evermore

evermore
taylor swift
 taylor swift
evermore
willow
champagne problems
gold rush
‘tis the damn season
tolerate it
no body, no crime ( feat. HAIM )
happiness
dorothea
coney island ( feat. The National )
ivy
cowboy like me
long story short
marjorie
closure
evermore ( feat. Bon Iver )
bonus track:
right where you left me
it’s time to go

Executive Producer: Taylor Swift

Producers: Aaron Dessner, Bryce Dessner,
Jack Antonoff, & Taylor Swift
Mixed by: Jonathan Low

taylorswift.com
 INDEX

willow ................................................. 1
champagne problems ............................. 3
gold rush .............................................. 5
‘tis the damn season .............................. 7
tolerate it .............................................. 9
no body, no crime ................................ 11
happiness ............................................ 13
dorothea ............................................. 15
coney island ........................................ 17
ivy ..................................................... 19
cowboy like me ................................... 21
long st0ry short ................................... 23
marjorie ............................................. 25
closure ................................................ 27
evermore ............................................ 29
right where you left me ....................... 31
it’s time to go ...................................... 33
forever is the sweetest con
 taylor swift

willow

I ’m like the water when your ship rolled in that night.

Rough on the surface but you cut through like a knife.
And if it was an open-shut case, I never would've known
from that look on your face. Lost in your current like a
priceless wine.
Life was a willow and it bent right to your wind. Head
on the pillow, I could feel you sneaking in. As if you were
a mythical thing; like you were a trophy or a champion
ring. There was one prize I'd cheat to win.
Life was a willow and it bent right to your wind—they
count me out time and time again.
Life was a willow and it bent right to your wind, but I
come back stronger than a 90's trend.
Wait for the signal and I'll meet you after dark. Show
me the places where the others gave you scars. Now this
is an open-shut case. I guess I should've known from the
look on your face; every bait and switch was a work of art.
The more that you say, the less I know. Wherever you
stray, I follow. You know that my train could take you
home. Anywhere else is hollow.
I'm begging for you to take my hand, wreck my plans.
That's my man.

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evermore

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 taylor swift

champagne problems

Y ou 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.
Because I dropped your hand while dancing, left you
out there standing crestfallen on the landing. Your
mom's ring in your pocket, my picture in your wallet.
Your heart was glass, I dropped it—champagne
problems.
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.
Dom Perignon, you brought it. No crowd of friends
applauded. Your hometown skeptics called it. You had a
speech, you're speechless. Love slipped beyond your
reaches. And I couldn't give a reason—champagne
problems.
Your Midas touch on the Chevy door. November flush
and your flannel cure.
“This dorm was once a madhouse."
I made a joke, “well, it's made for me."

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 evermore

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.
One for the money,
two for the show. I never
was ready, so I watch you
go. Sometimes you just
don't know the answer. Till
someone's on their knees and
asks you.
“She would've made such a
lovely bride. What a shame she's
fucked in the head," they said.
But you'll find the real thing
instead. She'll patch up your tapestry
that I shred and hold your hand while
dancing, never leave you standing crestfallen on the
landing with champagne problems.
Your mom's ring in your pocket. Her picture in your
wallet and you won't remember all my champagne
problems.

4
 taylor swift

gold rush

W hat must it be like to grow up that beautiful? With

your hair falling into place like dominos. I see me
padding across your wooden floors with my Eagles t-
shirt hanging from the door.
At dinner parties, I call
you out on your
contrarian shit. And the
coastal town we wandered
round had never seen a
love as pure as it. And then
it fades into the gray of my
day old tea. ‘Cause you
know it could never be.
‘Cause I don't like a
gold rush. I don't like
anticipating my face in
a red flush. I don't
like that anyone
would die to feel your
touch. Everybody wants you—everybody wonders what
it would be like to love you.

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 evermore

Walk past, quick brush. I don't like slow motion,

double vision in rose blush. I don't like that falling feels
like flying till the bone crush. Everybody wants you, but
I don't like a gold rush.
What must it be like to grow up that beautiful? With
your hair falling into place like dominos. My mind turns
your life into folklore—I can't dare to dream about you
anymore.
At dinner parties, I won't call you out on your
contrarian shit. And the coastal town we never found will
never see a love as pure as it, ‘cause it fades into the gray
of my day old tea. ‘Cause it will never be.

