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.
I: Introduction/The Water
I am the water
I am the ocean king
I own the red sky
I am the one who makes...
Dreams...
Real
II: When It All Goes to Hell
There you are
It's soft and it's red
Floating free
In your own private bed
Then one day
You're pushed down a well
And you feel your funny bone crack
When it all goes to hell
You come into
A world cold and bright
And after a while
It all seems alright
You dance and play
But it's too soon to tell
That you'll find yourself scathed and attacked
When it all goes to hell
When it all goes to hell
And you don't even try to get up
When it all goes to hell
III: A Thief in the Night
I was a general
Of darkness and light
I was to be the major man
It was some kind of sight
I was going to stand alone
And do what was right
Now I'm just another stepping stone
A thief in the night
So where were all of those
Angels and priests
Who said they'd carry me
Beyond my beliefs
Where are all of them now
They're gone from my sight
My mother and father deserted me
Like thieves in the night
Yes, where are all of them now
They're gone from my side
My mother and father deserted me
Like thieves in the night
I was the water
I was the ocean king
I ruled the red sky
I could do anything
'Til you, you
You messed me up
You, you
You all messed me up
IV: FU/I'm Sorry
You gave me this home and then you left me alone
FUCK YOU
You act real nice while you're exacting your price
FUCK YOU
Everyone's got their opinions
They'll tell ya 'bout 'em all the time
What makes 'em think i wanna hear them
I wish that you'd all fucking die, die, DIE!
You don't give a shit about anything
FUCK YOU
I don't know why you even bother to live
FUCK YOU
Everyone's so pathetic
Always talking all the time
What makes them think that
I give half a shit what's on their minds, minds, MINDS!
FUCK YOU
[if the truth were told I really hate myself]
FUCK YOU
FUCK YOU
FUCK YOU
FUCK YOU!
I'm so sorry
I really am so, so sorry
If I ever hurt you or caused you pain
I can't help it
I really, really just can't help it
When the madman's on the rise again
Can you understand what it's like?
You all must understand what it's like
I can't help what happened to me
Sometimes it just comes out now can't you see
Please understand and don't
Don't hate me
I'm so sorry
I really am so, so sorry
If I ever hurt you or caused you pain
If you don't understand it's all the same
I guess I'll just be left alone again...
V: The Water (revisited)
I am the water
I am the ocean king
I own the red sky
I am the one who makes...
You...
Feel
VI: Runnin' the Race
Mocks and spots
Rip up your face
But all that counts
Is that you get to first base
Tension mouths
Then it's put in its place
And you're finally having some fun
When you're runnin' the race
Chinatown
Is off to your left
The motor pool
Is there on the right
Tension in dot matrix
Right in your face
And you're finally having some fun
While you're runnin' the race
And you're finally having some fun
While you're runnin' the race
Runnin' the race
Runnin' the race
VII: Reach for the Sky
After we've gone
After the moon rises
And the red flags fly
Gonna reach for the sky
Gonna hold my head up high
Gonna reach for the sky
Storm ragin'
That'll be alright
If we reach for the sky
Yeah we reach for the sky
Guess there never was...
A winner
Just a race against time
I was mean - I was kind
Eventhough I was blind
I still reach for the sky
Storm ragin'
That'll be alright
If we reach for the sky
Yeah we reach for the sky
Come on people
Reach for the sky...
I am the water
I am the ocean king
I own the red sky
I am the one who makes...
Dreams...
Real
II: When It All Goes to Hell
There you are
It's soft and it's red
Floating free
In your own private bed
Then one day
You're pushed down a well
And you feel your funny bone crack
When it all goes to hell
You come into
A world cold and bright
And after a while
It all seems alright
You dance and play
But it's too soon to tell
That you'll find yourself scathed and attacked
When it all goes to hell
When it all goes to hell
And you don't even try to get up
When it all goes to hell
III: A Thief in the Night
I was a general
Of darkness and light
I was to be the major man
It was some kind of sight
I was going to stand alone
And do what was right
Now I'm just another stepping stone
A thief in the night
So where were all of those
Angels and priests
Who said they'd carry me
Beyond my beliefs
Where are all of them now
They're gone from my sight
My mother and father deserted me
Like thieves in the night
Yes, where are all of them now
They're gone from my side
My mother and father deserted me
Like thieves in the night
I was the water
I was the ocean king
I ruled the red sky
I could do anything
'Til you, you
You messed me up
You, you
You all messed me up
IV: FU/I'm Sorry
You gave me this home and then you left me alone
FUCK YOU
You act real nice while you're exacting your price
FUCK YOU
Everyone's got their opinions
They'll tell ya 'bout 'em all the time
What makes 'em think i wanna hear them
I wish that you'd all fucking die, die, DIE!
