Taylor, in a Nutshell: “long story short” Meaning, Explained
Taylor Swift’s evermore track 12 – long story short – is a summation of all of her past trials and tribulations.
In the lyrics, she narrates what went wrong for her, what happened afterwards, and how she recovered. If her musical catalog is the story of her life, this track is the synopsis.
But how do the lyrics tie into her real life events, how to they relate to other songs, and what is she really saying in this track?
Here’s my complete English teacher analysis of Taylor’s long story short meaning, line by line.
long story short by Taylor Swift
- Title: long story short
- Written by: Aaron Dessner, Taylor Swift
- Track: 12, evermore
- Pen: Fountain
- Lyrics from Genius
long story short Song Meaning: Narrative Summary
- Setting: In relative safety after a long battle.
- Characters: Narrator (Taylor), subject (“you”, her partner)
- Mood: Reflective, resolved.
- Conflict: She went through trials and tribulations.
- Inciting Incident: “the battle picked me”
- Quest: Recount the story and tell us how she survived.
- Symbols & Metaphors: “Long story short,” “pick my battles,” “war of words,” “in the alley, surrounded on all sides”, “knife cuts both ways,” “If the shoe fits, walk in it ’til your high heels break,” “fell from the pedestal,” “down the rabbit hole,” “Pushed from the precipice”, “Clung to the nearest lips,” “ I must look better in the rear view,” “the golden gates they once held the keys to,” “ if someone comes at us,” “keepin’ score,” “keep you warm”, “No more tug of war”, “my waves meet your shore,” “Ever and evermore,” “Past me,” “Your nemeses / Will defeat themselves before you get the chance to swing,” “he feels like home,” “If the shoe fits, walk in it everywhere you go,” “Climbed right back up the cliff,” “I survived.”
- Lesson: You can do hard things.
What is long story short About?
long story short is likely about Taylor’s “cancellation” in 2016 after the KimYe drama. She fled from the spotlight for years and moved to London with her then-boyfriend Joe Alwyn.
But it could also allude to the masters heist of 2019, in which her music was sold out from under her.
Taylor has written about the KimYe fallout in similar-themed songs: This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things, Look What You Made Me Do, I Did Something Bad, I Forgot That You Existed, The Man, You Need to Calm Down, Call it What You Want and Daylight.
She has alluded to the master’s heist in songs like my tears ricochet, hoax, mad woman, and the lakes.
Who is long story short About?
Taylor has never revealed who specifically the song is about or was inspired by.
Most fans assume the love interest in the song is likely her then-boyfriend Joe Alwyn, and the “nemeses” she mentions are likely Kim Kardashian, Kanye West, Scott Borchetta and Scooter Braun.
But moreover, long story short is about her life in its entirety: how she got where she is, what she had to go through to get there, and how she stays on the pedestal of her career.
long story short Lyrical Analysis: Line by Line
“Fatefully,” she begins her first verse, “I tried to pick my battles ’til the battle picked me.”
She alluded to the idea of fate in invisible string, and she’s using the same theory here: one choice caused all the rest. She tried not to get involved, but the war came to her doorstep.
This caused her “Misery / Like the war of words I shouted in my sleep.” “War of words” could allude to the #TaylorSwiftisOverParty, torturing her even in her sleep. But it could also refer to “War of the Worlds”, an 1895 novel by HG Wells (and since adapted to film).
In that narrative, the protagonist experiences an alien invasion, and has to protect his family. A similarly invasive threat happened to Taylor with the SnakeGate and master’s heist drama, which were not only a “war of words,” but wars that shook her world.
“And you passed right by,” she says, “I was in the alley, surrounded on all sides.” Someone – it’s not clear who – could have stepped in to help her when she was being cornered. But they didn’t.
“The knife cuts both ways,” she says to this person who let her down. This means that both instances of backstabbing – from both the initial aggressor, and from the person who could have helped – have wounded her.
“If the shoe fits,” she says, “walk in it ’til your high heels break.”
