How You Get the Girl

Today's Taylor Swift song is the meaning of the song, "How You Get the Girl" from her 1989 album.

This is surprisingly one of my favorite songs on the album. It's a catchy upbeat song about a girl telling a guy how he gets the girl and then how he lost the girl.

On October 29th 2014, Taylor told Radio.com �The song �How You Get the Girl� is a song that I wrote about how you get the girl back if you ruined the relationship somehow and she won�t talk to you anymore. Like, if you broke up with her and left her on her own for six months and then you realize you miss her. All the steps you have to do to edge your way back into her life, because she�s probably pretty mad at you. So it�s kind of a tutorial. If you follow the directions in the song, chances are things will work out. Or you may get a restraining order.�

Who is this song about?

Like many other songs on the album it's about Harry Styles. They first met and started dating in March 2012 at the Nickelodeon Kids Choice awards. She then saw him with another girl, hence how he lost the girl. He begged and begged for Taylor to take him back and six months later she did. I wonder if he really showed up at her door in the rain. For anyone that has listened to Taylor's music you know she has an obsession with doors and rain. (Someday I'll write a post on those two subjects.) He got her back but couldn't keep her. He "left her all alone/And never told her why". He left her all alone while they were on vacation in Virgin Gorda.

I really love the chorus maybe that's why it's one of my favorite songs. In it she is quoting what she would like the guy to say. Some of the language comes from marriage vows. "I want you for worse or for better, I would wait forever and ever." It shows what Taylor wants in a relationship, some commitment and long term love. I hope you find that Taylor, sorry it didn't happen with Harry!

Taylor Swift's Perfumes

Here are Taylor Swift's perfumes.  Unfortunately Incredible Things is currently out of stock.  Will update when it's back in stock.

Current Kohl's coupon to save on Taylor's perfume.

Taylor Swift Wonderstruck 3-pc. Fragrance Gift Set (Free Shipping with a Minimum Purchase of $50 with Code UGET50FREE)

Taylor by Taylor Swift 3-pc. Fragrance Gift Set (Free Shipping with a Minimum Purchase of $50 with Code UGET50FREE)

Taylor by Taylor Swift Eau de Parfum Rollerball Reg. 20.00 (Free Shipping with a Minimum Purchase of $50 with Code UGET50FREE)

Style

Today's Taylor Swift song is the meaning of the song "Style" from her album 1989.

This song it sounds like two different songs, the chorus and the verses have a different and distinct sound.  This first part of the song sounds like you are driving around with just a drum and synthesizer playing an ostinato, the same musical phrase over and over.  The chorus has a fuller sound incorporating a lot more instruments and a lot more confident tone. It all makes it sound amazing and really defines the two moods of the song.  The verses focus on the story and Taylor's uneasiness in the romance.  The guy comes picks her up at "midnight" and she knows that last time things didn't end well. But her reasoning is ignored, because their relationship is just that good.

Photo courtesy of Taylor Swift

Taylor said at her livestream secret session October 27, 2014 "When I wrote this next song I was thinking about how we have these kind of fashion staples that never quite, we never quite throw them out of our closet, right? No one's going to be like, why are you wearing a little black dress, no on wears that, that was so two years ago. Everybody has that perfect little black dress or for a guy that great white t-shirt that fits you perfect. You may not necessarily wear them all the time, but they're always there in the back of your closet in case you need to go to your old standby, that classic thing that always works.  I was thinking about that, and I then I was thinking about how there are feelings like that, how there are trends that never go out of style and how there are feelings that never go out of style.  Do you see where I'm going with this?"

She compares the love to classic looks like "red lip classic", "long hair/slicked back
White t-shirt" and a "James Dean daydream look in your eye", who coincidentally make the white t shirt famous.

Who was this romance with that never went out of style?

James Dean in a white t-shirt

Just take a look at the name of the song, Style.  It was Harry Styles. 

Taylor Swift told On the Air with Ryan Seacrest, on October 31, 2014, "Well it's basically kind of one of those relationships that's always a bit off. I talk about in another song on the record, a crooked love, which is kind of like never quite synced up right.  The two people are trying to forget each other and they've both been out with other people and they've both tried to forget the other.  It's like, I heard you went out went off with her and you came back and well I've done that too so... I would never have said anything like that on a previous album.  My previous albums have always been sort of like, I was right you were wrong, you did this, it made me feel like this, kind of a sense of sense of right and wrong in a relationship.  What happens when you grow up is you realize that the rules in a relationship are very blurred, and that it gets very complicated very quickly. There's not always a case of who was right and who was wrong."

