Fans Theorize Taylor Swift's "Maroon" Lyrics Are an Extension of "Red" and Reference Ex Jake Gyllenhaal

Attention: pop girlie Taylor Swift is back thanks to her tenth studio album, Midnights. She made a departure from her typical upbeat sound with 2020's experimental alternative albums, folklore and evermore, which aided the Grammy-winning singer in perfecting her lyrical prophecy. With all this new T-Swift content to take in, class is in session — Swifties already know there are tons of Easter eggs planted in her music videos and lyrics, which is why we're breaking them all down.

Once the clock struck 12 on October 21, Twitter was set ablaze with fans' live reactions to Midnights. According to tweets, the second track on the album, "Maroon," could potentially be a call back to Taylor's Red-era ex Jake Gyllenhaal or her other high-profile relationships with Calvin Harris and Tom Hiddleston.

In November 2021, Taylor released the 10-minute version of "All Too Well," which was allegedly about her three-month relationship with Jake, who is nine years her senior. While Midnights' track two isn't confirmed to be about anyone in particular, we're breaking everything down to see what Taylor Swift's "Maroon" lyrics meaning could actually be.

Lyrics provided by Genius

[Verse 1]
When the morning came
We were cleaning incense off your vinyl shelf
'Cause we lost track of time again
Laughing with my feet in your lap
Like you were my closest friend
"How'd we end up on the floor, anyway?" You say
"Your roommate's cheap-ass screw-top rosé, that's how"
I see you every day now

Red (Taylor's Version)'s "I Bet You Think About Me," "We Are Never Getting Back Together," and "All Too Well" are allegedly tied back to Jake Gyllenhaal. Taylor seemingly calls out his wealthy upbringing, pretentious friends, performative feminism (see: the "f**k the patriarchy" key chain), his affinity for indie music, and "million-dollar couch."



The incense and vinyl shelf may also be a reference to his living conditions during the time of their relationship. The scene she paints about losing track of time may also be parallel to the "All Too Well" short film where Sadie Sink and Dylan O'Brien's characters play cards and goof around near the fireplace.

[Chorus]
And I chose you
The one I was dancing with
In New York, no shoes
Looked up at the sky and it was
The burgundy on my t-shirt
When you splashed your wine into me
And how the blood rushed into my cheeks
So scarlet, it was
The mark thеy saw on my collarbone
The rust that grew bеtween telephones
The lips I used to call home
So scarlet, it was maroon

As we learned in the 10-minute version of "All Too Well" and its accompanying short film, Taylor and Jake's whirlwind romance evoked a lot of different emotions that she personified through the color red. On the 2012 track, "Red," she sings "Losing him was blue, like I’d never known / Missing him was dark gray, all alone / Forgetting him was like trying to know / Somebody you never met / But loving him was red / Loving him was red." Per Us Weekly, her romance with Jake primarily took off in New York as they met on the set of Saturday Night Live when they supported their mutual friend, Emma Stone. They visited his sister, Maggie Gyllenhaal, in New York for Thanksgiving in 2010.

In "Maroon," she uses darker shades of red to describe the nature of the relationship as her perception has likely changed as she grew older. Fans have also theorized that "Maroon" calls back to Taylor's exes, Harry Styles and Tom Hiddleston, as they also had notable moments in New York (i.e. Taylor and Tom dancing at the 2016 Met Gala and #Haylor's 2012 Central Park date).

There could potentially be more ties to Harry Styles as "The burgundy on my T-shirt when you splashed the wine onto me" seems like a reference to the One Direction song, "Olivia" where he sings "Just thinking how I went about it wrong / This isn't the stain of a red wine, I'm bleeding love."

Taylor has also reflected on dancing and good times with songs like "Holy Ground," where she sings "Tonight I’m gonna dance / For all that we’ve been through / But I don’t wanna dance / If I’m not dancing with you."

[Verse 2]
When the silence came
We were shaking, blind and hazy
How the hell did we lose sight of us again?
Sobbing with your head in your hands
Ain't that the way sh*t always ends?
You were standing hollow-eyed in the hallway
Carnations you had thought were roses, that's us
I feel you, no matter what
The rubies that I gave up

The second verse details a heated argument, or potentially a breakup, that's reminiscent of the heartbreaking scene between Sadie Sink and Dylan O'Brien in the "All Too Well" short film once there was a "crack in the glass."

As for the allusion to different types of flowers, carnations are some of the most affordable floral arrangements money can buy whereas roses are typically a higher-end bouquet that is commonly thought to represent love. This means that her partner potentially thought the relationship was more than it was meant to be.

[Chorus]

[Bridge]
And I wake with your memory over me
That's a real f**king legacy, legacy (It was maroon)
And I wake with your memory over me
That's a real f**king legacy to leave

The bridge's lyrics parallel the Fearless (Taylor's Version) vault track, "You All Over Me," in which Taylor sings "No amount of freedom gets you clean / I've still got you all over me."

[Chorus]

[Outro]
It was maroon
It was maroon

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