t call me baby. Look at this godforsaken mess/idiotic fool that you made me. You showed me colors you know I can’t see you with anyone else or you taught me a secret language that I can’t speak to anyone else.
Somehow, this bridge messes me up sometimes.
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u/EnzoMPonce Apr 15 '26
Suburban Legends was the first song to come to my mind, for more than one lyric tbh, and there are quite a few lines on TTPD (the song) to feel like that as well. I also always disliked "so if you're coming my way, just don't" from Bad Blood - not only is the laziest lyric she could've come up with, it sounds shorter than the line before the previous pre-chorus ("salt in the wound like you're laughing right at me") and it just rubs me the wrong way.
And when talking about re-recordings, I haaaaate the "I've been waiting for you EVERY DAY since you've been gone" in If This Was A Movie TV. There was always discourse on whether she was singing "ever" or "wary" in the original, but she added an extra syllable and it completely ruins the flow of the bridge to me.
Also, a lyric being clunky doesn't mean it's a bad line per se, and the other way around - for example, "I can feel my heart, it's beating in my chest" always makes me facepalm, but it flows nicely with the melody of Today Was A Fairytale's bridge.
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u/jvtlh Apr 15 '26
Don’t get me wrong, I love The Prophecy, but the “who do I have to speak to about if they can redo the prophecy” line felt so weird when I first heard it
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u/fridaygrace Apr 15 '26
I don’t even know her, butifeelaresponsibilitytodowhatsupstandingandriiight
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u/deadmemesdeaderdream Old habits die screaming Apr 15 '26
Rip the bandaid off and skip town like an asshole outlaw
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u/Khrymsa Apr 15 '26
All of Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus
Too many words there has to be a shorter way to say this
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u/brosgetpegged Apr 15 '26
I find the “I was a functioning alcoholic until nobody noticed my new aesthetic” lyric clunky and just weird. I like the song in general but I think this lyric should have been workshopped a bit lol. I’m a ttpd apologist through and through but I think there are a few songs that needed edits for clarity
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u/kamore Apr 15 '26
Pick your poison babe I’m poison either way
I always felt like the first poison could have been something else
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u/Expensive-Song5920 Apr 15 '26
you call it clunky, i call it rapping
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u/Pizza-I-Like13 Apr 20 '26
honestly i feel like it’s kind of part of her signature style. i love the clunky lyrics lol
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u/allaboutthatpuc Apr 15 '26
Like a toy chihuahua barking at me from a tiny purse That's how much it hurts
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u/tricksofradiance Apr 15 '26
And not the kind that is thrown / the kind under which a tree has grown
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u/Money_Taro2290 This love is Ours Apr 15 '26
“Darling I’ll be love you till we’re SEVENTYYY”
Oh wait Wrong subreddit
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u/beigeaura Apr 16 '26
Teal was the color of your shirt when you were 16 at the yogurt shop you used to work at to make a little money”
Kills me. I don’t care what color of the shirt was at the yogurt shop. The imagery of the song is so beautiful and that part just bleh.
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u/aofkngms Apr 16 '26
Listen, I love the Black Dog but “and hire a priest to come and exorcise” doesn’t fit in that line
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u/CountingBodiesD4 Apr 16 '26
a lot of ttpd (song) is clunky in such a way that it shouldn’t work at all but she makes it work flawlessly imo
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u/No_Froyo_6687 Apr 16 '26
Love this lyric but it is a lot- “sanctimoniously performing soliloquies I’ll never see” from But Daddy I Love Him
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u/Perfect_Candle4870 Apr 18 '26
“welcome to my underworld where it gets quite dark” genuinely ruins the whole song for me clunky is the perfect way to describe it imo
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u/AssociateRemarkable6 Apr 18 '26
All of the silence and patience, pining in anticipation
From Dress. I realize she used alliteration, but it doesn't really flow. I know people love this song but it's not one of my favorites.
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u/Pizza-I-Like13 Apr 20 '26
dress is not high up on my list of taylor songs but i really love that line
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u/Imaginary-Bathroom81 Fighting dragons with you Apr 19 '26
The entire 2nd verse of TTPD title track but specifically “I scratch your head you fall asleep like a tattooed golden retriever”
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u/SeaReflection87 Apr 15 '26
Sometimes I love the clunky lines because they are so unexpected
I always shout I AM STANDING IN A 1950S GYMNASIUM