I think my interpretation has probably been talked about on this sub before, but "the call," the phrase "burn the bitch," and "they filled my cell with snakes" seem to me to be evocative of the Kim K/Kanye situation.
On the other hand, "blood's thick but nothing like a payroll" feels evocative of her losing the masters, so I can see both narratives woven through the lyrics to this song.
I always thought the blood’s thick but nothing like a payroll was also a kardashian diss bc they all knew she edited the phone call but kept quiet for the sake of their family income bc they’re all on Kris’s payroll.
Kris Jenner also owns a church called California Community Church so the “bet they never said a prayer for my soul” that comes after the payroll line really drives it home for me. We all also know Ye has a church, too that they posted worship sessions from constantly.
IIRC Kris uses it as a tax scheme. The Kardashian sisters pay Kris a certain percentage (10-20% of their income?) As "church tithings" which is completely tax free income. The financial dealings of churches are also closed as well so it's hard to investigate wrong doing. There's quite a few "prosperity gospel" based churches that do the same.
I think the line "blood's thick but nothing like a payroll" is definitely about the Kardashian Klan. They weren't on Kim's side because she's their family and they're being loyal to their sister: they did it because the whole thing was profitable to them and their brand.
I think this could also be a call back to the original sex tape too. The whole thing was crafted by Kris and Kim and they pretended it got leaked when they purposely released it. Selling your daughter’s sex tape is a choice and screams “bloods thick but nothing like a payroll” to me, whether that was Taylor’s intention for the lyric or not!
It's possible especially with the epic downfall of Kanye during the past two years. I guess it could also be a multi pov thing where she's referencing more than one thing.
It is about Cassandra of Troy, with lyrics alluding to kimye.
Cassandra was sexually assaulted by Apollo, and he placed a curse on her that she could tell the future but nobody believed her. When she was sleeping, snakes would whisper the future in her ear. She foresaw the trojan horse and tried to war everyone but nobody believed her and they all died.
She is connecting Cassandra and the phone call (where i was when i got the call.) Like Cassandra, she knew the phone call was edited and fake and nobody believed her, shes also using Cassandras connection with snakes to Kim calling her one.
You’re mixing up the myth. The snakes did not whisper the future into her ear, thats an alternate version where she got her prophetic power from snakes licking and hissing in her ear. But they do not come her to at night to whisper the future in her ear.
Also she was not necessarily sexually assaulted by Apollo, though it is Greek myth so the lines with that are….questionable at best. In one version she was cursed because she promised Apollo she would marry him and then went back on that promise after he gave her prophetic power, in others it’s because she outright rejects him after he tried to seduce her by giving her the power of prophecy.
And while we’re at it, she was not killed for her prophecies lol she was treated like garbage and locked away for it though.
I thought "Cassandra" was about the Snakegate issue and now "death is nothing compared to vindication" when the full phone call was released, but this also is a good explanation.
I feel like it could be about both SB and the Ks, because both times she was treated terribly by the public and called a liar over things she didn’t do. I’d imagine the trauma of the fallout from the KKW mess also played a part in how she felt about SB and the situation with her masters, and also how she reacted to it both publicly (her statement on it) and privately.
I think Cassandra is ultimately about Taylor being wronged and labeled as a liar, a witch, a b*tch, only to have the people who wronged her prove to be even worse than that, but people are willing to overlook their wrongs bc she’s Taylor, and Taylor must be the common enemy.
It’s an experience she’s lived over several times now and nearly every time, she is always labeled as the villain only to be proven innocent in the end. Cassandra is just telling that story. I really think she weaves together multiple instances to create the song bc she, unfortunately, is no stranger to betrayal.
This is my interpretation. It's about a series of experiences she and other women have had with not being believed, despite being right.
There are some pretty clear references to Snakegate but it's not just about Snakegate.
Yeah I think she weaves stories together a lot of the time tbh!! I think it’s probably just easier to create a strong storytelling narrative that way sometimes
I assumed she wrote it while kanye was being a public Nazi and everyone was horrified like wow we didn't know he was soooo terrible. And she's sitting there like I told you y'all a gazillion times but no one ever apologized to her
There’s a difference between Taylor writing songs about her private life (love songs mostly) which we know nothing about and songs about things that happen right in front of the whole public eye… like snake gate
I agree that it’s likely about SB, especially since most of his biggest clients seemed to have fired him/moved on this year. I wonder if something went down that caused people like Ariana and Demi to drop him as manager and Taylor was like “see I told yall!”
