One of the most interesting components of music is the lyrical content that is embellished from the beginning of a song to ending of a song, because every songwriter writes lyrics very differently. What is even more interesting is when two very different artists have songs that audibly sound nothing alike, but can have the ability to transport you to the same place and pull the same emotions out of you because of their lyrics. This is the experience that I have on a consistent basis when I listen to Fall Out Boy and Taylor Swift. Fall Out Boy and Taylor Swift’s music has a lot of parallels, thematically and lyrically, even though they are in completely different genres. When it comes to specific emotions and experiences of heartbreak, grief, and regret after a breakup, there are two obvious songs that stand out in both of their respective discographies. These two songs audibly sound very opposite, but their lyrical and thematic parallels between these two songs make them sisters in my mind.
Fall Out Boy – “G.I.N.A.S.F.S.”
“G.I.N.A.S.F.S.” is a B-side track on Fall Out Boy’s third album, Infinity On High, that was released in 2007. “G.I.N.A.S.F.S.” is a fast paced song that paints a picture of the rippling effect of heartbreak & longing for the person that is no longer yours. Everytime Patrick sings, “Things aren’t the same anymore, some nights they get so bad, I almost pick up the phone”, it transports me back to the immediate aftermath of my first “big breakup” in high school and experiencing that type of pain on a deep level for the first time in my life. I remember when I had to figure out how to grieve the loss of that relationship and all of the changes in my life that followed. This song lyrically captures what that grieving process can look like when you feel like you can’t move on with the lines, “I trace your shadows on the wall and I kiss them whenever I’m down, whenever I’m down”, and, “I sleep in your old shirts and walk through this house in your shoes”.
Taylor Swift – “Last Kiss (Taylor’s Version)”
“Last Kiss” is the thirteenth song off of Taylor Swift’s third album, Speak Now, that was originally released in 2010. “Last Kiss” is a slow, melodic ballad that explores the feeling of trying to process the loss of a relationship that Taylor did not imagine ending, and longing for how her life used to be when she was with her ex. Taylor explores her grief with this breakup with lines like, “So I’ll watch your life in pictures like I used to watch you sleep. And I feel you forget me like I used to feel you breathe” and “I never thought we’d have a last kiss. I never imagined we’d end like this. Your name, forever the name on my lips”. Experiencing change in life can be incredibly difficult, but it becomes even more complex when that change is losing a romantic partner that appears to be moving forward in their life. You feel stuck remembering every meticulous little detail of how things used to be in the romantic relationship.