You don't give a shit about anything
FUCK YOU
I don't know why you even bother to live
FUCK YOU
Everyone's so pathetic
Always talking all the time
What makes them think that
I give half a shit what's on their minds, minds, MINDS!
FUCK YOU
[if the truth were told I really hate myself]
FUCK YOU
FUCK YOU
FUCK YOU
FUCK YOU!
I'm so sorry
I really am so, so sorry
If I ever hurt you or caused you pain
I can't help it
I really, really just can't help it
When the madman's on the rise again
Can you understand what it's like?
You all must understand what it's like
I can't help what happened to me
Sometimes it just comes out now can't you see
Please understand and don't
Don't hate me
I'm so sorry
I really am so, so sorry
If I ever hurt you or caused you pain
If you don't understand it's all the same
I guess I'll just be left alone again...
V: The Water (revisited)
I am the water
I am the ocean king
I own the red sky
I am the one who makes...
You...
Feel
VI: Runnin' the Race
Mocks and spots
Rip up your face
But all that counts
Is that you get to first base
Tension mouths
Then it's put in its place
And you're finally having some fun
When you're runnin' the race
Chinatown
Is off to your left
The motor pool
Is there on the right
Tension in dot matrix
Right in your face
And you're finally having some fun
While you're runnin' the race
And you're finally having some fun
While you're runnin' the race
Runnin' the race
Runnin' the race
VII: Reach for the Sky
After we've gone
After the moon rises
And the red flags fly
Gonna reach for the sky
Gonna hold my head up high
Gonna reach for the sky
Storm ragin'
That'll be alright
If we reach for the sky
Yeah we reach for the sky
Guess there never was...
A winner
Just a race against time
I was mean - I was kind
Eventhough I was blind
I still reach for the sky
Storm ragin'
That'll be alright
If we reach for the sky
Yeah we reach for the sky
Come on people
Reach for the sky...
Lyrics submitted by Idan
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Fortnight
Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Little Feat
Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
American Town
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
I've been double-commenting a lot; sorry about that. Err... all I've found so far is that Neil Morse says:
"The Water" is about being in the womb and thinking you're Godlike and then coming out into the world and being.... well.... rather disappointed.
...Which is pretty much how I perceive the song. It's almost a life story; a 23-minute story of one man's life and its ups and downs.
Great lyrics. It's very clear that this is the story of a lifetime and how the world is perceived (somewhat pessimistically) during its different stages.
I-II: Womb II-III: Childhood/growing up IV-V: Teenager V-VI: Young adult VII: Later adulthood
Nobody has commented on this? Whaaat?!
Mm, I wish I understood more about the song in general, but I don't. Obviously, it can mean a lot of different things, but I'm sure there's one central theme that I'm not smart enough to catch on to. I was expecting other people to have come and explained this, but nooo...!
Anyways, I was just gonna comment and say that I LOVE the part in 'FU/I'm Sorry' where all of his emotions just go wild and he's all "FUCK YOUUUUUU!" and then he gets rational for a second and says "If truth were told, I really hate myself. SO FUCK YOU!!!" I was listening to this the other day, after I'd had this huge emotional breakdown-ish-thing, and I could relate SO well. It completely described my mood at that instant. To me, it's like, all of his anger coming out, his hatred towards other people and people in general. And then his insecurities just crash down on him and he realizes that this anger is all directed towards HIM. It's not anyone else. It's not about his parents deserting him or anything else that anyone else has done so much as it is about his own self-hatred.
Least favorite on the album.
isn't whole life about "having some fun, while you're running the race"?