Taylor's "Anti-Hero" Is All About Feeling Like An Outsider

Now that “Anti-Hero” is out, it’s easy to see why Taylor Swift made it her first single off Midnights. First of all, the song is extremely catchy, making it perfect for the radio, and second, the lyrics are super relatable for anyone having a rough day. Throughout the track, Swift calls herself an “Anti-Hero” because she sometimes feels like she doesn’t belong. After reading the lyrics to her new single, you’ll be calling yourself an “Anti-Hero,” too.

Swift teased the meaning behind “Anti-Hero” in an Oct. 3 Instagram video. At the time, she hadn’t officially announced it would be a single, but fans suspected it would be since she hadn’t previously done a “behind the song” video for any other track on Midnights. She also gushed over the single by saying, “It’s one of my favorite songs I’ve ever written,” because the lyrics are very personal.

“I really don’t think I’ve delved this far into my insecurities in this detail before,” Swift said. “I struggle a lot with the idea that my life has become unmanageably sized. Not to sound too dark, but I struggle with the idea of not feeling like a person.”

Swift revealed that “Anti-Hero” goes through all of the things she hates about herself, which others will relate about themselves as well. “It’s all of those aspects of the things we dislike and like about ourselves that we have to come to terms with if we’re going to be this person,” she explained. “I like ‘Anti-Hero’ a lot because I think it’s really honest.”

So, now that the song is here, let’s dive into the lyrics. Swift starts the track by admitting she stays up late at night playing things over in her head. (Honestly, doesn’t everybody?) “I have this thing where I get older but just never wise/ Midnights become my afternoons,” she sings. “When my depression works the graveyard shift/ All of the people I’ve ghosted stand there in the room.” She also says she can’t be left with her “own devices” because then she ends up in a “crisis” as she scrolls through her feed. (Same, Taylor.)

Then, in the chorus, Swift calls herself “the problem” and says she sometimes has a hard time looking at herself in the mirror. “It must be exhausting always rooting for the anti-hero,” she sings, referring to herself.

In the second chorus, Swift admits to feeling like a “monster” compared to everyone else. “Too big to hang out, slowly lurchy toward your favorite city/ Pierced through the heart but never killed,” she sings.

The bridge is different from the rest of the song, however, because just like her Folklore and Evermore albums, it appears to have been written from the point of view of an imaginary character. “I have this dream my daughter-in-law kills me for the money/ She thinks I left them in the will,” Swift sings during the bridge. “The family gathers around and reads it and then someone screams out, ‘She’s laughing up at us from hell.’”

So, why did Swift include this part in her song? Well, it emphasizes the idea of an “anti-hero,” which is a protagonist who lacks heroic qualities. It appears to represent how everybody is the main character of their own lives, but they don’t exactly see themselves as being the hero of their story. Instead, they see themselves as more of an “anti-hero.”

Read the full lyrics to “Anti-Hero” below.

Verse 1

I have this thing where I get older, but just never wise

Midnights become my afternoons

When my depression works the graveyard shift

All of the people I’ve ghosted stand there in the room

Pre-Chorus

I should not be left to my own devices

They come with prices and vices

I end up in crisis (Tale as old as time)

I wake up screaming from dreaming

One day I’ll watch as you’re leaving

‘Cause you got tired of my scheming (For the last time)

Chorus

It’s me, hi

I’m the problem, it’s me

At teatime, everybody agrees

I’ll stare directly at the sun, but never in the mirror

It must be exhausting always rooting for the anti-hero

Verse 2

Sometimes, I feel like everybody is a sexy baby

And I’m a monster on the hill

Too big to hang out, slowly lurching toward your favorite city

Pierced through the heart, but never killed

Pre-Chorus

Did you hear my covert narcissism I disguise as altruism

Like some kind of congressman?

I wake up screaming from dreaming

One day, I’ll watch as you’re leaving

And life will lose all its meaning (For the last time)

Chorus

It’s me, hi

I’m the problem, it’s me (I’m the problem, it’s me)

At teatime, everybody agrees

I’ll stare directly at the sun, but never in the mirror

It must be exhausting always rooting for the anti-hero

Bridge

I have this dream my daughter-in-law kills me for the money

She thinks I left them in the will

The family gathers around and reads it

And then someone screams out

“She’s laughing up at us from hell”

Breakdown

It’s me, hi

I’m the problem, it’s me

It’s me, hi

I’m the problem, it’s me

It’s me, hi

Everybody agrees, everybody agrees

Chorus

It’s me, hi (Hi)

I’m the problem, it’s me (I’m the problem, it’s me)

At teatime (teatime), everybody agrees (everybody agrees)

I’ll stare directly at the sun, but never in the mirror

It must be exhausting always rooting for the anti-hero

Swift’s latest album Midnights is available to stream now.