Out in the Cold: Explaining Taylor's "Forever Winter" Meaning

Taylor Swift’s Forever Winter is a sad, ruminating track about a friend struggling with mental illness and addiction.

The central metaphor of “forever winter” describes this desolate mental landscape, and how his downward spiral could affect the ones he loves forever.

Who is this track about, what is Taylor saying about his dire emotional circumstances, and how does this track connect to other songs in the Swiftverse?

Here’s my full English teacher analysis of Taylor’s Forever Winter meaning, line by line.

Cover image for Swiftly Sung Stories' lyrical analysis of Taylor Swift's "Forever Winter" (Taylor's Version) [From the Vault]. Red stylized title text pops over a background of aged books.

Forever Winter (Taylor’ Version) [From the Vault] by Taylor Swift

Title: Forever Winter (Taylor’s Version)[From the Vault]
Track: 27, Red (Taylor’s Version)
Written By: Mark Foster & Taylor Swift
Pen: Fountain
Lyrics via Genius

Forever Winter Narrative Summary

Setting: Helping a friend through a rough time.
Characters: Narrator (Taylor), subject (“he,” who is suffering)
Theme: The darkness of addiction & mental illness.
Mood: Afraid, helpless.
Conflict: Her friend is in the depths of depression and addiction.
Inciting Incident: “I call, just checkin’ up on him.” Taylor phones her friend, and begins to realize just how troubled he is.
Quest: Assure him that his life matters, and that there are people and things to live for: it will get better if he can get better.
Metaphors, Symbolism & Deeper Meanings: “Forever winter” vs. “Summer sun,” “flights,” “gravity,” “3am” & “5am,” “breaking down” & “fall to pieces,” “weren’t around” & “if you go,” “forcing smiles and neverminds,” “symphony,” “lights go out,” “pull at every thread,” “puzzles in his head,” “wasted,” “long gone,” “bomb in your head,” “Disarm it.”

Please Note: This song describes addiction, depression and suicide. If you are struggling, or know someone who is, please find help here.

If you’re not in the headspace to analyze a very dark song containing these themes, please skip this one.

What is Forever Winter About?

Forever Winter describes Taylor supporting a friend through a very dark time in his life. This friend is young, but plagued by addiction and mental health issues.

The central metaphor of “forever winter” describes both this friend’s current mental state, as well as Taylor’s if her friend were to die.

Who is Forever Winter About?

Taylor has never specifically identified who this song was inspired by, but most fans assume that it’s about her late friend, Jeff Lang.

Jeff was struggling with addiction and mental health issues, and died a few days before Speak Now was released. Taylor sang at his funeral, and dedicated her 2010 BMI Country Songwriter of the Year award to her late friend.

Forever Winter Meaning: Line by Line

Annotated portions of Taylor Swift's "Forever Winter" lyrics. Red English teacher's pen highlights hidden meanings, translates tricky lyrics, points out literary and poetic devices, and explains the overall meaning of the song.
The first verse lyrics read: "He says he doesn't believe anything much he hears these days

He says, "Why fall in love, just so you can watch it go away?"

He spends most of his nights wishing it was how it used to be

He spends most of his flights getting pulled down by gravity"

“He says he doesn’t believe anything much he hears these days,” she begins in the first verse. Our narrator is characterizing the subject as someone who is having a hard time believing in the world, or maybe believing in himself. He’s become numb.

“He says, ‘Why fall in love, just so you can watch it go away?’” she says of his pessimistic views on love. Like our narrator in Mine and Begin Again, this person believes that love only “breaks, and burns, and ends.”

“He spends most of his nights wishing it was how it used to be,” she says of his nostalgic evenings, spent ruminating over how he got here, and why everything has changed.

“He spends most of his flights getting pulled down by gravity,” she says of his moments of joy, which are quickly interrupted by his depression. “Flights” could also mean a drug high, which we’ll get more context for later on.

But whether it’s a drug high or just a shining moment where everything feels like it’ll be okay, these fleeting feelings don’t last. “Gravity” – depression, or reality – keep weighing him down.

1st Pre-Chorus & Chorus: “He’s Up, 3am, Pacing”

“I call, just checkin’ up on him,” she says, “He’s up, 3AM, pacin’.” He’s in a dark place, at a dark hour that signifies an emotional crisis.

Taylor has been in this place of early morning ruminations before in other Red songs like Better Man and Come Back…Be Here.

“He says, ‘It’s not just a phase I’m in’,” he insists, and Taylor’s “voice comes out beggin’,” pleading for him to not do something stupid.

If you’ve ever been inside the dark walls of depression, you recognize this feeling immediately. It feels like it will never end, and that you’ll always feel this low forever. Taylor begs him to see the light: it won’t always be this way. But in the middle of his crisis, he can’t see a way out that isn’t permanent.

