“Foolish One (Taylor’s Version) [From The Vault]” by Taylor Swift
“Foolish One” is a “From the Vault” song from Swift’s album “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)”. That designation would imply that the songstress wrote this song circa 2010, back when the original version of “Speak Now” was released through Big Machine Records.
But it was recorded or re-recorded more recently, to be featured on “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)”, a project backed by Republic Records which went on sale on 7 July 2023. And that would also mean that it was likely produced sometime in the last year or so, and Taylor Swift did so, in this case, alongside Aaron Dessner.
THE LYRICS OF “FOOLISH ONE”
This is a song of heartbreak, one where we find the vocalist suffering because the man she loves isn’t as into her as vice versa. Indeed, the signs are all there that he’s already more or less gone his way. For example, we find in the bridge that he ‘hasn’t written or called’.
That passage also implies that he’s now with someone else, i.e. the woman he intends to marry, with Taylor having more or less been his plaything along the way. Or at least, that’s how she feels given all that’s going on. Yet and still, if the addressee were to pop up right now and show her a little bit of love, the vocalist will be re-imbued with the belief that he’s actually serious, even though in her heart she knows he isn’t.
So the reason Taylor has dubbed herself a “foolish one” is because here she sits and mourns, hoping that the addressee is going to suddenly reach out and verify that he truly loves her, instead of someone else. And let’s say that, all things considered, such an expectation actually reads more like a fantasy than a hope.
So basically, the vocalist has concluded that being in her feelings, waiting for uncommitted man to call is akin to self-torture. But that being observed, the obvious implication is that she cannot prevent herself from longing for him.
