‘Fortnight’ - Taylor Swift: Deep Dive, Lyrical Analysis, and Music Video Breakdown
My understanding of this song as a whole is that it's about the breakdown of the American dream: a failing long-term relationship, and a longing for a past love that is suddenly in your proximity again but not available to you.
I wanted to talk about this song in two ways: the historical context in which I believe Taylor wrote it, and the deeper literary meanings we can gather from it in a more metaphorical sense, with the gift of hindsight and the images from the music video.
I was thinking about “The Fault in Our Stars” the other night and how Hazel Grace says some infinities are bigger than other infinities but she was grateful for the forever that Gus was able to give her in the limited number of days that they got together.
This made me think of Fortnight and how some fortnights could be longer than others. We can take it in the literal sense of two weeks but we could also think of it metaphorically in the grand scheme of Taylor’s whole life. While spending over six years of your youth with the wrong person can feel like an insurmountable loss, when you’re old and looking back on your whole life, it might just feel like a fortnight.
This is where I think the concept of braided poetry is important to mention. “A braided piece is one that uses different strands – usually three separate storylines or topics, alternating topics sequentially between each of the three lines.”
Due to the intertwined nature of her feelings during this season of her life and in the direct aftermath of two relationships ending and a new one starting, it makes sense that various storylines or perspectives would be woven into her poems by the fans, and at times maybe even subconsciously by Swift. It’s also not lost on me that Swift has been wearing quite a few braids in her hair during the lead-up to her TTPD era.
[Verse 1: Taylor Swift]
I was supposed to be sent away
But they forgot to come and get me
This calls back to where Midnights left off — at the end of “Hits Different” she says, “I heard your key turn in the door down the hallway. Is that your key in the door? Is it okay? Is it you? Or have they come to take me away?”
I was a functioning alcoholic
'Til nobody noticed my new aesthetic
In “Dear Reader” Taylor sings, “Never take advice from someone who’s falling apart” and has many mentions of alcohol, including the verse, “So I wander through these nights. I prefer hiding in plain sight. My fourth drink in my hand. These desperate prayers of a cursed man. Spilling out to you for free.”
Somehow she was able to hide the fact that she was unwell and drowning her sorrows in alcohol (despite the many, many references to it throughout Midnights).
Anti-Hero Music Video
Here, we can see that “evil Taylor,” which most certainly represents her inner demons and a darker side that haunts her mind in the middle of the night, is pressuring regular Taylor to keep drinking. I think this offers a lucrative insight into her mental state at this time. Plus, Taylor noted that she started writing The Tortured Poets Department right after they finished Midnights.
What a true queen; her ability to mask a quite confessional 10th album behind the guise of “midnights throughout her life” was genius. However, it does beg the question: why was she a functioning alcoholic, and what was the catalyst for this spiral? Or, who?
Interestingly, I don’t know what to make of this verse because it’s unclear who the protagonist refers to here. It could be the muse she’s fantasized about for nearly a decade or the long-term partner slowly fading into the abyss and becoming distant. Since both Joe Alwyn and Matty Healy are British, the “quiet treason” could be referencing a subtle form of betrayal from both of them. I think this could be referring to the fact that Matty Healy has notoriously swirled Taylor into his music over the past decade, despite being in a relationship. Quiet treason? Perhaps, he taught her a secret language she can’t speak with anyone else — listen to “Illicit Affairs.” Healy also slightly bashed Taylor in interviews following their 2014 fling. So, without actually talking about their dating relationship, he still betrayed her in a way, claiming it would be emasculating to date Taylor. Sounds reminiscent of “fuckin politics, and gender roles, and you’re not sure and I don’t know.” Since there was rust that grew between telephones over the years, could the betrayal have been in the form of ghosting?
Alternatively, I think it’s possible to fit her long-term partner into this slot as well since quiet treason also sounds reminiscent of the line in “So Long, London,” where she says, “Holding tight to your quiet resentment and my friends said it isn’t right to be scared every day of a love affair.” They were also “splintered back in winter, silent dinners, bitter, he was with her in dreams.”
