Riddle Me This: What Does Taylor's "Question...?" Song Mean?

Taylor Swift’s Question…? is her quizzical and curious track 7 from Midnights. The lyrics reference several of her past songs, and seems like it might be the last puzzle piece to Out of the Woods and Is It Over Now?

Is she intentionally connecting these songs to point to one particular person? What do the lyrics mean, and who is the love interest that haunts her what-ifs?

Here’s my complete English teacher analysis of Taylor’s Question…? meaning, line by line and answer by answer.

Question…? by Taylor Swift

Title: Question…?
Written by: Taylor Swift, Jack Antonoff
Track: 7, Midnights
Pen: Fountain
Lyrics from Genius

Question…? Narrative Summary

Setting: A sleepless night, ruminating over a lost love.
Characters: Narrator (Taylor), subject (ex-love, “you”)
Mood: A tiny bit bitter, curious, probing.
Conflict: They didn’t work out, and she wonders what went wrong.
Inciting Incident: “One thing after another” fell apart between them.
Quest: Figure out where they went wrong and why. Was what they had real?
Symbols & Metaphors: “question,” “good girl, sad boy,” “Big city, wrong choices,” “thing goin’ on,” “somethin’”, “who I was,” “painted all my nights / a color I’ve searched for since,” “situations, circumstances, miscommunications,” “explanations,” “kiss you in a crowded room,” “making fun of you,” “clappin’,” “leave her house in the middle of the night,” “put up more of a fight,” “too much,” “touch her,” “Half-moon eyes, bad surprise,” “out of time,” “ on somethin’,” “politics and gender roles,” “you’re not sure and I don’t know,” “swept away in the gray,” “conversation,” “Second best”, “that meteor strike.”
Lesson: Sometimes things end in confusion, and you’ll never get answers.

What is Question…? About?

Question…? takes place inside a sleepless night of Taylor’s life, where she ruminates over a lost love. She needs answers for what really went down between them, and pours out her list of complaints and curiosities in the lyrics.

She alluded to Question in the Midnights Prologue, hinting that part of what keeps her awake is: “that one urgent question you meant to ask someone years ago but didn’t.” This song is her question, directed at the subject.

Will she get answers? Or will she forever be haunted by what-ifs?

Who is Question…? About?

Taylor has never revealed who may have inspired Question…?

Most fans point toward Harry Styles, as lyrically and sonically this song parallels Out of the Woods, Is It Over Now? and Style, which most Swifties assume are about the English singer.

Question…? Lyrics Meaning: Line by Line

Blue and purple starry background featuring portions of Taylor Swift's "Question...?" lyrics. Lyrics are annotated in purple to denote hidden meanings and analyse her use of literary and narrative devices.

the first verse reads:
"I remember
Good girl, sad boy

Big city, wrong choices

We had one thing goin' on

I swear that it was somethin'

'Cause I don't remember who I was

Before you painted all my nights

A color I've searched for since

But one thing after another

Fuckin' situations, circumstances

Miscommunications, and I

Have to say, by the way

I just may like some explanations"

Taylor’s intro pulls one line directly from Out of the Woods: “I remember.” Lyrically, this ties Question…? to the 1989 album and era, giving us a clue toward who and what this song is about.

The first verse then tells us how she remembers this time in her life: “Good girl, sad boy.”

“Good girl” references Style‘s: “good girl faith.” But instead of her love interest having a “James Dean daydream” vibe, he’s a “sad boy.”

Why the difference? Like many of her songs on Midnights, it’s a look back at her past. As hindsight is always 20/20, she can now see this boy, with his “long hair, slicked back, white T-shirt” as just a sad person instead of a hot rebel.

“Big city, wrong choices” puts us firmly in 1989 territory, as that was Taylor’s album about moving to New York City. Though she may have been able to dance to the “new soundtrack” of her life in the big city, it seems like she didn’t always make the right decisions with dating.

“We had one thing goin’ on,” she says, “I swear that it was somethin’.” She’s confused: were they really together? Did she imagine the whole thing? This also connects to another song: in the 1, she sings “we were somethin’ don’t you think so?”

“’Cause I don’t remember who I was,” she reflects, “Before you painted all my nights / A color I’ve searched for since.” She can’t look back on this time and remember herself before he entered her life in a splash of “screaming color.”

He changed her entire world, and she’s never been able to recapture that feeling with anyone else.

But it all came crashing down – whatever their relationship was – with “one thing after another / Fuckin’ situations, circumstances” and “miscommunications.” Chaos ensued between them, and they couldn’t get on the same page.

She wants to understand what went wrong. “And I have to say, by the way,” she says to him, “I just may like some explanations.”