“If the shoe fits, wear it” is a colloquialism that means if a criticism or remark is applicable to you, even if it’s not flattering, you should accept it. In Taylor’s case, this likely alludes to her being labeled as a “snake,” or others (her enemies) being labeled in derogatory ways.
In the context of Snakegate, Taylor did have to “walk in” the title of snake until it broke her, and she disappeared. But she’s also hoping that labels thrown at others will stick to them, and they’ll have to suffer the same fate.
The use of high heels is also symbolic, and Taylor has used high heels to symbolize the precarious nature of her reputation and career in other songs, too. In mirrorball she’s “spinning in my highest heels” to entertain, and I Can Do it With a Broken Heart, she’s walking “in stilettos for miles” to do the same.
Chorus: “I Fell From the Pedestal / Right Down the Rabbit Hole”
“And I fell from the pedestal,” she says, describing her fall from grace in the public eye. “Right down the rabbit hole” references Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, which she also referenced in 1989’s Wonderland (“And we took a wrong turn / And we fell down a rabbit hole”).
This means that she not only fell out of favor, but fell into a new and confusing world where nothing made sense, just like Alice’s illogical experience of Wonderland.
“Long story short,” she summarizes, “it was a bad time.”
“Long story short” is a storyteller’s way of cutting to the chase, but it’s also an ironic moment. Taylor is usually diaristic in her songwriting, just as she is here. She’s both telling us the whole story, and a summation of what it did to her.
🤎 Can you tolerate my evermore Lyrics Quiz? 🤎
“Pushed from the precipice” is different from “fell from the pedestal.” A “precipice” is the highest point, or the most successful you can be in any venue. Here, she’s saying she was “pushed” – someone dismantled her success on purpose (KimYe, maybe?).
After she was pushed, she “clung to the nearest lips,” meaning she sought solace and comfort in a new relationship. This could be the quick escape she references in Getaway Car, or the longer escape she describes in Call it What You Want.
“Long story short, it was the wrong guy,” she admits. She was looking for comfort or help from anyone after this devastating blow, and it turned out to be the wrong move.
But “Now I’m all about you,” she says, meaning she’s found someone she’s more compatible with. Her life used to be centered around this drama and chaos, but now it’s centered around one person.
Verse 2: “I Must Look Better in the Rear View”
“Actually,” she starts the second verse, “I always felt I must look better in the rear view.” She muses that she must look better in hindsight, because everyone seems to leave her.
Are they “missing me,” she wonders, “At the golden gates they once held the keys to”?
Taylor frequently uses kingdom imagery (here, “golden gates”) to describe her career and place in the celebrity world (see Look What You Made Me Do, New Romantics, The Archer, and Castles Crumbling).
In Look What You Made Me Do, she said: “I don’t like your kingdom keys / they once belonged to me.” In that context, she was likely speaking about her “cancellation” after the KimYe drama, and it’s used in a similar fashion here.
That time that she held the ‘keys to the kingdom’ or “golden gates” has come to an end, and she can only see it in the rearview.
“When I dropped my sword,” she says, “I threw it in the bushes and knocked on your door.” She stopped fighting the battles and hid the sword (her weaponry) in the bushes, so she can always grab it later. “Knocked on your door” means she sought protection from her lover.
“And we live in peace,” she says, “But if someone comes at us, this time, I’m ready.” She’s got her sword ready to go, and she learned a lot from the past battles. She’s prepared for next time.
“We live in peace” is interesting, though, as it contradicts the sentiment of peace from folklore. In that track, she admits she might never be able to give her lover peace the way he wants it.
Is it relative peace, as the previous times were so chaotic? Is it hiding, or is it solace?
Bridge: “And my Waves Meet Your Shore / Ever and Evermore”
The bridge describes their current peaceful life. “No more keepin’ score,” she says, “Now I just keep you warm.” The time for playing games and fighting battles – as described in hoax – is over. Now they just focus on each other.
