Taylor’s Vanishing Act: Full I Know Places Lyrical Analysis

I Know Places (Taylor’s Version) is a sneaky, sexy song akin to Getaway Car. Except this time, she’s being chased by “hunters” instead of an ex. 

Who are the “hunters” and why is Taylor a fox? Let’s dig into every metaphor and simile and pull apart what this track really means. 

Here’s my complete I Know Places analysis, line by line. 

I Know Places (Taylor’s Version) 

• Title: I Know Places (Taylor’s Version)
• Written by: Taylor Swift, Ryan Tedder
• Track: 12, 1989 (Taylor’s Version)
• Pen: Fountain
• Lyrics from Genius

I Know Places Lyrics Meaning: Narrative Synopsis

• Setting: Celebrity hunting ground. 
• Characters: Narrator (Taylor), subject (“you”, her love), “They” (the “hunters”). 
• Mood: Sly, secretive. 
• Conflict: They’re being “chased” by “hunters”. 
• Inciting Incident: Spotted with “your hand on my waistline” – they’re discovered to be a couple. 
• Quest: Escape to where they can’t be found. 
• Symbols & Metaphors: vultures, flames/fires, hunters and foxes (guns, cages), rescue. 
• Theme: Running away. 
• Imagery: “vultures circlin’, dark clouds,” “Love’s a fragile little flame, it could burn out,” “They are the hunters, we are the foxes and we run,” “chasing their tails tryin’ to track us down,” “Loose lips sink ships all the damn time,” “In the dead of night, your eyes so green.” 
• Lesson: Taylor might be the “problem,” but she’s also the solution. 

I Know Places (Taylor’s Version) Lyric Video

Who is I Know Places About? 

I Know Places is speculated to be about Taylor’s short-lived romance with Tom Hiddleston, whom she dated between the 1989 and Red eras. 

What is I Know Places About? 

The central metaphor in I Know Places is hunting, with Taylor and her lover being hunted down. This is likely a reference to the media storm that followed her romance with Tom Hiddleston. 

They were constantly hounded by paparazzi, and in the lyrics, Taylor worries that this will cause them to break up. 

I Know Places lyrics describe Taylor knowing a secret hideaway where they can escape and hide from the “hunters.” 

I Know Places Analysis: Line by Line

The opening verse describes Taylor and her lover in public: “you stand with your hand on my waistline / it’s a scene and we’re out here in plain sight.” 

“Hand on my waistline” is an intimate gesture, cluing bystanders in that they are a couple. 

“It’s a scene” could mean that they’re creating a scene, or it could mean that it’s a ‘social scene’ – a public event or public place. They’re not ‘hiding in plain sight’; they’re just “in plain sight”: too visible, too vulnerable.

The bystanders are not happy to see them together: “I can hear them whisper as we pass by / it’s a bad sign.” She’s hearing their curious and malicious whispers about them, and takes it as a bad omen. 

“Somethin’ happens when everybody finds out” could allude to the media storm that will start once they’re “found out”, or it could allude to the public scrutiny and gossip that will erupt. 

“See the vultures circlin’, dark clouds,” describes this ominous feeling she has. Vultures are birds of prey who are known to eat anything that’s dead, and “vultures circling” is a common metaphor for people waiting for you to make a mistake. 

“Love’s a fragile little flame, it could burn out,” describes this new love. If their flame of love is not shielded from the wind, it will extinguish. 

Pre-Chorus & Chorus: “They Are the Hunters, We Are the Foxes”

The pre-chorus further describes the “vultures,” and changes the pursuers into hunters. 

“Cause they got the cages, they got the boxes and guns,” she says. Cages represent either animal trapping or to be “caged in” (trapped). 

“Boxes” likely means to be ‘put in a box’ – to be permanently categorized as one thing or another. In this case, it likely alludes to media stereotypes, with Taylor always portrayed as a ‘maneater.’

“Guns” is self explanatory, but could also be a metaphor for those giant long-zoom paparazzi lenses. 

“They are the hunters” summarizes the central metaphors, “they” likely being the media and paparazzi. If they’re the “hunters,” Taylor and her man “are the foxes and we run.” 

“Baby, I know places we won’t be found,” she says to him. They need to escape and hide from the “hunters.” 

“And they’ll be chasing their tails tryin’ to track us down” means that they’ll send the paparazzi on a wild goose chase. ‘Chasing your tail’ means to be running in circles: confused and not getting anywhere. 

Taylor says: “I know places we can hide.” They’ll escape to her secret place of refuge. 

