Actually Romantic
Summary
It’s honestly lovelyyyy… that you’re tuning in for another episode of Blank Plate! In today’s episode, Laura and Sara kick off the new year with life updates, holiday chaos and a truly iconic New Year’s Eve wedding story before diving deep into one of Taylor Swift’s messiest and most fascinating tracks, “Actually Romantic” from Life of a Showgirl. The ladies unpack the song’s fountain-pen pettiness, rumored muse lore (yes, we’re talking about Charli XCX), and how admiration, insecurity, and obsession blur into something unexpectedly romantic.
Chapters
(00:00) Introduction
(00:47) What's On Our Plates
(08:14) Taylor Updates: Este Haim's Wedding, Eras Tour Documentary Reflections, Unanswered Questions
(31:13) Unpacking "Actually Romantic"
(33:05) Our Personal Associations With The Song
(35:22) Folk"lore" Of The Song
(49:08) Verse 1: "Boring" As A Trigger, Eras Tour vs. Brat Tour Aesthetics, Exes Ghosting
(55:31) Chorus 1: Effort And One Side Obsession As Romantic, Implications Of A Platonic, Female Muse
(57:24) Verse 2: "I Forgot That You Existed" Parallels, Valentines Clues, Close "Circles" In The Music Industry
(01:05:18) The Bridge: Naughty Taylor!
(01:07:36) Chorus 3 & Outro: "Lovely" As Passive Aggressive
(01:10:10) Music Theory Analysis: Interpolations of Weezer, Wheatus, The Pixies
(01:13:00) Ratings and Favorite Lyrics
(01:13:59) This Song As A Recipe
(01:15:10) Signing Off!
(01:16:40) Patreon Preview: champagne problems
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