"Blank Space" Song Meaning

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".