Dorothea’s Return: “’tis the damn season” Meaning, Explained Line by Line
‘tis the damn season is track 4 on Taylor Swift’s evermore, and it continues similar themes and narratives as her previous album, folklore.
The track narrates Dorothea, from her titular track 8, coming home for the holidays and reuniting with an old flame. dorothea, on the other hand, is from the perspective of the person she reunites with.
This song is full of longing, nostalgia, and puts an entirely new spin on a Christmas song. But what do the lyrics mean, and does it tie into Taylor’s personal life? Is it entirely fiction?
Here’s my full English teacher analysis of Taylor’s ‘tis the damn season meaning, line by line.
‘tis the damn season by Taylor Swift
- Title: ‘tis the damn season
- Written by: Aaron Dessner, Taylor Swift
- Track: 4, evermore
- Pen: Fountain
- Lyrics from Genius
‘tis the damn season Meaning: Narrative Summary
- Setting: Hometown for the holidays.
- Characters: Narrator (Dorothea, by Taylor), subject (ex-lover, “you”)
- Mood: Nostalgic, sneaky, longing.
- Conflict: She’s only in town temporarily; they live worlds apart.
- Inciting Incident: “There’s an ache in you, put there by the ache in me”
- Quest: Hook up for the weekend with no one being the wiser.
- Symbols & Metaphors: “the kind of cold, fogs up windshield glass,” “ache in you,” “same to you,” “call it even,” “‘tis the damn season”, “road not taken”, “holidays linger like bad perfume,” “You can run,” “Time flies,” “we could just ride around,” “for old times’ sake,” “wait” & “stay”, “so-called friends,” “the only soul who can tell which smiles I’m fakin’”, “the warmest bed I’ve ever known,” “my hometown.”
- Imagery: “It’s the kind of cold, fogs up windshield glass”, “And the road not taken looks real good now / and it always leads to you and my hometown,” “The holidays linger like bad perfume,” “Time flies, messy as the mud on your truck tires,” “the so-called friends / Who’ll write books about me if I ever make it,” “the only soul / Who can tell which smiles I’m fakin’”, “To leave the warmest bed I’ve ever known.”
- Lesson: Running away doesn’t mean you forget.
What is ‘tis the damn season About?
‘tis the damn season narrates Dorothea (a fictional character created by Taylor) returning home from LA for the holidays.
She comes home for Christmas and runs into her old flame, and the lyrics narrate the longing of reuniting with this person.
In the evermore Prologue, Taylor said this about these intersecting narratives:
“Dorothea, the girl who left her small town to chase down Hollywood dreams – and what happens when she comes back for the holidays and rediscovers an old flame.”
-Taylor Swift, evermore Prologue
The perspective of the ex-lover is portrayed in ‘tis the damn season‘s sister song, dorothea.
Who is ‘tis the damn season About?
Taylor has never revealed if ‘tis the damn season was inspired by any real people in her life.
The protagonist Dorothea is a fictional character, much like Betty, James and Augustine of the folklore love triangle.
Taylor said in a YouTube comment: “There’s not a direct continuation of the betty/james/august storyline, but in my mind Dorothea went to the same school as Betty James and Inez.”
For more context on the folklore love triangle, read my full analysis of august, betty and cardigan.
‘tis the damn season Meaning, Line by Line
Verse one begins when Dorothea returns and runs into her old lover, possibly her high school sweetheart. She’s moved to Hollywood to try to “make it”, and left her small town life behind.
“If I wanted to know who you were hanging with while I was gone,” she tells her ex, “I would’ve asked you.” She doesn’t want to know who they’ve been hooking up with now that she left to live elsewhere.
“It’s the kind of cold,” she says of the weather in her hometown, that “fogs up windshield glass.” But she doesn’t exactly mean cold here; she means warmth. Both cold and warmth can fog up windshield glass, and so can passionate hookups in cars.
“But I felt it when I passed you,” she says. She felt a temperature change when they reunited, and she felt the heat between them.
“There’s an ache in you, put there by the ache in me,” she says. They desire each other, and the air is thick with longing.
“But if it’s all the same to you,” she shrugs, “it’s the same to me.” They can pick up where they left off, and hookup for the weekend, no strings attached.
Chorus: “The Road Not Taken Looks Real Good Now”
“So we could call it even,” she says. She left, and likely broke their heart, but when she returned, they’re dating someone else. It irks her. They’ve hurt each other, so ‘calling it even’ is accepting the mutual heartbreak and pushing forward anyway.
“You could call me ‘babe’ for the weekend,” she says, “‘tis the damn season.”
“Tis the season” is usually followed by “to be jolly” in the classic Christmas carol “Deck the Halls”. But she’s not feeling jolly – she’s feeling resentful that she’s back in her hometown after she worked so hard to escape.
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For Dorothea, “‘tis the damn season” to make bad decisions, dig back up your history, get drunk, and make out with your high school sweetheart.
