The beginning of what is arguably Taylor Swift’s most vulnerable and intimate song starts with a sharp exhale to indicate the hopelessness she is experiencing. The recurring sound of a heartbeat in the background, along with rhetoric such as “cure,” “sick,” and “bleed,” produces an analogy between a patient coding in a hospital and her relationship being in its final stages.
The song continues with a steady beat and melancholy tone as she grapples with the indecision of whether she should leave the dying relationship or stay. With the lyrics “my face was gray, but you wouldn’t admit that we were sick,” Taylor paints a picture of the mental toll the slow death of her relationship has done to her. It also emphasizes her partner’s denial and deliberate ignorance towards the dissatisfaction Taylor feels in the relationship. The partner pays attention to Taylor’s despair too late as she sings, “now, you’re running down the hallway,” which paints the scene of a patient’s partner frantically searching for a doctor to save a coding patient but it being too late to save them as she admits defeat with the lyric, “I can’t find a pulse.”
One can sense the desperation grow as Taylor’s voice becomes stronger and the beat gets louder. She becomes consumed with desperation and loses her self-control and dignity as she lashes out and angrily exclaims, “I’m the best thing at this party.” All sense of self-preservation is lost as she continues to say, “don’t you ignore me,” with an exasperated tone.
She begins pleading with her partner to “do something” and respond before it’s too late. Taylor Swift is essentially trying to get her partner to pull out the resuscitation procedures, CPR, intubation, defibrillation, anything to keep her alive. Taylor Swift plays with the analogy by titling the song “you’re losing me” which is similar to hospital staff saying, “we’re losing them.”
Taylor Swift displays intimate emotion as she purposely leaves in sighs of exhaustion throughout the song. Additionally, she attacks herself and tells the world her deepest flaw and weakness of being a “pathological people pleaser.” In four minutes and 37 seconds, Taylor Swift pours her heart out and trusts fans with her raw vulnerability. On a final note, the American Heart Association stated that the song has 103 beats per minute which is the “right tempo” for hands-only CPR.
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