Thread by @tweetsricochet

Introducing my new lyrical analysis series: THE ERAS TOUR SETLIST VERSION.

By popular demand, the first album up is...Evermore!

Our first featured #TSErasTour analysis is the song I am MOST looking forward to scream-crying with you all at the stadium: Champagne Problems! A 🧵:

1) Let's begin with the title itself: "Champagne Problems." This common idiom is used to describe an issue, or decision, which is seemingly trivial in the face of what is perceived to be the "real," serious problems of the world. This can be applied to many different situations.

2) The first use is to disparage a seemingly minor issue faced by someone with affluence (ie, wealth or success), a la "first world problems." This meaning is particularly applicable to Taylor, whose struggles have been consistently downplayed in the media for this very reason.

3) This meaning also comes very much into play when the song delves into mental health, which has frequently been misrepresented as "an issue that only the wealthy can afford." The title itself is self-deprecating, downplaying the intense personal struggle described in the song.

4) "Champagne problems" can also be applied to a decision, rather than a circumstance: a dilemma that is perceived (by others) to be between two excellent choices. The narrator acknowledges that the audience may not understand the real depth and grief of the decision they face.

5) So we begin the song itself with a sense of intrigue, wondering whether the narrator is truly downplaying their own pain, or whether they are sadly (even sarcastically) reflecting on how badly they and their emotional crisis have been misunderstood by the people in their life.

6) The narrator (described as "she" going forward) begins: "You booked the night train for a reason/so you could sit there in this hurt/ bustling crowds or silent sleepers/ you're not sure which is worse."

"You," the muse, is introduced as a person in severe emotional pain.

7) The setting is night, which not only adds to the somber mood, but also symbolically signals to us that something has just ended. As we find out, it is the relationship. This ex-partner, facing the "night" of their love, seeks cover of night to hide their pain from others.

8) But in the downfall of their relationship, the solitude of the "silent sleepers" is just as painful as the "bustling crowds" they can also hardly bear. There is no "best" case scenario when faced with this level of devastation. Both silence and intrusive company are worst.

9) This verse appears to contradict the title. This hardly seems like a "champagne problem--" she describes a grief so awful that silence becomes deafening and company becomes unbearable. This is intentional--Taylor is setting up a contrast with how "we" perceive the narrator.

10) And now the reason for this devastation is explained: "Because I dropped your hand while dancing/ left you out there standing/ crestfallen on the landing/ champagne problems." The narrator ended this relationship. More importantly, she ended it abruptly and unexpectedly.

11) Why unexpected? Because she dropped their hand "while dancing." Their relationship was cut off mid-stride (mid-dance), when (to all appearances) they appeared to be happy together. The specific use of "dancing" also contributes to the larger narrative of societal conventions.

12) A dance, much like the societal conventions of relationships, have an expected pattern. They follow a prescribed progression and come to the "natural" conclusion of marriage. But she did not finish the "dance" of this relationship. Instead, she dropped her partner's hand.

13) In leaving her partner, she left them standing alone on the "landing." While the landing in one sense may have been the physical location of the breakup (ie, the "landing" of a set of stairs), it also represents the expected "landing" point of a relationship: a proposal.

14) The word "crestfallen" not only adds to our understanding of her partner's severe disappointment, but also represents the downfall of their relationship. Their crest, a symbol of partnership and togetherness, has fallen. They have no future as a united front, or as a family.

15) A "crest" can also refer to the "top" or "peak" of a situation (ie, the "crest of a mountaintop). She left her partner "crestfallen" on the landing because she never let them achieve that "crest" of their relationship. The proposal, their dream of forever, has been rejected.

16) The hints at a rejected proposal are confirmed in the next lines: "Your mom's ring in your pocket/ my picture in your wallet/ your heart was glass, I dropped it." She also acknowledges just how real her partner's love and commitment was with "my picture in your wallet."

17) She also acknowledges just how valuable and delicate this love was ("your heart was glass"). She was entrusted with something beautiful and fragile, but she dropped it, shattering not only their relationship, but also her partner's loving trust and true, genuine affection.

18) Her use of "champagne problems" again clearly doesn't apply to the severity of her partner's devastation. As an audience, we continue to wonder why this phrase is so at odds with the emotional situation. Were her own "champagne problems" responsible for her partner's pain?