Gleaming, twinkling. Eyes like sinking ships on waters

so inviting, I almost jump in.

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 taylor swift

‘tis the damn season

I f I wanted to know who you were hanging with while

I was gone, I would've asked you. It's the kind of cold,
fogs up windshield glass, but I felt it when I passed you.
There's an ache in you, put there by the ache in me.
But if it's all the same to you, it's the same to me.
I parked my car right between the Methodist and the
school that used to be ours. The holidays linger like bad
perfume.
You can run but only so far. I escaped it too, remember
how you watched me leave. But if it's okay with you, it's
okay with me.
So we could call it even; you could call me “babe" for
the weekend. ‘Tis the damn season, write this down.
I'm staying at my parents' house and the road not
taken looks real good now. And it always leads to you and
my hometown.
Time flies—messy as the mud on your truck tires.
Now I'm missing your smile, hear me out; we could just
ride around and the road not taken looks real good now.
And it always leads to you and my hometown.
Sleep in half the day just for old times' sake. I won't
ask you to wait if you don't ask me to stay. So I'll go back

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 evermore

to L.A. and the so-called friends who'll write books about

me if I ever make it, and wonder about the only soul who
can tell which smiles I'm faking. And the heart I know
I'm breaking is my own. To leave the warmest bed I've
ever known.
We could call it even, even though I'm leaving. And
I'll be yours for the weekend.
‘Tis the damn season.

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 taylor swift

tolerate it

I sit and watch you reading with your head low. I wake
and watch you breathing with your eyes closed. I sit
and watch you; I notice everything you do or don't do.
I greet you with a
battle hero's welcome.
I take your
indiscretions all in
good fun. I sit and
listen, I polish plates
until they gleam and
glisten.
You're so much
older and wiser, and I
wait by the door like
I'm just a kid. Use my
best colors for your
portrait. Lay the table
with the fancy shit. And
watch you tolerate it.
While you were out
building other worlds,
where was I?

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 evermore

Where's that man who'd throw blankets over my

barbed wire?
I made you my temple, my mural, my sky. Now I'm
begging for footnotes in the story of your life. Drawing
hearts in the byline. Always taking up too much space or
time.
You assume I'm fine but what would you do if I break
free and leave us in ruins, took this dagger in me and
removed it, gain
the weight of you
then lose it?
Believe me, I
could do it.
If it's all
in my head
tell me
now. Tell
me I've got
it wrong
somehow. I
know my love
should be
celebrated,
but you tolerate
it.

10
 taylor swift

no body, no crime

E ste's a friend of mine. we meet up every Tuesday

night for dinner and a glass of wine. Este's been
losin' sleep, her husband's actin' different, and it smells
like infidelity.
She says, “That ain't
my Merlot on his mouth.
That ain't my jewelry on
our joint account. No,
there ain't no doubt, I
think I'm gonna call him
out."
She says, “I think he
did it, but I just can't
prove it"
No, no body, no crime,
but I ain't lettin' up until
the day I die.
Este wasn't there Tuesday night at Olive Gardеn, at
her job or anywhere. Hе reports his missing wife, and I
noticed when I passed his house his truck has got some
brand new tires. And his mistress moved in, sleeps in
Este's bed and everything.

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 evermore

No, there ain't no doubt. Somebody's gotta catch him

out, ‘cause I think he did it, but I just can't prove it. No
body, no crime, but I ain't lettin' up until the day I die.

Good thing my daddy made me get a boating license

when I was fifteen, and I've cleaned enough houses to
know how to cover up a scene. Good thing Este's sister's
gonna swear she was with me. Good thing his mistress
took out a big life insurance policy.
They think she did it, but they just can't prove it.
She thinks I did it, but she just can't prove it.
No, no body, no crime, I wasn't lettin' up until the day
he died.

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 taylor swift

happiness

H oney, when I'm above the trees I see this for what it
is. But now I'm right down in it, all the years I've
given is just shit we're dividin' up.
Showed you all of my hiding spots, I was dancing
when the music stopped. And in the disbelief, I can't face
reinvention, I haven't met the new me yet.
There'll be
happiness after you,
but there was
happiness because of
you. Both of these
things can be true.
There is happiness
past the blood and
bruise, past the curses
and cries. Beyond the
terror in the
nightfall, haunted by
the look in my eyes
that would've loved
you for a lifetime,
leave it all behind. And there is happiness.

