Love is Golden: Explaining Taylor’s “Daylight” Song Meaning

Daylight is the closing track to Taylor Swift’s Lover album, and it’s meant to symbolically close out all the themes of the record. 

Taylor’s changing views of love are symbolized with colors in the lyrics, much like she’s done in her past records. But how did love go from being “red” or “black and white” to “golden”? 

Let’s dig into the lyrics and find out what Taylor is actually saying on the closing track. 

Here’s my full explanation of Taylor’s Daylight song meaning, line by line. 

Daylight by Taylor Swift

• Title: Daylight
• Written by: Taylor Swift,
• Track: 18, Lover
• Pen: Fountain 
• Lyrics from Genius

Daylight Song Meaning: Narrative Synopsis

• Setting: Emerging after a “twenty-year dark night”.
• Characters: Narrator (Taylor), subject (“you”, her lover). 
• Mood: Reflective, Glowing. 
• Conflict: Her past mistakes and missteps. 
• Inciting Incident: “Now that I saw you”: sees/meets her lover. 
• Quest: Emerge into the light, untainted by past traumas. 
• Symbols & Metaphors: light vs. dark, asleep vs. awake, morning vs. night, “lines that I’ve crossed,” “twenty-year dark night,” “luck” and “unlucky”, “the butt of the joke,” “good” vs. “wicked,” “ran with the wolves,” “stormed out”, ” our cloaks and our daggers,” colors: “black and white,” “burning red,” “golden.” 
• Theme: Renewal: a fresh start. 
• Imagery: “Everyone looked worse in the light,” “I’ve been sleepin’ so long in a twenty-year dark night,” “I wounded the good and I trusted the wicked / Clearin’ the air, I breathed in the smoke,” “Maybe you ran with the wolves”, “stormed out of every single room in this town”, Threw out our cloaks and our daggers”, “All of you, all of me (Intertwined)”, “I once believed love would be black and white, but it’s golden,” “I once believed love would be burning red,” “I only see daylight.” 
• Lesson: You can start fresh with a clean slate, no matter what happened to you in the past. 

What Does Daylight Mean? 

Daylight details Taylor’s metaphoric rebirth and renewal after her dark personal history has been put behind her.

She said:

“I wrote ‘Daylight’ about the idea that, reputation, for me, aesthetically and thematically, felt like a very, very long night of storms and volcanic eruptions, floods, hurricanes, hail, tornadoes, endless fire, an asteroid hit.

And so it felt like trying to figure out what’s what throughout all that. I did gain sort of an insight that I didn’t have before, which was like, even though all this stuff has happened and you, at times, feel really down about stuff that’s happened in your life or your past or whatever, letting it go is a really, really, really, important step. Even if you never fully get there.

Reminding yourself to let things go as they present themselves, even if you can’t seem to let them go yet, is a helpful exercise. And realizing that you can find love in literally the worst times in your life. You can find friendship in the worst times in your life, you can find the best things in your life that you will have forever in temporary, really awful times that will pass.

And so those were all the themes I was thinking about when I wrote this song, but I don’t think I was necessarily thinking about them because I wrote it really fast. But, I think about them now.”

–iHeartRadio Lover Listening Party

Who is Daylight About? 

Taylor has never revealed if Daylight was inspired by a specific person.

The romance alluded to in the song could be about her then-boyfriend Joe Alwyn, but more importantly, the lyrics detail her rising from the ashes of her past.

Daylight  Lyrics Explained: Line by Line

Verse 1 Synopsis: My past isn’t unblemished. 

Verse one opens with some exposition about Taylor’s past. Prior to meeting this person, “my love was as cruel as the cities I lived in.” 

This could mean that her past loves and heartbreaks were as hard to live through as New York, where she spent much of her twenties.

She said of NYC: “Like any true love, it drives you crazy.” Given her past comparisons between love and this particular city, this metaphor likely means the same thing. 

“Everyone looked worse in the light,” she says, reflecting on her past love affairs. Once she shone the spotlight of hindsight onto her exes, they all seemed worse than they did at the time.

But this also sets up the central metaphor: the darkness of her past juxtaposed with the light of her current mindset. 

“There are so many lines that I’ve crossed unforgiven,” she says, alluding to her past heartbreaks, public beefs, and reputation. She’s regretful about all these past mistakes and missteps. 

“I’ll tell you the truth,” she says to her new lover, “but never goodbye.” She’ll tell him all the dirty details of everything in her past. But she’ll never let him go like she has everyone else who came before him. 

Chorus: “I’ve Been Sleepin’ So Long in a Twenty-Year Dark Night”

Chorus Synopsis: Now that I know you, my romantic future looks brighter. 

The chorus details her infatuation with him. 

“I don’t wanna look at anything else now that I saw you,” she says. In her line of sight, with this new, clear vision, all she wants to look at is him. 

“I don’t wanna think of anything else now that I thought of you” means she’s singularly focused on him. She wants no distractions. 

“I’ve been sleepin’ so long in a twenty-year dark night,” she says, alluding to the darkness of her past. It was as if she were buried, or sleepwalking through that period of her life (likely her 20s, or the reputation era). 

But now, “I see daylight, I only see daylight.”

All the dark, long and hard years are over. And she can see clarity for the first time. The sun is rising on her new beginning. 

Verse 2: “Luck of the Draw Only Draws the Unlucky”

Verse 2 Synopsis: I’ve been through hell and back. 

Verse two details more of her past, and juxtaposes her history with where she’s at now. 

“Luck of the draw only draws the unlucky,” she explains, meaning that through sheer luck (“luck of the draw”), she was chosen as the unlucky one. 

