Taylor, Love Architect? Analyzing the “I Think He Knows” Meaning

I Think He Knows is one of the most sultry, sexy songs on Taylor Swift’s Lover album. The lyrics describe the feeling of her heart fluttering for her new crush, longing for them to be together. 

But is this just a straightforward song about a crush? Not exactly. There are some hidden meanings and easter eggs to uncover on Lover ‘s track 6. 

Let’s get into it. Here’s my complete analysis of the I Think He Knows meaning, line by line. 

I Think He Knows by Taylor Swift

• Title: I Think He Knows
• Written by: Taylor Swift, Jack Antonoff
• Track: 6, Lover
• Pen: Glitter Gel Pen
• Lyrics from Genius

I Think He Knows Lyrics Meaning: Narrative Summary

• Setting: Nashville, Taylor’s crush land in her head. 
• Characters: Narrator (Taylor), subject (“he”, love interest). 
• Mood: Sexy, knowing. 
• Conflict: This could be dangerous. 
• Inciting Incident: Falling for a new crush. 
• Quest: Let him know how much she likes him, if he doesn’t already. 
• Symbols & Metaphors: “footprints,” night, knowing vs. feeling, “architect,” “make myself at home,” “lyrical smile,” “indigo eyes,” driving, “follow the sparks”, “lock it down,” “16th avenue”, “heartbeat”
• Theme: Longing and obsession. 
• Imagery: “footprints on the sidewalk,” “His hands around a cold glass,” “that boyish look that I like in a man,” “my heartbeat skipping down 16th Avenue”, “Lyrical smile, indigo eyes, hand on my thigh,” “We could follow the sparks, I’ll drive,” 
• Lesson: Quiet confidence is hot, but also dangerously alluring. 

What is I Think He Knows About? 

I Think He Knows describes Taylor’s crush on a person who exudes an mysteriously alluring quality. The lyrics detail her attraction to him, and where she wants this relationship to go. 

Taylor said her inspiration for the song was “the idea of quiet confidence.”

She said:

“There’s something so sick about quiet confidence; somebody who, they’re not arrogant, they’re not cocky…people who just walk in and they don’t need to be arrogant because there’s something beaming from within them that they probably aren’t even in control of…

I think that’s such an interesting quality because I can’t really explain it. And so I wrote a song about that.”

–iHeart Radio Listening Party

Who is I Think He Knows About? 

Taylor has never revealed who I Think He Knows was inspired by, but given the timing of the song release and her description of “indigo eyes,” it could be about her then-boyfriend Joe Alwyn. 

I Think He Knows Meaning: Line by Line

Verse 1 Synopsis: Does he know how attracted I am to him? 

Verse one starts with the central thesis of the whole song: “I think he knows.” This alludes to a quiet knowing; things left unsaid that just hang in the air between them. 

What does he likely know? That “His footprints on the sidewalk / Lead to where I can’t stop.” The metaphorical path that he walks – his footsteps – lead her to a place of obsession and longing. 

She goes “there every night” means either that she goes to bed with him every night, or she goes to the mental place of obsession and longing for him every night. 

“I think he knows / his hands around a cold glass / Make me wanna know that /

Body like it’s mine” means that she’s watching him do a simple thing: holding a cold drink. But to her, it sparks a deep lust. 

She sees his hands, dripping with the sweat of ice cubes, and she wants his body closer to hers: to “know that body like it’s mine.” It’s a sexy, sultry description of a tiny moment of attraction. 

Pre-Chorus: “He Got That Boyish Look That I Like in a Man”

Pre-Chorus Synopsis: I’m in puppy love, and picturing our future together. 

“He got that boyish look that I like in a man,” she says. He looks young, but he’s a full-grown man.

But it’s not just his physical appearance. This implies a kind of youthful Peter Pan vibe, where he’s young at heart but still man enough to take her on. 

As she sits in this longing, she muses: “I am an architect, I’m drawing up the plans.” She’s the “architect” of their relationship, and she’s arranging where it will go. She’s planning their future together. 

But “It’s like I’m 17, nobody understands” means she feels hopelessly lovesick, as you do when you’re a teenager. Nobody understands how hopelessly in love she could be when she’s only known this person a short time. People think it’s just sex, but it’s so much more. 

“No one understands,” she repeats. They don’t get the intensity of her feelings for him. 

Chorus: “Wanna See What’s Under That Attitude”

Chorus Synopsis: I have a very, very big crush on this person. 

“He got my heartbeat / Skipping down 16th Avenue,” she says. Her heart is skipping beats for him, or skipping like a record. 

“16th Avenue” is important: it’s the street in Nashville where it all began for her. She explained: 

“I mention a street called 16th Avenue, and that’s a street in Nashville where I used to write songs. The songwriting/publishing houses are on that street, so if you’re wondering if I just picked a random number, I didn’t.”

–iHeart Radio Listening Party

Why this particular street in Nashville? It’s a metaphor for her beginnings: she was just a teen when she began this journey, and he has her heart skipping like she’s back in that teenage period. It’s a youthful crush, like back in the days of Our Song, Picture to Burn and Tim McGraw. 

She’s feeling the same way now that she used to, when she was just a teenage songwriter longing for a boy. 

“Got that, ah, I mean,” sees her at a loss for words. She tries to describe her attraction to him, and can only come up with “ah,” emoting with sounds instead of words. 

