The Swiftie and The Scholar - The Indirect Characterization of Death By A Thousand Cuts

Episode Date: August 21, 2025

In this episode of The Swiftie and The Scholar, Uncle Jerry and Angela analyze Death By A Thousand Cuts from Taylor Swift's 2019 album, Lover. Uncle Jerry finds literary devices aplenty in the lyrics, and discusses how she uses those devices to deftly handle the storytelling in the poem via indirect characterization.They also discuss the roundabout inspiration of this song and the Swiftie tradition of friendship bracelets.Works Cited:A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Shakespeare – Affiliate LinkLingchiDeath By A Thousand Cuts – Timothy Brook, Jérôme Bourgon, Gregory Blue – Aff LinkMandarin SquaresGreat Expectations — Charles Dickens – Aff LinkKyn You Believe It — IDK Traffic LightAnaphora Indirect CharacterizationFollow Us:⁠YouTube⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠Angela's Instagram⁠

Welcome to The Swiftie and The Scholar, the podcast where we examine the lyrics, lore, and literary legacy of Taylor Swift. I am Angela McDow, The Swifty. And I am Dr. Jerry Coates, the Scholar. Hello. Hello, Angela. We're back again. It's a dark and rainy day. It is.

We should be talking about, wait, here's an idea. Poetry about lost love. Oh, what a coincidence. What? What? Let's do it. Okay. Yeah, let's just jump right into this one.

Okay. I do have something fun to say before we get to your thoughts, because that's what everyone's here for, obviously. Yeah. Well, wait. She's jealous. I am a little. I'm like, guys.

Wasn't I fun, though? It was her idea. So I just want to talk about the inspiration for this song. Or should I talk about that at the end? No, I think it's fine. it now. So this song is from her out. Today we're covering death by a thousand cuts.

I think one of like the cult swiftly favorites probably. And what's the album that that's from? Love her. We have Lover live from Paris. Probably we should listen to that. This song is on that. She did play that live on there.

So this is from 2019. Written and produced by Taylor and Jack Antonoff, which is a name you've heard a hundred times by now, even though we've only done like five songs. I have her jacket, I don't know. Yes.

But a fun thing about this song is that Taylor said that she was inspired to write this song after watching a movie called Someone Great. Have you heard seen this movie, heard of this movie? I know. Me either. Yeah. I haven't seen it either. But the writer and director of that movie, Jennifer Caten Robinson,

said that she was inspired to write this movie after she heard a different Taylor Swift song called Clean, which is from her album 1989. So Taylor wrote a song, a woman heard that and made a movie, and then Taylor watched that movie and then wrote this song. Is that the source of the cliche, what goes around comes around? I guess so.

So that's just a little fun fact. I haven't seen that movie. Probably I should watch it because I do love this song. Spoiler. See what we can do on Prime. Yeah. But yeah, so let's just get right into it and get into your thoughts on this one. Okay.

Well, so immediately I'm looking at the title, Death by a Thousand Cuts. Because I like Shakespeare, I thought about Hippolyta and Theseus in Mid-Summer Night's Dream. So, you know, Thesias says, I won you with my sword. and in one of the Amazonian legends from Greek pathology, Thasius is supposed to have challenged Apollita, queen of the Amazons, to a fight, and he uses a sword and cuts her, cuts her, cuts her, cuts her, until she finally collapses from loss of blood,

and then he ties her up, threatens to kill the rest of the Amazons, unless he gets from her the promise of marriage. Okay, that's exactly how my marriage happened, too. Is that right? I remember the bandages. But having said that, of course, it does come, the death by 1,000 cuts comes from China. Okay. Okay.

Do you know this? No. Okay. Yes, it's Ling Chi, which is execution by cutting and cutting and cutting and cutting. Okay. And so the expression was death by 1,000 cuts for Ling Chi, but it wasn't necessarily a cut like we think of a paper cut. cut. They generally would nip things off. So they would cut pieces of your fingers off or they would cut pieces of your flesh so it wouldn't easily yield. So it was just a long-lasting way of killing

someone. It was torturous. This is the China prior to 1905. After 1905, there was a huge cultural revolution. There was a cultural revolution leading up to it. And as a matter of fact, if you've ever seen the movie 55 days in Peking, just say no. No. Yeah, it stars Charlton Heston, David Niven and a whole host of stars. Sounds like it's a little before my time.