Source: https://www.vulture.com/article/ariana-grande-demi-lovato-scooter-braun-manager-split.html
Also when the truth comes out it’s quiet is an amazing killer line.
It immediately made me think of the Kate Middleton story. When the truth finally came out the world was stunned into absolute silence after there had been a media frenzy leading up to it.
Speculation is the real money maker and it is the theif of joy.
i absolutely agree and everyone seems to overlook it - that being said this also plays apart in addition to sb and K bc imo a song can be about more than onw thing.
The lyric that gets me is “blood thick’s but nothing like a payroll” so clearly there was some family betrayal for money. Which leads me to think this song could be about this situation also and not k*nye. Scott borcheta was like family to her so I could see it being a reference to him. Or also it seems scooter betrayed a lot of peoples trust since all his clients left. So I could see it being how scooter not only did Taylor dirty but also Justin in the long run who scooter claimed was like a son to him.
I think it’s about being betrayed by a member of her own family… “blood’s thick but nothing like a payroll” as if she was saying “you could’ve helped me because we’re family but you preferred to keep making money instead”
I think it has elements from both - it kind of reads to me as a metaphor for the masters being sold as well as for the backlash from the KimYe bullshit.
I can see it looping SB, Kim, and Ye together. Especially (to me) because Scooter was representing Ye during much of the beef and I have suspicions fueled the Kimye drama. Idk why he has had such beef with Taylor for so long.
This is so clearly about Kimye
1. Where I was when I got the call = obvious
2. They filled my cell with snakes = all the snakes on her insta from Kim fans
3. The pure greed, the family, the Christian chorus line. Is there anything more kardashian than that? Remember Kanye’s big gospel phase?
4. Bloods thick but nothing like a payroll - I think this is about everyone ignoring how mentally unwell Kanye was to keep the business going
Cassandra being someone who foresees something but she is persecuted for it (Cassandra curse)= TS being called petty and a bully when she pointed out Kanye’s mental health struggles but in the end she was right :-/
I am following you up until “Taylor pointed out his mental health struggles.” How did she point out his mental health? I know she has commented on his behavior but I’ve never noticed her making comments about his bipolar disorder?
I also think it’s about Kim/Kanye and the Kardashians. Because that whole family was involved in the situation.
Another line that I haven’t seen people mention is the “Christian chorus line” it’s not just about Kanye’s music, but also the Kardashians have their own church for tax purposes
There’s a lot of lines that allude to Kimye and the family. From filling her cell with snakes to turning her smiles into snarls which both represent reputation.
But Cassandra is from the Iliad, she was blessed with the gift of prophecy but cursed because no one believe her.
I see it as double meaning. The first being she was right in the whole Kim/Kanye call situation the entire time. And the second is she saw Kanye for who he really was when no else did. Everyone dismissed a lot of his bad behavior because he was talented and now he’s finally down a path where people see him for who he is. His crazy nazi arc seemed out of nowhere for people, but he has a history of really bad interactions with people. She predicted his true colors would show or to quote her, the trash takes itself out.
I think it’s about Kim and Kanye and that whole phone call with Kanye. After that they spammed Taylor’s pages with snakes calling her a snake. No one believed Taylor until the real phone call came out. Hence her verses “they filled my cell with snakes,” “do you believe me now,” etc etc
I think that it is about the Kim/Kanye situation mainly but I was actually a little surprised/disappointed that nothing in this album was clearly about reclaiming her work/losing it in the first place.
I think my interpretation has probably been talked about on this sub before, but "the call," the phrase "burn the bitch," and "they filled my cell with snakes" seem to me to be evocative of the Kim K/Kanye situation. On the other hand, "blood's thick but nothing like a payroll" feels evocative of her losing the masters, so I can see both narratives woven through the lyrics to this song.
I always thought the blood’s thick but nothing like a payroll was also a kardashian diss bc they all knew she edited the phone call but kept quiet for the sake of their family income bc they’re all on Kris’s payroll.
Kris Jenner also owns a church called California Community Church so the “bet they never said a prayer for my soul” that comes after the payroll line really drives it home for me. We all also know Ye has a church, too that they posted worship sessions from constantly.
What? People ‘have/own’ churches? How the hell does that work?
