The lyrical connections between “So Long, London” and “You’re Losing Me” are so strong.
1.
Use of “London” in the song title.
On her 2019 album Lover, Taylor wrote “London Boy,” in which she sings about how in love she is with a guy from London. She also sings about London not being her home, but she loves it because of her “London Boy.” Now, on TTPD, she sings “So Long, London,” bidding farewell to this place she loved so much.2.
CPR imagery.
Last year, she released “You’re Losing Me,” a vault song for her album Midnights, where she sings, “I can’t find a pulse, my heart won’t start anymore.” In the second verse of “So Long, London,” she sings, “I stopped CPR. After all, it’s no use. / The spirit was gone. We would never come to.”3.
Gray face imagery.
Also, in “You’re Losing Me,” she sings, “My face was gray, but you wouldn’t admit that we were sick.” Then she sings, “And I’m just getting color back into my face” in “So Long, London.”4.
Sad song imagery.
In “You’re Losing Me,” she sings, “How long could we be a sad song? / ‘Til we were too far gone to bring back to life?” And then in “So Long, London,” she sings, “Thinking how much sad did you think I had, did you think I had in me?”5.
Endless empathy imagery.
In “You’re Losing Me,” she also sings, “I gave you all my best me’s, my endless empathy.” And then in “So Long, London,” she sings, “And I’m pissed off you let me give you all that youth for free.”6.
False god imagery.
In her Lover song “False God,” she sings, “We’d still worship. We might just get away with it. / The altar is my hips, even if it’s a false god.” Then, she uses similar imagery in “So Long, London,” when she sings, “You swore that you loved me, but where were the clues? / I died on the altar waitin’ for the proof. / You sacrificed us to the gods of your bluest days.”7.
Mirrorball imagery.
In her Folklore song, “Mirrorball,” Taylor sings, “I’m still trying everything to get you laughing at me. / I’m still a believer but I don’t know why.” Then, in “So Long, London,” she sings, “I stopped tryna make him laugh, stopped tryna drill the safe.”8.
Glitch imagery.
In her Midnights song “Glitch,” Taylor sings, “Five seconds later, I’m fastening myself to you with a stitch.” And in “So Long, London,” she sings, “For so long, London. Stitches undone.”9.
Christmas lights imagery.
In the song “Lover,” she sings, “We can leave the Christmas lights up ’til January.” Then, in “So Long, London,” she sings, “I saw in my mind fairy lights through the mist.”10.