And it's about the awful imperialism that was brought to China. China revolted against it, against European powers trying to take over China in what was called the Boxer Revolution. Okay. So the Boxer Revolt was put down.

I happen to have a really interesting artifact to share. Of course, you do. Oh, that's pretty. Isn't it? Yeah. So, yep, there you are. This.

Yeah. Maybe we can take a picture, so it's not so glary. This is actually called a Mandarin square. Okay. So China was renowned for its amazing administrative prowess. It had all kinds of different administrators doing all kinds of different things. And they were ranked and divided into groups by what kind of square they were. wore on the front of their clothing.

Oh, when was this? Prior to 1905. So this is actually from the 1880s. Okay, wow. That's so cool. Mandarin Square. It's so pretty. Isn't it?

Yeah, I know. I love it. So, yeah, I have all kinds of weird artifacts in my house, as you know. And one of them is a framed Mandarin square that's in a hallway. Well, I never thought that we could connect a song from Lover to a Mandarin square, but here we are. Oh, are we still? talking about Taylor Swift?

Yes. Okay, well, sure. So, yeah, death by a thousand cuts is a horrific way to die. And I'm assuming that she is using that to talk about a ruined love affair that would be a horrific way to die. So, start with the course. Yeah, let's get into it. Okay. So she starts off saying goodbye is death by a thousand cuts.

So this is a metaphor. comparing goodbyes to execution in a horrific manner. And one of the things that dominates this song is use of metaphor. Yes. So it's one after another, after another after another. This is also a little hyperbolic. Very, yes. So it would be hyperbole and exaggeration.

I guess I should go back and say, not everyone may understand if there are young Swifties out there. They may not discern the difference between the simile and metaphor. Yes. So a simile is a comparison between two dissimilar things using like as or then. So Robert Burns' poem, My Love is Like a Red Red Rose that's newly sprung in June. My love is like a melody that's sweetly sung in tune, right? That's, yeah, that's Burns, not me.

But that would be a simile, right? A direct comparison, I mean a comparison using like, my love is like a rose. A metaphor is a comparison that is a direct comparison without using like or as or then. So saying goodbye is death by a thousand cuts compares saying goodbye with horrific torture. Yeah. Hence metaphor. Slightly dramatic. This, it is a dramatic metaphor.

This poem operates on a series of metaphor. and it's hyperbolic. So there's hyperbole. Congratulations, she's hit two literary devices in the first line. Yeah, also, like, I want to say on that, which I don't know if this is, if this means anything, but she starts with the chorus in this song rather than starting with a verse, which I don't think she is not super common, and I don't think she does a lot. Oh.

So just to just some throw that. Well, that's interesting. She may want to really emphasize the horror of it. I mean, the terrible impact on her life personally. Yeah. That it was torture. Flashbacks waking me up. I get drunk, but it's not enough because the morning comes and you're not my baby.

Okay, so I'm just going to have to say this is a personal prejudice with me. I'm not fond of the word baby. Okay. Actually, just say something about that. I have a very specific memory involving you. Okay. And it was one time that I stayed at your house when I was really young. This was in the time of EnSync and Britney Spears and stuff.

Those pop wonders from my childhood. And you were taking me, it was just you and your youngest daughter and me in the car. And you were taking me to home to my mom. And every song that came on the radio said baby like so many times. And every time it happened, you like immediately. switched the song in the car. You were like, nope. Nope. And then I'm like, no, you gotta go back.

And then they would say it again. And you like switched it. So as soon as I had it, I completely forgot about that until right in this moment. And as soon as I, you said not my baby, I was like, oh my God, I know he's going to hate that. Just right in this moment. Not a fan. It's so cliche. Sorry, Taylor, so cliched.