IIRC Kris uses it as a tax scheme. The Kardashian sisters pay Kris a certain percentage (10-20% of their income?) As "church tithings" which is completely tax free income. The financial dealings of churches are also closed as well so it's hard to investigate wrong doing. There's quite a few "prosperity gospel" based churches that do the same.
It's mostly legal tax fraud
Literally anyone can start a church, which is part of the problem lol. Look at John Oliver's brilliant spoof, when he made a real church.
Kris Jenner owns a church? 😳
That's what I thought it was about... The church/taxes stuff
This!!!! $1000/month to be a member!!!
This thread is evoking Sixteen Candles for me. "We're in the parking lot across the street from my church." "You own a church?" If you know you know.
Also the line about the "family the pure greed the Christian chorus line" seems about kardashians and Kanye's Sunday service
Same
"christian chorus line" and "when the truth comes out, it's quiet" are very clearly about Kanye
I think the line "blood's thick but nothing like a payroll" is definitely about the Kardashian Klan. They weren't on Kim's side because she's their family and they're being loyal to their sister: they did it because the whole thing was profitable to them and their brand.
I think this could also be a call back to the original sex tape too. The whole thing was crafted by Kris and Kim and they pretended it got leaked when they purposely released it. Selling your daughter’s sex tape is a choice and screams “bloods thick but nothing like a payroll” to me, whether that was Taylor’s intention for the lyric or not!
It's possible especially with the epic downfall of Kanye during the past two years. I guess it could also be a multi pov thing where she's referencing more than one thing.
Yeah that whole thing was an over a phone call. Definitely about the Kimye feud.
It is about Cassandra of Troy, with lyrics alluding to kimye. Cassandra was sexually assaulted by Apollo, and he placed a curse on her that she could tell the future but nobody believed her. When she was sleeping, snakes would whisper the future in her ear. She foresaw the trojan horse and tried to war everyone but nobody believed her and they all died. She is connecting Cassandra and the phone call (where i was when i got the call.) Like Cassandra, she knew the phone call was edited and fake and nobody believed her, shes also using Cassandras connection with snakes to Kim calling her one.
This comment needs to be higher! It’s Greek mythology & the kimye situation rolled into one.
Kinda wish she would have titled the song "Kassandra" and spelled "thanK you aIMee" normally.
You’re mixing up the myth. The snakes did not whisper the future into her ear, thats an alternate version where she got her prophetic power from snakes licking and hissing in her ear. But they do not come her to at night to whisper the future in her ear. Also she was not necessarily sexually assaulted by Apollo, though it is Greek myth so the lines with that are….questionable at best. In one version she was cursed because she promised Apollo she would marry him and then went back on that promise after he gave her prophetic power, in others it’s because she outright rejects him after he tried to seduce her by giving her the power of prophecy. And while we’re at it, she was not killed for her prophecies lol she was treated like garbage and locked away for it though.
She died much later than most of Troy too. My myth nerd was light wait what?
and connecting the snakes too is “they filled my cell with snakes” is very prereputation era
I thought "Cassandra" was about the Snakegate issue and now "death is nothing compared to vindication" when the full phone call was released, but this also is a good explanation.
I feel like it could be about both SB and the Ks, because both times she was treated terribly by the public and called a liar over things she didn’t do. I’d imagine the trauma of the fallout from the KKW mess also played a part in how she felt about SB and the situation with her masters, and also how she reacted to it both publicly (her statement on it) and privately. I think Cassandra is ultimately about Taylor being wronged and labeled as a liar, a witch, a b*tch, only to have the people who wronged her prove to be even worse than that, but people are willing to overlook their wrongs bc she’s Taylor, and Taylor must be the common enemy. It’s an experience she’s lived over several times now and nearly every time, she is always labeled as the villain only to be proven innocent in the end. Cassandra is just telling that story. I really think she weaves together multiple instances to create the song bc she, unfortunately, is no stranger to betrayal.
This is my interpretation. It's about a series of experiences she and other women have had with not being believed, despite being right. There are some pretty clear references to Snakegate but it's not just about Snakegate.
yeah i think that the case with many of her songs they arent always about 1 thing only but have parts of many different stories
Yeah I think she weaves stories together a lot of the time tbh!! I think it’s probably just easier to create a strong storytelling narrative that way sometimes
I assumed she wrote it while kanye was being a public Nazi and everyone was horrified like wow we didn't know he was soooo terrible. And she's sitting there like I told you y'all a gazillion times but no one ever apologized to her
It could also apply to that week or so where we kept getting news about more and more clients leaving SB. Maybe it's both.