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 evermore

Tell me, when did your winning smile begin to look

like a smirk? When did all our lessons start to look like
weapons pointed at my deepest hurt?
I hope she'll be your beautiful fool, who takes my spot
next to you.
No, I didn't mean that. Sorry, I can't see facts through
all of my fury. You haven't met the new me yet.
There'll be happiness after me, but there was
happiness because of me. Both of these things, I believe.
There is happiness in our history, across our great
divide. There is a glorious sunrise dappled with the
flickers of light from the dress I wore at midnight, leave
it all behind. And there is happiness.
I can't make it go away by making you a villain. I guess
it's the price I paid for seven years in Heaven. And I
pulled your body into mine every goddamn night, now I
get fake niceties. No one teaches you what to do when a
good man hurts you and you know you hurt him, too.
Honey, when I'm above the trees I see it for what it is.
But now my eyes leak acid rain on the pillow where you
used to lay your head.
After giving you the best I had, tell me what to give
after that. All you want from me now is the green light of
forgiveness. You haven't met the new me yet. And I think
she'll give you that.

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 taylor swift

dorothea

H ey Dorothea, do you ever stop and think about me?

When we were younger down in the park, honey,
making a lark of the misery.
You got shiny friends since you left town. A tiny
screen's the only place I see you now. And I got nothing
but well wishes for ya. This place is the same as it ever
was, but you don't like it that way.
Dorothea, you're a queen selling dreams, selling make
up and magazines. From you I'd buy anything.
Hey, Dorothea, do you ever stop and think about me?
When it was calmer, skipping the prom just to piss off
your mom and her pageant schemes.
And damn, Dorothea, they all wanna be ya. But are
you still the same soul I met under the bleachers?
Well… I guess I'll never know, and you'll go on with
the show. But It's never too late to come back to my side.
The stars in your eyes shined
brighter in Tupelo. And if
you're ever tired of being known
for who you know, you know,
you'll always know me,
Dorothea.

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evermore

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 taylor swift

coney island

B reak my soul in two looking for you, but you're right

here. If I can't relate to you anymore then who am I
related to? And if this is the long haul, how'd we get here
so soon? Did I close my fist around something delicate?
Did I shatter you?
The question pounds my head; what's a lifetime of
achievement if I pushed you to the edge? But you were
too polite to leave me. And do you miss the rogue who
coaxed you into paradise and left you there? Will you
forgive my soul when you're too wise to trust me and too
old to care?
‘Cause we were like the mall before the internet. It was
the one place to be. The mischief, the gift-wrapped
suburban dreams. Sorry for not winning you an arcade
ring.
Were you waiting at our old spot in the tree line by the
gold clock, did I leave you hanging every single day?
Were you standing in the hallway with a big cake,
happy birthday—did I paint your bluest skies the darkest
grey?
A universe away.

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 evermore

And when I got into the accident, the sight that

flashed before me was your face. but when I walked up to
the podium, I think that I forgot to say your name.
And I'm sitting on a bench in Coney Island.
Wondering where did my baby go? The fast times, the
bright lights, the merry go. Sorry for not making you my
centerfold.
Over and over lost again with no surprises.
Disappointments, close your eyes, and it gets colder and
colder when the sun goes down.

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 taylor swift

ivy

H ow's one to know? I'd meet you where the spirit

meets the bones, in a faith-forgotten land. In from
the snow, your touch brought forth an incandescent
glow, tarnished but so grand.
And the old widow goes to the stone every day. But I
don't, I just sit here and wait, grieving for the living.