Yeah, anytime I hear a song with baby in it, I mean, I mean, Leslie, my wife, will tell you that I insert the word infant. So I sing it loudly and a little off key with the word infant. I actually kind of agree with you. I get a little cringed out by a baby. And when people are like talking about a project or something at work or something, they're like, this has been my baby. I'm like, gross.

So I'm kind of with you. I'm just going to give you now my personal story. Yes. And that is that I was once reading poetry for a literary magazine. Okay. And we had a submission, and I don't know why I committed it to memory. It's because maybe it's what I do. But it started off, baby, baby, already two marks against it.

And you're like, nope. Baby, baby, I love you from your head. No. To your shoe. No, no. So that's what we call in poetry Forrest Rhyme. Yeah. It's also Baby, baby, baby.

And no, that did not make. So, like, I was going to say that, that person did not make it into the magazine. No, and if that student is out there, move on from that one, but keep working. It's not your, that's not your life's work there. No, no. So, yeah, when I hit baby, that's not great. Yeah, okay, fair. Okay.

So, yeah, my note here on my copy is, ugh, infantilized lover. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. So, the second stanza of the chorus, I look through the windows of this love. What do we have? Another metaphor. It's another metaphor. I'm looking through the window, so we're comparing love to windows.

Even though we boarded them up, okay, she's extending the metaphor throughout the stanza, an extended metaphor, a conceit. That's right. Chandeliers still flickering there. Okay, so I'm going to forgive her for baby because I really do like conceits. I like an extended metaphor, someone who takes a metaphor and then devouring a metaphor. and then develops the parameters of the metaphor. So not only do we have the windows of love, but we also have them boarded up,

and we also have the flickers of chandelier. Like, we know it's in there somewhere. It's just barely hanging on, and somehow she just can't get rid of it. And so she returns to her initial metaphor. It's death by a thousand cuts. Yeah, I always picture this. Like, she's a look through the windows of this love.

I always picture this like old broken down house and that house is their like relationship. Sort of like the house from who's afraid of little old me with the cobwebs, you know. Oh, I love that. Yeah. And so she's looking in and she's like, you know, the windows are boarded up, but I can still see through a crack. And I still see a light flickering in there. Like there's still something there, but not really. Yeah.

You know, since I'm the literary geek, I thought of Dickens and Ms. Haversham's house, right? And this old house where she's still, you know, mourning her wedding. Yeah. But yeah, so, so love is somehow still trapped, somehow still flickering. I think that's a really strong stanza. I love that one. Yeah. Okay. We just have to forget about one word and all of that. Just good. Losing the baby. Out with the bathwater. So then we go to verse number one. Okay. I dress to kill my time. Okay, so this is very Taylor Swift. Yes.

So I said in a previous episode that she likes to conflate two different cliches. So conflate to cross over, to blend two different cliches. So we have one cliche, dressed to kill, and then another cliche, killing time. And she conflates the two for a separate and third meaning. Yes. Right. And so I do love this. I think that, you know, as a rhetorician, I understand that artists want to make, they want to create difference. Right. So, you know, they essentially are trying to create novelty. Right. Right. So difference in ordinary speech habits so that we understand ideas and language in a different way. And I think she does that really well. I mean, you know, that's a nice line. I dress to kill my time. So, yeah, she gets. up, she gets dressed, she goes through the rhythm of life, even though she knows it's sucking. She's just killing time.

Just killing time. I take the long way home, again, killing time, right? I ask the traffic lights if it'll be all right. Okay, she's talking to traffic lights. Got a problem? She's a little crazy. Yeah, but, you know, I mean, broken love drives us crazy. It absolutely does, yeah.

This is also personification. Okay, so when we personify an inanimate object, then, you know, if you stub your toe and yell stupid desk. Yeah. The desk isn't stupid. You know, you were clumsy. Yes. So she's talking to the traffic light, and the traffic light says, I don't know. Yeah.

This is so, I don't know, when I heard this, I was like, Taylor, what are you doing? But I really like it now because it is just kind of silly and just shows you like you're driving home. She's taking the long way home. So she's hitting a lot of lights. And she's so desperate for answers that she's asking anything in her path. Like, is this are, am I okay? Are we okay? And see, I think that's one of the natures of metaphor as well is you view it with reality.