“Keep you warm” is similar to two other lyrics: “he built a fire just to keep me warm” from Call it What You Want, and “I’m a fire, I’ll keep your brittle heart warm” from peace. The general sentiment is that they keep out the elements, building a cozy nest together free from the cold and chaos.
Now, there’s “no more tug of war,” she says. The childhood games are over; there’s no more fighting for power or prestige.
“Now I just know there’s more,” however, is a bit more complex. It could mean that she knows there’s more to life than the drama. But it could also mean she knows more battles are coming, and she has to stay on her toes.
“Now I just keep you warm,” she repeats. She’s singularly focused on protecting her lover. “And my waves meet your shore,” she says, “Ever and evermore.”
🤎 Can you tolerate my evermore Lyrics Quiz? 🤎
Her “waves meet your shore” echoes similar imagery from willow: “I’m like the water when your ship pulled in that night / rough on the surface but you cut through like a knife.” In both instances, he is the thing that can break her “waves”: he can calm her inner turmoil.
“Ever and evermore” describes how long she wants this partnership to last. But in the rest of the album, including the title track, she describes “forever” as non-existent (notably, “forever is the sweetest con” from cowboy like me).
The premise of the title track is similarly pessimistic. In evermore, she describes thinking that her pain will last forever, but it doesn’t. She wants her ‘waves to crash on his shore’ “evermore,” but she also knows that you can’t promise forever.
Verse 3: “If The Shoe Fits, Walk In It Everywhere You Go”
The third verse speaks directly to her past self.
“Past me,” she says, to a younger Taylor, “I wanna tell you not to get lost in these petty things.” she tells little Taylor not to sweat the small stuff.
“Your nemeses,” she assures her, “Will defeat themselves before you get the chance to swing.” She won’t have to fight back, because – as she said in her epic Time Magazine interview – “trash takes itself out every single time.”
“And he’s passing by,” she nudges her younger self, “Rare as the glimmer of a comet in the sky.” ‘Look!’ she tells little Taylor. ‘Go get him!’
Once she catches her lover, she says “he feels like home.” This alludes not only to him feeling comfortable and safe, but also to other songs about love as home: Cornelia Street and Lover.
“If the shoe fits”, she says of her comfortable new relationship, “walk in it everywhere you go.” If he’s the right person, she tells her younger self, keep him forever.
Final Chorus & Outro: “Climbed Right Back Up the Cliff”
The final chorus repeats with one change: “Clung to the nearest lips” changes to “Climbed right back up the cliff.”
This time, she didn’t cling to lips (a new relationship) to try to save her. She climbed back up herself.
“Long story short”, she summarizes, “I survived.” She went through horrible, traumatic things, but she learned a lot. And now she’s better and stronger for it.
“I’m all about you,” she repeats again, and this time, it feels like she made the right choice in a partner. She didn’t make a hasty decision to run away with him. It was a calculated choice, and “he feels like home.”
Now they live in peace, until the battle comes back to their door once again.
🤎 Can you tolerate my evermore Lyrics Quiz? 🤎
long story short Song Meaning: Final Thoughts
If the theme of the evermore album is closure, this song neatly ties up all her past dramas with a bow. She recounts themes and imagery from many other songs, describes what she went through, and shows us how she got out the other side.
This won’t be the last we’ll hear about many of the themes in this song, but it does seem like – for now – she’s putting these traumatic events behind her, and looking forward to the future.
And if the battle returns to her door, she has her sword stashed in the bushes. She’s ready.
More Songs From evermore:
![Cover image for Swiftly Sung Stories' lyrical analysis of Taylor Swift's "Better Man" (Taylor's Version) [From the Vault]. Red stylized title text pops over a background of aged books.](https://swiftlysungstories.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/taylor-swift-better-man-meaning-cover-image-768x768.jpg)
![Cover image for Swiftly Sung Stories' lyrical analysis of Taylor Swift's "Babe" (Taylor's Version) [From the Vault]. Red stylized title text pops over a background of aged books.](https://swiftlysungstories.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/taylor-swift-babe-meaning-cover-image-768x768.jpg)
