Swift’s relationship was a physical experience. Since breaking up, the full-bodied physical experience of another person has been replaced by a flattened, empty version. For example, Swift sings: “I’ll watch your life in pictures like I used to watch you sleep.” When they were together, Swift saw a three-dimensional, moving, human being. After the break-up, she will now see him only through static, pixelated representations on an instagram feed.

John relied upon darkness to cover up his misdeeds. Swift becomes a radiant source of light, illuminating not just herself, but a whole town

In Back To December, Taylor Swift explores decay over time.

Taylor Swift scholar presents a close reading of Don't You.

In We Were Happy, Swift reflects with sadness on what it means to play the role of a setting sun in someone else's life.

Swift has clearly not forgotten Mr. Perfectly Fine yet, but she claims power for herself by replacing his name with twenty-eight sick burns.

In the metaphors and similes in You All Over Me, Taylor Swift paints an increasingly grim series of portraits of herself after a breakup.

In Forever & Always, Swift begins to explore a theme that she will perfect in her magnum opus All Too Well.

In The Way I Loved You, Swift describes her past relationship as if it were a psychedelic drug and she is now experiencing withdrawal.

In Breathe, Taylor Swift describes cessation of biological function at every level – from her whole body to her organs to her very cells.

Recap: Picture to Burn is Taylor Swift’s second song and first revenge anthem — the first foray into a genre that will become a Swiftian...