Taylor Swift’s new album Reputation is finally here, and Taylor appears to address her famous feud with Kanye West in the 13th track, This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things.
The lyrics hint at the pair’s friendship after the 2015 Grammys – and how it all went down hill after he released his song Famous from his Life of Pablo album.
Swift wrote the song with her friend Jack Antonoff, and the lyrics started with: “It was so nice throwing big parties / Jumping in the pool from the balcony / Everyone swimming in a champagne sea /And there are no rules when you show up here / Bass beat rattling the chandelier / Feeling so Gatsby for that whole year.”
Taylor and Kanye finally became friends in 2015 after they publicly made amends at the Grammys (after he famously interrupted her speech at the VMAs in 2009).
During this time, Taylor was at the height of her fame and was enjoying the success of her 1989 album – however, Kanye then released Famous in February 2016, and quite literally rained on her parade.
The Pre-Chorus lyrics go: “So why’d you have to rain on my parade? / I’m shaking my head / I’m locking the gates.”
Chorus: “This is why we can’t have nice things, darling / Because you break them
I had to take them away.”
Here, Taylor insinuates that Kanye ruined their friendship by releasing Famous, so she publicly distanced herself from him and the song, and alleged that she “cautioned him about releasing a song with such a strong misogynistic message.”
The next lyric in the chorus is, “This is why we can’t have nice things, honey.”
The term “honey” is used frequently in Kanye’s song Bound 2, which may be another reference to the rapper.
Verse 2: “It was so nice being friends again / There I was giving you a second chance / But then you stabbed my back while shaking my hand / And therein lies the issue / Friends don’t try to trick you / Get you on the phone and mind-twist you / And so I took an axe to a mended fence.”
Taylor seems to be addressing the recorded phone conversation that Kim Kardashian posted on her Snapchat of Taylor and Kanye discussing the lyrics of Famous.
Pre-Chorus: “But I’m not the only friend you’ve lost lately / If only you weren’t so shady.”
Taylor could be referencing Kanye’s strained friendship with his former BFF Jay-Z here.
Chorus: “This is why we can’t have nice things, darling / Because you break them / I had to take them away / This is why we can’t have nice things, honey / Did you think I wouldn’t hear all the things you said about me? / This is why we can’t have.”
Bridge: “Here’s a toast to my real friends / They don’t care about that he-said-she-said.”
Kanye released a song called Real Friends on The Life of Pablo, so this lyric could be a nod to that.
The “real friends” Taylor is referring to are pals that have remained in her “squad”, such as Selena Gomez, Martha Hunt, and Ed Sheeran.
The song continues: “And here’s to my baby / He ain’t reading what they call me lately.”
TayTay could be referring to her current boyfriend Joe Alwyn here.
“And here’s to my momma / Had to listen to all this drama / And here’s to you / ‘Cause forgiveness is a nice thing to do / Haha, I can’t even say it with a straight face.”
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