Shiny & New: Analyzing Taylor’s “Clean” Meaning, Line by Line

Clean (Taylor’s Version) was one of the most highly anticipated tracks for Swifties in the re-records.

It’s a fan favorite, and for good reason: it’s some of Taylor’s best songwriting, and the updated vocals make it even more incredible. 

But what is this song really about, and what can the haunting metaphors and imagery tell us about Taylor at the time? Is there any significance to this track being number 13? 

Here’s my complete English teacher analysis of Taylor’s Clean lyrics, line by line. 

Cover image for the song analysis of Taylor Swift's 'Clean' featuring the title in large, pale blue letters against a cloudy sky background. The phrase 'Taylor's version' is styled in cursive, indicating the specific version of the song. The logo 'Swiftly Sung Stories' is placed subtly at the bottom.

Clean (Taylor’s Version)

  • Title: Clean (Taylor’s Version)
  • Written by: Taylor Swift, Imogen Heap
  • Track: 13, 1989 (Taylor’s Version)
  • Pen: Fountain 
  • Lyrics from Genius

Clean Lyrics Analysis: Narrative Summary

  • Setting: After the “drought” and the “perfect storm”: the metaphorical “morning after.” 
  • Characters: Narrator (Taylor), subject (“you,” whom she’s ‘addicted’ to). 
  • Mood: Reflective but hopeful. 
  • Conflict: She’s ‘addicted’ to him and has to go through withdrawal to get “clean” of him. 
  • Inciting Incident: “Lost the war.” 
  • Quest: Stay “clean” and ‘sober.’
  • Symbols & Metaphors: addiction and recovery, droughts and downpours, flowers, rain, butterflies, house/room, war, drowning. 
  • Theme: Moving on carefully. 
  • Imagery: “flowers that we’d grown together died of thirst,” “And the sky turned black like a perfect storm,” “The rain came pouring down,” “When I was drownin’, that’s when I could finally breathe,” “butterflies turnеd to dust that covered my whole room,” “The water filled my lungs / I screamed so loud, but no one heard a thing”, “So I punchеd a hole in the roof.” 
  • Lesson: If you make it to the other side, don’t look back. 

Clean (Taylor’s Version) Lyric Video

Who is Clean About? 

Taylor says she came up with the idea for Clean in London.

She said:  ‘“Clean’ I wrote as I was walking out of Liberty in London. Someone I used to date — it hit me that I’d been in the same city as him for two weeks and I hadn’t thought about it. When it did hit me, it was like, ‘Oh, I hope he’s doing well.’ And nothing else.” 

Given the timeline, it could be about Harry Styles, who would have been in the same city at the time. But now that we have a bit more context with the release of TTPD, it could also potentially be about Matty Healy.

What is Clean About? 

Clean uses addiction and recovery metaphors to symbolize moving on and finally ridding your mind of an ex love. 

“Clean” being the opposite of “dirty,” we can surmise it was not a happy relationship, but she keps going back to it like a drug. 

Clean is her anthem to finally being rid of the psychological ghosts of him. 

But for fans who have experienced addiction, either themselves or in their families, Clean means to stay actually clean. It’s an anthem for recovery for many of us, and is an important song in the Swift catalog for anyone who has been affected by addiction.   

It’s important to note that this is track 13, both on the original and on 1989 (Taylor’s Version). 13 is Taylor’s lucky number, so we can surmise that there’s something special about this song for her. 

Clean Lyrics Analysis: Line by Line

Annotated lyrics from Taylor Swift's 'Clean,' superimposed over a sky background. Part of the 'Swiftly Sung Stories' collection, the piece is credited to 'Taylor Swift, "Clean" (Taylor's Version)'.
The opening verse reads: "The drought was the very worst, ah-ah, ah-ah

When the flowers that we'd grown together died of thirst

It was months and months of back and forth, ah-ah, ah-ah

You're still all over me like a wine-stained dress I can't wear anymore"

The opening verse uses a drought metaphor: “The drought was the very worst / When the flowers that we’d grown together died of thirst.” 