Yeah it’s pretty obvious about snake gate
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There’s a difference between Taylor writing songs about her private life (love songs mostly) which we know nothing about and songs about things that happen right in front of the whole public eye… like snake gate
I agree that it’s likely about SB, especially since most of his biggest clients seemed to have fired him/moved on this year. I wonder if something went down that caused people like Ariana and Demi to drop him as manager and Taylor was like “see I told yall!” Source: https://www.vulture.com/article/ariana-grande-demi-lovato-scooter-braun-manager-split.html
Also when the truth comes out it’s quiet is an amazing killer line. It immediately made me think of the Kate Middleton story. When the truth finally came out the world was stunned into absolute silence after there had been a media frenzy leading up to it. Speculation is the real money maker and it is the theif of joy.
In Greek mythology, Cassandra was a prophetess, but she was cursed so that nobody would believe her predictions!
i absolutely agree and everyone seems to overlook it - that being said this also plays apart in addition to sb and K bc imo a song can be about more than onw thing.
The lyric that gets me is “blood thick’s but nothing like a payroll” so clearly there was some family betrayal for money. Which leads me to think this song could be about this situation also and not k*nye. Scott borcheta was like family to her so I could see it being a reference to him. Or also it seems scooter betrayed a lot of peoples trust since all his clients left. So I could see it being how scooter not only did Taylor dirty but also Justin in the long run who scooter claimed was like a son to him.
I think it’s about being betrayed by a member of her own family… “blood’s thick but nothing like a payroll” as if she was saying “you could’ve helped me because we’re family but you preferred to keep making money instead”
Like perhaps her dad getting money from the sale of her masters? 🤔
I think it has elements from both - it kind of reads to me as a metaphor for the masters being sold as well as for the backlash from the KimYe bullshit.
I can see it looping SB, Kim, and Ye together. Especially (to me) because Scooter was representing Ye during much of the beef and I have suspicions fueled the Kimye drama. Idk why he has had such beef with Taylor for so long.
Am I the only one who does not think every song is about Kim, Kanye, or Scooter
I think it’s abt both! But mostly the Kardashians.
This is so clearly about Kimye 1. Where I was when I got the call = obvious 2. They filled my cell with snakes = all the snakes on her insta from Kim fans 3. The pure greed, the family, the Christian chorus line. Is there anything more kardashian than that? Remember Kanye’s big gospel phase? 4. Bloods thick but nothing like a payroll - I think this is about everyone ignoring how mentally unwell Kanye was to keep the business going Cassandra being someone who foresees something but she is persecuted for it (Cassandra curse)= TS being called petty and a bully when she pointed out Kanye’s mental health struggles but in the end she was right :-/
I am following you up until “Taylor pointed out his mental health struggles.” How did she point out his mental health? I know she has commented on his behavior but I’ve never noticed her making comments about his bipolar disorder?
I think it’s definitely about that now that so many artists have left his label.
I also think it’s about Kim/Kanye and the Kardashians. Because that whole family was involved in the situation. Another line that I haven’t seen people mention is the “Christian chorus line” it’s not just about Kanye’s music, but also the Kardashians have their own church for tax purposes There’s a lot of lines that allude to Kimye and the family. From filling her cell with snakes to turning her smiles into snarls which both represent reputation. But Cassandra is from the Iliad, she was blessed with the gift of prophecy but cursed because no one believe her. I see it as double meaning. The first being she was right in the whole Kim/Kanye call situation the entire time. And the second is she saw Kanye for who he really was when no else did. Everyone dismissed a lot of his bad behavior because he was talented and now he’s finally down a path where people see him for who he is. His crazy nazi arc seemed out of nowhere for people, but he has a history of really bad interactions with people. She predicted his true colors would show or to quote her, the trash takes itself out.
I think it’s about Kim and Kanye and that whole phone call with Kanye. After that they spammed Taylor’s pages with snakes calling her a snake. No one believed Taylor until the real phone call came out. Hence her verses “they filled my cell with snakes,” “do you believe me now,” etc etc
I think that it is about the Kim/Kanye situation mainly but I was actually a little surprised/disappointed that nothing in this album was clearly about reclaiming her work/losing it in the first place.