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 evermore

I wish to know the fatal flaw that makes you long to

be magnificently cursed. He's in the room, your opal eyes
are all I wish to see. He wants what's only yours.
Clover blooms in the fields. Spring breaks loose, the
time is near. What would he do if he found us out?
Crescent moon, coast is clear. Spring breaks loose, but
so does fear. He's gonna burn this house to the ground.
How's one to know? I'd live and die for
moments that we stole on begged and
borrowed time. So tell me to run or dare
to sit and watch what we'll become,
and drink my husband's wine.
Oh, goddamn! My pain fits in
the palm of your freezing hand
taking mine, but it's been promised to
another.
Oh, I can't stop you putting roots in
my dreamland. My house of stone,
your ivy grows, and now I'm covered in
you.
So yeah, it's a fire. It's a
goddamn blaze in the dark and
you started it. So yeah, it's a
war. It's the goddamn fight
of my life and you started it.
You started it.

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 taylor swift

cowboy like me

A nd the tennis court was covered up

with some tent-like thing. And
you asked me to dance but I
said, “dancing is a
dangerous game".
Oh, I thought this is
gonna be one of those
things. Now I know
I'm never gonna love
again.
I've got some tricks
up my sleeve. Takes
one to know one;
you're a cowboy like
me—never wanted love,
just a fancy car.
Now I'm waiting by the
phone like I'm sitting in an
airport bar.
You had some tricks up your sleeve. Takes one to
know one; you're a cowboy like me.

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 evermore

Perched in the dark, telling all the rich folks anything

they wanna hear, like it could be love. I could be the way
forward only if they pay for it.
You're a bandit like me.
Eyes full of stars. Hustling for the good life, never
thought I'd meet you here. It could be love. We could be
the way forward and I know I'll pay for it.
And the skeletons in
both our closets plotted
hard to fuck this up. and
the old men that I've
swindled really did believe
I was the one. And the
ladies lunching have their
stories about when you
passed through town, but
that was all before I
locked it down.
Now you hang from
my lips like the Gardens of
Babylon. With your boots
beneath my bed. Forever is
the sweetest con.

And I'm never gonna love again.

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 taylor swift

long story short

F atefully, I tried to pick my battles ‘til the battle

picked me. Misery, like the war of words I shouted in
my sleep. And you passed right by, I was in the alley
surrounded on all sides. The knife cuts both ways.
If the shoe fits, walk
in it ‘til your high heels
break. And I fell from
the pedestal, right
down the rabbit hole.
Long story short, it
was a bad time. Pushed
from the precipice,
clung to the nearest
lips. Long story short,
it was the wrong guy.
Actually, I always
felt I must look better
in the rear view.
Missing me, at the
golden gates they once
held the keys to.

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 evermore

When I dropped my sword, I threw it in the bushes

and knocked on your door. And we live in peace but if
someone comes at us, this time, I'm ready.
No more keeping score, now I just keep you warm. No
more tug of war, now I just know there's more. And my
waves meet your shore ever and evermore.
Past me, I wanna tell you not to get lost in these petty
things. Your nemeses will defeat themselves before you
get the chance to swing.
And he's passing by, rare as the
glimmer of a comet in the sky and
he feels like home.
If the shoe fits, walk in it
everywhere you go. And I
fell from the pedestal,
right down the rabbit
hole. Long story short,
it was a bad time.
Pushed from the
precipice, climbed
right back up the
cliff. Long story
short, I survived.
Now I'm all
about you.

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 taylor swift

marjorie

N ever be so kind, you forget to be clever. Never be so

clever, you forget to be kind.
Never be so polite, you forget
your power. Never wield such
power, you forget to be
polite.
The autumn chill that
wakes me up, you loved the
amber skies so much. Long
limbs and frozen swims.
You'd always go past where
our feet could touch. And I
complained the whole way
there, the car ride back and up
the stairs.
I should've asked you questionqs. I
should've asked you how to be. Asked
you to write it down for me.
Should've kept every grocery store
receipt, ‘cause every scrap of you
would be taken from me.

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 evermore

Watched as you signed your name Marjorie. All your

closets of backlogged dreams, and how you left them all
to me.
What died didn't stay
dead. You're alive in
my head—you're
alive, so alive.
And if I
didn't
know
better,
I'd think
you were
talking to
me now. And
if I didn't know
better, I'd think you
were listening to me
now. If I didn't know
better, I'd think you were
still around. And if I didn't
know better, I'd think you
were singing to me now.
I know better, but I still feel you all around.
I know better, but you're still around.

