Taylor Swift's Reputation is finally here, and if there's any song designed to address Kanye West's reignited feud with her, it would appear to be the all-important 13th (Swift's favorite number) track, "This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things."
The lyrics seem to explore the two's friendship after the 2015 Grammys and how it went sour. Swift wrote the song with her friend Jack Antonoff, so the lyrics here are likely to at least be partly inspired by her real-life experience with West. (Because, as Swift forewarns in her introduction to the album in her Reputation magazine, "We think we know someone, but the truth is that we only know the version of them they have chosen to show us.")
Here, the lyrics via Genius, with all the West references annotated.
It was so nice throwing big partiesJumping in the pool from the balconyEveryone swimming in a champagne seaAnd there are no rules when you show up hereBass beat rattling the chandelierFeeling so Gatsby for that whole yearAround the time Swift and Kanye West became officially friends (in February 2015 at the Grammys, they publicly made amends), Swift was at the height of her fame.
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1989 was critically acclaimed; her squad—along with her Fourth of July parties—was celebrated by the press, her 1989 World Tour with its surprise guests was getting a lot of great buzz, and her relationship with Calvin Harris was just starting up.
In February 2016, West would release "Famous." Its Swift lyric would ultimately lead to the crumbling of their friendship.
Pre-Chorus:
So why'd you have to rain on my parade?I'm shaking my headI'm locking the gatesChorus:
This is why we can't have nice things, darlingBecause you break themI had to take them awayHere, Swift insinuates that West—who sang about Swift in "Famous," "I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex/Why? I made that bitch famous (Goddamn)/I made that bitch famous""—is the reason their friendship had to end.
"I had to take them away" could allude to Swift publicly distancing herself after the song came out. "Kanye did not call for approval, but to ask Taylor to release his single "Famous" on her Twitter account," her publicist said in February 2016, after the song was released. "She declined and cautioned him about releasing a song with such a strong misogynistic message."
This is why we can't have nice things, honeyThe term "honey" is used frequently in West's famous track "Bound 2", making Swift's use here perhaps a deliberate nod to West's song.
Did you think I wouldn't hear all the things you said about me?This is why we can't have nice thingsAfter Swift initially responded to the "Famous" track, West spoke about Swift's involvement with the track several times publicly, both on his Twitter and during his shows. During one club appearance at the end of February, he made it clear he and Swift aren't on good terms because of the "Famous" aftermath. "She said, 'Ooh, Kanye, I like that line.' Then she won her award and said something completely different. She ain't cool no more. She had two seconds to be cool and she f*cked it up."
Verse 2:
It was so nice being friends againThere I was giving you a second chanceSwift and West were friendly for a full year, Swift going so far as to jokingly say she'd be West's running mate on his 2020 presidential bid in a post of herself posing with flowers he sent her on her Instagram. She hashtagged "#BFFs":
The second chance is after West's infamous "I'mma let you finish, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time!" 2009 VMA interruption that ignited their first feud.
But then you stabbed my back while shaking my handAnd therein lies the issueFriends don't try to trick youGet you on the phone and mind-twist youAnd so I took an axe to a mended fenceSwift addresses head-on the recorded phone conversation that Kim Kardashian posted on her Snapchat of Swift and West discussing the lyrics of "Famous". It's not clear whether Swift knew she was being recorded or what the full context of the conversation was (Kardashian only released an excerpt), but Swift asserts here she was tricked.
Pre-Chorus:
But I'm not the only friend you've lost latelyIf only you weren't so shadySwift references West's strained friendship with JAY-Z here, who actually played a role in helping reconcile West and Swift during the Grammys.
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West had gone on a couple rants about JAY-Z during his concerts (particularly about their kids never playing together). "He knows that he crossed the line," JAY-Z said during an August interview. "I know him. He knows. I know he knows, because we've never let this much space go between one of our disagreements, and we've had many, because that's who we are. That's what I like about him. He's an honest person, he's open and he'll say things and he's wrong a lot of times and he'll confront it." (In September, TMZ reported that West was working to reconcile with JAY-Z.)
Chorus:
This is why we can't have nice things, darlingBecause you break themI had to take them awayThis is why we can't have nice things, honeyDid you think I wouldn't hear all the things you said about me?This is why we can't haveBridge:
Here's a toast to my real friendsThey don't care about that he-said-she-saidWest released a song called "Real Friends" on The Life of Pablo, so this phrasing is likely a nod to that.
And literally those "real friends" are the ones that remain in her squad (friends like Selena Gomez, Ed Sheeran, and Martha Hunt.) Many of their names were on Swift's new Junior Jewels T-shirt in her "Look What You Made Me Do" music video.
YouTubeNames on Swift’s shirt include Lena Dunham, Selena Gomez, Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds, Danielle Haim, Alana Haim, Ed Sheeran, and more.
And here's to my babyHe ain't reading what they call me latelyThat "baby" is Joe Alwyn, Swift's latest boyfriend who apparently isn't paying attention to headlines.
And here's to my mommaHad to listen to all this dramaAnd here's to you‘Cause forgiveness is a nice thing to doHaha, I can't even say it with a straight faceSwift seems to suggest here that while reconciliation isn't impossible, it's pretty improbable right now. West has hinted some interest in having peace with Swift, particularly when he posted a shirt with Swift's and his albums together with the caption "unity love" in August 2016.
Most recently though, with the release of Swift's first Kimye diss track "Look What You Made Me Do," TMZ reported that Kim Kardashian and Kanye West didn't really care about the jabs Swift was making at them musically. The Swift feud wasn't "even on his radar," then, the outlet wrote.
Chorus:
This is why we can't have nice things, darling (darling)Because you break themI had to take them awayThis is why we can't have nice things, honeyDid you think I wouldn't hear all the things you said about me?This is why we can't have nice things, darling(And here's to my real friends)Because you break themI had to take them away(And here's to my baby)This is why we can't have nice things, darling(He didn't care about that he-said-she-said)Did you think I wouldn't hear all the things you said about me?This is why we can't have nice things
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