They planted metaphoric flowers together (their love, their relationship), but when they went unwatered (neglected), they died (broke up). 

This paints water as necessary for their metaphoric survival, which will become important later on.  

“It was months and months of back and forth” likely means that there were months in between the planting of the “flowers” and the death of the flowers. 

In the “flowers” of their relationship, this likely means they got together and broke up over and over, which was described in I Wish You Would and All You Had to Do Was Stay. 

But even after the months of going back and forth, “You’re still all over me like a wine-stained dress I can’t wear anymore”. This tees up the clean vs. dirty metaphor with the imagery of a soiled “wine-stained dress.”

To be “all over me” means you can’t get rid of something, like the stain on the dress. But the dress itself could be important too. 

Taylor has previously used dresses to represent naivety and young, schoolgirl love, like in Dear John and Holy Ground. If her “dress” is now soiled, it could mean her innocence in this relationship is now soiled, or her youthful optimism is “stained.” 

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

Pre-Chorus & Chorus: “Hung My Head as I Lost the War”

Annotated lyrics from Taylor Swift's 'Clean,' superimposed over a sky background. Part of the 'Swiftly Sung Stories' collection, the piece is credited to 'Taylor Swift, "Clean" (Taylor's Version)'.
The first pre-chorus and chorus read: "[Pre-Chorus]

Hung my head as I lost the war

And the sky turned black like a perfect storm

[Chorus]

The rain came pouring down

When I was drownin', that's when I could finally breathe

And by mornin', gone was any trace of you

I think I am finally clean"

“Hung my head as I lost the war” means she hung her head in shame or regret, surrendering to ‘losing the war.’

The common phrase is “won the battle, lost the war,” which means you may have won something small, but lost in the grander scheme of things. 

In this lyric, the “war” is likely him – she lost their relationship, after “months and months of back and forth”. 

After she’s lost the war, “the sky turned black like a perfect storm.” The sky darkens, symbolizing her great loss and the mood turning dark. But why is it a “perfect storm” and not just a moody storm? 

Because it’s exactly what she needed: the rain is coming, and it’s  a”perfect storm” because it’s coming at exactly the right time. 

“The rain came pouring down,” she says. In the context of the drought metaphor, it’s vital to her growth and renewal. 

“When I was drownin’, that’s when I could finally breathe,” she says. She was “drowning” in this heavy rain, but also “drowning” as in metaphorically dying. It’s the end, but the rain has also come to wash the memory of him away. 

“That’s when I could finally breathe” means she could only survive after hitting “rock bottom.” She had to go all the way into the depths so she could rise back to the top. 

This is the first hint we get for the addiction metaphor which will become more blatant later. 

“And by mornin’, gone was any trace of you” symbolizes the dawn of a new day: rebirth, renewal, and a fresh start. 

“I think I am finally clean” means she’s both ‘sober’, as well as free of his ‘stain’. 

Verse 2: “I Punched a Hole in the Roof”

Annotated lyrics from Taylor Swift's 'Clean,' superimposed over a sky background. Part of the 'Swiftly Sung Stories' collection, the piece is credited to 'Taylor Swift, "Clean" (Taylor's Version)'.
The second verse reads: "There was nothin' left to do, ah-ah, ah-ah

When the butterflies turnеd to dust that covered my whole room

So I punchеd a hole in the roof, ah-ah, ah-ah

Let the flood carry away all my pictures of you"

Verse two brings in some new metaphors, but still related to water and drowning. 

“There was nothin’ left to do…When the butterflies turnеd to dust that covered my whole room,” she says. The butterflies could represent the butterflies of young love and attraction.

But they “turned to dust” means they both turned to something ‘dirty’ (vs. clean), and evaporated into thin air: disappeared. 

“Dust that covered my whole room” likely symbolizes the “room” of her life. Taylor often uses bedrooms to symbolize a place of deep introspection, as in Nothing New and Fifteen. The butterfly dust is covering her every thought. 

The dust could also reference Holy Ground, in which she says “the story’s got dust on every page.” The butterfly dust is coating every page of their love story; a dirty residue. 