Taylor Swift and Harry Styles recreating a classic pose 12/11/2012
from Dirty Dancing.  Harry has his white t-shirt on :)

This is exactly how their story went down.  Taylor met Harry at the 2012 Nickelodeon Kids Awards in March 2012.  Then she saw him in the news with other girls, hence the lines, "I say I heard -Oh
That you been out and about/With some other girl".  But while he'd been out with other girls, she'd been out with other guys, Conor Kennedy.   Hence the lines, "I said I've been there too a/Few times".  This happens all the time.  I had friends in high school that liked each other, but never at the same time. They were always dating other people usually at opposite times. They finally got in sync when they went to college.  When they decided they wanted to get married, they waited for a few years, because one of them was out of the country always doing something.  It took a long time, but their love is solid.  There are some things in life that are just classic and will never go out of style, sounds like they had a great time together!

Click here for lyrics to the song, "Style".

PS This was the last song written for the record.

Taylor Swift's Gifts to Fans

Recently Taylor Swift has been sending gifts to fans, lucky fans coming via FEDex!  She started by first showing up at Gena Gabrielle's baby shower this year and giving her a boat load of kitchen items.  Recently she started finding fans addresses and sending them Christmas presents.  Talk about giving back, she is an angel. I think Gena's Gift set is my favorite.

Gena's Presents
Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics: Fabulous Flavor from Simple Ingredients
Le Creuset Universal Stainless-Steel Splatter Guard
Microplane 4-Sided Cheese Grater
J.K. Adams 12-Inch-by-2-3/4-Inch Maple Wood Medium Gourmet Rolling Pin *Similar
KitchenAid  5-Qt. Artisan Design Series with Glass Bowl - Candy Apple Red
 
Cast Iron Pots
Le Creuset Signature Enameled Cast-Iron 5-1/2-Quart Round French (Dutch) Oven,
Le Creuset Signature Enameled Cast-Iron 7-1/4-Quart Round French (Dutch) Oven,
*Cheaper Alterative-Lodge Color Enameled Cast Iron Dutch Oven, 6-Quart

Kitchen Tools (When I was at Taylor's house I was standing by her fridge and noticed she had Le Creuset wooden cooking utensils)
Le Creuset Revolution Wood Solid Spoon
Le Creuset Wooden Scraping Spoon, 12.5-Inch
Le Creuset Revolution Wood Slotted Spoon
Le Creuset Silicone Spatula Spoon, Large, White
Best Manufacturers Light Design French Whip 8-inch *Similar 
Le Creset Stoneware 1-Quart Utensil Crock *Similar *Cheaper Alternative (Silicone set)
Le Creuset Silicone 7-Piece Utensil Set, Cherry

Christmas presents

Makeup
Jurlique Hydrating Misting, Lavender 
NARS Skin Aqua Gel Luminous Mask
NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencil, Dragon Girl
Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara
Julep Nail Polish - Valerie
Christian Dior Vernis Nail Polish 970 Nuit
Chanel Le Lift Creme Riche
Bobbi Brown Bronze Shimmer Brick Set
Smith's Strawberry Lip Balm Tin
Kate Sommerville 360 Face Self Tanning Pads

Pajamas
Wild Fox Je T'amime Classic PJ Set

Food
Karlie's Kookies
Mast Brother's Chocolate Bars

Music
Vance Joy's Dream Your Life Away

"Blank Space" Music Video

Here is the music video for "Blank Space" by Taylor Swift from her "1989" album.

 Click here for the meaning of the song, "Blank Space".

Here is the American Express UNSTAGED: Taylor Swift app for iPhone and Android that provides an interactive experience with the video.

Blank Space

Today's Taylor Swift song is the meaning of the song "Blank Space" from her 1989 album.

This is a really fun upbeat song from her album and definitely a fan favorite.  From a musical standpoint, the chorus is my favorite part of the song.  It has a really good melody.  My other favorite part of the song comes during the bridge, "Boys only one love if it's torture".  She does amazing things with her voice that sound a lot like Lorde's music.

Who is this song about?

Photo courtesy of Taylor Swift

It's about Taylor, kind of.  Taylor told Chris Willman of Yahoo November 6, 2014,  I just wanted "to write this completely satirical song about the fictionalization of my personal life, and just kind of poke fun at it."

In her secret session livestream on October 27, 2014 she said,  "This is a song that I wrote with Max Martin & Shellback and I always bring them lots of ideas. I bring them like 4 or 5 first choruses that I've kind of worked on and I decided that I like them. We decide together which ones we're going to work on that day. With this one I did not think it was going to get picked because I kind of wrote it as a joke. I was thinking a lot about, you guys know, you've seen in the last couple of years, it's been interesting what the media has decided to fictionalize and sensationalize about my personal life. It's been pretty gnarly.  I was thinking about that. I was thinking about how they've drawn up this character, she's like emotionally unstable, and needy and clingy, but she gets all these boyfriends but they leave her.  She's devastated.  She goes to her evil lair and writes songs for emotional revenge. I was thinking about the juxtaposition of that and my actual personal life which involves just kind of me just sitting there with two cats watching Friends marathons. But I got to thinking about it and I thought, which one is more interesting to write about? I thought the character they've drawn up, although it may be fictional, it's actually sort of interesting. I thought of this line that went, 'I've got a long list of ex lovers/They'll tell you I'm insane/But I've got a blank space baby and I'll write your name.' "

The song has a lot of satirical elements to it, "I get drunk on jealousy", "You look like my next mistake", "I'm dying to see how this one ends", "Got a long list of ex-lovers, They'll tell you I'm insane, But I got a blank space, Baby, And I'll write your name.", "Be that girl for a month", and "boys only want love if it's torture".