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 taylor swift

closure

I t's been a long time, and seeing the shape of your name
still spells out pain. It wasn't right the way it all went
down. Looks like you know that now.
Don't treat me like some situation that needs to be
handled. I'm fine with my spite, and my tears, and my
beers and my candles.
I can feel you smoothing me over. I know
I'm just a wrinkle in
your new life.
Staying friends
would iron it out so
nice. Guilty reaching
out across the sea that
you put between you
and me, but it's fake and
it's oh so unnecessary.
It cut deep to know ya,
right to the bone.
Yes, I got your letter.
Yes, I'm doing better.

27
 evermore

I know that it's over, I don't need your closure.

28
 taylor swift

evermore

G ray November, I've been down since July. Motion

capture put me in a bad light. I replay my footsteps
on each stepping stone, trying to find the one where I
went wrong.
Writing letters
addressed to the
fire. And I was
catching my breath.
Staring out an open
window, catching
my death. And I
couldn't be sure, I
had a feeling so
peculiar that this
pain would be for
evermore.
Hey December,
guess I'm feeling
unmoored. Can't
remember what I
used to fight for. I
rewind the tape but

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 evermore

all it does is pause on the very moment all was lost.

Sending signals to be double crossed. And I was catching
my breath. Barefoot in the wildest winter, catching my
death. And I couldn't be sure, I had a feeling so peculiar
that this pain would be for evermore.
Can't not think of all the cost and the things that will
be lost. Can we just get a pause? To be certain we'll be tall
again. Whether weather be the frost or the violence of the
dog days. I'm on waves, out being tossed. Is there a line
that I could just go cross?
And when I was
shipwrecked, I thought
of you. In the cracks of
light, I dreamed of you.
It was real enough to get
me through. I swear you
were there.
And I was catching my
breath. Floors of a cabin
creaking under my step.
And I couldn't be
sure, I had a
feeling so
peculiar; this
pain wouldn't
be for evermore.

30
 taylor swift

right where you left me

F riends break up, friends get married. Strangers get

born, strangers get buried. Trends change, rumors
fly through new skies. Matches burn after the other.
Pages turn and stick to each other. Wages earned and
lessons learned, but I'm right where you left me.
Help, I'm still at the restaurant. Still sitting in a
corner I haunt—cross-legged in the dim light.
They say, “What a sad sight".
I swear you could hear a hair pin drop right when I
felt the moment stop. Glass shattered on the white cloth.
Everybody moved on, I stayed there. Dust collected on
my pinned up hair. They expected me to find somewhere,
some perspective, but I sat and stared right where you left
me.
Did you ever hear about the girl who
got frozen?
Time went on for everybody else,
she won't know it. She's still twenty-
three inside her fantasy—how it was
supposed to be.
Did you hear about the girl who lives in delusion?

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 evermore

Breakups happen every day, you don't have to lose it.

She's still twenty-three inside her fantasy and you're
sitting in front of me at the restaurant when I was still the
one you want, cross-legged in the dim light. Everything
was just right.
I could feel the mascara run; you told me that you met
someone.
I'm sure that you got a wife out there. Kids and
Christmas, but
I'm unaware
‘cause I'm right
where I cause no
harm. Mind my
business. If our
love died young, I
can't bear witness.
And it's been so
long but if you
ever think you got
it wrong, I'm
right where you
left me.
You left me no
choice but to stay
here forever.

32
 taylor swift

it’s time to go

W hen the dinner is cold and the chatter gets old, you
ask for the tab. Or that moment again he's insisting
that friends look at each other like that. When the words
of a sister come back in whispers that prove she was not,
in fact, what she seemed, not a twin from your dreams,
she's a crook who was caught.
Twenty years at your job then the son of the boss gets
the spot that was yours. Or trying to stay for the kids
when keeping it how it is will only break their hearts
worse.
Fifteen years, fifteen million tears, begging ‘til my
knees bled. I gave it my all, he gave me nothing at all,
then wondered why I left. Now he sits on his throne in his
palace of bones, praying to his greed. He's got my past
frozen behind glass, but I've got me.
That old familiar body ache. The snaps from the same
little breaks in your soul. You know when it's time to go.
Sometimes giving up is the strong thing. Sometimes to
run is the brave thing. Sometimes walking out is the one
thing that will find you the right thing.

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 evermore

And you know in your soul when it's time to go. So then
you go, you just go.

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