What does "...Ready For It?" by Taylor Swift mean?
"...Ready For It?" Lyrics Meaning
Of all the new Taylor Swift songs, "...Ready For It?" may be the most unique and most "new." While fans weren't quite sure what to do with "Look What You Made Me Do" until the music video came out, and "Gorgeous" and "Call It What You Want" at least made a little sense as far as who we think Taylor Swift is, "...Ready For It?" left most of us scratching our heads. But that doesn't mean the doesn't mean something interesting, so let's get into it.
"Stealing hearts and running off and never sayin' sorry"
In "...Ready For It?" Taylor Swift seems to show two sides of her personality. The verses are a heavy, sassy explanation of her tough side and how she's going to go after the guy she loves and take him no matter what. The choruses though show her sweeter, more sentimental side wanting the beauty and bliss of a loving relationship. Both sides want the same thing without wanting the same thing, and the comparison of them together gives "...Ready For It?" an interesting flavor.
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Verse 1
Knew he was a killer first time that I saw him
Wonder how many girls he had loved and left haunted
But if he's a ghost, then I can be a phantom
Holdin' him for ransom, some
Some boys are tryin' too hard, he don't try at all though
Younger than my exes, but he act like such a man, so
I see nothing better, I keep him forever
Like a vendetta-ta
In the first verse, Taylor acknowledges that the man she's interested in has broken up with many girls and left many of them wanting more. But she's willing to rise to the challenge and perhaps here even acknowledges her so-called "serial dating" when she sings, "But if he's a ghost, then I can be a phantom / Holdin' him for ransom . . ."
She admires him because while "some boys are tryin' too hard, he don't try at all though." She takes on a bit of an aggressive cougar persona when she says he's "younger than my exes, but he act like such a man . . ." She's determined that there's "nothing better" for her, so she's going to "keep him forever / like a vendetta . . ."
Pre-Chorus
I, I, I see how this is gon' go
Touch me and you'll never be alone
I-Island breeze and lights down low
No one has to know
The pre-chorus lightens up a little from the verse and has Taylor predicting the course of the relationship. If he'll "touch" her, he'll "never be alone." They run away to an "island" together and put the "lights down low," keeping their relationship a secret from others.
Chorus
In the middle of the night, in my dreams
You should see the things we do, baby
In the middle of the night, in my dreams
I know I'm gonna be with you
So I take my time
Are you ready for it?
Musically, the chorus of "...Ready For It?" feels like the "island breeze" mentioned in the pre-chorus. The song considerably lightens up for the central theme--this idea that inside the hardcore facade, Taylor truly wants a beautiful, sweet relationship. She sings that in her "dreams," they're together and do some incredible things (possibly sexual in nature). Even if these are dreams for now, she willing to "take my time" because she knows she's "gonna be with you" and asks him if he's "ready for it."
Verse 2
Knew I was a robber first time that he saw me
Stealing hearts and running off and never sayin' sorry
But if I'm a thief, then he can join the heist, and
We'll move to an island, and
And he can be my jailer, Burton to this Taylor
Every love I've known in comparison is a failure
I forget their names now, I'm so very tame now
Never be the same now, now
Now, Taylor gets the chance to describe herself in the eyes of the man she's interested in. She's a "robber" who steals "hearts," "running off and never sayin' sorry." This probably comes from the media's portrayal of her as a serial dater. But instead of negating this here as she does in the media, she invites him to "join the heist" and perhaps try to steal her heart.
They can "move to an island" together where I can keep her, ample punishment for her crimes. The line "Burton to this Taylor" seems to be a "punny" reference to the rocky relationship between Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, two actors in the 1960s.
Despite this romance being so wild, Taylor enjoys the passion of it and calls all other loves failures and claims to have forgotten "their names now." She goes on to say that she's "so very tame now" and that she'll "[N]ever be the same now." Of course, as continue in the song, we see she's planning to be anything but tame and that this is a part of the "game" that this persona feels the need to play. Based on her changing musical style, the line about never being "the same now" seems to be the most accurate of the song.
Post-Chorus
Baby, let the games begin
Let the games begin
Let the games begin
Baby, let the games begin
Let the games begin
Let the games begin
Despite also wanting the sweet beauty of the relationship she sings about in the chorus, Taylor puts on her "game face" and gets ready to play the "dating game" she knows comes with trying to "get with someone" in a culture that cares too much for making relationships hard and not enough for making good ones possible.
Deeper Meaning of "...Ready For It?" by Taylor Swift
I think the most interesting aspect of "...Ready For It?" is just how wildly different it is from previous songs by Taylor. It most reminds me of "Blank Space," which was a satire of those who critiqued her approach to relationships. But "...Ready For It?" seems to be almost a sequel to "Blank Space"; it doubles down on what "Blank Space" was about. "...Ready For It?" focuses on her reputation as a heartbreaker and perhaps, in a tongue in cheek way, suggests that she's going to keep being herself.
Is the "old Taylor" really dead? That was the question we all had for "...Ready For It?" after we heard "Look What You Made Me Do," and this song would seem to suggest that the answer is yes.
