Taylor Swift delivered many memorable songs on Reputation, but we’re partial to “Call It What You Want.” This song is ostensibly the thesis of this album. It’s the perfect mix of Swift airing her grievances and keying her fans into her latest relationship. Check out the meaning behind this song, below.
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Behind the Meaning
My castle crumbled overnight
I brought a knife to a gunfight
They took the crown, but it’s alright
All the liars are calling me one
Nobody’s heard from me for months
I’m doing better than I ever was
Like much of Reputation, “Call It What You Want” saw Swift turning the finger around on her naysayers. In the opening verse, Swift referenced the “fall from grace” she experienced shortly before releasing this album– the result of a vicious rumor cycle and her beef with a certain rapper. All the liars are calling me one, she sang, referencing Kanye West’s infamous video “evidence” of Swift “playing the victim.”
Elsewhere in the first verse, Swift reassured her fans that she was actually doing quite well–despite the circumstances. I’m doing better than I ever was, she sang. Reputation is a tale of two albums. Half of the songs are seething diatribes while the other half are markedly loved up. This opening verse is as good an overarching descriptor for the album as any.
My baby’s fit like a daydream
Walkin’ with his head down
I’m the one he’s walking to
So call it what you want, yeah
Call it what you want to
My baby’s fly like a jet stream
High above the whole scene
Loves me like I’m brand new
So call it what you want, yeah
Call it what you want to
A large part of what got her through her turmoil was her budding relationship with Joe Alwyn. My baby’s fit like a daydream / Walkin’ with his head down / I’m the one he’s walking to, she sings in the chorus.
The verses All my flowers grew back as thorns and All the jokers dressing up as kings / They fade to nothing when I look at him, are the crux of this song as a whole. All that she went through hardened her into the person she is today. It’s the mix between her personal development and her newfound love that ushered her through the bad times.
Revisit this Reputation staple, below.
(Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)