She's driving home, taking the long way, talking to the lights. But she's also on this path of life. life without her her significant other, without her lover. And she's wondering, so it's over now, but my chandelier's still flickering. I'm not going to touch that one, but she's

Yeah. And of course, the traffic lights a great image. This is imagery, people. You've got a great image here because a traffic light is red, yellow, yellow, green. So is this relationship full stop? Is this relationship?

proceed with caution? Is this relationship go? Yes. And the traffic light says, I don't know. I don't know, girl. I actually have a shirt that's made by a Swifty that she makes a lot of Taylor Swift merch, and it's just a traffic light right here.

And it says IDK. Oh, really? And I love it so much. I think I like that. I wouldn't wear it. But I like it. She also, that same girl, went to the Eros tour, dressed. as a traffic light.

Oh, well. Which is fun with the IDK in it. That's a bright idea. He did it again. Okay, so let's go back and hold verse one, stanza one, at arm's length, and notice something about the language. Okay. You notice how each of the first three lines begin, I, I, I, I, dress, eye, I, dress, I take, I ask, and then the traffic light says, I don't know.

Interesting. Okay. Okay. That's a literary device. Anaphora. Anaphora. Anapha is a repeated sound or word at the start of a line. Okay.

Okay. So she's employing anafra. And that made me back up and look back through the poem since I'm reading it like a poem. And I notice in the first stanza, I get drunk, and then you're not my baby. So we go to you. But then in the second stanza of the chorus, she says, I look, we boarded, I can't. You see, I dress, I take, I ask, I don't know. And then in the next one, I see we share.

You see how. Okay, yeah. Yeah, you've got this tumult of first person pronouns. That's fun. Okay, so who's this poem about? Her. It's really about her. Yeah, it's about her feeling.

It's about her wondering. It's about her thinking. I actually think that can be applied to so much of Taylor Swift's discography because people love to. She always says people want to paternity test my lyrics. You know, find out who the dad is, who the man is that they're about. But I do see a lot of people arguing like these songs might have something to do with a man, but they are all about Taylor and what she's feeling. I think so.

Yeah. Yes. It's, I mean, the word you, I actually went back through and counted, you know. Nice. Only occurs twice on the first page. And maybe, gosh, you or your six times in the song. But I, I mean, it begins to sound. Yeah, it sounds like a Mexican song.

Yeah. I. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Yes. Yes.

Yeah. I think it's I think it reveals a great deal and I like the use of an affra it's good. The next stanza in the verse and what was once ours, so now we've got this collective pronoun, is no one's now, right?

All those expectations that she had gone. I see you everywhere. The only thing we share is this small town. And I do have to say that I felt something very personal in this I mean if you've ever lost someone

you know you know that I lost my wife yes right and it it is amazing how many things remind me of her especially in those first months

everything everywhere everything yeah everything and I was stunned to see the number of things and small stuff like a dish she used you know, a fork that she bent in the dishwasher but still refused to throw away. Very her.

And very, also my mom and very me as well. You know, it's all those little things. And I have to admit, this one touched me emotionally. Okay, okay. Look at you turned into a Swifty. Not yet. You got to change this to the Swifty and the Swifty. It could be.

By the time we're done. But give us another, how many songs does she read? Like a lot. Yeah, give us a lot more episodes. Yeah, but I did like that. I see you everywhere. The only thing we share is this small thing. There's another lyric she has in an earlier song on her album,

Red, which we haven't even gotten to yet, where she's very similar to this. That always makes me call back to that where she says, I see your face in every crowd. Oh, yeah. You know? Right. Like you just like, you expect to see them. Yeah. Right.

Yeah. I get it. Yeah. The last stanza in the verse, you said it was a great love, one for the ages. Okay, you know, I don't like cliché. Yes. Clicator, tired, worn-out expressions in good writing. You don't use tired, worn-out expressions.