This unnamed person(s) is the reason that Taylor was supposed to be sent away, that she was a functioning alcoholic, and that her whole aesthetic changed, and yet she still hopes that they are doing alright in life. Interesting. This makes it seem like she and this person are not close anymore because she doesn’t know how they are, she’s just wishing them the best.
[Chorus: Taylor Swift]
And for a fortnight there, we were forever
Run into you sometimes, ask about the weather
Now you're in my backyard, turned into good neighbors
Your wife waters flowers, I wanna kill her
While a fortnight is a British term for a two-week period, I also wanted to look at this word in a more metaphorical sense as well. I think it could relate to when Taylor and Matty were together at the end of 2014, which probably was only for two weeks. But, it could also refer to their fling in 2023 or even her relationship with Joe. While all these relationships were temporary, when they were in the midst of them, it felt like a little forever.
[Verse 2: Taylor Swift, Taylor Swift & Post Malone, Post Malone]
All my mornings are Mondays stuck in an endless February
I took the miracle move-on drug, the effects were temporary
And I love you, it's ruining my life
I love you, it's ruining my life
I touched you for only a fortnight
I touched you, but I touched you
Mondays are notoriously a dreadful day of the week, but Swift has referenced the depressive shade of blue that often covered her time with Joe. Plus, being in London in the winter is likely quite gray and cold. Stuck in an endless February seems to insinuate a cold, dreary, depressing month but also signifies the month of love since there’s Valentine’s Day.
Could she be stuck in her “Lover” Era, feeling trapped by this idea that she had already chosen her person but every day feels like a Monday — boring, mundane, and unexciting (“my boredom’s bone-deep, this cage was once just fine”)? It’s interesting to think about February representing her being stuck in this romantic era when there wasn’t much romance left.
It also seems important to mention that at the end of 2014, Matty Healy wouldn’t kiss a fan on the lips because he was in a relationship. He was also reportedly telling fans that he told someone he loved them and they said that wasn’t true.
Likely in early December 2014, Matty Healy is said to have posted and deleted poetry on his Instagram, with the first lines saying, “I love you, I cannot help this hope.”
I wouldn’t put it past Taylor to use this line as inspiration in a song for a very specific call back to that moment in time. While some people may assume that the “miracle move on drug” was Matty Healy after Joe Alwyn, I think it may have been Calvin Harris after Matty. There have been many references using other men in this way. In “Hits Different” she says, “I used to switch out these kens, I’d just ghost” and in “My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys” she said, “I felt more when we played pretend than with all these kens.”
[Chorus: Taylor Swift, Taylor Swift & Post Malone]
And for a fortnight there, we were forever
Run into you sometimes, ask about the weather
Now you're in my backyard, turned into good neighbors
Your wife waters flowers, I wanna kill her
And for a fortnight there, we were together
Run into you sometimes, comment on my sweater
Now you're at the mailbox, turned into good neighbors
My husband is cheating, I wanna kill him
To me, this stanza tells the story of two people who had a brief relationship that was magical but for various reasons, it didn’t work at that time. However, now they are in each others’ orbits again but tied to other people. His “wife” seems happy which makes the narrator want to kill her and her “husband” is cheating which I take less as literally and more as someone who is removed from the relationship and clearly causing strife and bitterness. It’s easier for eyes to wander down that passage in time and romanticize the “what ifs” when you are unhappy in your current situation and when the “what if” is now your neighbor.
[Bridge: Taylor Swift, Post Malone, Taylor Swift & Post Malone]
I love you, it's ruining my life
I love you, it's ruining my life
I touched you for only a fortnight
I touched you, I touched you
I love you, it's ruining my life
I love you, it's ruining my life
I touched you for only a fortnight
I touched you, I touched you
Given the situation, it’s understandable why loving this person would be making her life a living hell. The repetition of “I touched you” likely shows that there was physical contact for a brief amount of time but that there was also a lasting emotional impact made on this person. As in, I touched you physically but I also touched your soul.
While I don’t think this is exactly what the song is talking about, I think Taylor’s feelings for Joe could be intertwined into this bridge as well, since they went from being a forever love to a relationship where she was searching for just one glimpse his smile, asking about the weather (silent dinners, bitter). She loved him, which made it so hard to actually leave a relationship that was clearly not working for her any longer.
