Who Is "Dancing With Our Hands Tied" About? All Signs Point To Taylor Swift's Most Recent Ex
Taylor, Taylor, Taylor. Today is all about Ms. Taylor Alison Swift because her new album reputation is finally available everywhere and, despite this era's "new" image, the girl is back on her old bullsh*t. What I mean is that Queen Swifty is back with a slew of new songs that subtly reference events from her personal life, her relationships, and her high-profile celeb feuds. reputation has fifteen tracks, each one with its own backstory, but, given Taylor's romantic relationships within the past few years, the question on many of our minds is: Who is "Dancing With Our Hands Tied" about?
Let's take a look at the lyrics. The first verse opens with:
I, I loved you in secret
First sight, yeah, we love without reason
Oh, twenty-five years old
Oh, how were you to know, and
My, my love had been frozen
Deep blue, but you painted me golden
Oh, and you held me close
Oh, how was I to know that
Some lines to pay attention to are "Deep blue, but you painted me golden" and "Oh, twenty-five years old." Are these clues for us, Swifty? The next part of the song reads:
I could've spent forever with your hands in my pockets
Picture of your face in an invisible locket
You said there was nothing in the world that could stop it
I had a bad feeling
And darling, you had turned my bed into a sacred oasis
People started talking, putting us through our paces
I knew there was no one in the world who could take it
I had a bad feeling
Now the chorus reads:
But we were dancing
Dancing with our hands tied, hands tied
Yeah, we were dancing
Like it was the first time, first time
Yeah, we were dancing
Dancing with our hands tied, hands tied
Yeah, we were dancing
And I had a bad feeling
But we were dancing
How romantic, right? The rest of the song continues:
I, I loved you in spite of
Deep fears that the world would divide us
So, baby, can we dance
Oh, through an avalanche?
And say, say that we got it
I'm a mess, but I'm the mess that you wanted
Oh, 'cause it's gravity
Oh, keeping you with me
The pre-chorus is extremely romantic, and makes me think it's clearly about an ex-boyfriend of some kind:
I could've spent forever with your hands in my pockets
Picture of your face in an invisible locket
You said there was nothing in the world that could stop it
I had a bad feeling
But we were dancing
Dancing with our hands tied, hands tied
Yeah, we were dancing
Like it was the first time, first time
Yeah, we were dancing
Dancing with our hands tied, hands tied
Yeah, we were dancing
(Ooh, we had our hands tied)
And I had a bad feeling
But we were dancing
The bridge is too. Just read this:
I'd kiss you as the lights went out
Swaying as the room burned down
I'd hold you as the water rushes in
If I could dance with you again
I'd kiss you as the lights went out
Swaying as the room burned down
I'd hold you as the water rushes in
If I could dance with you again
"Dancing With Our Hands Tied" is a sweet song; we all know the girl has a talent for writing fun, romantic songs, and, ever since the days of "Love Story," tales of romance and love have been a huge part of her image. Clearly, despite the old Taylor being dead and reputation having an edgier new sound, Tay hasn't forgotten about her true niche because "Dancing With Our Hands Tied" is classic T. Swift; it's got an "I Knew You Were Trouble" meets "All You Had To Do Was Stay" vibe to it, and it reminds us all why we started to love Taylor in the first place. That doesn't answer the question of who the song is about, though.
Since her last album, 1989, Taylor has been in two semi-serious relationships with Calvin Harris and Tom Hiddleston, and she's been dating her current beau, actor Joe Alwyn, for a while now. While it's possible the song could be about any of these fellas, it seems more than likely than not that this heart-melting track is about her ex Tom Hiddleston.
Since reputation was announced back in August, Taylor has released four singles leading up to the album drop; while the first two songs, "Look What You Made Me Do" and "...Ready For It," seem more like diss tracks profiling her celeb feuds with Kanye, Kim, and Katy and her tense relationship with the media, the last two tracks, "Gorgeous" and "Call It What You Want," have a much more upbeat, Taylor-ey sound and are rumored to be about Joe Alwyn.
As is always the case when it comes to Taylor Swift, there are plenty of clues that hint at who "Dancing With Our Hands Tied" is about, like the lyrics "I coulda spent forever with your hands in my pockets / Picture of your face in an invisible locket / You said there was nothin in the world that could stop it, I had a bad feelin'," but there's no way to know for sure.
Since Tay posted the reputation tracklist online earlier this week, fans have been speculating that a number of songs including "King of My Heart," "Getaway Car," and "New Years Day" (some even speculated that "New Years Day" would feature an engagement announcement from Taylor and Joe) are about Joe, but "Dancing With Our Hands Tied" has more of a breakup vibe to it if you ask me, so this one is more likely about Tom Hiddleston.
Whether or not the song is about Calvin, Tom, or Joe doesn't matter too much, though. Swifties have been excited to hear the song since Taylor posted the album's tracklist online.
A few Swifties that attended the reputation ~secret sessions~ hyped the song up even more for fans, calling it "a future classic TS song" and saying it "will BREAK YOUR HEART IN A MILLION PIECES."
All in all, I think the hype for this song is well deserved. It balances the old Taylor we love with the new Taylor. Like many of the other songs on reputation, "Dancing With Our Hands Tied" has Swift written all over it. As for whether or not it's about her current beau or a past lover, I guess we'll just have to wait and hope Queen Swift gives us a few more hints.
You can listen to "Dancing With Our Hands Tied" on iTunes now.
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