I'm walking fast through the traffic lights
Busy streets and busy lives
And all we know
Is touch and go
We are alone with our changing minds
We fall in love 'til it hurts or bleeds
Or fades in time

And I never
(Never)
Saw you coming
And I'll never
(Never)
Be the same

You come around and the armor falls
Pierce the room like a cannon ball
Now all we know
Is don't let go
We are alone, just you and me
Up in your room and our slates are clean
Just twin fire signs
Four blue eyes

So you were never a saint
And I loved in shades of wrong
We learn to live with the pain
Mosaic broken hearts
But this love is great and wild

And I never (oh-oh, oh-oh, ouh-ooh)
(Never)
Saw you coming (oh-oh, oh-oh, ouh-ooh)
(Oh-oh, oh-oh, ouh-ooh)
(Oh-oh, oh-oh, ouh-ooh)
And I'll never (oh-oh, oh-oh, ouh-ooh)
(Never)
Be the same

This is a state of grace
This is the worth while fight
Love is a ruthless game
Unless you play it good and right
These are the hands of fate
You're my Achilles heel
This is the golden age of something good
And right and real

And I never
(Never)
Saw you coming
And I'll never
Be the same
Yeah, oh-oh

And I never (oh-oh, oh-oh, ouh-ooh)
(Never)
Saw you coming (oh-oh, oh-oh, ouh-ooh)
(Oh-oh, oh-oh, ouh-ooh)
(Oh-oh, oh-oh, ouh-ooh)
And I'll never (oh-oh, oh-oh, ouh-ooh)
(So you were never a saint)
(And I loved in shades of wrong)
Be the same (we learn to live with the pain)
(Mosaic broken hearts)
(But this love is great and wild)

This is a state of grace
This is the worth while fight
Love is a ruthless game
Unless you play it good and right


Lyrics submitted by Taymay, edited by jojoinpink54, evyeniarocks, Arionna Green

State of Grace Lyrics as written by Taylor Alison Swift

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

State of Grace song meanings
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14 Comments

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  • +6
    My Interpretation

    This song mainly speaks for itself- It's about falling in love and that amazing feeling that everything is going to work out finally! The message in the album is "I love you doesn't count after goodbye." I do believe this one is about JG because of the two fire signs and 4 blue eyes (they are both of the Sagittarius sign and both have blue eyes).

    tiffanytwilighton October 22, 2012   Link
  • +5
    My Interpretation

    To me, personally, this song speaks so much more than simply falling in love.

    For the past 6 years, I've been best friends with a guy, and it has never been more than that -- believe me when I say this too. Ever since we were 14, he has always just been my go-to friend; I could go to him for advice on boys, family, other friends, etc (and vice versa). However, just in the past year, we have began cuddling, being more affectionate, etc., but still never crossing the line of our friendship. This never really stood out to me as a big deal, because I guess I just felt so comfortable with him that, at the time, I didn't even notice. He was never someone I had ever considered dating, because we were such great friends. Now, we are both in college (he's in NYC -- 400+ miles away from me), and we have still managed to be each other's support system. The only thing is, after coming back from a recent visit to see him, I realized I've fallen in love with this kid...

    So, let's get to this interpretation:

    "I'm walking fast through the traffic lights Busy streets and busy lives And all we know is touch and go We are alone with our changing minds We fall in love till it hurts or bleeds, or fades in time" --We are both so caught up in our busy college lives, that it never occurred to me how much I actually care for him until I had to leave my weekend with him. Now, I'm sitting here (by myself) realizing how much my mind and feelings have changed for him.

    "And I never saw you coming And I’ll never be the same" --Speaks to me the most, because I really truly didn't see this coming. For the past 6 years, he was always someone who was one of the greatest friends I've ever had, and now out of nowhere, my love for him has fallen into something deeper.

    "So you were never a saint, And I’ve loved in shades of wrong. We learn to live with the pain, Mosaic broken hearts, But this love is brave and wild." --To me, I know just about everything when it comes to his previous love life; how he's treated other girls, done stupid guy things, etc. And for me, I have 'loved in shades of wrong,' I have been cheated on, overlooked, and messed with by other guys. At the end of the day, we both know these things about each other, and we still support and give each other the utmost respect. So our "love" has been the realest thing thus far.

    "This is a state of grace, This is the worthwhile fight. Love is a ruthless game Unless you play it good and right. These are the hands of fate. You’re my Achilles heel. This is the golden age of something good and right and real." --Again, just emphasizes how much he really is worth it to me

    Even though this is intended to be a happy & uplifting song, every time I hear it, I want to bawl my eyes out. I've totally fallen in love with him, and I don't know how, or if I should even let him know. This has been one of the biggest (and probably only) secret I'm keeping from him

    emysp728on November 02, 2012   Link
  • +5
    General Comment

    Fall asleep to the Acoustic version playing quietly.... its almost as if she is there, singing it to you. As a guy, I secretly love that.

    Sullyman0012on November 10, 2012   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    What a happy, uplifting & fun song! The feeling of new love and being on top of the world.

    Then compare the acoustic version - same words and meaning, but leaves a completely different feeling, almost conveys tears of happiness. So much emotion when she sings.

    Love both versions.

    beacheson November 01, 2012   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    This song finds Taylor singing of those blissed out days when you first fall in love. "And I never saw you coming . And I'll never be the same again," she sings. While previewing the song on Good Morning America, Taylor explained: "I wrote this song about when you first fall in love with someone. The possibilities. Kind of thinking about the different ways that it could go."

    The song marked Swift's first foray into arena rock. Rolling Stone described the tune as a "howling, U2-style epic with reverb-drenched guitars." Said Swift: "It's a really big sound. To me, this sounds like the feeling of falling in love in an epic way."

