The song 'Fortnight' by Taylor Swift and Post Malone tells a story about strong feelings, complicated relationships, and secret wishes. It talks about love, betrayal, and wanting someone who doesn't feel the same. The word 'fortnight' shows short-lived happiness and guilty pleasures, leading to sadness. It shows how messy relationships can be and the results of hiding emotions. “I was supposed to be sent away / But they forgot to come and get me,” she kickstarts the song in the first verse with lines suggesting an admission to a hospital for people with mental illnesses. She goes in the verse admitting her lover is the reason why she is like this. In the chorus, she sings about their time in love and reflects on how he has now settled with someone else. “I took the miracle move-on drug, the effects were temporary / And I love you, it’s ruining my life,” on the second verse she details her struggles to forget about him and the negative effects of her failure. “Thought of callin’ ya, but you won’t pick up / ‘Nother fortnight lost in America,” Post Malone sings in the outro.
"Grandpa, here's your coffee,"
Said Edith, as she filled his cup.
"Nobody'll find you here,
And Earl is glad you guys showed up."
"The way things are downtown,
You might have to stay for awhile.
There was a helicopter hovering over your house
When I talked to your neighbor, Kyle."
"Who the hell do they think they are,
Invading our home like that?
Grandma and I had to leave so fast,
We couldn't even catch the cat."
"The helicopter scared the shit out of him,
And it took off down a trail,
Down past the railroad tracks,
Towards the county jail."
"Jed, you really screwed up now!
What did you have to do that for?
Everybody wants to hang your ass,
And here's a note from Lenore."
Sun touched the cold steel bars
As she slipped the letter in.
Jed took it up and read it
And he couldn't hide a grin.
Outside the jail window
A crow flew across the sky,
Completely disappearing behind each bar.
Then a helicopter flew by.
"Say hi to Earl and Edith.
Tell'em I'm doing fine.
Tell'em you're old enough to leave home now,
And they ought to cut the line."
"Can Grandma come and see me?
I got a new song to sing
It's longer than all the others combined
And it doesn't mean a thing."
The noise was unfamiliar.
Walkie-talkies squealing,
Generators were running,
Vans parked outside in the field.
TV crews and cameras,
They wanted to interview Grandpa on the porch.
They came through the gate and up on the lawn,
Knocking down Edith's tiki torch.
And Grandpa saw them there,
Looking through the venetian blind.
"Those people don't have any respect,
So they won't get any of mine."
"I don't wanna talk about Jed.
I don't watch channel 2 or 6 or 9.
I don't have time to talk that fast,
And it ain't my crime."
"It ain't a privilage to be on TV.
And it ain't a duty either.
The only good thing about TV
Is shows like Leave it to Beaver."
"Shows with 'Love and Affection,'
Like Mama used to say.
A little Mayberry living
Could go a long long way."
Grandpa took Earl's shotgun down from the closet,
And he loaded up both barrels.
He went out on the porch and fired'em off,
And up walked a woman named Carol.
"Susan Carol from Early Magazine,
I got some questions to ask."
"Well you can stick'em where the sun don't shine!"
Grandpa said with a gasp.
Then he fell face first and let out a sigh,
And Edith ran out in shock.
Grandpa was looking at her from down on the floor,
He looked like he was trying to talk.
"That guy just keeps singin'!
Can somebody shut him up?
I don't know for the life of me
Where he comes up with that stuff."
They laid his head on a newspaper
With a picture of Carmichael on the front page,
Posing with the little league baseball team,
And a seedy shot of Jed on a motorcycle.
Grandpa died like a hero,
Fighting for freedom of silence.
Trying to stop the media,
Trying to be anonymous.
Share your lovin' and you live so long.
Share your lovin' and you live so long.
Share your lovin' and you live so long.
Live so long.
Said Edith, as she filled his cup.
"Nobody'll find you here,
And Earl is glad you guys showed up."
"The way things are downtown,
You might have to stay for awhile.
There was a helicopter hovering over your house
When I talked to your neighbor, Kyle."
"Who the hell do they think they are,
Invading our home like that?
Grandma and I had to leave so fast,
We couldn't even catch the cat."
"The helicopter scared the shit out of him,
And it took off down a trail,
Down past the railroad tracks,
Towards the county jail."
"Jed, you really screwed up now!
What did you have to do that for?
Everybody wants to hang your ass,
And here's a note from Lenore."
Sun touched the cold steel bars
As she slipped the letter in.
Jed took it up and read it
And he couldn't hide a grin.
Outside the jail window
A crow flew across the sky,
Completely disappearing behind each bar.
Then a helicopter flew by.
"Say hi to Earl and Edith.
Tell'em I'm doing fine.
Tell'em you're old enough to leave home now,
And they ought to cut the line."
"Can Grandma come and see me?
I got a new song to sing
It's longer than all the others combined
And it doesn't mean a thing."
The noise was unfamiliar.
Walkie-talkies squealing,
Generators were running,
Vans parked outside in the field.
TV crews and cameras,
They wanted to interview Grandpa on the porch.
They came through the gate and up on the lawn,
Knocking down Edith's tiki torch.
And Grandpa saw them there,
Looking through the venetian blind.
"Those people don't have any respect,
So they won't get any of mine."
"I don't wanna talk about Jed.
I don't watch channel 2 or 6 or 9.
I don't have time to talk that fast,
And it ain't my crime."
"It ain't a privilage to be on TV.
And it ain't a duty either.
The only good thing about TV
Is shows like Leave it to Beaver."
"Shows with 'Love and Affection,'
Like Mama used to say.
A little Mayberry living
Could go a long long way."
Grandpa took Earl's shotgun down from the closet,
And he loaded up both barrels.
He went out on the porch and fired'em off,
And up walked a woman named Carol.
"Susan Carol from Early Magazine,
I got some questions to ask."
"Well you can stick'em where the sun don't shine!"
Grandpa said with a gasp.
Then he fell face first and let out a sigh,
And Edith ran out in shock.
Grandpa was looking at her from down on the floor,
He looked like he was trying to talk.
"That guy just keeps singin'!
Can somebody shut him up?
I don't know for the life of me
Where he comes up with that stuff."
They laid his head on a newspaper
With a picture of Carmichael on the front page,
Posing with the little league baseball team,
And a seedy shot of Jed on a motorcycle.
Grandpa died like a hero,
Fighting for freedom of silence.
Trying to stop the media,
Trying to be anonymous.
Share your lovin' and you live so long.
Share your lovin' and you live so long.
Share your lovin' and you live so long.
Live so long.
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Fortnight
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The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
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This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
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yeah its a grate song, really underrated.