“So I punched a hole in the roof” means she created her own escape hatch – as if during a flood – away from the rising waters. 

“Let the flood carry away all my pictures of you” means she let the metaphoric water carry away all her memories of him. The water is again here to help get her “clean” of him. 

Second Pre-Chorus & Chorus: “I Screamed So Loud, But No One Heard A Thing”

Annotated lyrics from Taylor Swift's 'Clean,' superimposed over a sky background. Part of the 'Swiftly Sung Stories' collection, the piece is credited to 'Taylor Swift, "Clean" (Taylor's Version)'.
The second pre-chorus and chorus read: "[Pre-Chorus]

The water filled my lungs

I screamed so loud, but no one heard a thing

[Chorus]

The rain came pourin' down

When I was drownin', that's when I could finally breathe

And by mornin', gone was any trace of you

I think I am finally clean"

“The water filled my lungs,” she says. She’s drowning. Of all the drowning metaphors, this is the riskiest moment. The water has finally reached her lungs. She’s about to die. 

“I screamed so loud, but no one heard a thing” echoes the “silent screams” of Wildest Dreams. It also means no one is listening – she’s on her own. 

But what happens? “When I was drowning, that’s when I could finally breathe.” 

She’s hit the metaphorical “rock bottom.” The water finally almost killed her. But she survives, and after this moment, she’s “clean.” 

Bridge: “Ten Months Sober”

Annotated lyrics from Taylor Swift's 'Clean,' superimposed over a sky background. Part of the 'Swiftly Sung Stories' collection, the piece is credited to 'Taylor Swift, "Clean" (Taylor's Version)'.
The bridge reads: "Ten months sober, I must admit

Just because you're clean, don't mean you don't miss it

Ten months older, I won't give in

Now that I'm clean, I'm never gonna risk it"

The bridge addresses the addiction metaphor directly with “Ten months sober.” Previously she’s only alluded to it, but here she uses it specifically. She’s “clean” of her addiction to him. 

“I must admit / Just because you’re clean, don’t mean you don’t miss it.” This is such a potent metaphor for addicts everywhere: you’ll never rid your mind of the “drug.” You’ll think about it everyday. 

“Ten months older, I won’t give in,” she says. 10 months gives us a time marker for how long she’s been “clean” and “sober.” In this case, it likely means they’ve been broken up for 10 months. But she “won’t give in” – she won’t relapse with him. 

“Now that I’m clean, I’m never gonna risk it,” she says.

She’s on the wagon for life, and never going back to him. 

Final Chorus & Outro: “When I Was Drownin’, That’s When I Could Finally Breathe”

Annotated lyrics from Taylor Swift's 'Clean,' superimposed over a sky background. Part of the 'Swiftly Sung Stories' collection, the piece is credited to 'Taylor Swift, "Clean" (Taylor's Version)'.

Then the final break and chorus repeat, the drought metaphor feels a bit different. “The drought” could mean not a time without water, but a time without her “drug” (him). 

“Died of thirst” also feels more like a reference to alcoholism, now that the metaphor is more clear. 

But what’s most interesting in the addiction metaphor is the repetition at the end. “I think I am finally clean / finally clean / think I am finally clean.” 

This perfectly echoes the mind of an addict, who will never stop thinking about their drug. They’ll just get better at resisting it, and figure out why they want it so much.

As Taylor herself says, “Just because you’re clean, don’t mean you don’t miss it.” 

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

Clean Song Meaning: Final Thoughts 

Clean is a deeply layered song, with so many different metaphors and symbols. So what can we take away from it? 

You have to hit rock bottom to want to recover. It has to get really bad – when you’re addicted to something – for you to ever want to get out. 

From these we can surmise that whatever relationship inspired this song, it was deeply exciting and deeply troubling. But she found her way out, by herself, and created her own escape hatch. 

Sure, she almost drowned, but she came back from impossible circumstances, and lived to tell the tale. 

Does she still think about it? Everyday, just like an addict. 

More Songs From 1989 (Taylor’s Version) 

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