    An alternative acoustic rendering of this song can be heard on the Deluxe version of Red. "The version on the Target release is really acoustic and like emotional and sweet," Swift told MTV News.

    musicrocks13on November 12, 2012   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    i fell in love with this song's both versions ! i can relate to it in every possible way that i get into , in my life

    MahSaaon November 19, 2012   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    I love Taylor Swift!

    ComradeJNCon June 12, 2013   Link
  • +1
    My Interpretation

    I think the story that Taylor made goes around the happenings after a sudden break-up, separation or major misunderstanding between two young lovers who then realized that they can't let go off their feelings for each other. The first chorus indicates how the girl was ready to move on over the guy but suddenly on second verse, the guy appeared. They were locked and alone in his room and then of course, the fire would burn their hearts so they end up making out with her realization that the guy he thinks so pure and nice is such a wild and passionate in making love in bed. The second chorus just explained how she lost her virginity for the very first time that's why she will never be the same again anymore, no more innocence. The bridge is where she gets her satisfaction that it was good that they had all their tragic that forced them to admit their true feelings. And lastly, the couple of chorus is a mix of reminiscing how she lost her virginity and innocence.

    BeigeNovelon June 09, 2013   Link
  • +1
    Song Meaning

    I love this song so much, its my favorite song. and I love taylor sooo much. well anyway, here is what i think it's about.

    "I'm walking fast through the traffic lights" --I actually just found out yesterday what this means. Taylor once said in an interview that she thinks of relationships like traffic lights, and she believes they can only work when they're on green. So if she's walking fast through the traffic light that means that she is moving quickly through this relationship.

    "Busy streets and busy lives, and all we know is touch and go." --I think this is talking about life in general and how we all have our own issues and problems and all we really know is that we can't be sure of anything because anything that we know could change at any time.

    "We are alone with our changing minds. We fall in love till it hurts or bleeds or fades in time." --She knows that, just like anything we know could change at any time, also our feelings could change any time without knowing its coming. You could be in love one day and then the next day it could end or fade away. I think this verse is overall just talking about love in general and what she knows about it.

    "And I never saw you coming, and I'll never be the same." --I like how the chorus is so simple. She's just basically stating the point. This part is self explanatory - she never thought she would fall in love with this guy (I'm like 99% sure its jake gyllenhaal) and she will never be the same after.

    "You come around and the armor falls, pierce the room like a cannonball." --This verse is more about the relationship specifically. She feels like she can be herself around him. And his presence is so strong it "pierces the room."

    "Now all we know is don't let go." --This basically just means that they both don't want to let go of this relationship.

    "We are alone just you and me up in your room and our slates are clean." --This is about when they were first getting to know eachother and they didnt really know anything about one another aka their slates were clean.

    "Just twin fire signs, four blue eyes." --This is why I'm almost sure its about jake. Taylor and jake are both sagittarius's - fire signs. And they both have blue eyes. Someone in the earlier comments said this is about connor, but it can't be because he has green eyes, and we know that even taylor thinks so because in everything has changed (which is definetly about him because the secret message is HYANNISPORT) she says "all I've seen since 18 hours ago is GREEN eyes..."

    "So you were never a saint, and I loved in shades of wrong." She knew from the beginning that he wasn't perfect or a good guy, (not that he was a bad guy, like John Mayer) but she didn't really care. She loved him for it, and I think it was probably a different kind of love than she'd ever had, because she had never loved "in shades of wrong" before.

    "We learn to live with the pain, mosaic broken hearts." --She knows that most relationships come to and end and finding love is just a cycle of being in love and then having your heart broken and being sad, and everyone must learn to live with the pain of heartbreak and keep putting it back together in order to find the one. I think she knows that this relationship may not last but she is just enjoying while it does.

    "But this love is brave and wild" --again, this is a different kind of love than she's ever experienced. This song uses different kinds of words than she's ever written into her songs. Brave and wild is a unusual way to describe a love for taylor, considering all the past ways she described it, so I think this is a really different kind of love for her. But I think she really enjoyed it.

    "This is a state of grace" --This just pretty much is talking about how she's in the period between finding love and breaking her heart where she feels really good and happy, and it feels like a state of grace.

    "This is the worthwhile fight" --by "this" I think she just means love in general, not this specific relationship. If she was talking about this relationship she would say "A worthwhile fight," but she says "THE worthwhile fight" so i think she just means that love is the worthwhile fight. She thinks that love, despite the pain of heartbreak or the struggle of finding someone, is worth fighting for.

    "Love is a ruthless game unless you play it good and right." --She is saying that unless you get it right, and you probably wont the first few times, love is ruthless and will put you through lots of pain.

    "These are the hands of fate" --I think she is saying that all of these things that she's been through - the love that went wrong, the relationships she messed up, the times she's had her heart broken - all were meant to happen because they built her into the person she is now and she has become stronger in love because of it.

    "You're my achilles heel." --An achilles heel is like a weakness, so she basically means that this guy is her one weakness.

    "This is the golden age of something good and right and real." --This is kind of like the "state of grace" part. Before this relationship, she was alone and probably just getting over someone. After this relationship, she will be sad and have to get over someone all over again. But right now, she is in the golden age - the happy in between part. This song is a lot about that. She talks about the before and after of relationships compared to while they're actually happening ("this is a state of grace," "this is the golden age," "I never saw you coming and I'll never be the same.")

    That's my interpretation of the song, I may have some parts wrong, but I think its probably pretty close to right!

    evyeniarockson August 18, 2013   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    This song is about the amazing feeling when you fall in love. Its like the world is spinning and you feel so happy :)

    Vegancocoon October 31, 2012   Link

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