Death By A Thousand Cuts
Lover (2019)
Table of Contents
Background
«I love writing more than anything I’ve ever done in my life, so it was like, 'If I was in a place where I had things to protect and a world to protect, because I’m very protective of certain elements of my life and my world, would that kind of mute me a bit as a writer?' And the answer is no, actually, because there are songs [on Lover] that are not all happy, joyful songs, there are songs about moments of conflict and complexity within a relationship, there are songs that I didn’t even write about what I was going through. There’s a song called 'Death By A Thousand Cuts' that’s the most emotional, sad lyric I’ve written in a very long time, and it’s about stuff that my friends were going through, it’s about a movie character dynamic I saw. I’m happy that, thus far, the songwriting faucet has still been on and hasn’t dried up.»
Taylor Swift
Lyrical Theme and Inspiration
«Basically, often times I’ll write songs about my own life, but there’s always flickers of other peoples work that influenced me in some way. I think when people make art, other people make art, and I think that especially women who make art, I find it highly inspiring, just based on how well they told a story. There’s just something you get from watching a good story take place. I watched this movie on Netflix, called Someone Great. It’s this amazing romantic comedy with a heart and depth to it because it’s about this relationship that ends after eight or nine years. It's a movie about how she has to end this relationship that she didn't wanna end because she's still in love with the person. But they just grew apart. And he's not a jerk, it's just sad. Because it's just realistic. Like, 'Yeah, time passed and now we're different people.' And that is the most devastating thing because it's not salacious and it's deeply, deeply upsetting. And so I cried watching the movie and for like a week I start waking up from dreams that I’m living out that scenario, that that’s happening to me. And I just would wake up and I’m like, 'Oh my God, I’m writing a breakup song', like I have these lyrics in my head based on the dynamics of these characters. And I went into the studio with Jack and I was like, 'I got these lyrics for a song I’ve written for this song called 'Death By A Thousand Cuts'.»
Taylor Swift
Live Performances
«This [song request] actually came from one of my closest friends and my collaborator of dreams, who's actually here tonight. Jack Antonoff is here tonight! And I was telling him I played this song once before live and everybody screamed the bridge in the crowd so loudly that I kept telling him about it, 'I wish you were there, it was so insane!' Cause we wrote this song together. And I really want him to hear you do it, so I really hope you know the words to this song. I'm gonna take my chances. This one's called 'Death By A Thousand Cuts'.»
Taylor Swift
Critical Reception
Commercial Performance
Lyrics
[Intro]
My, my, my, my
My, my, my, my
My, my, my, my
My, my, my, my
My, my, my, my
My, my, my, my
My, my, my, my
My, my, my, my
[Chorus]
Saying goodbye is death by a thousand cuts
Flashbacks waking me up
I get drunk, but it’s not enough ’cause
The morning comes and
You’re not my baby
I look through the windows of this love
Even though we boarded them up
Chandelier’s still flickering here
’Cause I can’t pretend it’s okay when it’s not
It’s death by a thousand cuts
[Verse 1]
I dress to kill my time
I take the long way home
I ask the traffic lights if it’ll be all right
They say, “I don’t know”
And what once was ours
Is no one’s now
I see you everywhere
The only thing we share
Is this small town
You said it was a great love
One for the ages
But if the story’s over
Why am I still writing pages?
[Chorus]
Saying goodbye is death by a thousand cuts
Flashbacks waking me up
I get drunk, but it’s not enough ’cause
The morning comes and you’re not my baby
I look through the windows of this love
Even though we boarded them up
Chandelier’s still flickering here
‘Cause I can’t pretend it’s okay when it’s not
It’s death by a thousand cuts
[Bridge]
My heart, my hips, my body, my love
Trying to find a part of me that you didn’t touch
Gave up on me like I was a bad drug
Now I’m searching for signs in a haunted club
Our songs, our films, united we stand
Our country
Guess it was a lawless land
Quiet my fears with the touch of your hand
Paper cut stains from our paper thin plans
My time, my wine, my spirit, my trust
Trying to find a part of me you didn’t take up
Gave you too much but it wasn’t enough
But I’ll be all right
It’s just a thousand cuts
[Chorus Variation]
I get drunk but it’s not enough ’cause
You’re not my baby
I look through the windows of this love
Even though we boarded them up
Chandelier’s still flickering here
‘Cause I can’t pretend it’s okay when it’s not
No, it’s not
It’s death by a thousand cuts
[Post-chorus]
Trying to find a part of me that you didn’t touch
My body, my love
But it wasn’t enough, it wasn’t enough, no, no
[Outro]
I take the long way home
I ask the traffic lights if it’ll be all right
They say, “I don’t know”
Artist | Taylor Swift | |||
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Album | Lover | |||
Released | August 23, 2019 | |||
Recorded | June 2019 | |||
Studio | Electric Lady (New York City) | |||
Genre | Pop | |||
Length | 3:18 | |||
Label | Republic Records | |||
Songwriters | Taylor Swift Jack Antonoff | |||
Producers | Jack Antonoff Taylor Swift | |||
LOVER CHRONOLOGY | ||||
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