Fortnight Lyric Analysis

I was supposed to be sent away

But they forgot to come and get me

The ending lyrics to the last song, “Hits Different”, on Taylor’s previous album, Midnights, are “Have they come to take me away?” These lyrics seem to be a direct reference to the prior ones. Now, Taylor is updating the audience by letting them know the people in question never did come to take her away - not because it was no longer deemed necessary to take her away, but because she was simply forgotten about. This alludes to Taylor’s fears of being forgotten by the public and fading into irrelevance just like the song’s protagonist.

I was a functioning alcoholic

'Til nobody noticed my new aesthetic

These lines further characterize the protagonist as someone who is unstable and mentally ill - justifying the previous claim that she was supposed to be “taken away”. Especially when paired with the Fortnight music video, which features Taylor in a mental institution, it can be assumed that the protagonist is mentally ill. Further, the mention of alcoholism as a part of her “new aesthetic” reflects society’s tendency to glamorize mental health issues online rather than addressing them. Again, no one noticed the protagonist’s struggles, showing how she was forgotten about rather than taken care of.

All of this to say I hope you're okay

But you're the reason

Taylor is offering a disclaimer here, letting her ex know that she doesn’t hate him, but she still blames him for going insane. In this way, she is adopting the common literary trope of a normal woman driven to insanity over a man.

And no one here's to blame

But what about your quiet treason?

These two lines offer a sense of irony. At first, Taylor assures her ex-lover (and herself) that the downfall of their relationship and her descent into madness was neither person’s fault. However, the next line lets the audience know Taylor is not at all convinced on the matter. The rhetorical question “what about your quiet treason?” accuses her ex of the ultimate betrayal - perhaps moving on and starting a new relationship while Taylor is left pining over him.

And for a fortnight there, we were forever

A fortnight is 14 days, so even though Taylor and her ex were together for much longer than a fortnight, she is saying in this line that the time they spent together feels like no more than two weeks compared to the time they’ve been apart. This mirrors Taylor’s 2012 song “Red”, which says “loving him was… faster than the wind… ending so suddenly”. In simpler words, both songs express the idea that love ends so fast, but the aftermath feels like 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

Including these lines about their current encounters characterizes the two as mere acquaintances now, which deeply contrasts the “fortnight” when they meant everything to each other. Now the listener has some insight into why the protagonist went crazy - she is experiencing a form of torture by being forced to live next to her ex, whom she still loves, and watch him be happy in a new relationship with a new, much more sane wife. Even though she acts friendly to her ex, it is merely a facade since she admits to the listeners she wants to kill her ex’s wife who is treating her ex to a normal life complete with a well-kept backyard.

All my mornings are Mondays stuck in an endless February

I took the miracle move-on drug, the effects were temporary

In other words, every day is boring and meaningless without her ex-lover. The mention of “the miracle move-on drug” is a metaphor implying Taylor tried to fix her heartbreak by finding a rebound, but she couldn’t quite fill the emptiness her ex left her with. Using drugs as a metaphor for a rebound fits in the broader context of the song, which has themes of addiction, loss, and insanity. Taylor is admitting here that the so-called “miracle drug” wasn’t enough to satisfy her addiction to the love she felt with her ex.

And I love you, it's ruining my life

(I love you, it's ruining my life)

The memories of the highs she felt with her ex are ruining her life because she feels incapable of moving on without him. Now that Taylor is without the man she loved, she feels like a drug addict in withdrawal from her drug of choice: love. This is the symbolism underlying the entire song, masked by the alternative beat and ethereal vocals.

I touched you for only a fortnight

(I touched you) but I touched you

By repeating the lines “I touched you”, Taylor could be trying to convince herself that she isn’t crazy in the way everyone thinks. She is trying to convince herself that she actually touched him, and it wasn’t all in her head. Because her relationship felt as short as a fortnight, she now only has the memory of it to remind herself of what it was. The listeners, however, know the protagonist is past the brink of insanity, and is thus an unreliable narrator. In this context, it makes sense why she would feel the need to repeat the lines “I touched you” to convince the listeners - and herself - that her relationship wasn’t just a figment of her imagination.

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

Not only does this second chorus repeat what we already know about how Taylor’s ex has moved on and adopted a normal life without her while she is stuck pining for him from across the street, but it also reveals more adopt the narrator’s own life. The audience now knows that she has her own husband (whom she obviously does not love because she didn’t even mention him until now) who is torturing her even further by being disloyal. If this song is autobiographical, then the aforementioned “backyard” could be Taylor’s place of work. As her two most recent exes work in the entertainment industry, it is plausible that in this chorus, she is describing how it feels to see her ex(es) at work and struggle to pretend that everything is fine between them, when she is really still harboring feels of love and resentment.

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

These are the same lines as earlier, but now half of them are being sung from a male’s perspective. This suggests for the first time that perhaps her ex has not moved on as much as she and the audience think he has. In fact, the life we see him living could be nothing more than a charade hiding his true ambition, which is to reconcile with Taylor.

Thought of callin' ya, but you won't pick up

'Nother fortnight lost in America

These lines confirm our suspicions from the previous stanza: Taylor’s ex is assuring the audience that he still constantly thinks about Taylor and what might have been between them, but he can’t muster up the courage to call her and tell her how he feels. Because Taylor kept in her feelings and let them drive her insane rather than confess them to her true love, he doesn’t know how she really feels about him. Instead, he assumes she won’t even pick up the phone because she has moved on and has started a new life without him. He then claims this is just another “fortnight lost in America”, expressing the point of view that they are no longer special - they are just another one of a million failed relationships lost to time.

Move to Florida, buy the car you want

But it won't start up 'til you touch, touch, touch me

Taylor’s ex is surrendering his hopes of rekindling his relationship by moving far away to a place he will likely never see her, where he plans to start a typical suburban life. However, the metaphor of the car represents that no matter how hard he tries to move on, he won’t be able to until he settles his unfinished business with Taylor.

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

Taylor’s repetition of these lines reiterates the idea that the loss they are feeling really is a two-way street. Even though we thought Taylor was pining after a lost cause for majority of the song, the change to the male perspective towards the end lets the readers know the importance of point of view. Taylor can’t tell that her ex feels the same way about her as she feels about him, so they will both try to move on and achieve little success because of everything unsaid they are holding back. This brings the theme of miscommunication into the song, because we as the listeners have more information than the characters in the so

ng. We know that if they were to have an honest conversation with each other, then they would be able to rekindle the relationship or at least move on peacefully, but because of each character’s limited perspective, this will not happen. From this, the listeners also get the hint that the relationship ended from the same lack of communication that is occurring as the song ends.