However, I like the way she did it here because it's not her speaking. Oh, you're right. Yes. She's not using cliché. She's better than that. That's right. This guy is using tired, worn-out expression. This guy says,

Oh, baby. This is one for the ages. Okay. You know, but it's over. But if the story's over, why am I still writing pages? Like the rhyme. Yeah. But also I like the metaphor.

Me too. Yeah. Because now we're comparing the story of their love to a book and the book should have come to its conclusion. But for her, it's not done. Yeah. For her, she's still writing pages. Obviously, the song. is, you know, one of the pages she's writing. This is one of the books she's writing.

Right, yeah. So then we go to the chorus and, you know, it's just the same chorus we had before. Yes, exactly the same. Exactly the same. Except this time I'm circling all the eyes and U's and whys. Okay, yes. Right. So we get three eyes, one we and one yore, you know, and I'm going, yeah, this is really a self-focused song. It's about her feeling. You know, and so it's kind of fun to notice the pronoun use. Yeah. I don't think it's accidental. I don't think it's accidental because you go to the bridge. Okay.

Pause there. Okay. You just said, I don't think it was accidental. And on her album Midnights, there's a song called Mastermind, where she talks about she's masterminding everything that's happening to her and everything in this relationship. And she says none of it was accidental. Oh, there you go. So you're right.

None of it was accidental. You know, I always tell students that in good literature that there aren't accidents. I mean, sometimes there are serendipitous moments, I guess, but I hesitate to call it an accident. You know, I mean, they always ask me, you know, how do you know that that's what this means? And, well, because it's not accident. You know, they're sitting on a typewriter or they're holding their pen in hand or they're in front of their computer and they're writing it. Yeah. This bridge.

Yes. This bridge is, is, this is good. I hope you feel the same. We'll get there, though. I'm feeling it. I'm feeling it. Okay, okay. Okay.

Once again, look at the pronoun use. Yes, my. Possess a pronoun my. My heart, my hips, my body, my love. So she goes from the heart, which is physical, but also implies an emotional attachment to physical things. You touch my hips, my body. And then she goes back to her love.

So she kind of brackets the physical with the emotion. Interesting. Right. Nice. Trying to find a part of me that you didn't touch right there. And there's not. Gave up on me like I was a bad drug. Okay.

Like I was a drug. Simile. Simile. So again, this song is built heavily on comparatives, metaphors and similes. gave up on me like I was a bad drug. Well, at least you kick that. Yeah. She also has another, this song has, this song I always find a lot of parallels to other

other songs in her discography. And she, there's a song on Reputation, another album we also haven't gotten to, where she says, my drug was, oh, I just realized she says baby, sorry. But she says, my drug is my baby. using for my whole life. So she compares love to like an addiction a lot, I think. Baby. Sorry.

Okay. Yes, I get it though. Yeah. Interestingly enough, in Act 5, Shakespeare compares it to an addiction of a Midsummer Night's Dream. Okay, yeah. So clearly she and Shakespeare are. Yeah.

Same. Equal talent, you might say. So the bridge, the first stanza rounds up with, now I'm searching for signs in a haunted club. So she goes, I'm assuming it's haunted because she goes to a club where they had gone together. I would assume as well. Yeah. And so, you know, we have this imagery of kind of empty space, dead relationship, ghosts.

Ghosts, yeah. Yeah. And then we go to the second stanza, notice pronouns. Our songs, our films, United, we stand, our country. I guess it was a lawless land. So, yeah, it was once us, right? It was once the collector pronoun hour, hour, hour. But none of that works now.

And she's toying with those cliches again, right? One of the things I do like, you know, again, and prejudicedly disposed against cliches, but she does like cliches when they are used in a novel manner. I think that's one of her hallmarks. I agree, yes. So if I am learning Taylor Swift's style, this is a stylistic for novelty. Yeah, I agree.

It sets her apart. Yeah. Remember, good rhetoricians are looking for difference. So United We Stand, that's a bit of a cliche, but it's a lawless land. also kind of a cliche, but well, their relationship didn't work out. Yeah. It's also, by the way, a metaphor.

