Taylor Swift’s new song ‘Castles Crumbling’ has a hidden message behind her lyrics

Chorus: Taylor Swift & Hayley WilliamsAnd I feel like my castle’s crumbling downAnd I watch all my bridges burn to the groundAnd you don’t want to know me, I will just let you downYou don’t wanna know me now

Bridge: Taylor SwiftMy foes and friends watch my reign endI don’t know how it could’ve ended this waySmoke billows from my ships in the harborPeople look at me like I’m a monsterNow they’re screamin’ at the palace’s front gatesUsed to chant my nameNow they’re screaming that they hate meNever wanted you to hate me

Chorus: Taylor Swift & Hayley WilliamsMy castle’s crumbling downAnd I watch all my bridges burn to the groundAnd you don’t want to know me, I will just let you down (Just let you down)My castle’s crumbling downYou don’t wanna know me now, now

Outro: Taylor Swift(Once, I had an empire)(Once, I had an empire)(Once, I had an empire)

Fans are likening the song to some of Taylor’s newer tracks like ‘Anti-Hero’, ‘Nothing New’ and ‘Mirrorball’. “Castles crumbling is for the Anti-Hero, Mirrorball, and Archer self deprecation girlies,” one Swiftie tweeted.

Yet, as with all TS songs, there’s often a deeper meaning to the lyrics and it can reflect a moment or something that happened in Taylor’s life. Just take ‘Dear John’, a song also included on Speak Now that was written about Taylor’s brief relationship with John Mayer. So, what do the lyrics of Castles Crumbling actually mean?

“I heard the song and was super impressed by the storytelling in it,” Hayley Williams recently told Coup de Main magazine. “Which is no surprise because it’s a Taylor Swift song, but it’s about an experience that both of us have shared growing up in the public eye, and I just felt very honoured to sing about that feeling.”

With this in mind, it’s easy to see how the lyrics touch on the pressure of being in the public eye. The first verse, “Once, I had an empire in a golden age/I was held up so high, I used to be great/They used to cheer when they saw my face/Now, I fear I have fallen from grace” reflects Taylors feelings from the time period.

Back in 2010, her dating life was often the centre of tabloid fodder, and she was transitioning from country music to pop music which many were skeptical about at the time. So these lyrics may reflect how she felt she went from country’s golden girl to the subject of gossip and cynicism.

This notion is cemented with the lyrics: “Once, I was the great hope for a dynasty/Crowds would hang on my words and they trusted me/Their faith was strong, but I pushed it too far/I held that grudge ’til it tore me apart.” These speak of her being part of the revival of country music and bringing it to a younger generation, a weight that felt too heavy on her shoulders.

Thankfully, 13 years later we still love TS as much as ever and will listen to any music she chooses to put out into the world, country, pop or whatever, we’re here for it.