Taylor Swift has explored the lifespan of love a million times over. From new beginnings to tumultuous ends to everything in the middle, Swift has a song for it. One of her most affecting songs in that vein is “Begin Again.”
Videos by American Songwriter
[Taylor Swift on Tour: Get Tickets]
The Red cut sneaks up on you. On the surface, it doesn’t seem like much more than one of many songs about starting a new relationship. Nevertheless, tears will randomly pool in your eyes and make you wonder, “Why is this song so emotional?” When you dig into the meaning behind this track, that answer becomes clear.
[RELATED: Taylor Swift’s 6 Best Cover Songs She’s Performed in Concert]
Behind the Meaning
Starting a new relationship after having your heart broken is never an easy thing to do. Everything in you is telling you to not go there again. Nevertheless, because we’re love-obsessed humans, we dust ourselves off and try again.
Swift finds herself at that precipice at the beginning of “Begin Again.” She opens the song by looking in the mirror and counting all the things her former partner disliked: He didn’t like it when I wore high heels…He always said he didn’t get this song. In an effort to put his memory to bed, she puts on those heels, blasts that song, and readies herself to start anew.
In contrast to her stifling former romance, the date she goes to meet arrives early, pulls out her chair, and takes an interest in her thoughts, her jokes, and her story. You don’t know how nice that is /
But I do, she sings.
The magic of this song doesn’t lie in the promise of Swift’s prospective relationship. It’s less about her new man and more about finding herself again. It’s about the promise of finding happiness after heartbreak. This one may not last either (and if we look at who this song might be about, we’re proven right), but for the first time in a while, Swift feels like love might be possible again. It’s like a sigh of relief and a realization that there is always the possibility of starting over.
We all need to be reminded of that every once in a while.
I’ve been spending the last eight months / Thinking all love ever does / Is break and burn, and end / But on a Wednesday in a cafe / I watched it begin again, she sings.
Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images
**Purchases you make through our links may earn American Songwriter a commission.