Taylor's rooftop livestream secret session October 27, 2014, photo courtesy of iHeartRadio

But what makes the song extra special is how she uses this song to illustrate her thoughts about love, as many great writers do. (Jane Austen I'm looking at you.) In this song she sings about guys with "New money, suit and tie".  Some guys think the way to impress is by having nice things.  I went on a date once with a guy and he had a nice car and that was it.  He didn't know how to treat a lady, he didn't open doors and talked about himself the whole time.  I was not impressed and kept asking myself, am I really on a date? She addresses the fact that some guys only like the chase and once they have the girl it's over, with the lines, "Love's a game, want to play?" and "Boys only want love if it's torture".  She answers the media and those game loving boys with "So it's gonna be forever, or it's gonna go down in flames".  She doesn't want someone who isn't willing to commit. "I can read you like a magazine".  She can see through them and see exactly what they want. And she says she's not going to just take it, "I can make all the tables turn/Keep you second guessing like/Who is she/I get drunk on jealousy". Yes the media may spin it it to appear she is just jealous, but she is not going to take someone who is playing around, as no one should. She knows some guys just want a "girl for a month", like the latest thing, but she wants someone that is going to be around forever. She uses this song to let the media and potential suitors/ex suitors know exactly what she doesn't want in a relationship.  She doesn't want to leave people with "a nasty scar", or with the pain. She doesn't want to have the "worst [] yet to come", tell "pretty lies" and "get drunk on jealousy".  She is not "dying to see how this one ends", but she wants her relationship to be "forever" and not "go down in flames".

Dating is really all about wading through the muck (alot of muck) to find that diamond, to find that prince. It takes time and lots of lots and lots of dates.  It can last forever and it can be the best thing that ever happened in your life.  I hope Taylor you can "grab your passport" and someones hand and not just make things "good for a weekend", but good for "forever".

Click here for lyrics to the song, "Blank Space".

Click here to see the music video for "Blank Space".

All You Had to Do Was Stay

Today's Taylor Swift song is the meaning of the song "All You Had to Do Was Stay" from her 1989 album.

Photo courtesy of Taylor Swift

This song tells a story of a guy who begged to be back in Taylor's life after they had ended their first attempt at romance.  She says in the song, "People like you always want back/The love they gave away/And people like me want to believe you/When you say you've changed." He kept wanting to get back together with her, and she believed him. But he didn't stick around, wasn't fully committed. He "drove [them] off the road", an allusion to "Out of the Woods" where they ended up at the hospital. The guy got stitches because he couldn't drive the snow vehicle on the road. She then says he was the one that changed his mind wanted to end it, "Let me remind you.../This was what you wanted/You ended it/You were all I wanted/But not like this..."  She wanted him, enjoyed being with him, but he ended it.  She says that in the end even though "People like you always want back/The love they pushed aside/But people like me are gone forever/When you say goodbye".  He said goodbye and she is gone forever. She is not getting back together with him. She tells him in the song that If he really had wanted her "all [he] had to do was stay."

Who is this song about?

It's about Harry Styles and how he ended their relationship the second time around after he tried and tried to get back together with her. The relationship was a whirlwind, and he could never fully commit.  He was all she ever wanted, but he just couldn't stay around.

One of the interesting parts of this song is story of the high pitched Stay. Taylor told fans in her ask/reply on Youtube, "I think the oddest scenario that I ran in to when I was writing this album was when I woke up from a dream that I was having.  It was kind of one of those social anxiety dreams, where you get embarrassed in front of a person that you don't really want to be embarrassed in front of.  In this dream I was trying to talk to someone and instead of being able to speak normally the only thing that would come out of my mouth was this very high pitched singing, going, STAY, the word stay, but it was sung really high and that was all that would come out of mouth, instead of just normal talking. So I woke up from the dream, I was really weirded out by it.  I decided to incorporate that sound into a song called 'All You Had to Do Was Stay.' I'm very lucky that I had that very weird dream because it's a great song."  I can totally relate to Taylor, I've had some very weird vivid dreams, where I couldn't fly, or I could fly, couldn't read something, or the dream just unfolded and I had no control, but I remember lots of details.  I even had a dream to a while ago that I'm turning into a novel, look for that later.  I'm glad that she was inspired by her dreams, because I sometimes think I am weird that I have such vivid dreams.

This song is similar to "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together", but nicer. You can tell she has grown since writing that song. In WANEGBT she told her suitor that she was never getting back together with him. In this song she is tells her suitor (a different suitor) what they should have done to stay together, why she is gone forever. He just had to stay.

Click here for lyrics to the song, "All You Had to Do Was Stay".