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.
Oh, well, the world never seemed bigger
Than the summer of '98
Living out in the suburbs
Planning my escape
I grew my hair to my shoulders
Formed a band with a couple of friends
And we called ourselves The Devils Playhouse
Influences like Bruce and the band
And we'd sing and play
Simple three chord rock and roll
And miles away
The other kids would just grow old
But we're making our own way out
Yeah, we're making our own way out
Well, we'd practice every week in my bedroom
While my parents were working in town
And one morning in our school assembly
Played a cover of "Don't Let Me Down"
The performance was nervous and awkward
But the passion was real and profound
And the kids in the audience laughing
While the band just looked at the ground
But the victory
For the kids who believe in rock and roll
I know for me
That performance lives, it never grows old
But we're making our own way out
Yeah, we're making our own way out
Well, I'd give it all back just to do it again
Yeah, I'd turn back time, be with my friends
Yeah, I'd give it all back just to do it again
Turn back time, be with my friends
Yeah, I'd give it all back just to do it again
Turn back time and be with my friends
Yeah, I'd give it all back just to do it again
Turn back time, be with my friends
Tonight
Than the summer of '98
Living out in the suburbs
Planning my escape
I grew my hair to my shoulders
Formed a band with a couple of friends
And we called ourselves The Devils Playhouse
Influences like Bruce and the band
And we'd sing and play
Simple three chord rock and roll
And miles away
The other kids would just grow old
But we're making our own way out
Yeah, we're making our own way out
Well, we'd practice every week in my bedroom
While my parents were working in town
And one morning in our school assembly
Played a cover of "Don't Let Me Down"
The performance was nervous and awkward
But the passion was real and profound
And the kids in the audience laughing
While the band just looked at the ground
But the victory
For the kids who believe in rock and roll
I know for me
That performance lives, it never grows old
But we're making our own way out
Yeah, we're making our own way out
Well, I'd give it all back just to do it again
Yeah, I'd turn back time, be with my friends
Yeah, I'd give it all back just to do it again
Turn back time, be with my friends
Yeah, I'd give it all back just to do it again
Turn back time and be with my friends
Yeah, I'd give it all back just to do it again
Turn back time, be with my friends
Tonight
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More Featured Meanings
Fortnight
Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him.
There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
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.
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
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,
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
Odd song...it's the opposite of the other songs on the album which are about coming to terms with life and stepping forward.