I'M TAKING REQUESTS! I CAN DO THESE FOR K-POP TOO! I CAN DO ANY ARTICLE YA WANT!!
Hello! This is part 1 of a daily series on a mostly western entertainment series focusing on the artistic side of music! Today we are going to be analyzing "my tears ricochet" by none other than Taylor Alison Swift.
Before we begin though I do want to note that this is speculation. Taylor is usually very straightforward and obvious with her songwriting but she does not name names here, but based on context it's safe to assume it's most likely about Scott Borchetta. Scott is the old ex family friend and the CEO of Big Machine Records who betrayed Taylor by selling her songs.
Taylor herself described this song as being about "an embittered tormentor showing up at the funeral of his fallen object of obsession" & about greed.
Also this is the only song she almost cried while performing from folklore... hm.
"We gather here, we line up weeping in a sunlight room, and if I'm on fire, you'll be made of ashes too"
~
Right off the bat she creates the image of a funeral, most likely hers as she describes herself as "on fire". She's acknowledging that if she hurts, Scott/Big Machine Records will suffer too because she was their main source of income. Her ghost is essentially standing beside Scott, weeping over the grave of what used to be a beautiful partnership.
"Even on my worst day, did I deserve babe, all the hell you gave me? Cause I loved you, I swear I loved you, till my dying day"
~
Taylor's "worst day" was the court date she experienced for the sexual assault case. Even though during that hard time Scott didn't let up with the hell he was giving her, she never stopped loving and caring about him.
"I didn't have it in myself to go with grace, and you're the hero flying around saving face"
~
Taylor is most likely referring to how she pleaded for help, rightfully blasted him, and ranted on social media. She couldn't stay quiet or watch her masters go gracefully. Scott Borchetta made a response to Taylor and essentially tried to make her look crazy by saying she "had every chance in the world to own her master recordings", essentially saving face and making himself out to be a hero.
"And if I'm dead to you, why are you at the wake? Cursing my name, wishing I stayed"
~
It's important to note that these two were in a partnership for 15 years- Scott was like family to her. Obviously we have no way of knowing what happens behind the scenes, but it's very likely that Scott got aggressive with Taylor, asked her to stay, apologized, cursed at her, probably asked her to come back again, etc. He probably claimed that he was done with her but he's still "at the wake"- it's more of the funeral imagery. Scott is at the grave of their partnership, knowing it's dead but still waiting to see if it could ever come alive again.
"Look at how my tears ricochet"
~
This line is genius. She left his label on good terms, but by his betrayal, he made her cry. Her tears and sadness are leading her to re-record the masters, essentially rendering them useless and therefore hurting Scott financially on a major scale. The tears she cried because of him ricocheted and hurt him in the end.
"We gather stones, never knowing what they'll mean, some to throw, some to make a diamond ring"
~
Gathering stones while not knowing what they'll mean is an allusion to gathering evidence/taking screenshots before something bad has happened. You're storing ammo because you know you'll need it but you just don't know why. Some of that knowledge will be used to take someone down in a messy battle, but some knowledge will be buried until it becomes a priceless and irreplaceable rock. The diamond ring line could also be a reference to Scott Borchetta's big diamond band.
"You know I didn't want to have to haunt you, but what a ghostly scene"
~
So this confirms my assumption from earlier- Taylor is a ghost alongside Scott and she is haunting him at her own funeral. His decisions lead up to her "death" and now he has to face the repercussions, he's going to be haunted by the choice he made for the rest of his life. Taylor didn't want him to do this but he chose to sell her songs, now she must haunt him. This line could also be a little nod to her song "Haunted" from "Speak Now" which she no longer owns.
"You wear the same jewels that I gave you as you bury me"
~
Taylor was the main breadwinner for Big Machine Records so technically she gave Scott all of the jewels (the money he has and her songs) and in return he buried her by selling her off. This is also probably a reference to the "Look What You Made Me Do" music video where she claims "the old Taylor is dead" while buried in $10,000,000 worth of real diamonds in a bathtub.
"I didn't have it in myself to go with grace, cause when I'd fight you used to tell me I was brave"
~
Taylor couldn't go with grace because fighting with Scott Borchetta was probably like fighting with her father. He was part of her support system and called her brave when she fought for what she believed in, but now she has no one to back her up for lashing out and protecting her artistry- so it leaves a little room for her to second guess herself and maybe wonder if she should have done things more gracefully.
"And I can go anywhere I want, anywhere I want, just not home"
~
As a celebrity and someone with a lot of money she can travel anywhere and do anything, but at the end of the day she probably considers the Big Machine Records Label building/staff/Scott to be her "home" and now she recognizes that even she can't go there.
"And you can aim for my heart, go for blood, but you would still miss me in your bones"
~
She is telling Scott that he can do whatever he wants to try and hurt her, to hit her with the lowest of blows, but at the end of the day she knows that he will still miss her and what they had. Especially in his bones, indicating a more permanent and long lasting feeling.
"And I still talk to you, when I'm screaming at the sky"
~
It's likely that Scott and Taylor no longer talk for legal reasons- and it's not that easy just to cut a nearly 2 decade bond with someone that quickly. She most likely has her moments and it's getting common to yell/rant outside into nature and the open air. She's trying to relieve the pressure from this situation and she most likely still harbors intense anger towards Scott, so she screams what she wants to say to him at the sky instead.
"And when you can't sleep at night, you hear my stolen lullabies"
~
Probably one of the best lines written in her entire career. The "stolen lullabies" are all of her masters she no longer owns... Yeah. genius. She's saying when Scott can't sleep at night, he's gonna start hearing the music he sold away so easily.
"I didn't have it in myself to go with grace, and so the battleships will sink beneath the waves, you had to kill me but it killed you just the same"
~
She's acknowledging that in lashing out and calling him out, both of them will "sink beneath the waves" and lose. He killed her by selling her discography and she killed him by exposing him to the world.
"You turned into your worst fear, and you're tossing out blame, drunk on this pain, crossing out the good years"
~
Once again, we don't know Scott personally so we don't know what his worst fear was, but given context clues and everything, his "worst fear" was probably a money-hungry, heartless man who does anything he can to get to the top- and he became that. He tosses out blame by saying she should've known AS A TEENAGER what she was getting into when she signed that long contract. Taylor says he's "drunk on this pain", essentially meaning the pain of her leaving has made him act out in ways he never usually would, causing him to destroy or "cross out" all those good years of partnership together.
and you're...
cursing my name...
wishing i stayed...
fun fact: she added the line "look at all of my tears, turning into your tears" in the long pond studio sessions version/live version if you watch it... hm i wonder who this song could be about
