Love or Loss? Taylor’s “loml” Meaning, Explained
Track 12 from The Tortured Poets Department is a heartbreaking confession about a devastating breakup.
The lyrics describe a romance that was always just out of reach, and once Taylor finally grasps it, it slips through her fingers.
What does the central metaphor “loml” mean, who has she lost, and how does this song fit into the greater context of TTPD?
Here’s my full English teacher analysis of loml meaning, line by line and loss by loss.

loml by Taylor Swift
- Title: loml
- Written by: Taylor Swift, Aaron Dessner
- Track: 12, The Tortured Poets Department
- Pen: Quill
- Lyrics from Genius
loml Explained: Narrative Summary
- Setting: After a rekindled romance dies.
- Characters: Narrator (Taylor), subject (“you,” “loss of my life”)
- Mood: Somber.
- Conflict: “What we thought was for all time was momentary” (it didn’t last, and the huge “what if” of her life was finally over).
- Inciting Incident: “Waltzing back into rekindled flames” (they got together after a long period of on and off).
- Quest: Figure out if he’s the love of her life, or the loss of her life.
- Symbols & Metaphors: “loml”, “waltzing back into rekindled flames,” “know the steps,” “embroidered the memories,” “We were just kids,” “it takes time,” “better safe than starry-eyed,” “aglow,” “Never before and never since,” “one glimpse,” “legendary,” “Still alivе, killing time at the cemеtery / Never quite buried,” “In your suit and tie,” “nick of “time,” “low-down boy,” “stand-up guy,” “blew in with the winds of fate,” “ I reformed you,” “your impressionist paintings of heaven turned out to be fakes,” “took me to hell,” “the ink bleeds,” “A con man sells a fool a get-love-quick scheme,” “a hole,” “cinephile,” “plot twists and dynamite,” “Mr. Steal Your Girl,” “You shit-talked me under the table / Talkin’ rings and talkin’ cradles,” “we almost had it all,” “dancing phantoms,” “something counterfeit’s dead,” “let it stay buried,” “valiant roar,” “Bland goodbye,” “coward claimed he was a lion,” “braids of lies,” “field of dreams engulfed in fire,” “arson’s match,” “somber eyes.”
- Lesson: Sometimes you shouldn’t tempt fate.
What is loml About?
loml is about a huge loss in Taylor’s life. The lyrics describe a love that was always a “what if,” but after it finally happens, it slips through her fingers.
The abbreviation “loml” usually means “love of my life,” but as we come to find out by the end of the song, this person was also the loss of Taylor’s life.
Who is loml About?
Most fans think there are two possibilities for the inspiration behind loml: Joe Alwyn or Matty Healy.
Taylor has never revealed who may have inspired the lyrics, but the track is more about her devastation over a huge loss than the subject itself. Her heartbreak in this track is palpable, and she describes a long-standing “what if” that crumbles before her eyes.
loml Lyrical Analysis: Line by Line

“Who’s gonna stop us from waltzing back into rekindled flames,” she asks her lover in the first verse, “If we know the steps anyway?”
What will prevent them from rekindling this familiar romance, when it feels so natural? They’ve done this before, so why not try again?
“We embroidered the memories of the time I was away,” she says, “Stitching, ‘We were just kids, babe’.” In the tapestry of their love story, they memorialize their time apart. They were younger then, and it wouldn’t have worked when they were so naive.
What else does embroidery remind you of? cardigan. In cardigan she says, “when you are young they assume you know nothing.” When “we were just kids, babe,” they knew what their feelings were, they just didn’t know how to show them properly.
“I said, ‘I don’t mind, it takes time’,” she says of their rekindled romance, “I thought I was better safe than starry-eyed.” She was with other people because the one she really wanted seemed too dangerous.
To be “starry-eyed” is to be blinded by love. She chose safety over excitement, but now that all changes.
This also recalls a line from Invisible String (which ties in with the embroidery metaphor): “Time, mystical time / Cuttin’ me open, then healin’ me fine.” “It takes time” for old wounds to heal, and it takes time for the timing to be right.
“I felt aglow like this,” she says of their rekindled love, “Never before and never since.” He’s like the illusive will-o-the-wisp from willow: the “mythical thing” that makes her feel things she can’t describe.
He’s the only person who has made her feel this way, and she might not be able to recreate the feeling with anyone else.
Chorus: “Killing Time at the Cemetery”