“Write this down,” she tells them. Remember this agreement: we’re not back together. We’re not in love again. This is just a weekend hookup, and nothing more. Agreed?
“I’m stayin’ at my parents’ house,” she says begrudgingly, “and the road not taken looks real good now.”
“The Road Not Taken” is a famous Robert Frost poem about decisions and how they affect the direction of your life. For Dorothea, her ex is “the road not taken”, and they’re looking pretty appealing right now, when she’s stuck back home at her parents’ house.
“The road not taken” “always leads to you and my hometown”, she says. Her past decisions steered her away from this small town fate, but it always tempts her. What would have happened if she stayed?
Verse 2: “The Holidays Linger Like Bad Perfume”
The second verse (likely) narrates their passionate car hookup. “I parkеd my car right between the Methodist / And thе school that used to be ours,” she says. She’s chosen a secluded spot to meet up with her ex.
“The holidays linger like bad perfume” for her, meaning that she’s really hating being back: it seems like this hometown visit is lasting forever. “You can run” from the lingering misery, “but only so far.”
“I escaped it too,” she says. So why is she back?
“Remember how you watched me leave,” she asks them, alluding to their past heartbreak. They likely broke up when she moved to LA, and not because they weren’t in love anymore. It’s unresolved between them.
“But if it’s okay with you, it’s okay with me,” she says, meaning that if they can forgive her for leaving, she can forgive them for moving on.
This can also be read as they’re both with other people, and cheating on their current partners with each other. It’s unclear, and open to interpretation.
Chorus: “Time Flies, Messy as the Mud on Your Truck Tires”
The first part of the chorus repeats, then says: “Time flies, messy as the mud on your truck tires.”
Her history and her life have gone by quickly and brutally, and her past is “messy as the mud on your truck tires.” This ties in a bit of ancient Taylor lore from Tim McGraw, when she said:
“Just a boy in a Chevy truck
That had a tendency of gettin’ stuck
On backroads at night”
Is this the same truck and boy and muddy truck tires from Tim McGraw? It’s a song about high school sweethearts, so it’s entirely possible.
“Now I’m missing your smile,” she says: she’s getting attached again. “Hear me out,” she insists, “we could just ride around, and the road not taken looks real good now.”
She wants to circle back (“ride around”) onto the road not taken; she wants to circle back to this relationship. The road “always leads to you and my hometown,” so why should she keep fighting it? She always comes back, anyway.
Bridge: “The Heart I Know I’m Breakin’ is My Own”
After they’ve hooked up, they’ll “sleep in half the day just for old times’ sake.” But when she gets up to leave, she says: “I won’t ask you to wait if you don’t ask me to stay.”
She won’t ask them to wait for her. She’s probably not coming back. But they have to agree not to ask her to stay, either, because her heart couldn’t take it. She wants to see what’s down “the road not taken,” but she also wants to escape her hometown and never return. She’s torn.
“So I’ll go back to L.A.,” she says, “and the so-called friends / Who’ll write books about me if I ever make it.” After their weekend dalliance, she’ll return to where she came from. Her life there is superficial, with fake friends who are only using her for connections.
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Her lover describes this group as “shiny friends”, and her “being known for who you know” in dorothea.
While she’s there, trying to become a star, she’ll “wonder about the only soul / Who can tell which smiles I’m fakin’.” Her ex is the only person who knows the real her. Her “so called friends” don’t know her that well; only they do.
“And the heart I know I’m breakin’ is my own,” she says, “To leave the warmest bed I’ve ever known.” She’s only asking for more pain by restarting this romance again and tempting fate. They’re “the warmest bed” she’s ever known, meaning they’re comforting, and comfortable, and soothing. But she can’t stay.
“We could call it even,” she repeats, “Even though I’m leaving.” She broke their heart when she left, and she’ll break her own heart when she leaves a second time.
“’Tis the damn season,” she repeats. ‘Tis the season for heartbreak, and longing, and sad goodbyes.
Final Chorus & Outro: “It Always Leads to You and My Hometown”
“We could just ride around
And the road not taken looks real good now
And it always leads to you and my hometown
It always leads to you and my hometown”
-Taylor Swift, “’tis the damn season”
The chorus repeats, and then the outro closes the song with “it always leads to you and my hometown.”
Even when she goes back to LA, she’ll circle back to this person again and again in her mind. She’ll always wonder what would have happened if she had stayed.
Her heart always leads her home, even when her body is somewhere else.
‘tis the damn season Meaning: Final Thoughts
This is such a sad and nostalgic song about homecoming, fate, where our lives lead us, and wondering about what would have happened if we made different life choices.
Dorothea breaks her own heart by walking down “the road not taken,” and she knows it. She’s just too curious to see what it would have been like, so she tries it for a weekend.
Will she ever return to her messy hometown and high school sweetheart? Probably not. But she’ll always wonder what could have happened if she would have stayed.
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