“Wanna see what’s under that attitude” means that she wants to metaphorically or literally undress him and see what’s underneath. She wants both his body, and the ‘real’ him: she wants to know all of him, all the time. 

“I want you, bless my soul,” she says. “Bless my soul” is similar to the common Southern phrase “bless your heart,” which is a sarcastic way of being condescending.

She’s scolding herself, saying that this temptation is dangerous for her “soul.” She knows that she’s at it again, but can’t help herself. 

“And I ain’t gotta tell him, I think he knows / I think he knows” she concludes. He probably already knows how into him she is. But does he really? 

If he didn’t before, he will after this song is released, and therein lies the irony. 

Verse 2: “He’d Better Lock it Down, ‘Cause the Good One Never Stick Around”

Verse 2 Synopsis: He’d better know how into him I am and make our relationship official. 

“I think he knows / When we get all alone / I’ll make myself at home,” she says. “When we get all alone” likely means to go to the bedroom, and when that happens, “I’ll make myself at home.” 

But to “get all alone” could be to stop seeing other people, or to hide away from the media madness. To make herself “at home” could mean that she’s found “home” with him – the place where she feels comfortable and safe. 

But her “home” could also be his body, and the comfort in being familiar with another body (like “Make me wanna know that / Body like it’s mine” in the first verse). 

“And he’ll want me to stay,” she muses, once she’s made herself “at home” (comfortable, familiar) with him. Once she gets to him, he’ll want to keep her, or so she hopes. 

“I think he knows / he’d better lock it down” means that he needs to make this official. Whether that’s with a wedding ring, or simply monogamy, she needs assurances. Or else, she says “I won’t stick around / ‘Cause good ones never wait.” 

She is the “good one,” here, and she’s boasting of her value. He’d better appreciate that value, or else she won’t stick around. 

Pre-Chorus: “Boy, I Understand”

2nd Pre-Chorus Synopsis: He’s into me, too. 

The second pre-chorus echoes his boyish looks in a man’s body again, as well as her calculated plans for them. 

But then the following lyric changes from “It’s like I’m 17, nobody understands” to “he’s so obsessed with me and, boy, I understand.” He’s really into her too, or so she thinks. 

“Boy, I understand” means she totally gets why he’s so into her. Is this her own “quiet confidence”? She repeats it twice, and the use of “boy” can be interpreted in two ways. 

The use of “boy” means she’s speaking to him, but it also alludes to ‘oh boy, this is dangerous’ or ‘oh boy, here we go again.’ 

Post-Chorus: “I Want You, Bless My Soul”

“I want you, bless my

I want you, bless my

I want you, bless my

I want you, bless my soul”

-Taylor Swift, “I Think He Knows”

Synopsis: This is dangerous how into him I am. 

The chorus repeats again, but then adds a post chorus that repeats “I want you, bless my”, and then “I want you, bless my soul.” 

What’s the blessing? It’s her prayer that this doesn’t all go awry. She knows what she’s getting into is dangerous, and is a repeated pattern. 

Here she goes again, and she crosses herself, hoping that this time, it will have a different outcome. 

Bridge: “Lyrical Smile, Indigo Eyes”

Synopsis: I’m in control of this situation and I have plans for him. 

The bridge brings in some fantastic imagery with his “lyrical smile.” His smile is her muse: it’s poetic and artistic. It inspires her like a great work of art. 

“Indigo eyes” means a deep blue. She frequently mentions blue eyes throughout her discography, most notably in Delicate, Gorgeous, and State of Grace. If eyes are the window to the soul, she wants to swim in the deep blue waters of his. 

“Hand on my thigh” is suggestive and sultry, as she imagines what they’ll do together once they touch. 

“We could follow the sparks,” she says, “I’ll drive. The “sparks” are the sparks of love, as in Sparks Fly, and “I’ll drive” shows that she’s in control. She will dictate where this goes. 

“‘So where we gonna go?’” she asks him, whispering in the dark. She’s in control, but she’s also asking him where this is going. She’s looking for assurance that he’s coming along for the ride with her. 

“I think he knows” where they’re going, she says. He knows where this is all headed, even though they haven’t spoken about it. 

Final Post-Chorus: “I Ain’t Gotta Tell Him, I Think He Knows”

Synopsis: We both know where this is going. 

The final chorus and post-chorus repeat, concluding with: “And I ain’t gotta tell him, I think he knows.” 

So what’s the final message? All these things she’s feeling for him – the sparks, the deep attraction, the longing – she’s hoping he feels it too. 

His “quiet confidence” is also just…quiet. They haven’t spoken about where this is headed, but she assumes they’re on the same page, and they’ll take this drive together. 

I Think He Knows Meaning: Final Thoughts

So much of Taylor’s work is about things said vs. unsaid, and her ruminations on what she would’ve, could’ve, should’ve done differently. This song is no different, at least in hindsight. 

I Think He Knows beautifully captures the feeling of a crush, where it’s too early to declare your love, but too late to back out. You constantly wonder if the other person is as invested as you are. And even though it’s risky, you’d never forgive yourself if you didn’t “drive toward the sparks.”  

I think of this song as sort of a sister song to Dress: both about deep attraction, the secrecy of early love, and what will happen once you finally capture the object of your desire. 

But the most important message in all of the lyrics is Taylor’s admission that she’s the architect of her own destiny. She’s in the driver’s seat, even if she’s headed for a massive fender bender. 

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
• 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
• Daylight