“I Forgot That You Existed” Song Meaning

Today’s Taylor Swift song is “I Forgot That You Existed” from her “Lover” album. 

This song tells the story of a friendship gone bad. A friendship that was everything at one point and then the person “you showed who you are, then one magical night”. Something happened one night to show what truly went down with these friends. 

Photo courtesy of Taylor Swift

Who is this song about? It’s the same person that “This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things” from “Reputation” album is about. KARLIE KLOSS. 

Karlie and Taylor were instant friends probably meeting before the Victoria Secret Show in December 2013. They had started talking on Twitter in January 2012 when Taylor said she wanted to bake cookies with her. 

Picture courtesy of Vogue

After that their friendship took off like wild fire. They did EVERYTHING together. They were featured on one another’s instagrams, in magazines together, everything. 

But then in 2016 Taylor had a major “Reputation” episode with Kanye West. Read about it here. It turns out from the lyrics to the song that Karlie was not on team Taylor and dumped her as a friend as soon as this happened. “ Got out some popcorn/As soon as my rep started going down, down, down/

Laughed on the school yard/
As soon as I tripped up and hit the ground, ground, ground“. Karlie watched from a distance and laughed at Taylor. She did not support her. Taylor would have “ stuck around” for Karlie. But Karlie didn’t do the same for her. She went and talked to Scooter Braun about Taylor. She showed who she really was and threw shade at Taylor. 

Who can relate to this? I certainly can. There was a time I bore my soul to a friend only to have her never speak to me again. Turns out she only wanted to know the juicy details and didn’t really care about me. There have been countless others. But know what? I did what Taylor did. “I Forgot That You Existed”. I “thought it’d kill me, but it didn’t”.” What is the best way to do this? Move and and care about people who care about you. “ It isn't love, it isn't hate, it's just indifference.” Just forget the negative people in life. They can stew in anger but by forgetting about toxic people life can move forward and “be so happy and bright”. I think it is SO IMPORTANT to do this. It can be devastating when good friends leave my life, "'Til all of my sunshine was gone, gone, gone." So much truth to this line. When someone leaves my life there is a giant hole, dwelling on it makes it worse.

Taylor was able to find peace and move that friend out of her mind, "And I thought that it would kill me, but it didn't/And it was so nice/So peaceful and quiet". It did not kill her. And the next time that a "friend" leaves her life it will be that much easier. And now she can really enjoy life. Good job Taylor.

Here are the lyrics to the song "I Forgot That You Existed".

"The Archer" Song Meaning

Today's Taylor Swift song is the meaning of the song "The Archer" from her album, "Lover".

Taylor teased this as track five, a track usually known on her albums as being very emotional and ballad like, "All Too Well", "'Delicate", and "Dear John". Does it compare to "All Too Well"? Unfortunately no...It has a cool 80's sound reminiscent of Stranger Things, but it is super soft and melancholy. It is a great song, but never reaches the full ballad belt it out I want it to. I kept waiting and waiting for it to climax, but it never did.  The lyrics are great however. They are super deep. It really shows Taylor in a vulnerable state. 

Who is this song about?

"The Archer"is reflective song about Taylor's perception of herself. It references her boyfriend Joe Alwyn and "enemies" that "started out friends".  One famous friendship is Karlie Kloss who apparently started telling Scooter Braun about Taylor's career. She also sings about the loss of their friendship in "This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things". Taylor has had some beef with Scooter Braun. Just recently he bought Big Machine Records and owns all of Taylor's old masters. (She is going to re record them though). He manages a number of people, Demi Levato, Justin Bieber, Karlie Kloss and many more. He was involved in the incident with Kayne West and Taylor. He is not famous but in the background of all the action. For Karlie to leak information to him is wrong.

Taylor doubts herself in this song, but also shows her strength. It is perfectly illustrated in the line, "Who could ever leave me darling?/But who could stay?". She realizes that friendships are "easy they come/easy they go". "They see right through me." "I hate my reflection/for years and years". No one is perfect and everyone makes mistakes. I know I do. There are friendships that are over for one reason or another because of mistakes I have made. She knows that she has "been the archer", she has instigated wars, ie with Katy Perry. But she has also "been the prey", all the drama with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian. She however does not want to end up alone, "all my heroes/die all alone".

She worries that Joe will leave her, "Can you see right through me?". She wonders if he will stay. But she gains her confidence. "Combat/She's ready for combat". She realizes that he is going to stay, "you could stay".

I am so glad for this song. The lyrics are beautiful and telling. It is a sad world and unfortunately not isolated to celebrities. There are so many times in life that people go in and out of my life. All of the sudden I check facebook and we are no longer friends. I think it is important to recognize those people that will stay no matter what and treasure those friendships. And who will love one another no matter the flaws. After all everyone is always growing. No one is perfect. There is really no time in life to spend energy on people that do not want to be friends. I am so glad that Joe and her other friends are sticking around. Those people are so worth it.

Click here to see the lyrics to "The Archer".