American country pop singer and songwriter Taylor Swift may have shocked the world with her most recent album Folklore, but the Nashville-based star did not stop there.
On Tuesday, August 18, Swift released the seventeenth track to her new album.
The song, called ‘The Lakes,’ plays on geographic imagery and deep emotions to make a song that constantly contrasts the two features. In particular, one line of Swift’s new song begs someone to bring her to a place, where other writers have ended their lives.
“Take me to the Lakes where all the poets went to die,” sings Swift mournfully.
But what do these haunting lyrics all mean? And what could they mean about Swift’s mental state? We’ve done a little digging to find out where Taylor was going with her newest musical achievement.
The Lakes Are Based On A Real Place
The Lakes are actually a reference to the ‘Lakes District’ of England. In the song, Swift actually names Windermere, which according to the official website of the United Kingdom’s National Parks, is the largest lake in England.
Her vision of the lake, however, is far from happy. “Those Windermere peaks look like a perfect place to cry,” the singer belts.
Interestingly, according to a report by Style Caster, Swift vacationed in the Lakes District with her boyfriend Joe Alwyn in 2019. The vacation spot is a typical one for writers, and the Nashville star is hardly the first poet to find inspiration in the lakes. A variety of nineteenth century poets produced a lot of literature in the region.
However, it seems from Swift’s song that not all travelers to the Lakes have taken her poetic work serious. The singer is not afraid to criticize the people who have compared her to past poets: “I’ve come too far to watch some name-dropping sleaze tell me what my words are worth.”
A Glimpse Of Nature
Upon releasing her song, Taylor Swift also uploaded the audio track to her official YouTube page in the form of a three minute and thirty-second video clip. The “lyrical” video shows Swift’s poetry on the screen, with a lovely natural backdrop of small, pink wildflowers and brush.
The video itself complements the words of the song by showing natural beauty and emotion, side-by-side.
