Machiavellian Maze: Explaining Taylor's "Labyrinth" Meaning, Line by Line

Taylor’s tricky track 10 from Midnights is the beautiful and mysterious Labyrinth.

The song describes a repeated pattern of love and heartbreak, hope and hopelessness. She goes round and round and up and down, never getting clarity and never getting her bearings.

What does the central metaphor of a labyrinth mean, how does this song tie into Mastermind, and what is she trying to tell us in her lyrics?

Here’s my complete English teacher analysis of Taylor’s Labyrinth song meaning, line by line.

Labyrinth by Taylor Swift

Title: Labyrinth
Written by: Taylor Swift, Jack Antonoff
Track: 10, Midnights
Pen: Fountain
Lyrics from Genius

Labyrinth Narrative Summary

Setting: Inside a confusing situation.
Characters: Narrator (Taylor), subject (new love, or renewed love interest, “you”)
Mood: Confused, reflective, wary.
Conflict: A breakup or potential breakup.
Inciting Incident: “the plane was goin’ down” (they were going to break up).
Quest: Figure out if this is real; if it will last.
Symbols & Metaphors: “labyrinth,” breathing, “right now” vs. “my whole life” (temporary vs. permanent), “elevators,” “rises fast,” “can’t last,” “the plane was goin’ down”, “turn it right around,” “fallin’ in love again,” “labyrinth of my mind,” “raw,” breaking, “bounce back,” “just like that.”
Lesson: Sometimes love is confusing as hell.

What is Labyrinth About?

This track is about a confusing romantic situation, in which Taylor has her heart nearly broken. But then – suddenly – her heart and hope is renewed.

It’s unclear if the person she breaks up with is the same person she falls in love with. This is part of the theme of confusion within the lyrics.

Like a labyrinth, she can’t find a clear answer to what’s happening. She’s stuck in a repeating pattern, and can’t find a way to clarity.

In the Midnights Prologue, she alluded to the central themes of Labyrinth:

“Maybe you were trying to mastermind matters of the heart again. You’ve gotten lost in the labyrinth of your head, where the fear wraps its claws around the fragile throat of true love. Will you be able to save it in time? Save it from who? Well, it’s obvious. From you.”

Her Mastermind plots and schemes – all in an effort to keep “true love” in her life – have only led her to more confusion. She’s put herself in this maze, and she must find her way out.

Who is Labyrinth About?

Taylor has never revealed if Labyrinth was inspired by any real people in her life.

Fans tend to speculate that it’s about her ex-boyfriend Joe Alwyn, as they were rumored to have broken up and gotten back together several times.

But as Midnights is a concept album about sleepless nights throughout her life, this song could be about any of her past romances.

Labyrinth Lyrics Meaning: Line by Line

Annotated lyrics of Taylor Swift's "Labyrinth" song, dissecting hidden meanings, alternate interpretations, and analyzing her use of literary devices.
The first verse reads: ""It only hurts this much right now"

Was what I was thinkin' the whole time

Breathe in, breathe through, breathe deep, breathe out

I'll be gettin' over you my whole life

You know how scared I am of elevators

Never trust it if it rises fast

It can't last"

The first verse starts after Taylor has had her heart broken. “It only hurts this much right now,” she says, “Was what I was thinkin’ the whole time.”

She’s trying to assure herself that this pain is temporary, and that it will get better. But it’s not temporary – she has to constantly remind herself “the whole time.” It’s a long, drawn-out heartbreak.

“Breathe in, breathe through, breathe deep, breathe out,” she reminds herself. Breathe through the pain, and go through the stages of grief. Just go one breath at a time, and it will slowly get better.

But then she surrenders to hopelessness: “I’ll be gettin’ over you my whole life,” she sighs. The pain will never end, and she’ll never be fully over this person.

“You know how scared I am of elevators,” she says in the pre-chorus, “Never trust it if it rises fast.” If love is an elevator zipping straight up to the top of a skyscraper, she’s afraid of it. If romance goes too quickly, it could mean that it’s fake or temporary.

