Taylor's Temptation? Complete "I Can See You" Song Meaning

I Can See You is one of the most surprising vault tracks from Speak Now (Taylor’s Version). It doesn’t really fit with the rest of the album, which makes sense as to why it was left in the vault and not on the original 2010 release.

This song is blatantly sexy and seductive, which is not the vibe of Speak Now. But still, it’s a really interesting peek behind the curtain at Taylor’s mind at this point in her life.

Let’s go through Taylor’s I Can See You song meaning line by line and see what we can learn about her innermost thoughts at 19 years old.

cover image: purple ombre background featuring a dark sunglasses graphic, with title text overlaid: "Analyzing I Can See You (Taylor's Version) by Swiftly Sung Stories"

I Can See You (Taylor’s Version) [From the Vault]

Title: I Can See You (Taylor’s Version)[From the Vault]
Track: 19, Speak Now (Taylor’s Verison)
Written By: Taylor Swift
Pen: Glitter & fountain
Lyrics via Genius

I Can See You Lyrics: Narrative Analysis

Setting: A Professional setting of some sort, then inside her romantic fantasies.
Characters: Narrator (Taylor), Subject (“you”, her secret crush)
Mood: Secretive, naughty, lustful.
Conflict: She has to keep her desires hidden.
Inciting Incident: “You brush past me in the hallway,” and she feels the spark of attraction.
Quest: Enact her wildest fantasies.
Theme: Forbidden romance.

I Can See You Music Video

The I Can See You music video has so many easter eggs! Can you connect the dots?

What is I Can See You About?

This Speak Now vault track surrounds a naughty sexual fantasy, in which Taylor imagines hooking up with someone she is not allowed to be with, or with whom a relationship would cause professional rifts.

The central theme is reality vs. fantasy, where Taylor sees the subject in real life, but also sees him in her fantasies, where she imagines they can finally be together.

Who is I Can See You About?

Taylor has never revealed who I Can See You is about, but there are some clues in the song.

The subject of the song is someone in a professional setting – he wears a suit and tie, and she spies him in the hallway of (likely) an office building.

In the Speak Now Taylor’s Version Prologue, Taylor said that during this point of her life, “I was encountering the milestones and checkpoints of normal teenage growth. I had cataclysmic crushes and brushes with heartache.”

I Can See You describes one of these “cataclysmic crushes,” though we may never know who this particular crush was on.

I Can See You Song Meaning: Line by Line

Annotated portions of Taylor Swift's "I Can See You" (Taylor's Version)[From the Vault] lyrics on a purple background. Red English teacher's pen highlights hidden meanings, translates tricky metaphors, and helps the reader understand the central message of the song.
The lyrics read:
"[Verse 1]
You brush past me in the hallway
And you don't think I, I, I can see ya, do ya?
I’ve been watchin' you for ages
And I spend my time tryin' not to feel it

[Pre-Chorus]
But what would you do if I went to touch you now?
What would you do if they never found us out?
What would you do if we never made a sound?"

I Can See You opens with two characters: Taylor and her taboo crush.

“You brush past me in the hallway,” she says, feeling the spark of connection like in Electric Touch, “And you don’t think I, I, I can see ya, do ya?”

She can physically see him, but she assumes that he thinks she’s invisible, or just another girl. She’s not, and she wonders if he feels the same sparks flying as she does.

“I’ve been watchin’ you for ages,” she says, quietly observing him, “And I spend my time tryin’ not to feel it.” She’s trying to distract herself, or forget about this crush. But the feelings are too strong, and they’re about to take over.

In the pre-chorus, she asks him a series of suggestive rhetorical questions.

“But what would you do if I went to touch you now?” she asks. Would he be surprised if she acted on her feelings? Would he reciprocate, or brush her off?

“What would you do if they never found us out?” she asks, implying that this romance is somehow forbidden, and would need to be kept secret.

“What would you do if we never made a sound?” she asks, suggesting that they could get away with this fling if they kept it hush hush. “Never made a sound” is both a euphemism for bedroom utterances, and also means to keep their relationship quiet so they’re not busted.

Her mind is spinning round and round, imagining what would happen if she got him alone. Would the reality be as hot as her fantasy?

💜 How well do you know Speak Now? Take the Speak Now TV Lyrics Quiz! 💜

Chorus: “I Could See You Up Against the Wall With Me”

“’Cause I can see you waitin’ down the hall from me,” she says in the chorus. She can physically see him in the hallway, and she imagines he’s waiting for her. She then enters her fantasy once again.

“And I could see you up against the wall with me,” she says, imagining a steamy, forbidden romance in the office.

“And what would you do? Baby, if you only knew,” she says, “That I can see you.”

This is the central theme of the song: seeing vs. feeling. She can see him in front of her, but when she does, she feels intense attraction that leads her into a hot fantasy world.

“What would you do” is the equivalent of “what are you wearing” – it’s a blatantly sexual question, rhetorically asking what would happen if she got him alone.

“I can see you” means she likes what she sees, and she wants it. Does he want it, too?

Verse 2: “Move Fast and Keep Quiet”

The second verse continues to blur the line between fantasy and reality.