“And so,” she explains, “I became the butt of the joke.” Because of that “luck of the draw,” she was painted as the court jester or the fool, whom everyone laughed at. 

This is likely alluding to the Kimye drama and the tarnishing of Taylor’s reputation, which led her here, directly to this new love. 

During that dark time, she says “I wounded the good and I trusted the wicked.” She made some grave mistakes with the people in her life. 

“Clearin’ the air,” she says, “I breathed in the smoke.”

To “clear the air” is to sort out misunderstandings and bring the truth to light. But in doing that, she “breathed in the smoke”: all the toxicity that surrounded her.

To open her mouth and speak up meant she would also have to let some of that toxic air in in order to use her voice. 

Pre-Chorus: “Maybe I’ve Stormed Out of Every Single Room in This Town”

Pre-Chorus Synopsis: Your past isn’t perfect either, but together we can make a new future. 

The pre-chorus looks at her partner’s past. 

“Maybe,” she supposes, “you ran with the wolves and refused to settle down.” Maybe he was a wild one, who never committed and ran with a bad crowd. Maybe his past is just as blemished as hers. 

“Maybe I’ve stormed out of every single room in this town” means that she’s burned every bridge in her life, including in her romantic relationships. 

But together, they “threw out our cloaks and our daggers because it’s morning now.”

“Cloak and dagger” means a kind of espionage, a secretive game. They’ve left that all behind – the “games” of love – the lying, cheating, and secrecy. “It’s morning now” means it’s a new day, and a fresh start. 

“It’s brighter now,” she says. They no longer need to hide behind the dark cloaks and arm themselves with daggers. Everything is illuminated, and their future is looking bright. 

Chorus: “Now I’m Wide Awake”

Chorus & Post-Chorus Synopsis: Everything is clearer with the perspective you’ve given me. 

The chorus repeats, but with some illuminating additions. 

“I can never look away” means that she can never unsee or unlearn everything he’s brought into her life. “Things will never be the same” after she’s come into this new, brighter place. 

“I’ve been sleepin’ so long in a twenty-year dark night,” she says, and “now I’m wide awake.” Like Sleeping Beauty or Snow White, she’s awoken from a long slumber and can finally see the truth. 

Daylight has illuminated her path forward, and given her a fresh start on a new day. 

Bridge: “I Once Believed Love Would Be Black and White, but it’s Golden”

Bridge Synopsis: You taught me that love isn’t simple, but it’s worth it. 

The bridge tells us a bit more about how they got to this place. 

“I can still see it all in my mind,” she says, pulling some past memories from her brain. “All of you, all of me intertwined.” They slowly became twisted together, to form one single entity. 

“I once believed love would be black and white” means she used to think love was simple. It was clear: it was black, or it was white. But that’s not the case now for her at all. 

“But it’s golden,” she says. She used gold imagery and symbolism before to depict something precious or rare (see End Game, So it Goes, and Dancing With Our Hands Tied).

She uses it similarly here: love is a rare and precious thing. It’s hard to find, and it’s valuable. 

“I can still see it all,” she says, pulling in another memory, “back and forth from New York sneakin’ in your bed.” This likely alludes to when this relationship was long-distance, when she was coming from her ‘cruel city’ to lovely (and secluded) London. 

“I once believed love would be burnin’ red,” she says, “but it’s golden like daylight.” 

She contrasts her previous beliefs about love as red, which she explored extensively in the Red album and era, with her new beliefs that love is like daylight. 

Before this new, life-changing love, she thought love was only the most intense emotions: anger, passion, burning flames, and deep wounds.

But now, she sees it as golden daylight: renewal, rebirth, and something precious to behold. 

Final Post-Chorus: “I Once Believed Love Would Be Burnin’ Red”

Post-Chorus Synopsis: You’ve made me see the light. 

The final chorus and post-chorus contrast what she’s “seen” before with what she sees now. 

“I only see daylight,” she says, but she can also “still see it all.” She reflects on her past memories of exes and of how she came to find this new love, while portraying her newfound world as only daylight. 

She closes the song with: “I once believed love would be burning red.” She thought love would be painful and wonderful and all-consuming. But it’s not that for her at all today. 

It’s daylight, and it’s golden like a sunrise. It illuminates her entire world, and it’s a rare and precious thing she’s found. 

Daylight Lyrics Meaning: Final Thoughts 

The themes and metaphors Taylor presents in this song are important. After all, for a while she thought of this as the title track. That hints that every theme and metaphor in this song are present in the rest of the album. 

The Lover album as a whole is her awakening to a new world, seen through the lens of her new love. Reputation was dark and dreary, going through tunnels in dark cities. 

But Lover is optimistic, a fresh start, and has changed her entire perspective. 

What’s most interesting to me, however, is that most of the album is not about happy, content love. It’s about the conflict within relationships, and even the title track Lover has lots of longing and begging to be loved. 

This song is no exception. She reflects on their past – “back and forth from New York” – and charts the rebirth not only of herself, but of this relationship. It once was red, or black and white, with this person. 

But wherever they’ve landed now, after all the strife depicted in songs like False God and Afterglow, is the golden place. It wasn’t easy to get there, but they’ve (hopefully) made it now. Is it still a “false god?”

Only time will tell. 

More Songs From Lover

• Lover Prologue: What It Says vs. What It Means
• I Forgot That You Existed
• Cruel Summer
• Lover
• The Man
• The Archer
• I Think He Knows
• Miss Americana and The Heartbreak Prince
• Paper Rings
• Cornelia Street
• Death by a Thousand Cuts
• London Boy
• Soon You’ll Get Better
• False God
• You Need to Calm Down
• Afterglow
• It’s Nice to Have a Friend