19) Her partner's excitement is further illustrated with the next verse, which accentuates just how awful their subsequent disappointment must have been. "You told your family for a reason/ you couldn't keep it in/your sister splashed out on the bottle/ now no one's celebrating."

20) Their sister "splashed out" on the bottle, a British phrase for "going all out," demonstrating that the champagne that she bought was expensive. Not only does this highlight the excitement of her partner's entire family, but also how "valuable" they perceive marriage to be.

21) But much like the champagne, their relationship was destined to be "splashed out," emptied and spilled much like the glass heart that she dropped. The focus on the extravagance of the drink also parallels the many meanings of "champagne problems" we discussed earlier.

22) On one hand, another unique meaning of the phrase is created. Perhaps these are "champagne problems" because these are problems relating to this planned "champagne" event. Perhaps the narrator has a problem with this "champagne," and could not match her partner's excitement.

23) There is also an implied criticism here. What possible "champagne problem" could the narrator have? What needless, "extravagant" reason could possibly be important enough to outweigh the extravagant value of the wine (and marriage itself), the "expense" of her partner's pain?

24) This implied criticism is brought out more fully in the next verse. "Dom Pérignon, you brought it/no crowd of friends applauded/ your hometown skeptics called it/ champagne problems." She now introduces the negative perception of her actions by her partner's loved ones.

25) Perhaps the hometown "skeptics" were always skeptical of this relationship. They "called it" by predicting this awful outcome. But the other explanation is that these skeptics were "calling" her out instead, denouncing her rationale for the rejection as "champagne problems."

26) As we build up to the bridge, we FINALLY get a glimpse of the narrator's own emotions, which have until now been shrouded behind the opinions of others. "You had a speech, you're speechless/love slipped beyond your reaches/ and I couldn't give a reason/ champagne problems."

27) She once again acknowledges the severity of the pain she caused, and now admits that she couldn't even justify it our loud--either to her partner or to herself. Her partner was "speechless" with shock and disappointment, and she too, was made speechless by her own decision.

28) As the bridge begins, this peek into her own emotional world finally widens into a full understanding of her perspective, and these "champagne problems" that no one can understand or justify. This perspective begins with her memory of just how special this relationship was.

29) "Your Midas touch on the Chevy door/ November flush and your flannel cure." A "Midas touch" refers to the legend of King Midas, who could turn anything he touched into gold. Her partner had a metaphorical Midas touch, not only on the relationship, but also on the narrator.

30) The Midas touch on the "Chevy door" shows us that her partner could make any experience they had together special, no matter how run-of-the-mill. I think Taylor uses "Chevy" on purpose to parallel her old lyrics in Tim McGraw (specifically, "just a boy in a Chevy truck.")

31) A Chevy is about the most regular, uninteresting car imaginable. Just like the hero of Tim McGraw, this partner was "just a boy in a Chevy Truck:" someone who could turn the most mundane experiences into something "golden" because of how much they loved their partner.

32) This partner was the epitome of kind compassion, always the one to "open the door" for the narrator or give her their jacket when they were cold (ie, the "flannel cure" to the cold, ie the "November flush"). But this compassion was not just confined to these kind gestures.

33) I think the narrator is also telling us that this partner was there for her emotionally when no one else was. When she faced her "November flush," aka the cold winter of her own emotions, this partner was the warm, "flannel" cure for her. The next lines support this idea.

34) "This dorm was once a madhouse"/ I made a joke, "Well, it's made for me." Not only does this set the scene in college (aka, of a young love), but it also directly references the narrator's struggles with her mental health. It also highlights the public perception of them.

35) While her kind partner was the "flannel" the "November flush" of her struggles with mental health, these same struggles were invalidated by others, dismissed as "mad" and unworthy of compassion. Her mental health, just like her decision, was just a "champagne problem."

36) Just because I can't get enough of this "November flush" double meaning, there is a parallel to the song Evermore itself: "Gray November/I've been down since July." The month of November is consistently used to represent depression and poor mental health in this album.

37) "How evergreen, our group of friends/ don't think we'll say that word again/ and soon they'll have the nerve to deck the halls/ that we once walked through." There are many references to winter holidays here, from the allusion to "evergreen" trees to "decking the halls."

38) Like in Tis the Damn Season, the holidays provide a sharp contrast to the acuity of the described pain. Just like the "bustling crowds" the partner tries desperately to avoid, the joyful group of their friends is blind to their pain, having the nerve to be happy without them.