Her love for Joe was ruining her life but so was her silent love for Matty, who was tugging on her sweater, making her feel seen and valued again after slowly dying for years.
While I believe this comes later in the chronological timeline, with Matty, even though the decade played them for fools, when they eventually rekindled their romance after playing pretend for all those years, she was the cardigan that he put on and said was his favorite…for a fortnight. Despite shit-talking her under the table, talking rings, and talking cradles, it felt like they had the promise of a forever within that fortnight.
[Outro: Post Malone, Post Malone & Taylor Swift, Taylor Swift]
Thought of callin' ya, but you won't pick up
'Nother fortnight lost in America
Move to Florida, buy the car you want
But it won't start up 'til you touch, touch, touch me
Thought of calling ya, but you won't pick up
'Nother fortnight lost in America
Move to Florida, buy the car you want
But it won't start up 'til I touch, touch, touch you
The first line of this stanza reminds me of the line in “Maroon” that says “the rust that grew between telephones.” It’s curious why this other person wouldn’t pick up the phone if Taylor called. Likely, insinuating that Taylor already knew all the reasons why rekindling an old flame was a bad idea and why this person wouldn’t want to do that. However, she couldn’t help but wonder and fantasize about that.
“Another fortnight lost in America” is actually a very sad line because it encapsulates the pain of time passing while also touching on how quick and seemingly insignificant the fortnight they spent together actually was. As the weeks passed, it’s like a constant reminder of how many fortnights are in between what they once had and who they are now.
Another fortnight lost in America could also touch on the passionate season of time that once was but is now lost in her unhappy long-term relationship. Although she was with Joe for over six years, maybe the “moment of warm sun” was actually just a fortnight in hindsight.
The idea of moving to Florida seems to represent what Taylor sang about in “Dear Reader” when she said,
“Dear reader
Get out your map, pick somewhere and just run
Dear reader
Burn all the files, desert all your past lives
And if you don't recognize yourself
That means you did it right”
Florida seems to be the place to start over for Taylor. The place where she will be able to “buy the car she wants” or perhaps, win over the guy she’s been fantasizing about. Of course, this new life that she’s trying to build for herself won’t take off until this guy finally touches her skin. They have to be together again and give a real relationship a shot.
What meaning can we extract from the music video?
The music video starts with Taylor seemingly in a mental institution or insane asylum of sorts, wearing a dress that looks similar to that of a bride. All I can think about when I see this image is “Champagne Problems” where she says, “She would’ve made such a lovely bride what a shame she’s fucked in the head.”
She’s taking a pill (the “forget him” drug) but the visual image of the pill on her tongue looks just like the way she at that heart-shaped candy in the “Blank Space” music video from her 1989 era.
Similarly, when Taylor and Post Malone are reading the story of “Us” together in a later scene, they are lying in papers that make up Taylor’s side profile that matches what was seen in her “Style” music video.
Both of these little clues could indicate that we are being taken back to that 1989 era because that’s the moment that’s stuck in Taylor’s head when the fling with Matty Healy originally started. This could also point to the place Swift was currently at — having a blank space for a muse that never went out of style in her mind. After all those years, they were still writing their imaginary story.
Being handcuffed to her bed with a wedding-ish dress on could also indicate where she was at mentally: in a long-term relationship, chained to the idea and hope of a future but trying desperately to forget this other guy (which could also mean that pill was representing the drug of alcohol). Yet, in her mind, she was reading and writing the love story of her and Matty. The two typewriters represent this as well, since Matty Healy is also a songwriter and he and Taylor have been known to disguise their own secret language in song lyrics.
When asylum Taylor goes over to the mirrored wall to look at her reflection, the tattoos appearing on her face could symbolize two things. It could reflect the idea that Taylor needed to hide or cover up her true self to have a relationship with Joe. No one noticed that her new aesthetic was more forlorn, reserved, and introverted. From an outside observer, it appeared that for years Taylor was made to feel ashamed of wanting attention, being a mirrorball, desiring fame, money, and a career. She wore disguises (*insert pink wig Taylor) and was dragged (headfirst, fearless) into cars to avoid paparazzi. For those of us who had been following Taylor for a decade at this point, it was a shock to the system. But, after the summer apocalypse of 2016, we all thought Taylor was purposefully changing how she interacted with everyone, but in hindsight, much of this could have been a huge compromise to keep Joe happy.
