#3. Taylor Swift: Mirrorball

Hello, welcome back to my blog! Today I'm giving the Splatter on Taylor Swift's song "mirrorball" (for all you Swifties out there). I analyzed these lyrics with the help of a freind and let's just say we got a little carried away. 

With all the attention Taylor's recently been gaining due to her romance with Travis Kelce, I really thought it fitting to choose and analyze this song. You'll see why as you read on. My analysis is pretty long so prepare yourself. If you haven't already, give it a listen. 

Lyrics:

I want you to know

I'm a mirrorball

I'll show you every version of yourself tonight

I'll get you out on the floor

Shimmering beautiful

And when I break it's in a million pieces

Hush

When no one is around, my dear

You'll find me on my tallest tiptoes

Spinning in my highest heels, love

Shining just for you

Hush

I know they said the end is near

But I'm still on my tallest tiptoes

Spinning in my highest heels, love

Shining just for you

I want you to know

I'm a mirrorball

I can change everything about me to fit in

You are not like the regulars

The masquerade revelers

Drunk as they watch my shattered edges glisten

Hush

When no one is around, my dear

You'll find me on my tallest tiptoes

Spinning in my highest heels, love

Shining just for you

Hush

I know they said the end is near

But I'm still on my tallest tiptoes

Spinning in my highest heels, love

Shining just for you

And they called off the circus

Burned the disco down

When they sent home the horses

And the rodeo clowns

I'm still on that tightrope

I'm still trying everything to get you laughing at me

I'm still a believer but I don't know why

I've never been a natural

All I do is try, try, try

I'm still on that trapeze

I'm still trying everything

To keep you looking at me

Because I'm a mirrorball

I'm a mirrorball

I'll show you every version of yourself

Tonight

She's a mirrorball?!

The narrator (which can be interpreted as a persona created by Taylor Swift) opens this song by comparing herself to a mirror ball; a shiny sphere that hangs on display for parties, special events, and get togethers. They are made up of dozens of pieces of glass broken repeatedly then strategically placed on a ball to fit the desired mold of the sphere. These mirror balls are hung in the air for everyone to see and admire for their beauty, but they are also very delicate. Made from fragments of glass and hanging so high up in air, they face the constant risk of falling at any second. When Taylor compares herself to a mirror ball, she takes all these factors into consideration.

People Pleaser

The narrator starts the song with the direct comparison of “I want you to know/ I’m a mirrorball”. She specifically chooses these as her opening words, letting the audience know from the beginning that she is describing herself directly. The persona that Taylor creates in this song is an obvious people pleaser who seems to be trying their hardest to keep the attention on them no matter the cost of their own personal sanity. The narrator is obviously very used to the attention as they are constantly described as beautiful and always having eyes on them in some way, but they continue to crave more and more; it never seems to be enough for them. In the first opening lyrics of the song the narrator says, “I’ll show you every version of yourself tonight”. This parallels how mirror balls reflect one’s distorted image within them but also the narrator is constantly changing themselves to fit in to the desired persona of the other person when in a relationship. This same case is also shown in the lyric, “I can change everything about myself to fit in”.

Yearning for attention

As stated before, mirror balls are gorgeous and sparkling, that is the main reason people keep them around. They’re there for decoration, something shiny and pretty to entertain people. Taylor uses this word play to describe both herself and the mirror as “shimmer beautiful” and encouraging people to “get you out on the floor”. Through the song, Taylor reveals that the reason why she is so “shiny” is to please the people around her. She maintains her gorgeous façade because it keeps the people around her happy and the attention on her; “shining just for you”. 

Pressure

Taylor goes as far to describe herself on her “tallest tiptoes” and spinning in her “highest heels” just for another person. This places the uncomfortable imagery of one standing on tiptoes and wearing extremely high heels in one’s head. Both being very uncomfortable positions but also being considered a beauty standard today as high heels are quite common. The narrator even acknowledges how they won’t be able to hold the pressure much longer, “I know they said the end is near”, yet regardless they are still giving it their all. This can also serve as a reference to Taylor’s personal experience in the music industry as woman. Many women hold a short lived career in fame due to society’s pressure placed upon them in the form that they are deemed unlikable once they are unattractive to the public and shunned for any flaw.

Athough very beautiful one can also call mirror balls quite “delicate”. Created from fragments of mirror, mirror balls have already been broken plenty, yet can still be broken once more. The narrator willingly takes the risk of holding herself so high to shine with the knowledge that if she falls she will shatter. This shows the severity of her need for the attention she craves, disregarding the fact that it could severely hurt her; “and when I break it’s in a million pieces”. It also serves as a metaphor on how the narrator has changed their personality multiple times to fit in with others that they hold the fragments of other people’s personalities rather than being fully complete as themselves. People seem to find this amusing and completely ignore the trauma of breaking in thousands of pieces simply because it is pretty as shown when the narrator says, “drunk as they watch my shattered edges glisten”.

She's at the circus now?

The tone of the song picks up as it progresses and the scene shifts. A picture is painted of this “mirrorball” character in a circus, standing on a tight rope. Taylor’s voice starts to grow more desperate as she almost pleads with the audience to stay and stare at her. She is in this difficult act of standing on the tight rope, when everyone starts to leave. She continues to try balancing in the air; “I’ve never been a natural, all I do is try, try, try”. The narrator becomes anxious, depicting the fear that Taylor mentioned previously in the song. 

She declares, "I'm still tryin' everything to keep you laughing at me." This one lyric to describes this song in it’s entirety. This shows how the narrator scrambles for attention, not caring if she's acting like a clown. Not caring if the attention is bad attention so long as she's able to hold it

Still a mirrorball.

The song closes out by repeating the opening lyrics stating “I’m a mirrorball/ I’ll show you every version of yourself tonight”. This serves as perfect closer to the song, now that the listener has listened to the song giving them a brand new meaning to what Taylor meant by “I’m a mirrorball”. The song starting and closing with "I'm a mirrorball" also shows how nothing has changed for the narrator, regardless of all that has ensued they’re still doing their job by trying to please the people around them.

Though this song is seemingly about Taylor Swift, and her habit of changing herself for the appeasement of others and the public, anybody could relate to this song, which is what makes is so great. There's so much more that I could go deeper into but I'll leave it at this. Hope you enjoyed as much as I did. Stick around for my next entry. :)