Taylor Swift's ‘imgonnagetyouback’ Lyrics And Their Double Meaning
19 April 2024, 08:25
Taylor Swift has left us all broken with ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ track list, especially after dropping 15 surprise songs including the heart-wrenching ‘imgonnagetyouback’.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
At 3.41 seconds ‘Imgonnagetyouback’ is one of many heartbreak tracks on Taylor Swift’s 11th studio album 'The Tortured Poets Department’ and one of the 15 surprise tracks she dropped with the 2am extended version ‘The Anthology’.
The lyrical genius that is Taylor has packed two very different meanings into her contradictory song ‘imgonnagetyouback’, thought to be all about her split from her ex-boyfriend Joe Alwyn, who she broke up with at the start of 2023 after six years together.
However, many of the songs could also be about Matty Healy, who Taylor briefly dated after her relationship with Joe ended. Taylor and Matty also briefly dated in 2014.
- Read more: Who And What Is Taylor Swift's Song ‘loml’ About?
- Read more: Are Taylor Swift's 'So Long, London' Lyrics About Joe Alwyn? The Heartbreaking Meaning Explained
- Read more: What are Taylor Swift's 'Fortnight' Lyrics About? The Meaning Explained
We’ve got a breakdown of ‘imgonnagetyouback’, including its meaning and lyrics below.
Who and what is ‘imgonnagetyouback’ about?
Taylor’s song ‘imgonnagetyouback’ is all about feeling torn whether she’s going to get back with an ex-boyfriend, as in rekindle their relationship, or get revenge, which we know, along with karma, Taylor loves to sing about.
In the lyrics she’s clearly torn between wanting to reunite with an old flame or smash up their belongings, i.e. the line: ‘Whether Im gonna be your wife / Or smash up your bike / I haven’t decided yet.’ We've been there, Tay.
Around the time of their breakup it was reported Taylor and Joe took time apart but eventually ended up back together before finally calling it quits last year.
As to why she’s merged the words in the title into one long word, it only proves how ‘I’m gonna get you back’ is really a throwaway phrase, but when used in the way Taylor is singing really has two very different intentions behind it.
What do the lyrics mean in ‘imgonnagetyouback’?
Taylor starts off ‘imgonnagetyouback’ with some classic lyrics: ‘Lilac short skirt, the one that fits me like skin / Did your research you know the price going in.’
Here it seems Taylor’s referencing when she and her ex, possibly Joe, first met he knew of her stardom and the level of scrutiny that came with it. Despite this, it was reported they broke up because Joe didn’t really ‘know’ Taylor outside of their bubble, having started dating when she was retreating from the spotlight in her ‘Reputation’ era and then going into lockdown together a couple of years later.
In one of the verses Taylor seems to sing about one of their first dates: ‘And I’ll tell you one thing, honey / I can tell when somebody still wants me / come clean, standing at the bar like somethings funny / But once you fix your face I’m going in.’
‘I’m going in’, again, could be going in for a kiss or ‘going in’ to a heated argument – Taylor’s epitomised the emotionally-torn lover we all have within us.
Taylor also seems to have included a heartbreaking nod to ‘Folklore’ which she wrote while at home with Joe in the pandemic. One ‘imgonnagetyouback’ lyric is: ‘Make you wanna think twice, but you were never not mine.’
This line is a big contrast to the line in ‘August’ where she sings: ‘And I can see us twisted in bedsheets / August sipped away like a bottle of wine / 'Cause you were never mine’ all about a love lost.
Taylor Swift shares cryptic message
Toward the end of ‘imgonnagetyouback’ Taylor sings about having a ‘reset’ and moving on, possibly with current boyfriend Travis Kelce or former flame Matty.
She sings:
I can feel it coming
In the way you move
Push the reset button
We’re becoming something new
See you got somebody else
Say I got someone else too
Even if it’s him, I'm leaving here with you
The contradictory feelings are clear, and we think we can all relate to an emotionally confused Taylor.
Listen live to Capital, and catch up on any shows you missed, on Global Player.