Another interpretation of the tattoos appearing on Swift’s face could indicate that she’s putting on the tattoos because she’s being covered in the idea of this person that she’s thinking about. “My house of stone, your ivy grows and now I’m covered in you.”
Additionally, these tattoos could represent how this man was or would tarnish her good, clean image. She was figuratively taking on the sins of Matty Healy by dating him. Of course, this is still in her imagination because when she walks out in her black dress to her typewriter, her face is clean, but on the other side of the room, her muse sits, covered in those face tattoos and “flaws.”
Since Taylor and Matty are both prolific writers, it makes sense that this scene represents them swirling each other into all of their songs and writing secret love letters to each other through their music. The flames coming out of the typewriters also represent twin flames in the sense that the two were best friends and really seemed to understand each other.
When they finally run to each other, amid a paper hurricane, both their faces are clean, which could mean that they both see the best versions of each other or the true versions (“I may never open up the way I did for you” - The Black Dog). It’s unclear if this is still all in Taylor’s head (they are reading the story of us on a literal picture of Taylor’s profile) or if this is their reunion after her breakup with Joe. His lack of tattoos could be him promising to change and be reformed for her.
The switch-up is pretty instant after this. She goes from being happy with him to being angry that it was all a facade. The electrocution chair is a direct correlation to “Down bad” — him doing experiments on her and then "saving" her from himself by leaving her. This is where we see the black dog walk through the shot, so maybe she had Matty’s location on her phone during this initial ghosting but then he realized that he needed to come back and save her from this heartbreak he was causing. The dog could also represent her seeing Joe’s location and spiraling further into madness.
This leads to her having a meltdown with everything burning into flames. This visual could also call back to “Dear Reader” where she says, “Burn all the files, desert all your past lives.” However, it leads to this visual that makes me think both Taylor and Matty wanted to call each other but neither ever did because they assumed the other wouldn’t pick up. How many fortnights were lost because they kept kicking the can down the road?
The phone booth seems to be a symbol for London, but could also relate to Matty Healy being safe and protected from the media storm while Taylor gets all the hate for his bad name. The rain also reminded me of the line in “The Black Dog” when Taylor says “how my rain-soaked body was shaking.” Interestingly, it rained at Swift’s Gillette stadium shows in May 2023, where Matty Healy was in attendance. The Eras Tour surprise songs for night two were “Question…?” and “Invisible.” This was also the night that Taylor gave her speech about her life finally making sense.
“I kind of feel like telling you, I don’t know, I’ve just never been this happy in my life, in all aspects of my life ever before. And I just want to thank you for being a part of that. It’s not just the tour. I just sort of feel like my life finally feels like it makes sense. So I thought I’d play this song, which brings me a lot of happy memories.”
- She went on to play Question…? (rumored to be about Matty Healy)
The phone booth in the music video could also represent Joe wanting a quiet, personal, safe life while Taylor wanted to break out of the glass box and not be caged in. After all, she’s midnight rain — he wanted that comfortable and she wanted that pain. It also reminds me of the song “Peace,” where Taylor says, “The rain is always gonna come when you’re standing with me.”
The rain could also symbolize her getting washed clean of both relationships. *insert “Come Clean” by Hilary Duff.* Eventually, Post Malone exits the phone booth, stands in the rain with her and they touch hands. However, this makes me think that the music video is ending with her and Matty possibly giving their relationship another try. It’s also possible that the music video is adding context to the story that wasn’t present in the lyrics because it hadn’t happened yet.
While I think this song was finished before Travis was even in the picture, part of the braided poetry analysis could extract meaning from him as a muse too. The last scene zooms in on her bracelet, and Travis has infamously talked about making her a friendship bracelet with his number on it. It theoretically could finally represent the person who can handle her fame, stand with her when the rain comes, embrace the storms, and enjoy the life they can build together.