“It can’t last” if it moves too quickly. Right? She takes her time – and plots her Mastermind schemes – to ensure that the dominoes will fall exactly how she wants them to. But here, she’s been surprised by the outcome. She didn’t plan for this.

Chorus: “I Thought The Plane Was Goin’ Down”

“Uh-oh,” she says in the chorus. “I’m fallin’ in love.” She’s scared of where this is headed. Her heart is already tender, and she can’t survive another bruise.

“Oh no, I’m fallin’ in love again,” she says, describing a pattern of gaining and losing love. She’s been here before, and she knows how painfully it can end.

“Oh, I’m fallin’ in love,” is less pessimistic. It’s as if she’s just noticing how wonderful it could be. She’s moved from “Uh-oh” to “Oh no” to just: “oh.”

“I thought the plane was goin’ down,” she says, describing either her mental state, or their pending breakup. She was about to crash to the ground and implode, but at the last minute, disaster was averted.

“How’d you turn it right around?” she asks her lover.

This implies that they were going to break up, but then their relationship got better. She fell in love with this person all over again.

But it could also mean that she was headed to a dark place after her last breakup, and found someone new who has mended her broken heart. It’s unclear.

Verse 2: “Lost in the Labyrinth of My Mind”

“It only feels this raw right now,” she says of her open wound. She’s “lost in the labyrinth of my mind,” meaning she’s mired in confusion, and ruminating about her lost love.

This is the central metaphor: a labyrinth. Her mind – and their relationship – is like a never-ending maze. She can never find the center, and she can never find the way out. She’s stuck in confusion.

In Greek mythology, the minotaur lurks in the center of the labyrinth that was constructed to house the beast. The hero Theseus kills the minotaur, but to find his way back out of the labyrinth, he needs a ball of string given to him by Ariadne.

Ariadne’s Thread sounds an awful lot like an Invisible String, does it not? If Taylor’s labyrinth is her mind, she’s searching for a string that will lead her to safety. Is this the right person who the string is drawing her to? It’s unclear, but it’s an interesting idea.

“Break up, break free, break through, break down,” she describes her relationship pattern. She’ll break up with someone, break free from their cages, have a breakthrough and realize the impact, and then have a mental breakdown.

But then: “You would break your back to make me break a smile.” This is a different use of “break”: it means this person would do anything to cheer her up.

But is the person who would ‘break their back’ the same person who has broken her heart? Or is it a new person, who renews her faith in love?

Will the “invisible string” lead her out of this confusion and toward the right person, or is it all blind luck?

🌌 Are you a Mastermind? Try my Midnights Lyrics Quiz! 🌌

Final Chorus: “I’m Fallin’ in Love Again”

The final chorus repeats four times, which reflects this never-ending maze of heartbreak.

She’ll fall in love quickly – like the elevator – then brace for impact. It happened too quickly, so it can’t last, right? But then the plane will turn around, and she’s back into falling in love.

The cycle repeats over and over, either reflecting one single relationship that ebbs and flows, or multiple instances of Taylor falling in love with different people.

Her heart breaks, it mends, and breaks again. She’s lost in the labyrinth of love, but will she ever find the invisible string that can pull her toward the correct person?

Labyrinth Lyrics Meaning: Final Thoughts

This track is a beautiful rumination on the more confusing aspects of love. When you’re in the middle of it – like the center of the labyrinth – you can’t see clearly.

When everything happens quickly, like the elevator zipping to the top of a building, you can’t always get your bearings. Sometimes falling can feel like flying, and sometimes flying can feel like falling.

Whether the lyrics of Labyrinth describe one relationship or many, it doesn’t matter. What does matter is the central confusion of love: it’s mysterious, tricky, and ever so difficult to navigate with clarity.

You can plot and plan your way toward many goals, but with true love, you can never fully “mastermind matters of the heart.” Hearts are fickle, and it’s not as simple as solving a maze.

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