“and If I’m On Fire You’ll Be Made Of Ashes Too” Is The Sad Version Of “and If I Get Burned

"Tim McGraw" Was Originally Written About A Girl In Stone Harbor, New Jersey

Ever since its release in June 2006, Taylor Swift has claimed that “Tim McGraw” was about her freshman boyfriend, Drew Dunlap.

"I wrote [the song] in my freshman year of high school," Swift explains. "I got the idea in math class. I was just sitting there, and I started humming this melody. I kind of related it to this situation I was in. I was dating a guy who was about to go off to college. I knew we were going to break up. So I started thinking about all the things that I knew would remind him of me. Surprisingly, the first thing that came to mind was that my favorite country artist is Tim McGraw."

Taylor was a freshman during the 2004-2005 school year (age 14-15). Her family moved from Wyomissing, PA to Hendersonville, TN in April of 2004 because of Taylor's country music career. Up until that year, they had spent every summer at their vacation home in Stone Harbor, New Jersey.

“From the time she was 2 until she was 14, when her family left for Nashville, Taylor Swift's parents had a summer house on the bay in Stone Harbor. "I spent my summers at the Jersey Shore from the time I was 2 until we sold the house in Stone Harbor when I was 14. It was a pretty magical place to grow up.""

She says that two songs were inspired by her time in Jersey:

"There was a little demo I made when I was 11, and I think it's floating around the Internet. It's called "Smoky Black Nights," and it's all about being at the Shore. Then there's the song "Invisible," which is about the son of my parents' friends. They were always at my house and their son was my age, and he would always tell me about other girls he liked. I felt, well, invisible. Obviously. So I wrote that song about it, and it was a bonus track on my first album."

I find it interesting that she outright described the meaning and identified the muse of Invisible, but said that Smokey Black Nights is just about "being at the Shore", considering Smokey Black Nights is also about a crush. The fact that she was being cagey about that song and not about Invisible indicates to me that there was something to hide about the muse (like, their gender...)

There are quite a few lyrics in Tim McGraw that don't really fit Drew well, but there's one in particular that couldn't possibly apply to him:

"But in a box beneath my bed Is a letter that you never read From three summers back"

Again, Taylor had only moved to Hendersonville that year. She didn't know Drew three summers back. Even if she had literally written the song the day she released it, she STILL would've only known Drew for two years by that point. But you know what WAS three summers back from Taylor's freshman year? The summer at Stone Harbor when she was 11 that she wrote Smoky Black Nights about.

To be clear, I don't think Taylor was dating anyone at 11. But it's clear that she had a crush on this person, who she presumably continued to spend every summer with until age 14. She may have just been crushing on this friend, or they may have dated later on.

Other lyrics that don't fit:

"And I'm back for the first time since then I'm standing on your street"

Again, this was Taylor's freshman year. She wasn't touring or anything yet. Her and Drew lived in the same town. She can't go "back" to the town they both live in for the "first time", but she can certainly go back to New Jersey.

An original lyric that stands out is:

“When you think happiness

Hope you think that little black dress

The one you always said you liked best

Next to my faded pair of jeans”

The original lyrics specifically state that the little black dress is next to Taylor's own outfit. So, is another person possibly wearing the dress? (It could also just be weird grammar though, lol).

This is the second of three references to this black dress (the third being The Other Side of the Door). The first was in Taylor’s unreleased 2003 song “Live For The Little Things”.

“That black dress, happiness” feels like a clear reference to, “When you think happiness, I hope you think that little black dress”. In which case, some of the details of Tim McGraw are references that pre-date Drew and Tennessee entirely.

It's clear that, by the time it was released, this song was mostly meant for Drew. The references to the Georgia stars, his pickup truck, etc. have distinct Tennessee vibes. But, think back to Taylor's description of the song:

"I got the idea in math class. I was just sitting there, and I started humming this melody. I kind of related it to this situation I was in. I was dating a guy who was about to go off to college. I knew we were going to break up. So I started thinking about all the things that I knew would remind him of me."

She "kind of related it to" this situation she was in. She was thinking about another situation, and she related it to the fact that Drew was about to leave.

Presumably, she was relating it to her parents selling the house in Stone Harbor, and no longer seeing this girl that she had had feelings for every summer- both of them were situations in which she was interested in someone romantically, and then someone moved away.

Keep in mind, when Taylor wrote this song, Drew hadn't moved away yet. Taylor knew they would have to break up when he left for college, but it was still the middle of the school year. However, the song has a very reminiscent tone.

"It's hard not to find it all a little bittersweet And lookin' back on all of that, it's nice to believe..."

"And I was right there beside you all summer long Damn the time we woke up to find...summer gone" (original lyric)

So, it actually makes a lot of sense that this would be about some kind of crush/relationship that had already ended, and the ways that it foreshadowed her situation with Drew. The song is both about her past with Smokey Black Nights girl, and her present/future with him.

„i don’t dress for women” MF WHAT IS IT THEN???

Taylor: throws an after party and invites all the 🏳️‍🌈

Us: there goes the loudest woman this town has ever seen

TAYLOR SWIFT + my favourite single from each album (insp/x)

little miss popstar!

happy pride month!

I think Taylor often uses summer as a metaphor for coming out like daylight which makes sense since it’s a very sunny season and winter would then be the opposite of this. And it makes sense why folklore (spring/summer) and evermore (fall/winter) would directly follow lover if the failed coming out theories are correct. It was her way of processing these emotions.

I think this is what the transition from august to illicit affairs is supposed to represent. The vibrant sunset and rainbow colors (lover era) drain away and turn into gray (folklore era)—“you showed me colors you know I can’t see with anyone else.” The sunset visuals during august also indicate that summer and daylight are indeed the same thing metaphorically since the sun is going away as she sings “so much for summer love.” She was so close to claiming her sunshine, both the concept and person, but it slipped away from her 💔

I think it’s very poetic that there’s an alternative ending on folklore. Hoax is one possible ending, “my eclipsed sun…this has frozen my ground” and she could’ve stayed frozen in that winter but the lakes offers a bit of hope, “A red rose grew up out of ice frozen ground” which indicates spring and summer have returned 🌹☀️ Similarly in the song evermore she decides to go back inside her warm cabin instead of staying out in the cold which she said represents finding hope again (48:00 of this vid). And to tie it all together she chose a cardigan, her “wool to brave the seasons,” as the main motif of folklore since this person kept her warm during that perilous winter.

TAYLOR SWIFT Picture To Burn // CMA Music Festival (2008)