She wants answers: why did he do what he did? Where did they go wrong?

Chorus: “Then What Did You Do?”

The chorus asks her burning question. “Can I ask you a question?” she prods.

This echoes another big question in her musical catalog: Is it Over Now?, which also ties into Out of the Woods. This past relationship is likely the same one that OOTW is about.

“Did you ever have someone kiss you in a crowded room,” she asks, while “every single one of your friends was makin’ fun of you”? Was he ever kissed publicly and teased by his friends? This was likely a real moment between them that’s been burned into her brain.

“But fifteen seconds later, thеy were clappin’ too?” she adds. The whole situation was confusing for her: being kissed, feeling ashamed and embarrassed, but then lauded. It was a real mind-twist.

“Then what did you do?” she asks. After this confusing mess, what happened? Did you make it up to her? Did you apologize for putting her in an embarrassing situation because of your dumb friends?

“Did you lеave her house in the middle of the night? Oh”, she asks, implying that after he embarrassed her, he took off silently, leaving her with only more questions and confusion.

“Did you wish you’d put up more of a fight,” she asks, “When she said it was too much?” When Taylor finally surrendered and broke it off, tired of all the mixed messages and confusion, why didn’t he try harder to make it work?

“Do you wish you could still touch her?” she asks. Does he miss her like she misses him?

“It’s just a question,” she concludes. But this is satire. It’s a series of questions, and they’re not easy questions. They’re emotional, and hard-hitting, searching for direct answers.

She wants to know the truth, and she wants him to admit how messed up his behavior was.

Verse 2: “Got Swept Away in the Gray”

“Half-moon eyes, bad surprise,” she says of him. He’s drunk or stoned, and bumps into her with someone else. This is a sharp contrast to his “James Dean daydream” eyes of Style.

“Did you realize out of time?” she asks. Did he realize too late that he wanted her back? This is her watching “us go round and round each time” in Style: their timing was never right. They were always off track, and never “out of the woods.”

“She was on your mind with some dickhead guy,” she says, “That you saw that night / But you were on somethin’.” He was thinking about her, then she appeared with a date. He was drunk or stoned – “on somethin’” – and he gets jealous.

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

He keeps getting more and more wasted: “It was one drink after another,” she says, as they discuss “Fuckin’ politics and gender roles.” He’s not making much sense, rambling on and on about why they didn’t work the first time. He’s trying to get her back, but she knows it’s all bullshit.

“And you’re not sure and I don’t know,” she says, parodying his nonsensical ramblings.

“Got swept away in the gray,” she says. For a moment she fell for his shenanigans again. “The gray” is his confusing, back-and-forth behavior. It’s not black and white, it’s all muddied.

“I just may like to have a conversation,” she says. This conversation isn’t working out at all – he’s off his head. She’d like to continue this when he’s sober and can make more sense.

Bridge: “I’m Sure That’s What’s Suitable”

The bridge asks him what his life is like now that they’re long over.

“Does it feel like everything’s just like / Second best after that meteor strike?” she asks him. Does every other person feel like a poor substitute after their life-altering, earth-shattering romance? She wants to feel as though he’s been pining for her like she has for him.

“And what’s that that I heard?” she says sarcastically, “That you’re still with her?” Is he still with the person he cheated on her with, or left her for?

“That’s nice,” she says, heavy with sarcasm, “I’m sure that’s what’s suitable / and right.” She’s jealous and calls his new romance “suitable,” which is akin to boring and bland.

“But tonight,” she says, she just can’t stop thinking about what could have been. She longs for him. Does he long for her? She wants to know.

Final Chorus: “It’s Just a Question”

“Do you wish you could still touch her?

It’s just a question”
-Taylor Swift, “Question…?”

The final chorus repeats, asking the same questions over and over. What happened? Where did they go wrong? Does he regret how he behaved?

And – most importantly – does he still want her? Does he miss her?

Was the “asteroid” as earth-shattering for him as it was for her? Can he still ‘paint all her nights’ in “screaming color”?

And if not, why? And what was she to him? She’s still lost in confusion long after it’s over, just as she was when they were together.

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

Question…? Lyrics Meaning: Final Thoughts

Question…? is the anatomy Taylor’s mind after a very confusing breakup. In a sleepless night, she pours over what happened, and wonders exactly what went wrong.

Much like exile, they go back and forth, never reaching any resolution. Maybe they were never meant to be.

But she’d still like to know, and if she can reach a conclusion, maybe she can finally sleep tonight.

More Songs From Midnights

Riddle Me This: What Does Taylor’s “Question…?” Song Mean?

Question…? by Taylor Swift

Question…? Narrative Summary

What is Question…? About?

Who is Question…? About?