my tears ricochet
folklore (2020)
Background and Lyrical Theme
«I found myself being very triggered by any stories, movies, or narratives revolving around divorce, which felt weird because I haven't experienced it directly. There's no reason it should cause me so much pain, but all of a sudden it felt like something I had been through. I think that happens any time you've been in a 15-year relationship and it ends in a messy, upsetting way. So I wrote 'my tears ricochet' and I was using a lot of imagery that I had conjured up while comparing a relationship ending to when people end an actual marriage. All of a sudden this person that you trusted more than anyone in the world is the person that can hurt you the worst. Then all of a sudden the things that you have been through together, hurt. All of a sudden, the person who was your best friend is now your biggest nemesis, etc. etc. etc.»
«It’s definitely one of the saddest songs on the album. Picking a ‘Track Five’ is sort of a pressurized decision but I knew from day one this was probably going to be it. It’s a song about karma, about greed, about how somebody could be your best friend and your companion and your most trusted person in your life and then they could go and become your worst enemy who knows how to hurt you because they were once your most trusted person. Writing this song, it kind of occurred to me that in all of the superhero stories the hero’s greatest nemesis is the villain that used to be his best friend. When you think about that, you think about how there’s this beautiful moment in the beginning of a friendship where these people have no idea that one day, they’ll hate each other and try to take each other out. I mean, that’s really sad and terrible.»
Production
Critical Reception
Commercial Performance
Lyrics
[Verse 1]
We gather here, we line up, weepin’ in a sunlit room
And if I’m on fire, you’ll be made of ashes, too
Even on my worst day, did I deserve, babe
All the hell you gave me?
‘Cause I loved you, I swear I loved you
‘Til my dying day
[Chorus]
I didn’t have it in myself to go with grace
And you’re the hero flying around, saving face
And if I’m dead to you, why are you at the wake?
Cursing my name, wishing I stayed
Look at how my tears ricochet
[Verse 2]
We gather stones, never knowing what they’ll mean
Some to throw, some to make a diamond ring
You know I didn’t want to have to haunt you
But what a ghostly scene
You wear the same jewels that I gave you
As you bury me
[Chorus]
I didn’t have it in myself to go with grace
‘Cause when I’d fight, you used to tell me I was brave
And if I’m dead to you, why are you at the wake?
Cursing my name, wishing I stayed
Look at how my tears ricochet
[Bridge]
And I can go anywhere I want
Anywhere I want, just not home
And you can aim for my heart, go for blood
But you would still miss me in your bones
And I still talk to you (When I’m screaming at the sky)
And when you can’t sleep at night (You hear my stolen lullabies)
[Chorus]
I didn’t have it in myself to go with grace
And so the battleships will sink beneath the waves
You had to kill me, but it killed you just the same
Cursing my name, wishing I stayed
You turned into your worst fears
And you’re tossing out blame, drunk on this pain
Crossing out the good years
And you’re cursing my name, wishing I stayed
Look at how my tears ricochet
Album | folklore | |||
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Released | July 24, 2020 | |||
Recorded | May–July, 2020 | |||
Studio | Kitty Committee (Los Angeles) Long Pond (Hudson Valley, NY) | |||
Genre | Arena-Goth Gospel | |||
Length | 4:16 | |||
Label | Republic Records | |||
Songwriter | Taylor Swift | |||
Producers | Jack Antonoff Joe Alwyn | |||
FOLKLORE CHRONOLOGY | ||||
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