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.
She makes me so unsure of myself
Standing there but never ever talking sense
Just a visitor you see
So much wanting to be seen
She'd open up the door and vaguely carry us away
It's the customary thing to say or do
To a disappointed proud man in his grief
And on Fridays she'd be there
But on Mondays not at all
Just casually appearing from the clock across the hall
Here it goes (la la la)
Here it goes (la la la)
I'm the church and I've come
To claim you with my iron drum
La la la
The Continent's just fallen in disgrace
William, William, William Rogers put it in its place
Blood and tears from old Japan
Caravans and lots of jam and maids of honor
Singing, crying, singing tediously
Here it goes (la la la)
Here it goes (la la la)
I'm the bishop and I've come
To claim you with my iron drum
La la la
Efficiency, efficiency they say
Get to know the date and tell the time of day
As the crowds begin complaining
How the Beaujolais is raining
Down on darkened meetings on the Champs Elysee
Here it goes (la la la)
Here it goes (la la la)
I'm the church and I've come
To claim you with my iron drum
La la la
Standing there but never ever talking sense
Just a visitor you see
So much wanting to be seen
She'd open up the door and vaguely carry us away
It's the customary thing to say or do
To a disappointed proud man in his grief
And on Fridays she'd be there
But on Mondays not at all
Just casually appearing from the clock across the hall
Here it goes (la la la)
Here it goes (la la la)
I'm the church and I've come
To claim you with my iron drum
La la la
The Continent's just fallen in disgrace
William, William, William Rogers put it in its place
Blood and tears from old Japan
Caravans and lots of jam and maids of honor
Singing, crying, singing tediously
Here it goes (la la la)
Here it goes (la la la)
I'm the bishop and I've come
To claim you with my iron drum
La la la
Efficiency, efficiency they say
Get to know the date and tell the time of day
As the crowds begin complaining
How the Beaujolais is raining
Down on darkened meetings on the Champs Elysee
Here it goes (la la la)
Here it goes (la la la)
I'm the church and I've come
To claim you with my iron drum
La la la
Lyrics submitted by Greyshoes, edited by Wouterkaas
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Fortnight
Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
The song is about a failed wedding in the wake of WWI, as such using the runaway bride as a metaphor for Europe's tentative peace.
the third verse and the choruses seem to hint at the idea of crusades/driving people out of their land.
or maybe it's about being stood up at a wedding?
Key phrase: "The continent's just fallen in disgrace." Everyone was relieved WWI was over, but also aware nothing had been resolved (and the situation had in fact become worse, as is clear in hindsight).
The title of the album refers obliquely to diplomatic meetings which took place after the war. Though in exactly what way, I can't explicate. Perhaps it was more of a jumping-off point, as opposed to a theme. Most of the songs seem more personal, with occasional political or cultural references.
"William William" etc. could be Leighton William Rogers. I don't know. My knowledge of world history is poor (as is typical of Americans).
A wonderful phrase, isn't it: "...open up the door and vaguely carry us away," somewhat reminiscent of "seducing down the door" from Paris 1919's lead-off track "A Child's Christmas in Wales".
Though my favorite here has to be "maids of honor singing crying singing tediously," Cale's brilliant phrasing maintaining the same tone of melancholy whimsy as elsewhere, avoiding lapsing into silliness. Not an easy trick; compare Robyn Hitchcock's "My Wife and My Dead Wife" (also a great song but definitely silly).
I’m fairly certain that “William William William Rogers” has to be Capt. WIlliam Wendell Rogers, the British WWI flying ace: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Wendell_Rogers
I was missing the obvious. The Paris Peace Talks of 1919 led to the Treaty of Versailles. In which the contemporary political and intellectual giants of Europe utterly failed to make The War to End All Wars live up to its billing in any shape or form. Thus inadvertently laying the groundwork for the second Great War.
I think William William etc. refers to the famous American journalist, humorist, and performing artist "Will" Rogers, who wrote a short collectiom titled "The Cowboy Philosopher on the Peace Conference" at about this same time.
@akronzipfan I think you've got it: goodreads.com/book/show/11215835-rogers-isms-the-cowboy-philosopher-on-the-peace-conference
As for the chorus and its "drum." two ghostly possibilities come to mind: a reference to either the Drummer of Tedworth, or the Drummer of Cortachy?
A great song.
I was just listening to it and had the thought that perhaps Cale is using the metaphor of Paris in 1919 to comment on his own times?
What made me think that is that the line "William, William, William Rogers" might be a reference to President Richard M. Nixon's Secretary of State from 1969-1973 William Rogers. That William Rogers was deeply involved in the Paris Peace Talks which eventually ended the Vietnam War.
I just read in an interview with Cale that William Rogers is the American humorist etc, who he said was one who foresaw the disaster of the Versailles Treaty and spoke of it. The song was influenced by the time of it's writing during the Cold War , Vietnam etc.. He saw analogies between the post WW1 era and the 70's.
this song is so great.