“And we kept everything professional,” she says, “But something’s changed, it’s somethin’ I, I like.” They used to keep everything above board, but recently the vibe has changed. It’s become electric between them, and she’s enjoying this new feeling.

“They keep watchful eyes on us,” she says of the authority figures hovering over them, “So it’s best that we move fast and keep quiet.”

If this is an office setting (in Taylor’s case, likely a record label, or songwriting studio), it’s the executives who are keeping eyes on the young talent. But it could also allude to her parents, manager, or other people in positions of power.

We won’t get to understand why this romance is so forbidden, but we get the sense that the power dynamic between them is somehow off. If they were found out, it would cause some kind of scandal. Is he older, or are they linked professionally?

“You won’t believe half the things I see inside my head,” she says, “Wait ’til you see half the things that haven’t happened yet.” She’s fantasizing about getting together with him, and she imagines the moment will come where she gets to live out her sexual fantasies with him.

What’s coming – if it is allowed to happen – will be passionate and beyond his wildest dreams.

2nd Chorus: “What Would You Do?”

The first half of the chorus repeats, then Taylor gets really steamy (for a 19 year-old with a squeaky clean image).

“I could see you throw your jacket on the floor,” she says, imagining him undressing, removing his suit jacket and tossing it to the side with abandon. This is her cinematic sexual fantasy, and in her mind, they “drop everything now” like in Sparks Fly.

“I could see you, make me want you even more,” she says, imagining that these emotions would become even more intense if they gave into their desires.

“What would you do? Baby, if you only knew,” she says, “That I can see you.” ‘Would you make the first move,’ she wonders, ‘If you knew I was thinking the same thing you are?’

Keep in mind that at this point in her career (if this song was indeed written pre-2010), Taylor was still a teen idol, and had a wholesome vibe. She’d never been blatantly sexual, so this is pretty risque for Speak Now Taylor.

Part of me wonders if this is the central reason I Can See You was kept in the vault, but part of me also questions if the identity of the crush was a contributing factor.

Bridge: “See Me As a Secret Mission”

The bridge delves deeper and deeper into her forbidden romance fantasy.

“I can see you in your suit and your necktie,” she says, “Passed me a note sayin’, “Meet me tonight”. In her fantasy, this hot businessman passes her a booty call note.

“Suit” and “necktie” conjures imagery of an older professional, which adds to the evidence that this is someone who would have been really risque for Taylor.

“Then we kiss and you know I won’t ever tell, yeah,” she says, promising that if they hook up, she won’t “kiss and tell.” Why would she have to keep such a heavy secret, though? This is a red flag – she’s promising him that if they hook up, she’ll protect his reputation by never saying a word.

“And I could see you being my addiction,” she says, but he is already her addiction. Or at the very least, this fantasy is her addiction.

“You can see me as a secret mission,” she says, adding to the clandestine vibes. Why all the secrecy, though? What would be so taboo: an age gap, a professional relationship, a cheating scandal? There are red flags all over the place, but Taylor doesn’t seem to care.

This line, by the way, likely inspired the music video for the song, which involves a “secret mission” to rescue Speak Now Taylor from the vault. The theme of the music video and the theme of the lyrics are very, very different.

“Hide away and I will start behaving myself,” she says, promising to be the “good girl” if he’ll stop tempting her.

If she’s the “good girl,” is he the “bad boy”?

Final Chorus & Outro: “Oh, Baby”

The final chorus repeats what we’ve heard before: she can see him physically, and it sparks her wildest fantasies. She switches between these two worlds – fantasy and reality – and wonders what happened if the two collided.

“Oh, I see you, I see you, baby,” she says in the outro, but what she really means is, ‘I can see you being a naughty, forbidden romance, and I like it.’

The song ends with a sexually-charged “oh, baby.” Have they finally caved into their desire, or is it merely the climax of her fantasy?

It’s unclear. But either way, this song is a wild, passionate ride. In it, we get to see some of the less-than-pious thoughts going through younger Taylor’s mind.

Was it censored from the album, and only has been released now that she’s older? We may never know. But it’s definitely a hot song about a crush, and what could happen if she let herself go.

💜 How well do you know Speak Now? Take the Speak Now TV Lyrics Quiz! 💜

I Can See You Meaning: Final Thoughts

This is a steamy, sexy song for 2010 Taylor! I love how much it reveals about her inner world in the Speak Now era, when she was a wholesome teen idol on the outside, but thinking stuff like this on the inside.

It also reveals how odd her world was at this time – often surrounded by older professionals, with a less-than-normal social life and exposure to her peers. It’s only natural she would crush on someone in her close circle, as that’s all she had.

Chronologically, this song is the precursor for other steamy tracks like Dress, End Game, Wildest Dreams, and Cruel Summer. As she grows and matures – and as her fan base grows and matures – she’ll be able to get more blatantly sexual.

Is it risque, and is this (fantasized) romance problematic? Maybe. But is it a thrilling and accurate look at desire, that hints where she’ll go from here in her other steamier songs? Definitely.

More Songs From Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)