Babylon song discussion
Hi! Wanted to share something about Babylon (which I love) to see if others had made the same connections.
The verse with the “pretty as a picture you didn’t post. She looks at you like you’re solid gold” stood out to me because Taylor has used the gold motif multiple times in her music. Specifically to apply to a certain muse. Think “goldrush”, “deep blue but you painted me golden,” “there’s an indentation in the shape of you. Made your mark on me golden tattoo,” “it’s like your eyes are liquor and your body is gold” “one single thread of gold tied me to you” “gold cage hostage to my feelings ” and “golden like daylight.”
Could the woman looking at “him” in Babylon be Taylor looking at a partner who maybe wouldn’t commit or be present in the relationship? A certain muse also didn’t post her much or speak about her in public. I’m not saying the whole song is about one person or thing but I’m wondering if some of her experiences with a certain person or relationship could have inspired parts of it.
“Love is ice upon the ladder you need to climb” reminds me of “you think he shines so bright (golden?) but he’s bathing in your reflected light. free solo social climb” the idea of someone putting their success above the relationship. And someone thinking they are shining so bright but it’s actually them reflecting back the love of the person looking at them.
Another thing that points to this theory is the connection to the song Renegade. “You fire off missiles cause you hate yourself but do you know you’re demolishing me?” feels very similar to “you’re using nostalgia as a weapon to hurt yourself, but darling you end up hurting everybody else” it mirrors the idea of calling out very similar self destructive behavior. The whole song renegade in itself feels very similar story wise to Babylon.
Just wanted to share to see if anyone else made connections to her older songs as well.