“If you know it in one glimpse, it’s legendary,” she says in the chorus, describing love at first sight, “You and I go from one kiss to getting married.” With just one look at him, she created an entire imaginary future in her mind.
That entire imaginary future is “Still alivе, killing time at the cemеtery / Never quite buried.” She holds onto this fantasy, and will never let it die. It’ll always be there in the back of her mind, all the “what ifs.”
He enters her life again, “In your suit and tie, in the nick of time.” He waltzes in, dressed for the occasion: they’ll make it official this time. They’re no longer children, and they can do it right now that they’re grown and the timing is right.
“You low-down boy,” she says of him, describing his less-than-stellar qualities, “you stand-up guy.” Like in I Can Fix Him, this love interest is not the best choice. He’s kind of a mess, and she says “stand up guy” sarcastically.
“You Holy Ghost,” she calls him, “you told me I’m the love of your life.” He’s the one she worships, and she’ll “choose you and me religiously” like in Guilty as Sin. He haunts all her “what ifs”, promising she’s the love of his life. Is he lying?
“You said I’m the love of your life,” she says, “About a million times.” After a million repetitions, the promise is less potent. Is she really the love of his life, or is it just empty words?
Verse 2: “The Ink Bleeds”

“Who’s gonna tell me the truth when you blew in with the winds of fate,” she says in the second verse, “And told me I reformed you?”
Like in I Can Fix Him, he blows in “like a freight train through a small town,” promising that things will be different this time. She’s the one who “can fix him,” tame his wild nature, and make him settle down.
Who will be her reality check when this happens? They tried to warn her in I Can Fix Him, but she didn’t listen. Will she listen this time?
🪶🤍 Are you a tortured poet? Find out with my TTPD Lyrics Quiz! 🤍🪶
“When your impressionist paintings of heaven turned out to be fakes,” she says of his empty promises, “Well, you took me to hell too.” It wasn’t a real glimpse of heaven that he showed her: it was all a facade.
She goes from the highest highs to the lowest lows, and the devils on his shoulder drag her down to hell with them.
“And all at once, the ink bleeds,” she says, describing their ‘contract’ of love running down the page. The “ink” could also be her songwriting, that now runs down the page like tears. She’ll write the saddest songs about this moment, the ink bleeding and ruining her perfect page.
“A con man sells a fool a get-love-quick scheme”, she describes this elaborate deception. He was the con man (maybe in a “Jehovah’s Witness suit”?) and she was the fool. He tricked her into thinking it was real this time. It wasn’t.
“But I’ve felt a hole like this,” she says, after his deceptions come to light, “Never before and ever since.” She’s gone from “aglow” to “a hole,” and may never get over this piece of her heart that’s now missing.
2nd Chorus: “All These Plot Twists and Dynamite”

“If you know it in one glimpse, it’s legendary,” she repeats in the second chorus, “What we thought was for all time was momentary.” As it turns out, all she got was that one glance.
The fantasies that love at first sight sparked were never real; it was only that one moment. But the fantasies are “Still alive, killing time at the cemetery / Never quite buried.” Her hope will never die, and the promise of forever will always haunt her.
“You cinephile in black and white,” she says of her lover, describing him as a romance junkie. Taylor has used film and cinema imagery and metaphors before, most notably in the 1: “the greatest films of all time were never made.”
But here, in the cinematic romance of their love story, the narrative is full of “plot twists and dynamite.” It’s not the happily ever after she craved; there was always an obstacle in the way.
Now he’s in the past, in “black and white” like an old film. This references Daylight, in which Taylor says “I thought love would be black and white, but it’s golden.” There is no gold; it’s only monotone with this person now.
In the narrative of their love story, he’s “Mr. Steal Your Girl, then make her cry.” He’s not the white knight or the valiant protagonist; he’s a conman, like Mr Perfectly Fine.
“You said I’m the love of your life,” she repeats, but now she knows it’s a lie. He was only pursuing her to “steal your girl,” and now that the chase has ended (maybe “it wasn’t sexy if it wasn’t forbidden”, from The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived?), she’s the one crying.
Bridge: “I Wish I Could Un-Recall How We Almost Had it All”

“You shit-talked me under the table,” she says in the bridge, “Talkin’ rings and talkin’ cradles.” He made plenty of elaborate and fanciful promises of their future together. They’d get married and have children, he said over and over.
“I wish I could un-recall / How we almost had it all,” she says of these empty promises. She wishes she could forget how blissful this moment in time was. It haunts her that they were so close to making it work, then it all fell apart.
“Dancing phantoms on the terrace,” she says of the ghosts of their past selves in happier times. She imagines her past self staring at her, agape at what she’s become.
“Are they second-hand embarrassed / That I can’t get out of bed,” she says of the ghost of her past self, “’Cause something counterfeit’s dead?” Is past Taylor embarrassed that she fell for this ruse, and got her heart irreparably broken by something that was never real?
“It was legendary,” she says of their moment in the sun. But “It was momentary.” It didn’t last.
“It was unnecessary,” she says regretfully, “Should’ve let it stay buried.” She never should have rekindled that flame. It only caused unnecessary heartbreak.
Even though it was “never quite buried,” it was still cold in the ground. She should have left well enough alone.
Final Chorus: “What a Valiant Roar, What a Bland Goodbye”

