When Taylor Swift came out with her second album Speak Now back in 2010, the world couldn’t help but fall in love with her catchy guitar ballads and young, innocent voice. However, taking a closer look at the album’s namesake track, “Speak Now,” our beloved country-pop sensation turned out not to be the angel we all expected!
Yes, you, Taylor. Sorry, but you’ve been found out.
But before you start tearing down all your life-size Taylor Swift cutouts and jewel-studded guitars, let’s first take a closer look at her song to see exactly what we’re dealing with.
In the beginning of “Speak Now” Taylor comes off as rather harmless. She lets us know she’s not the kind of girl to show up uninvited to a private wedding, luring us under the false impression that she’s still that naïve girl who strums wistfully at her guitar and fawns over some guy named Stephen.
Yet, there is no denying that our beloved Taylor did not receive a formal invite to this wedding, but has decided to show up anyway. Though my optimistic, Taylor-loving side wants desperately to assume she simply stumbled into the wrong church, my realistic side is becoming more and more aware that Taylor might just be brewing another big relationship debacle to sing about. But this time she’s not concerned with daydreams about Romeo and Juliet or high school drama with her friend Abigail. Nope. She’s moved on to the big leagues now. It seems her ex (for whom she clearly still has feelings) is getting married, and she won’t have any of it.
Pop question: when you’re definitely not welcome at a wedding, what do you do? Well, according to Taylor, you hide behind a curtain. From this safe vantage point, she can safely (and lyrically) pass judgment on her ex’s new bride, calling the bride’s family “snotty” and describing the wedding gown as pastry-shaped (ouch!…but also yum).
Soon the real Sparks Fly when the preacher asks anyone to “speak now or forever hold your peace.” This is when Taylor finds her Fearless side and pulls a mid-wedding Kanye West.
I am not the kind of girl
Who should be rudely barging in
On a white veil occasion
But you are not the kind of boy
Who should be marrying the wrong girl!
So don’t say yes run away now
I’ll meet you when you’re out
Of the church at the back door
Oh yes she did!
One minute she was hiding out from behind a curtain and the next she has completely stolen the bride’s dreams of Forever and Always.
Though it still remains unclear what exactly was going on in this complicated love triangle (but really when is it ever clear?), Taylor was certainly able to exact something Better than Revenge, forcing this unfortunate bride to realize that she and her fiancé are never ever getting back together.
Who could’ve predicted that this sweet country singer could cause such drama? Taylor, clearly no one at this wedding knew you were trouble when you walked in.
Impressive. Only Taylor Swift could ruin a wedding ceremony and pass it off as another great pop/country chart-topper!