“All this time, I didn’t know,” Taylor says in the chorus, “You were breakin’ down.” She didn’t realize how dire his mental situation was until now.

“I’d fall to pieces on the floor,” she says, paralleling his own breakdown, “If you weren’t around.” If he does something stupid – permanently stupid – she’ll fall apart.

He’s “Too young to know it gets better,” which is the essence of teenage depression. You haven’t lived enough to know that there are ups and downs, and your mental illness tells you that it will always be this way. It won’t, but he can’t see that yet.

“I’ll be summer sun for you forever,” she says, promising she’ll be his optimism, his support, and his shining beacon of hope if he’ll let her.

But she’ll be “Forever winter if you go.” For Taylor, winter represents a time of darkness and falling apart, as in Back to December and evermore, and summer represents the bright and shining days of happiness, as in Tim McGraw and Love Story.

If he can make it through this, she’ll always be there for him as his ray of hope. But if he leaves, she’ll be stuck in a cold winter of regret and depression, just like he is now.

Verse 2: “Trying to Solve the Puzzles in His Head”

“He seems fine most of the time,” she says in the second verse, “forcing smiles and never minds.” He’s good at faking it, putting on a facade of normalcy and happiness. His “never minds” brush off those who are concerned.

“His laugh is a symphony,” she says of his magical charisma when he’s happy, but “when the lights go out, it’s hard to breathe.” His laugh is a beautiful sound, but when the switch flips, and the lights go out of his eyes, she has a hard time catching her breath: this might be it. He might not come back to the light.

“I pull at every thread trying to solve the puzzles in his head,” she says of his puzzling mental illness that tells him lies. Mental illness and (as we’ll soon learn) addiction, are baffling mysteries, and there is no single correct solution. She wishes she had a magic formula that would make him healthy again.

She’ll “Live my life scared to death he’ll decide to leave instead,” she says, terrified he’ll find a permanent solution to a temporary problem.

2nd Pre-Chorus & Bridge: “Take That Bomb in Your Head and Disarm It”

“I call, just checkin’ up on him,” she says in the final pre-chorus, “He’s up, 5AM, wasted.” She phones him again to make sure he’s okay, but he’s far from okay.

5am signals that not only this dark night has progressed, but that his illness has progressed. Time is moving forward, and it’s not getting better. He’s now “wasted,” meaning drunk or high and out of his mind.

He’s “Long gone, not even listening,” she says of his nonsensical ramblings. She tries to get him to see the light, but “My voice comes out screamin’.” She’s frustrated, and terrified, and he’s unreachable in his haze.

“If I was standing there in your apartment,” she tells him in the bridge, “I’d take that bomb in your head and disarm it.” If she were there with him, she’d try her best to make it all be okay.

The “bomb in your head” is his mental illness and addiction. If it goes off, the results will be irreversible. Taylor imagines there is a way to “disarm” or disable the “bomb,” but with these types of illnesses, there is no magic solution.

“I’d say, ‘I love you even at your darkest’,” she tries to reassure him, “ and please, don’t go.” “Don’t go” means ‘don’t leave this world forever,’ but it also means ‘don’t become someone I don’t recognize.’

If magic words could heal him, Taylor imagines she could be the one to say them.

Outro: “I’ll Be Summer Sun for You Forever”

“I’ll be your summer sun forever,” she says in the final post-chorus. She promises she’ll be the support and hope that he needs, always.

“At 3AM, pacin’,” she says, and this time it reflects both their situations. He’s awake pacing with the demons in his head, and she’s awake, pacing with worry for him.

“All this time, I didn’t know,” she says to herself, frustrated that she didn’t see the signs. They’re both awake “At 5AM, wasted,” wrecked by the worries that plague them both.

“I’d be in pieces on the floor,” she says in the last lines, “Forever winter if you go.” If he decides to end it all, she’ll fall apart, and it’ll be the longest winter of her life.

“He says he doesn’t believe anything much he hears these days,” she repeats again in the outro, looping back to the beginning of the narrative.

“I say, ‘Believe in one thing, I won’t go away’,” she says, trying to convince him to stay.

Can he weather his “winter”, and hold out hope for the sun to rise again?

Forever Winter Meaning: Final Thoughts

While we don’t get to see how this person’s narrative ends inside the lyrics, we do know that Taylor’s friend Jeff Lang (who may have inspired the song) did succumb to his illness. He died of an overdose, and Taylor sang at his funeral.

This is one of two songs that Taylor has written about addiction and depression, the other being this is me trying. Both of these tracks so poignantly describe what it’s like to be in the midst of a mental health crisis.

Neither track gives us a solid conclusion; there are no happy endings. There is only “trying” and “hoping”, which is exactly what it’s like inside the mind of mental illness. We never know what will happen, and we can only hope that the sun will rise again, trying desperately to hold on.

If you or someone you love is struggling, please get help. No one can weather these storms alone.

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