Pickin’ On The Weaker Man: What Does “Mean” Really Mean?

Taylor has written a lot of songs about bullies, but this is the first track that really pulls no punches. Before she may have tiptoed around the issue, but at this point in her career, she’s getting big, and they’re coming for her. 

It’s incredible to go back to this early version of a clap back song and see the same themes that we’ll see over and over again: people wanting to tear down her career and herself just because they don’t like her. 

The larger theme is of men using the patriarchy to suppress and stunt the growth of women in every industry – and in their personal lives – just because they can. 

What’s most remarkable to me about this track is that Taylor is literally manifesting her career right here. She says she’ll be “big enough so you can’t hit me,” and now she is. It’s magic. 

Here’s my full English teacher analysis of the Mean Taylor Swift lyrics, line by line.

Mean (Taylor’s Version)

• Title: Mean (Taylor’s Version) 
• Track: 6, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) 
• Written By: Taylor Swift 
• Pen: Glitter
• Secret Message: “I thought you got me.” 
• Lyrics via Genius 

Mean Lyrics: Narrative Breakdown

• Setting: “On the ground” (post-insult/being knocked down)
• Characters: Narrator (Taylor), “You” (subject, person who has insulted her)
• Mood: Vengeful but hopeful, karmic
• Conflict: Someone has been trying to tear her down.
• Inciting Incident: “Words like knives” hurled her way. 
• Quest: Let him know she’s unbothered, and rise above (ironically) 
• Symbols & Metaphors: weaponry & battles (swords, knives, blows), city vs. small town. 
• Theme: Clapback song.
• Imagery: “wildfire lies”, “knocked me off my feet,” “nails on a chalkboard,” “big enough so you can’t hit me,” “Drunk and grumbling on”
• Lesson: Call out bad behavior and don’t let it get you down.

What was the Hidden Message in Mean? 

The Mean hidden message in the liner notes for the original Speak Now album was “I thought you got me.” 

This emphasizes the deception Taylor has felt toward this person. She thought they understood her, but they didn’t at all. 

Who is Mean About? 

It’s theorized to be about Bob Lefsetz, who was hypercritical of a performance of Taylor’s. 

But today in 2024, we can apply this clapback song to any of Taylor haters, and it sits in the same category as songs like You Need To Calm Down, This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things, and more.

Mean Lyrics Meaning: Line by Line

“You, with your words like knives and swords and weapons that you use against me,” she says in the opening verse. This person uses their words like weapons, trying to hurt her. 

The old saying “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me”? She’s saying the opposite is true: words can and do hurt, very much. 

“You” was likely directed at a particular person (likely radio DJ Bob Lefsetz) upon the original 2010 release, but upon the re-release, the subject of this song could be any of Taylor’s critics. 

“You have knocked me off my feet again,” she says of their constant insults, “Got me feelin’ like a nothing.” This person keeps throwing punches, and she keeps getting tripped up emotionally. She’s feeling useless and like she’s not even human; like she’s nothing. 

“You, with your voice like nails on a chalkboard calling me out when I’m wounded,” she says of this person’s insults. Their words make her uncomfortable and are jarring. She just wants the noise to stop. 

“You, pickin’ on the weaker man,” she says of their power dynamics. This person is likely in a higher position of power than Taylor, and he’s picking on her “weaker man” because he can (like the previous track Dear John, in which a toxic power dynamic was also at play). 

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

Chorus: “Someday, I’ll Be Livin’ in a Big Old City”

“Well, you can take me down,” she says, “With just one single blow.” He can knock out all her confidence with just his words; he has no idea how much he’s hurting her. 

“But you don’t know what you don’t know,” she says, foreshadowing what’s to come in the future. 

“You don’t know what you don’t know” is a proverb that means that it’s impossible to know everything. But here, she twists the meaning to hint that he can’t possibly see what’s coming. Taylor, however, can see exactly what will happen in the future, and it’s not good for him. 

“Someday, I’ll be livin’ in a big ole city,” she says in the chorus, “And all you’re ever gonna be is mean.” Big cities for Taylor have always symbolized success and “making it” (see Mine, Never Grow Up, Welcome to New York, et al) and she knows that one day, she’ll make it big. All he’ll ever be is a pathetic man cutting down young women. 

“Someday, I’ll be big enough so you can’t hit me,” she says of her career and reputation, “And all you’re ever gonna be is mean.” She certainly will grow “big enough” so he can’t knock her down, both in her songwriting, singing voice, career, and celebrity. 

“Why you gotta be so mean?” She asks rhetorically again, but by now, we see why he’s mean: he’s just a bitter guy, trying to tear down others to feel better about himself. 