Yes. Yes. Right. So up we got more metaphors coming. Quiet, my fears with the touch of your hand of paper cut stings from our paper thin plans. Okay, so she's again conflating these ideas of paper cuts and paper thin.

Yes. Cute. Plus, we're using metaphors. Well, okay, and she's getting paper cut from writing these pages in the books after the love is gone. Yes, literal paper cuts, figurative paper cuts, death by a thousand. Yeah. Yeah. And nice stuff.

I mean, you know, she just doesn't use the cliche without doing something. Yeah, switching it up a little. Right. And then she goes back to the possessive pronoun, my time, my wine, my spirit, my trust. Okay, now she's not our, but she's back to being alone. trying to find a part of me, you didn't take up. So it's like he's consuming her monopolizing. Gave you too much, but it wasn't enough.

But I'll be all right. It's just a thousand cuts. Right. We have a little irony. Say one thing, mean another. So she likes irony. Again, like the stanza, kind of fun differentiation between her wine where she's trying to get over the sadness

and the fact that, you know, he used her up and somehow she never could give him enough. Yeah, I gave you all of it, but it was never enough. Not enough. Right. I gave you, yeah. Her, my, I wonder, I always think about that. My time, my wine gave too much.

So it's almost like she's talking about, you know, I was with you all the time. I trusted you. But also I always wonder about my wine. It's like, okay, I was also, like financing our life, you know. Oh, yeah, good be. I do kind of feel like she does that sometimes where she's like, you're poor and I'm not.

Didn't this dog ever pay for dinner? Yeah, probably not. Would you? Bad sign. Then we go back to the chorus. I get drunk, but it's not enough. Okay, so we're playing off that phrase, not enough. Nice.

Because you're not my baby. Baby. I can't wait to hear the song. I am an insert word infant. Okay. I look through the windows of the love, and it's boarded up, and the chandelier's still twinkling along. Yes. Then we get to the last bit.

Yes. The outro. Yes. Trying to find a part of me you didn't touch. My body, my love, my trust. It's death by a thousand cuts. You know, and you wonder what. what matters most to her

and I'm not going to say as a woman I'm going to say as a person what matters most to any of us is it giving our body is it giving our love is it giving us emotionally or is it trust that

that promissory note that we hold out to the people who are the closest to us yeah feels like that's the most important one it does but it wasn't enough it wasn't enough no no no

I take the long way home I ask traffic lights it'll be all right and they say I don't know so nope there are no clear signals okay

again so if you want to hold the poem you know as a poem if you want to hold it at arm's length again and you start thinking about all the eyes use of anapra if you start thinking about the metaphors and the simile you know, this song is really

it is a creation of a persona. Okay. Okay. So I'm not sure entirely that it's a song about her necessarily. But she's created this voice of another person. So it's a voice of a woman who has had a really bad love affair, a really bad breakup, and one that she can't quite release.

I don't know if it's her or not. Right. But I feel like it's created. creating a persona. So when you create a persona with language, there are a couple of different ways to do it. You can do it with what we call direct characterization. Okay. Okay. So you could have the character say, I feel terrible. My life sucks. You never bought dinner. You, right? So literally say directly the things that they're thinking. And that's one good way to create the persona. A second way is what's called indirect. characterization. Okay.

I think it's more deftly handled. Indirect characterization is more difficult as a writer to achieve. Yeah. And so how do we usually create indirect characterization? We do it through literary devices. We do it through metaphors, simile, personification. And that's why can you feel a good grade coming for this? I can.

Yeah. Yeah, I really think that she is using the literary devices to establish indirect characterization of this persona. Interesting. Right. So we have an afra, we have the metaphors, we have hyperbolic claims, we have a simile, and all of these show us sides of this character who is revealed through these comparatives. Yeah. That's what I have to say about this. stuff.

Yeah. And that kind of does play back into her saying that she was inspired by a movie. Because then it, you know, then it is like, okay, this isn't about my life and I am going to do this kind of indirectly. Yeah. And I don't know if it's her or not. But what I can say is that she's established an interesting persona of this character who is in this post-love affair, malaise. and she does it, you know, deftly by handling all these different literary devices. Yeah.