39) The word "evergreen" is, I think, the word she means here. They used to believe that their love was evergreen, but everything they once shared is now in ashes. The end of this relationship has proved that nothing is evergreen. They have shattered their illusion of forever.

40) "One for the money, two for the show I never was ready, so I watch you go." The next lyric is an absolutely brilliant revision of the rhyme "one for the money, two for the show, three to make ready and four to go." This rhyme parallels the dropped dance she described earlier.

41) They were supposed to be on a set path, like this rhyme. They were supposed to follow their relationship through to marriage. But she stumbled halfway through. She couldn't "make ready," because she never was ready for marriage. She can't go forward, so she "watches them go."

42) And while she couldn't give a reason, she still knew instinctively when faced with the decision: "Sometimes you just don't know the answer/ til someone's on their knees and asks you." Not only were they on their knee to propose--they were on their knees, begging her to stay.

43) Sometimes you just don't know until you are confronted with a decision, or until you are confronted with the real pain of others. Seeing her partner beg her to stay showed her just how different their feelings were, and just how badly she wasn't ready for this next step.

44) "She would've made such a lovely bride What a shame she's fucked in the head, " they said. This shocking, almost malicious dismissal of her very real pain highlights just how misunderstood and isolated our narrator feels in not only this decision, but her personal struggles.

45) The only person who could understand and offer her compassion, the "flannel" to her "November flush," was her partner. Now that they are gone, she is left only with her own conflicting emotions and the knowledge of how much pain she caused them. There is no sympathy for her.

46) Indeed, she has little sympathy for herself. "But you'll find the real thing instead, she'll patch up your tapestry that I shred." She wishes only for the best for her partner. She knows they deserve the "tapestry" (or the "crest") of commitment and family that they crave.

47) She continues to describe this ideal partner in the next verse, the girl who could follow through this prescribed pattern to the very end and give all the "evergreen" love she could not. The partner that could erase the pain, so "you won't remember all my champagne problems."

48) So how does the narrator feel about these "champagne problems" by the end of the song? Are they truly as trivial as the ex-partner's family and friends (and even the narrator at many points herself) describes? The answer, especially from her perspective, is not at all simple.

49) The bridge shows us just how conflicted she is. She at many points highlights just how wonderful her partner has been to her, how "evergreen" she once thought their relationship could be. She agonizes over how much pain she caused, and how much she wishes she didn't have to.

50) But as terrible as she feels, as little as she understands the workings of her own mind, she still understands how unavoidable the outcome was. When her partner was on her knees, she was not at all uncertain--she "knew the answer." The answer always had to be no.

51) Perhaps her feelings were just not strong enough for marriage. But I suspect the answer lies more in the realm of the theme of the song Renegade, of a person of whom we ask "is it really your anxiety that stops you from giving me everything, or do you just not want to?"

52) I think the narrator's struggles with mental illness has made her a social "renegade." She makes many references to how much of an outcast she feels, from the "madhouse" she jokes she should live in to the many references to the "skeptics" who say she is "fucked in the head."

53) And while there are numerous references to her partner's family and friends, there are no references to the narrator's, outside the "friends" she once shared with her partner. Perhaps she was "never ready" because of the painful baggage of her experiences with isolation.

54) She wasn't ready to ascend this "crest," to create a "tapestry" with her partner, no matter how deep her feelings were. The depth of their love was simply no match for the depth of her own painful history with attachment to others, her own damaged trust in the "evergreen."

55) So until the narrator can be truly accepted by others--until they can find the same compassion her partner once had for her--she will continue in the same cycle of isolation. Trapped in the snare of her "champagne problems," unable to ever truly accept her "champagne."

WOW. This was my longest analysis yet!! Thank you to all the evermore stans who vote to start with this album!! @cmzemp @taylorhitsdiff @ArunavaBal @KellyKEditing @itsmejanpppier @emeraldthings @BurgerJordan @GahAnAlien @letterstofires @happyswiftie92 @TTomalin @madeumurals

And more of my evermore stans and voters!! @Jennileviosa @Srry713 @theswiftquill @nona_uppal @Micayon @sailorsoophie @evermoretrack16 @evermoreivy14 @evermoreetv @Evermore_track2 @champagnepeaks @swftay13 @serenexevermore @liascardigan13 @evermoregirli @evermorepaiges @ciwyw_13