florida!!! - taylor swift (feat. florence + the machine)

i took the miracle move-on drug, the effects were temporary and i love you, it's ruining my life 🤝 it's one hell of a drug, love left me like this and i don't want to exist so take me to florida

So I did my best to lay to rest all the bodies that have ever been on my body, and in my mind, they sink into the swamp… is that a bad thing to say in a song?

helloooo escapism, my old friend. Florida!!! this city reeks of driving myself crazy. What a sad parallel to “I’m New York City, I still do it for you babe.”

Taylor as a city/Taylor as a town is one of the biggest metaphors in the album, and her discography in general, and she often paints small towns as where you come from and cities as the dazzling new location of fame.

What is fascinating here is “don’t you know your home is really only a town you’re just a guest in” — which paints her time with Joe as she had talked about before, an oasis away from fame but (this cage used to be just fine).

And on second repetition it becomes “don’t you know your home is really only a town you’ll get arrested” - it’s the scene of a crime, and in this case the crime is maybe house/then cardiac arrest, as we see in the closing remarks, and you’re losing me, where her heart won’t start anymore.

And Florida is an almost mythical location, the magical move on *place* (that’s one hell of a drug—remind you of the miracle move on cure?) where she can bury her regrets, because she doesn’t want to exist so, tell her she is despicable! what a crash, what a rush! fuck me up, Florida!

The Tortured Poets Department + Ghosts

Thinking about Florida!!! as a sequel to Fortnight - the speaker has murdered her cheating husband ("the shitstorm back in Texas") and absconded to Florida.

"I touched you, for only a fortnight, I touched you" / "They said I was a cheat, I guess it must be true"

"I was supposed to be sent away" / "this city reeks of driving myself crazy"

"My husband is cheating, I want to kill him." / "and your cheating husband disappeared"

"I took the miracle move-on drug, the effects were temporary" / "I need to forget so take me to Florida"

"I love you, it's ruining my life" / "Love left me like this and I don't want to exist"

and then there's this line in Fortnight - "Move to Florida, buy the car you want, but it won't start up til I touch, touch, touch me" - which could be interpreted as her lover saying "you could seize control and do what you want but it's only going to work out if we're together"

And I think the "buy the car you want" is interesting when compared with the resentful "so you work your life away just to pay for a timeshare down in Destin" - her lover has noticed how she's chafing in her marriage and is encouraging her to do what she wants.

this is about them

Florida!!! 🤝 no body, no crime 🤝 Carolina

A three step guide on how to dispose of a body in a body of water or swamp

track 8) florida!!!

I LOVE THIE SONG! it discusses disappearing from your hometown and going somewhere where nobody will know who you are, what wrongful things you did and forget any mistakes you made. it is about having a fresh start during a time where everything feels like shit. the song compares ‘florida’ to a drug that makes you forget and not exist for a while (“florida!!! Is one hell of a drug / can I use you up? / fuck me up florida”) which is what the narrator wants to do at this point of the story. I love the harsh drum beats every time taylor and florence sing the word florida, they also sound sooo good together

wait a minute… “dear reader, get out your map, pick somewhere and just run” -> “love left me like this, and i don’t want to exist, so take me to florida”

Florida!!! What a perfect song. Taylor’s first verse. Her voice is low, charming, and a bit reticent. “My friends all smell like weed or little babies” is such a funny and accurate line. Lovely little Taylorism. Then we move on to the chorus. I remember seeing people on Reddit be like “Florida!!! doesn’t make sense? What does the chorus even mean?” Which confounded me because it feels so obvious. The place you thought you belonged has become foreign, so you put everything you have into what you think will be a dream escape. Florence’s verse has some of my favourite lines in the album. “I did my best to lay to rest, all of the bodies that have ever been on my body” has such satisfying delivery and relatable sentiment. The desire to escape from the past through the unsavoury means described in the previous lines. The detached manner of referring to previous relationships. And then after wishing they’d sink into the swamp, the gorgeous and so so funny “Is that a bad thing to say in a song?”. This ask is getting kind of long but my final praise will go to “Love left me like this and I don’t want to exist so take me to Florida”. It’s probably my favourite line delivery in the whole song, which is high praise because there are so many good ones. And it is kind of the pivotal line of the song. The narrator laying it out there why she feels like she’s done wrong, why she needs to escape, why she wants the miracle move-on drug. All this to say that Florida!!! Perfect song. 10/10. Florence Welch is my bestie. I bid you adieu.

100% agree no notes

My Husband Is Cheating...I Want To Kill Him. (Fortnight feat. Post Malone) 2024

And Your Cheating Husband Disappeared...Well, No One Asks Any Question's Here. (Florida!!! feat. Florence + The Machine) 2024

Taylor and Florence in the studio recording Florida!!!

the tortured poets department wallpapers

part 1 | part 2

it actually kind of blew my mind that taylor talks about thinking of matty before actually breaking up with joe so openly because she could’ve easily omitted that part, but i think she wanted it all out in the world and be free of it. chloe or sam or sophia or marcus being about how they’ve known each other for a decade and they could’ve been together if not for his issues and other people they were with, and how to get her this time, he simply just needs to confess he loved her then and loves her now. and thinking about how she’s talked about the songs being made in the last two years (not one), and then thinking about fortnight and how she talks about him constantly just being there (and him knowing about her issues with joe), and then thinking about how in guilty as sin? she talks about him sending her “downtown lights” and telling her bad thoughts are not a thing because she didn’t actually sleep with him while being in her relationship, and then in florida!!!, her singing “they said i was a cheat, i guess it must be true”… now the morality of all of this is a different topic, but she just needed a clutch to be able to leave and she lays out the story and how sinister it was that he knew about the cracks and made his way through, and her admitting that she can’t be abstained of guilt because she let it happen is just so. raw and honest.

this tracklist has me thinking so many thoughts you guys.

they broke up a fortnight into tour... the first show post joever was in florida... who's afraid of little old me being a twist on who's afraid of virginia woolf a film which starred elizabeth taylor and richard burton about a couple whose relationship breaks down at late night drinks in front of people... my boy only breaks his favourite toys - is she the toy??? free from the slammer where the slammer is an obvious reference to jail after all the criminal metaphors of her and joe tricking the system... but daddy i love him being a reference to the little mermaid where she gave up her voice for a man... clara bow being a 1920's film star who found her voice, married a guy who denied they were ever married publicly and then died + the majority of her fame coming from silent films where she literally didn't need to have a voice and then successfully transitioning into 'talkies' (films with sound).... the smallest man who ever lived vs. 'the loudest woman this town has ever seen who had a marvellous time ruining everything'... oh boy.

Florence Welch and Taylor Swift via Jack Antonoff's Instagram 🌿