So. Nice. I think so, too. This is one of my favorites. Oh, is it? Yes. And it has been since this album came out. And at the Eres Tour Arlington Night 2, which I was present at.

Of course. This was one of the surprise songs, the guitar surprise song. and I lost my mind. Have you found it since? Probably not, no. If we're being honest. But yeah, so I'm glad you're, I'm happy that you like it. No way, I do have to ask you, you know, when I would teach literature, I would always, like,

almost it didn't matter which we were reading, but I would say, this is one of my favorite work. And students would finally stop me and say, you love all this stuff. Is it true that you just love all these songs? No. Okay. No, but I am the one picking the songs. So we are starting out with ones. I am just her puppet.

So we are starting with ones that I do love. Okay. I'll keep that in mind for the next episode. Yeah. Yes. But it's okay. Again, you're allowed to have your own opinion. But I am happy that this one is a good opinion.

It is. Yeah. Okay. Okay, let's listen to this. So you haven't heard this song. I'm very excited for you to hear this song, especially The Bridge. I am sorry that she says baby a few times. It's okay.

So what we're going to watch is the lyric video, which will be the album version. And then we will watch her play this acoustically on NPR's Tiny Desk. Okay, fun. Yes. And she talks about it a little beforehand. So we'll watch all of that. Oh, good. Love Tiny Desk.

Yes. Yes. And we will be back with reactions. Okay. Okay. Thoughts on just the song. Are we back? Yes, we'll be back and then we'll go watch the other.

Okay. I like the opening. Yes. The my, my, my, my, my, ma, ma, ma, ma. That my, bap, bap, bap, bap. Well, I like it because it's very in marching, like she's trudging. You know, like dragging through life, that's good. Yeah.

I noticed every time she says chandelier's still flickering, the word still, she has a vocal change, and she's got this kind of choked out. Yeah, her voice does sound very, like, yeah, choked in this, throughout a lot of this song. Right. Yeah, yeah, I liked it. She says, the traffic light says, I don't know. Yeah. It's mechanical because it's a light.

Yeah. But also it's emphatic, right? Yeah. I don't know. Yeah, nobody knows. Yeah. I did learn something, I guess, reading back through the only thing we have, the only thing we share is this small town. And she says, is this small town in that same deliberate way.

It always behooves us to read literature more than once. Yeah. I mean, I think every time you read it, you bring a different package, a little slightly, different package to it. You know, the town is so small, she has to see him. Yeah, as she's driving through the traffic lights. Yeah, she, and there he goes again. Well, damn it.

You know, yeah, it's like that flicker may not be a flicker of love. It may be a flicker of a man, an actual man. Gouging her over and over again. Oh, interesting. Okay. Yeah, there he goes again, you know. And I like my heart, my hips, my body is angry. It's very fun.

Yeah, yeah. So this is how much I love this song and this bridge and how I think I manifested us having that as a surprise song for Arlington Night 2 was because, so do you know about Swifties and friendship bracelets? Oh, no. Okay. So there is a song that we're going to cover actually pretty soon that we're, um, we're, she says make the friendship bracelets. And that became, so friendship bracelets became like a huge thing. It was like a whole, the friendship bracelet bead industry exploded before the

era's tour because everyone was making friendship bracelets and we all like treated them at the shows. And you put your favorite songs or your favorite lyrics and stuff. And I made two different bracelets, one that said, my wine, my time, my wine, and then another one that said my spirit, my trust. That's how much I love this bridge. I see. That's how much you love it.

So it is good. Yeah, I love it. Okay, let's watch the tiny desk, and we will be back with your thoughts on the acoustic version of this. Okay, we're back. All right. We heard the tiny desk. The tiny desk. And I hope that everyone out there supports NPR and public radio.

Yes, especially now. And that was a lovely performance. Yes. Very fun. What I like? What do you like about it? I feel like her emotion, like she really showed the emotions of that song when she plays it acoustically. Yeah.

She gets really angry in the bridge. Right. Yeah. She goes a cappella with that series of my, my, my, my. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I thought that was fun. Yeah.