But what’s interesting is that in this narrative, Taylor is the rescuer. She’s played with white knight fairytale metaphors a lot in her songbook, but has never been the one who rescues someone else. 

But what’s also important is that in this narrative, Taylor is the “problem” (the media storm that follows her) and also the solution. 

🩵🩵 Can you pass the 1989 TV Lyrics Quiz? 🩵🩵

Verse 2: “Loose Lips Sink Ships All the Damn Time”

“Lights flash” likely represents paparazzi bulbs flashing as they’re photographed, but it could also represent a temporary blindness. 

“We’ll run for the fences,” she says, to escape their pursuit.

To ‘aim for the fences’ means to shoot big; to aim for perfection. But to “run for the fences” means they’re both aiming high (in their love) and ducking underneath the metaphoric fence, which will protect them from pursuers. 

“Let them say what they want, we won’t hear it,” means that the gossip and rumor mill can churn all it wants. “We won’t hear it” means they’ll ignore it, or block it out. 

“Loose lips sink ships all the damn time” means that traitors (with “loose lips” – blabbing secrets) can cause the whole ship to go down. 

So who has “loose lips” in this narrative? It’s unclear, but it likely refers to the secrecy they’re both held under. They can’t let one thing slip, or it’ll all fall apart (the ship will sink). 

“Not this time,” she warns. This implies that it’s happened before – she’s been ‘on the run’ before. Someone with “loose lips” has sunk one of her previous romances. 

Pre-Chorus & Chorus: “Just Grab My Hand and Don’t Ever Drop it”

“Just grab my hand and don’t ever drop it, my love,” shows Taylor being his lifeline or rescuer. But it’s also symbolic of them being in this together. 

This could also be referential to “grab your passport and my hand” from Blank Space. In that satirical narrative, Taylor paints herself as a maneater who “can make the bad guys good for a weekend.” 

What would happen if he lets go? The hunters are on their tails, and they’d likely get “shot.” So what is to let go? To break up. If they separate, they’re both fair game. 

What are the “places” they’re running to? It represents a hideaway, but also protection. There is, really, nowhere Taylor can hide from the paparazzi unless she holes up in her house. 

But in this narrative, she’s not taking him home. She’s saying “I know places.” 

I think the “places” symbolize their relationship. They really only have each other, so when she says “I know places,” she’s really saying ‘this is hard, but we’re in it together. Stick with me.’ 

Taylor is the “place,” but she’s also the one who caused the hunters to be on their tails in the first place.  

Post-Chorus: “We’re Bulletproof”

“They take their shots, but we’re bulletproof,” she says. They’ve been spotted, and the “shots” are the camera flashes. 

“But we’re bulletproof” means that they have each other. “And you know, for me, it’s always you.” He’s the one who makes her “bulletproof,” and he’s the one who makes her “bulletproof.” 

“In the dead of night, your eyes so green” symbolizes a glow in the dark, characterized by the green of his eyes. What does this represent? “The dark” is likely their hideaway, where they’ve hidden. And in that hidden place, his eyes provide a glow that illuminates this dark situation. 

“And I know, for you, it’s always been me” we could take at face value – he’s loved her forever. But it could also mean that for him, she’s always been the problem. She’s the reason they’re chased. 

But she’s also the solution, and the love that makes living on the run worth it. 

🩵🩵 Can you pass the 1989 TV Lyrics Quiz? 🩵🩵

I Know Places Meaning: Final Thoughts 

Taylor takes us on a wild adventure in these lyrics, being chased by hunters while holding the hand of the person you love. 

What’s most interesting to me in this song is that she alludes to her deepest fears without directly saying it. She’s commonly afraid that the ‘circus’ of her life will make it impossible for anyone to stay. 

Here, the ‘circus’ is characterized as the paparazzi, and she has to live on the run with her lover. 

Is that sustainable? No. But is it a gorgeous and thrilling ‘run for the fences’? Absolutely. 

More Songs From 1989 (Taylor’s Version) 

• Welcome to New York
• Blank Space
• Style
• Out of the Woods
• All You Had to Do Was Stay
• Shake it Off
• I Wish You Would
• Bad Blood
• Wildest Dreams
• How You Get the Girl
• This Love
• Clean
• Wonderland
• You Are in Love
• New Romantics
• Slut! [From the Vault]
• Say Don’t Go [From the Vault]
• Now That We Don’t Talk [From the Vault]
• Suburban Legends [From the Vault]
• Is it Over Now? [From the Vault]