Verse 2: “Switching Sides” & “Wildfire Lies”

“You, with your switching sides,” she says in the second verse, “And your wildfire lies and your humiliation.” This person once supported her – or pretended to support her – but now has flipped. He spreads “wildfire” gossip and slander against her, which embarasses Taylor deeply. 

“You have pointed out my flaws again,” she says of his repeated insults, “As if I don’t already see them.” She knows she’s not perfect, and doesn’t have to constantly be reminded of such. She has tender spots in her ego, and he knows exactly how to push those buttons. 

“I walk with my head down, trying to block you out,” she says, ashamed and embarrassed, “’Cause I’ll never impress you.” She tries to ignore him; she knows she’ll never win him over. “Haters gonna hate,” as she’ll say in the later Shake it Off. 

“I just wanna feel okay again,” she says, trying to find the bright side, but feeling constantly worn down by his chatter. 

Pre-Chorus: “Somebody Made You Cold”

In the second pre-chorus, she imagines why he is the way he is. 

“I bet you got pushed around,” she surmises, “Somebody made you cold.” He’s a bully, she assumes, because he was bullied. As the old saying goes, “hurt people hurt people.” 

“But the cycle ends right now,” she says, “’Cause you can’t lead me down that road.” He’ll never be able to tear her down to his level. She won’t become cynical and jaded like he has, and although he bullies her, Taylor vows she will never become the bully. 

“And you don’t know what you don’t know,” she says once again. He doesn’t know that he can’t make her as cold as he is, hard as he may try. 

Bridge & Buildup: “And a Liar, And Pathetic”

The bridge imagines where this cynical, jaded hater will be in the future. 

“And I can see you years from now in a bar,” she says, “Talking over a football game.” He’ll be the balding loser, day drinking at a bar and spouting off nonsense to anyone who will listen. 

He’ll be blabbering on “With that same big, loud opinion, but nobody’s listening,” she says. Everyone will know he’s full of shit, because he always has been. 

He’ll be “Washed up and ranting about the same ole bitter things,” she says, “Drunk and grumbling on about how I can’t sing.” In the future, he’ll still be stuck on taking her down. But Taylor will have moved on, made it big, and will no longer care about this bitter little man. 

“But all you are is mean,” she says, “All you are is mean.” He is only his anger, because he has let it get the best of him. 

“And a liar, and pathetic,” she continues her scathing takedown, “And alone in life, and mean and mean, and mean, and mean.” He’ll never have anything or anyone good in his life, because he will have pushed them all away with his sour attitude. 

Final Chorus: “Why You Gotta Be So Mean?”

“But someday, I’ll be livin’ in a big ole city,” she repeats again in the final chorus, and “Someday, I’ll be big enough so you can’t hit me. She’ll make it big, and make it out, and he’ll still be nothing. 

The repetition at the end just underscores how petty and silly this whole thing is – he really is just being mean – to a young girl just starting in the music industry – and it’s totally unnecessary. 

By the end of the track, we know why he’s so cynical and jaded: Taylor has painted him vividly, and we know he won’t change with age. But she’s also manifested her own future: Taylor will – in the years that follow – be “big enough” so that no one can hit her. 

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

Mean: Final Thoughts

This song, and this era, established a pattern for Taylor of clapbacks and comebacks. 

As she says in the Speak Now TV Prologue, “This was the beginning of my series of creative choices made by reacting to setbacks with defiance…my stubbornness in the face of doubters and dissenters would become my coping mechanism through my entire career from that point forward.” 

Nothing encapsulates this stubbornness and defiance more precisely than Mean. It’s really a microcosm of the larger themes of the album: rebellion, speaking up, speaking out, and labeling others’ behavior by exactly what it is. 

Today in 2024, we can apply this song to any of Taylor’s haters, and she’ll continue her streak of scathing clapback songs in the later All Too Well, This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things, my tears ricochet, and many more. 

Mean was the first attempt at punching back at criticism, and from here, Taylor will only get stronger and stealthier in her fight to defend herself and her reputation.

More Songs From Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)

• Speak Now Album Prologues Compared 
• Mine 
• Sparks Fly 
• Back to December
• Speak Now
• Dear John
• The Story of Us
• Never Grow Up
• Enchanted
• Better Than Revenge
• Innocent
• Haunted
• Last Kiss
• Long Live
• Ours
• Superman
• Electric Touch (ft Fall Out Boy) [From the Vault]
• When Emma Falls in Love [From the Vault]
• I Can See You [From the Vault]
• Castles Crumbling (ft. Hayley Williams) [From the Vault]
• Foolish One [From the Vault]
• Timeless [From the Vault]