“Oh, what a valiant roar,” she says of their momentary glimpse of forever, “What a bland goodbye.” The ending didn’t match the beginning. What was a magical and powerful moment faded into nothing. They part ways quietly and without making a scene.
“The coward claimed he was a lion,” she says of her lost lover, comparing him to the lion in The Wizard of Oz. She also referenced this film in Maroon, where she sacrificed her metaphoric ruby slippers for love.
He’s the lion that makes a “valiant roar” – an attempt to win his love and settle down – but, as it turns out, he doesn’t have the courage to do it.
“I’m combing through the braids of lies,” she says, dissecting their past and what went wrong. The lies he told (“Shit talked me under the table”) were layered and intricate, and she’s having a hard time deciphering if any of it was real.
“‘I’ll never leave’,” he promised her, but then he quickly retracts: “Never mind.” This pushes a button that is sensitive for Taylor: “who could ever leave me, darling? But who could stay?” She’s had this central fear for a while in her lyrics: is her life too big and too complicated for anyone to stay?
“Our field of dreams engulfed in fire,” she says of their downfall. What could have been full of “rings” and “cradles” is now ablaze, and all hope burns down.
The film Field of Dreams has a famous line: “if you build it, they will come.” Taylor and her lover built this love, but instead of attracting a peaceful ending, it burns down.
But Field of Dreams is also based on a book: Shoeless Joe. Easter Egg? Shade?
Either way, the “field of dreams” burns down, because of “Your arson’s match.” He’s the one who lit the fire that swept through their love affair. He burned it down on purpose.
“Your somber eyes” describes his faux-regret. He burned their love to the ground, then looked sad about it. Like the cowboy in I Can Fix Him and the conman here, he’s two-faced, unpredictable, and forever wild.
“And I’ll still see it until I die,” she says of the burning field of dreams and his “somber eyes.” The image is burned into her brain forever.
“You’re the loss of my life,” she concludes. She’ll never get over this, and – as it turns out – “loml” was never “love of my life.” All those “million times” he said the phrase, he never meant it.
He was always “the loss of my life,” and it was never meant to be. She buries it back into the ground, under the smoldering field of dreams.
Was it ever real, was it all a mistake, did he mean any of it? She may never know. He’s a conman and a cowboy, who blew into her life and out again. All she can do now is pick up the pieces.
🪶🤍 Are you a tortured poet? Find out with my TTPD Lyrics Quiz! 🤍🪶
loml Lyrics Meaning: Final Thoughts
I almost see this song as the final chapter of cardigan. “I knew you’d haunt all my what-if’s,” she says in that track.
Here, we find out what happens when the “what if’s” come back around, and it’s not pretty.
He “came back to me,” and they tried to give it a go, but in the end, she’s still “chasin’ shadows” of his ghost. “Once the thrill expired,” he does a runner again, and she’s back where she started.
But this time, it feels like she really learned her lesson. ‘Fool me once,’ as the saying goes, ‘shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.’ And there is a lot of shame layered in the lyrics.
“I knew you tried to change the ending” is no longer directed at her lost lover: she’s speaking to herself. She can’t go back and “un-recall how we almost had it all,” but she sure does try.
In the end, it’s all “dead and gone and buried,” and it will never rise from the dead again. It was “counterfeit” in the first place, and she finally recognizes the fallacy of this fantasy.
It was never going to work, and she lets the flames burn down until they finally extinguish for good.
More Songs From The Tortured Poets Department
- Stevie Nicks’ TTPD Prologue Poem
- TTPD Epilogue Poem “In Summation”
- Fortnight
- The Tortured Poets Department
- My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys
- Down Bad
- So Long, London
- But Daddy I Love Him
- Fresh Out The Slammer
- Florida!!!
- Guilty As Sin?
- Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?
- I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)
- I Can Do It With A Broken Heart
- The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived
- The Alchemy
- Clara Bow
- The Black Dog
- Imgonnagetyouback
- The Albatross
- Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus
- How Did it End?
- So High School
- I Hate it Here
- thanK you aIMee
- I Look in People’s Windows
- The Prophecy
- Cassandra
- Peter
- The Bolter
- Robin
- The Manuscript