You know, I'm still not going to do the, the, the. autobiographical interpretation thing and say this is her. I don't know that it's her and as a matter of fact when I read it I don't think it's her I think that it's a persona she creates through literary devices and she's just

channeling that emotion like an actor would and doing a nice job. Agree. Okay. Ready to grade it? I'm ready. Okay so for the grades we have five different categories. Let's

Let's start with lyrical strength of death by a thousand cuts. Lyrical strength. Okay. I love it. You know, if there was a clumsy line other than baby. Yeah. I do think the lawless land is a little bit of a hard line. She had trouble singing it.

Yeah, I thought that was interesting. Yeah, it is a little bit tongue-twistery. Yeah, but I'm still going to say 95. Oh, okay. Narrative and structure. Oh, are you kidding me? You know, I love the use of anaphora. Six metaphors, assimily, personification, you know, hyperbole, just really...

She's got it all. She's got the cliches that create deference where she's doing novelty. Yeah, I'd say it's 98. Oh, my goodness. I know, crazy. Production and atmosphere. So we can do that on the track, and we can base this off of the performance. as well.

Sure. Perform. Well, I mean, she performs so well. Actually, I like the Tiny Desk version best. I know. It's pretty fun. Yeah, I do. I like that very much.

So, 97. Oh, my goodness gracious. I don't know. Is this going to be the highest? Could be. Lower and literary references. Oh, you know, I mean, the only one was really to Ling cheese. Yeah, not a time.

I mean, can we skip this one? I mean, I guess I'll average it out and call it 95. Okay. Yeah. And emotional impact. So, yeah, I had an emotional moment. It did get me when I was reading about how, you know, how it's everywhere. You know, that when you, when you have that love, when you still have that flicker inside you, it's pervasive.

So I'll say 98. Oh, my goodness gracious. A plus. Yeah, it is. This is, sorry, didn't have my formulas. 97. Okay, so that ties. I'm embarrassed.

Yeah. I know. That ties, no, that's highest. That's the highest. The highest. Yeah. Okay. Why are you embarrassed?

No, it's just, you know, I'm not supposed to give those A pluses. You can give those out so freely? No, no, I've got to find something. Oh, wait, baby. Let's take it down to 96. Oh, yeah. We probably should. She used baby like three or four times.

Twice. Okay. That's amazing. I'm so happy you like that. this one. I didn't know how you were going to feel about this one going in. Yeah, very much. I didn't know how I was going to feel, but I liked the persona she created. Awesome. Yeah. I do have one more thing to say. Okay. Or do. Yeah. Okay. Finally. I don't know if you know this, but among Swifties, it's kind of traditional to give these little bracelets. And so I was shopping with my grandkids

last weekend in the town square, a little town square locally. And we came across this. Oh, no. And it's a little bracelet that says ERIS on it. Oh, my goodness. And the kids all said, Angela's got to have it, Angela. And so, Angela. Oh, my goodness. Now you know why. Or did you know why before?

I had no clue. I had no clue. That is amazing. I just knew that we got it last weekend. That is so funny that I brought that up this weekend. There you go. That's also funny that you beat me to this because I was looking for my, friendship bracelet making supplies, which now, of course, I do have.

And I couldn't find them because I was going to make you bracelets that said this one that said Swiftine, one that said the scholar, that you beat me to it. Thank you. Oh, and it cute. Oh, it's so cute. Look at that. Oh, there you are. Thank you.

You're welcome. I'll wear every time we record now. Okay. Okay. That is it. Any final thoughts? No. Just that you apparently lovers your favorite album.

in the whole world. Well, you give it at the heart. Okay. So make sure you subscribe to us everywhere, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube. Follow us on TikTok where we have blown up and Instagram at Swifty and ScholarPod. And you can find me at Angela White on Instagram. There's nothing interesting there, but if you want to. And you can apparently find Uncle Jerry shopping at the local town square.

That's right. Okay, and we will be back next week with a different song. Thank you. This is fun. Oh, thank you. Bye. I'm glad. I'm not.

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