Taylor Swift's 'I Forgot You Existed' Lyrics Are Her Final Word on the Kanye West Drama

Photo credit: Kevin Mazur - Getty Images
Photo credit: Kevin Mazur - Getty Images

From ELLE

Taylor Swift's latest album Lover is out, and of course, the very first song, titled "I Forgot You Existed" is about her years-long feud with Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, which began at the 2009 VMAs with West interrupting Swift on stage and went all the way to summer 2016 when Kardashian called Swift out on Snapchat, accusing her of lying.

Except that, according to these lyrics, it seems like Swift is over it now. In the chorus, she sings, "I forgot that you existed / And I thought that it would kill me, but it didn't /And it was so nice / So peaceful and quiet / I forgot that you existed / It isn't love, it isn't hate, it's just indifference" Then, in the bridge, she echoes how much she doesn't care anymore by singing: "Sent me a clear message / Taught me some hard lessons / I just forget what they were / It's all just a blur"

It's the same feeling Kardashian expressed in an interview with Billboard shortly after her Snapchat incident, when she said, "Ugh, do we really have to talk about Taylor Swift? I'm so over it."

Here, the lyrics to the song.


Verse 1

How many days did I spend thinking

'Bout how you did me wrong, wrong, wrong?

Lived in the shade you were throwing

'Til all of my sunshine was gone, gone, gone

And I couldn't get away from ya

In my feelings more than Drake, so yeah

Your name on my lips, tongue-tied

Free rent, living in my mind

But then something happened one magical night

After Kardashian released a series of Snapchats depicting Swift and West discussing his "Famous" lyrics, Swift retreated from the spotlight. She'd spend the next year barely making photographed appearances. She talked to Vogue about how she felt during that time.

“A mass public shaming, with millions of people saying you are quote-unquote canceled, is a very isolating experience,” she told the magazine. “I don’t think there are that many people who can actually understand what it’s like to have millions of people hate you very loudly. When you say someone is canceled, it’s not a TV show. It’s a human being. You’re sending mass amounts of messaging to this person to either shut up, disappear, or it could also be perceived as, Kill yourself.”

Chorus

I forgot that you existed

And I thought that it would kill me, but it didn't

Swift's line here is echoed in her Vogue interview when she talked about cancel culture. ("You’re sending mass amounts of messaging to this person to either shut up, disappear, or it could also be perceived as, Kill yourself.”)

And it was so nice

So peaceful and quiet

I forgot that you existed

It isn't love, it isn't hate, it's just indifference

I forgot that you

Verse 2

Got out some popcorn

As soon as my rep started going down, down, down

Laughed on the school yard

As soon as I tripped up and hit the ground, ground, ground

And I would've stuck around for ya

Would've fought the whole town, so yeah

Would've been right there, front row

Even if nobody came to your show

Swift and West were friends before the Snapchat incident in 2016. Swift even shared an Instagram of the white roses West gave her, adding "#BFFs" on her caption.

Photo credit: Instagram
Photo credit: Instagram

But you showed who you are, then one magical night

Chorus

I forgot that you existed

And I thought that it would kill me, but it didn't

And it was so nice

So peaceful and quiet

I forgot that you existed

It isn't love, it isn't hate, it's just indifference

I forgot that you

Bridge

Sent me a clear message

Taught me some hard lessons

I just forget what they were

It's all just a blur

Swift told Vogue that there was a silver lining in her feud with Kimye, but that she's far from grateful fo the experience: “It’s so strange trying to be self-aware when you’ve been cast as this always smiling, always happy ‘America’s sweetheart’ thing, and then having that taken away and realizing that it’s actually a great thing that it was taken away, because that’s extremely limiting.” Swift started. “We’re not going to go straight to gratitude with it. Ever. But we’re going to find positive aspects to it. We’re never going to write a thank-you note.”

Chorus

I forgot that you existed

And I thought that it would kill me, but it didn't

And it was so nice

So peaceful and quiet

I forgot that you existed

I did, I did, I did

It isn't hate, it's just indifference

It isn't love, it isn't hate, it's just indifference

So, yeah

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