Heritage
epiphany
epiphany was an instant favorite of mine after learning that Taylor wrote the song in homage to her grandfather Archie "Dean" Swift Jr.. He served in the US Marine Corps and fought in the South Pacific at Guadalcanal against the Japanese. I've always been someone who admired the soldiers of the World War 2 era — having watched Ken Burns' "The War" numerous times. What that time period meant to the United States — how we mobilized as a country and worked toward a common cause. Knowing that Taylor's grandfather served in the pivotal battle at Guadalcanal and that she wrote this song to pay tribute to him made it special to me.
epiphany starts off with a soft melodic tune that sounds like something you would hear from a church organ. The tune carries on and gets louder until 0:32 second mark. Taylor's voice makes this song very angelic as you can imagine it being sung at church.
Keep your helmet, keep your life, sonThe first verse and the chorus of epiphany really illustrates what her grandfather must've seen, heard and felt on the shores of Guadalcanal and other battles he must've faced in World War 2.
Just a flesh wound, here's your rifle
Crawling up the beaches now
"Sir, I think he's bleeding out"
And some things you just can't speak about
With you I serve, with you I fall down, down
Watch you breathe in, watch you breathing out, out
Something med school did not coverAs other Swifties have stated, the verse 2 along with the bridge and the chorus (above) illustrated the what the doctors and nurses in the United States were and continue to face during the COVID-19 pandemic. The way Taylor is able to illustrate the experiences of medical professional in these lyrics is haunting. Just imagining that doctors and nurses around the world and the US are experiencing this on a daily basis makes you think of the emotional exhaustion. She's able to weave the trauma of war from the experiences of her grandfather and tie it to current events in 2020/2021.
Someone's daughter, someone's mother
Holds your hand through plastic now
"Doc, I think she's crashing out"
And some things you just can't speak about
Only twenty minutes to sleep
But you dream of some epiphany
Just one single glimpse of relief
To make some sense of what you've seen
With you I serve, with you I fall down, down (Down)
Watch you breathe in, watch you breathing out, out
With you I serve (With you I serve), with you I fall down (Down), down (Down)
Watch you breathe in (Watch you breathe in), watch you breathing out (Out), out (Out)
The word "epiphany" appears only twice in the lyrics. I think it's Taylor's way of illustrating the feeling of epiphany — to transport you away from the feeling of war and the pandemic.
epiphany will forever be etched in my heart as one of my favorite songs from Taylor.
marjorie
Never be so kind
You forget to be clever
Never be so clever
You forget to be kind
marjorie starts off with the four lines above, which sounds like advice Marjorie Finlay gave Taylor as she was growing up. You get the sense Taylor is very much like her maternal grandmother.
Marjorie was an opera singer and was a source of inspiration to catapult Taylor into a career in music. Taylor has mentioned that writing the song was difficult for her as it uncovered a lot of emotions. In an interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music, Taylor said "The experience writing that song [marjorie] was surreal. I was a wreck at times writing it. I would sort of break down sometimes...It was really emotional. One of the hardest forms of regret to work through is the regret of being so young when you lost someone, that you didn't have the perspective to learn and appreciate who they were fully. I'd open up my grandmother's closet and she had beautiful dresses from the '60's. I wish I had asked her where she wore every single one of them. Things like that. My mom will look at me so many times and say 'God you're just like her.'"Marjorie was an opera singer and was a source of inspiration to catapult Taylor into a career in music. Taylor has mentioned that writing the song was difficult for her as it uncovered a lot of emotions. In an interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music, Taylor said "The experience writing that song [marjorie] was surreal. I was a wreck at times writing it. I would sort of break down sometimes...It was really emotional. One of the hardest forms of regret to work through is the regret of being so young when you lost someone, that you didn't have the perspective to learn and appreciate who they were fully. I'd open up my grandmother's closet and she had beautiful dresses from the '60's. I wish I had asked her where she wore every single one of them. Things like that. My mom will look at me so many times and say 'God you're just like her.'"
Marjorie passed away when Taylor happened to be 13. She had this to say in a 2009 article on Love Magazine about her musical success.
QUOTE:
"My grandmother passed away when I was 13, and I don't think I could have done all this without someone helping me. I wouldn't say I was destined to do this because that sounds a little over confident, but I'm glad it happened."
In conclusion, if Dean and Marjorie were alive to hear Taylor sing and write these touching songs, they'd be extremely proud. Knowing your granddaughter was capable of such touching words in the form of songs that touches the lives of millions. They must be smiling down from Heaven.
Source:
Love Magazine
YouTube interview with Zane Lowe
Gaudalcanal campaign