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.
My house burned down in a flash of thunder
My wife ran off with a one legged plumber
My crops fell dead when the riverbed went dry
My dog got squashed by a pickup truck
My son ran away and got hooked on drugs
My daughter's knocked up by the class of '85
People say that life is good
It don't seem good to me
I'm lost without a paddle
And I'm headed up shit creek
People say that life is fun
But I don't know why
As far as I can tell
Life sucks, then you die
The government dumps its toxic waste
Right on top of my mother's grave
A team of experts say it won't do her no harm
But my sheep went crazy and killed my mule
I cut off my dick with a power tool
Fixin' the hole where the meteor hit the barn
And it hurt too
People say that life is good
But I just piss and moan
I got one foot on a banana peel
The other in the Twilight Zone
People say that life is fun
But I don't know why
As far as I can tell
Life sucks, then you die
Let me hear some yee-haws out there
I went to the store to buy some shells
My gun went off and blew the owner to hell
Now I'm sittin' here in jail, singin' this song
And one guy wants to cut me with a knife
Another guy wants me to be his wife, hey
I wish they'd hang me before somethin' really goes wrong
People say that life is good
Give thanks for what you have
When all you have is nothin'
Nothin' makes you glad
People say that life is fun
But I don't know why
As far as I can tell
Life sucks, then you die
I said, people say that life is fun
But I don't know why
As far as I can tell
Life sucks
Life sucks
Life sucks, then you die
My wife ran off with a one legged plumber
My crops fell dead when the riverbed went dry
My dog got squashed by a pickup truck
My son ran away and got hooked on drugs
My daughter's knocked up by the class of '85
People say that life is good
It don't seem good to me
I'm lost without a paddle
And I'm headed up shit creek
People say that life is fun
But I don't know why
As far as I can tell
Life sucks, then you die
The government dumps its toxic waste
Right on top of my mother's grave
A team of experts say it won't do her no harm
But my sheep went crazy and killed my mule
I cut off my dick with a power tool
Fixin' the hole where the meteor hit the barn
And it hurt too
People say that life is good
But I just piss and moan
I got one foot on a banana peel
The other in the Twilight Zone
People say that life is fun
But I don't know why
As far as I can tell
Life sucks, then you die
Let me hear some yee-haws out there
I went to the store to buy some shells
My gun went off and blew the owner to hell
Now I'm sittin' here in jail, singin' this song
And one guy wants to cut me with a knife
Another guy wants me to be his wife, hey
I wish they'd hang me before somethin' really goes wrong
People say that life is good
Give thanks for what you have
When all you have is nothin'
Nothin' makes you glad
People say that life is fun
But I don't know why
As far as I can tell
Life sucks, then you die
I said, people say that life is fun
But I don't know why
As far as I can tell
Life sucks
Life sucks
Life sucks, then you die
Lyrics submitted by BekkaZ
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More Featured Meanings
Fortnight
Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift
Standing On The Edge Of Summer
Thursday
Thursday
In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
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.
This is a song about life as a spiraling force moving through the universe, unencumbered by modular time concepts.