We have a call from Taylor Swift: “Call the amateurs and kick them from the team!”
The penultimate song on “The Tortured Poets Department,” “The Alchemy,” is one of the only pure love songs on an album that skews melancholy.
It’s the story of a love that “comes once every few lifetimes,” Swift’s narrator sings. Alchemy refers to the quest, in Antiquity and the Middle Ages, to find a philosopher’s stone, which would transform any substance, such as lead, into gold.
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More analysis of the lyrics of “Tortured Poets”
In the context of relationships, like this song, alchemy might suggest the coming together of two people to form something entirely new, albeit something unexplainable (like coughing, love).
Beyond medieval magic, what is particularly remarkable is that “Alchemy” is full of football images.
Swift’s boyfriend Travis Kelce — who she has been linked to since his first appearance at a Chiefs game in September 2023 — was not expected to be the focus of the album.
But “The Alchemy” apparently equates to love of football and “winning streaks.” (Kelce’s Chiefs are certainly one of them, having won the Super Bowl two years in a row.)
“There was no chance / Trying to be the best in the league,” Swift sings.
The chorus’ conceit is to be champions and come back: “When I land, I call the amateurs and kick them off the team / Ditch the clowns, get the crown back baby / I’m the one to beat.”
The bridge is a lyrical description of victory, ending with: “Where is the trophy?” / He’s just coming towards me / Touchdown! »
We can’t help but remember Swift and Kelce kissing after her Super Bowl and playoff victories.
She also mentions crowns in “The Alchemy”, as she has often done in the past. In “Long Live,” she sings, “You traded your baseball cap for a crown.” Here she swaps a helmet.
Football has also appeared in images in his music videos, often in the context of high school football players.
In “Fifteen” (2008), she sings: “But in your life, you’ll do bigger things than date the boy on the football team. » The lyrics suggest dreaming bigger than grabbing the popular guy.
Next, her on-screen crush in the music video “You Belong With Me” (2008) is a football player. Meanwhile, she’s on the other side of the social spectrum and “on the stands” in a marching band uniform.
In “Mean” (2010), she imagines looking at football as an outdated activity, worthy of her sworn enemy: “I can see you years from now in a bar / talking at a football match / With that same big mouth / but no one listens.”
By the time “Stay Stay Stay” came out in 2012, Swift was dating the football player: “That’s when you showed up with a football helmet / And you said, ‘OK, let’s talk -in “.
Read on for the lyrics to “The Alchemy.”
Read the lyrics to “The Alchemy”
It happens once every few lifetimes
These chemicals hit me like white wine
What if I told you I’m back?
Hospital was a chore, worst sleep I’ve ever had
I circled you on a map
I haven’t been here for so long
But I come back so strong
So when I land, call the amateurs and kick them off the team.
Ditch the clowns, get the crown baby
I’m the one to beat
Because the sign on your heart says it’s always reserved for me
Honestly, who are we to fight chemistry?
Hey you, what if I told you we’re cool?
This child’s play at school is forgiven under my reign
I haven’t been here for so long
But I’m coming back to where I belong
So when I land, call the amateurs and kick them off the team.
Ditch the clowns, get the crown baby
I’m the one to beat
Because the sign on your heart says it’s always reserved for me
Honestly, who are we to fight chemistry?
These guys are warming up the benches
We’ve been on a winning streak
He jokes, “It’s heroin, but this time with an ‘E’.”
Because the sign on your heart says it’s always reserved for me
Honestly, who are we to fight chemistry?
Take off your shirts and your friends lift you above their heads
The beer sticks to the ground, the cheers are chanted because they say
There was no chance
Trying to be the best in the league
Where is the trophy?
He just ran towards me
Landing!
Call the amateurs and kick them from the team
Ditch the clowns, get the crown baby
I’m the one to beat
Because the sign on your heart says it’s always reserved for me
Honestly, who are we to fight chemistry?
These guys are warming up the benches
We’ve been on a winning streak
He jokes, “It’s heroin, but this time with an ‘E’.”
Because the sign on your heart says it’s always reserved for me
Honestly, who are we to fight chemistry?
It happens once every few lifetimes
These chemicals hit me like white wine
