11: “Wi$h Li$t“ — the luxury of being left alone

No, Taylor hasn’t gone tradwife.

In this episode, we look at “Wi$h Li$t“ not as a love letter to domesticity, but as the showgirl’s fantasy of escape, her quiet breaking point in Act II.

We’ll unpack the ironic dollar signs, the list of luxuries our showgirl says she doesn’t want, and the line that reveals the real enemy in this story. 

“Wi$h Li$t“ isn’t a retreat into tradition—it’s the showgirl imagining the one thing she can’t buy, can’t outrun, and can’t ever fully have.

Plus: discussion questions and writing prompts inspired by the song’s themes.

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Get all the LIT112 writing prompts in one place: www.maraeller.com/prompts.

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Transcript

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Some listeners heard wishlist and immediately panicked. Is Taylor Swift going trad wife, a basketball hoop, A couple of kids, a cozy suburb. What happened to the feminist icon who brought us songs like The Man? But once you place Wishlist back inside the album, it belongs to that interpretation collapses instantly. Welcome to Lit one 12, the Life of a Showgirl where we treat Taylor Swift's latest album like a novel I'm your host, Mara Eller, a literature and writing teacher with 16 years of experience at the high school and college level. I just retired to focus on editing and book coaching, but when I started getting requests for this series on social media, I couldn't resist. Whether you're a veteran swifty or just an AP lit nerd like me who happens to like her music, all are welcome here. I've even got something for you writers, creative prompts inspired by the subject of each lesson. You can find them at the end of the episodes or at mara eller.com/prompts. So grab your metaphorical notebook and let's unpack this record together, chapter by chapter, song by song. Today we're talking about wishlist Track eight. This song even more than the others, must be understood in the context of the larger narrative. So if you haven't listened to my other episodes yet, I highly recommend you do so, particularly the one on the concept album and the previous one to this one on actually romantic. Wishlist is the kind of song like so many on this album that dares us to misread it. And judging by the internet buzz, congratulations. Many of us took the bait on first. Listen, this track seems like a simple, happy love song. The chorus repeats. I just want you half a couple kids a driveway with a basketball hoop. Clearly this you is a romantic partner and she's dreaming about having a family together. Many listeners assume wishlist is Taylor imagining suburban domestic bliss with Travis. Some even read it as a trad wife fantasy where the woman stays home. While the man provides as leader of the household on its own, the song could support that reading. But in the context of the album and considering basically anything about Taylor's personality, that interpretation quickly becomes absurd. There are two primary pieces of evidence that support this. first and most obvious is the line in the final track. The life of a showgirl in the final chorus when she sings. I'm married to the hustle and I wouldn't have it any other way. Her choice of words there. Married gives indisputable proof that at least by the end of the album, showbiz is her first love and most important commitment. Now remember that doesn't necessarily mean that that's what Taylor thinks. It's the showgirl singing, but given that Taylor's work is generally at least semi autobiographical, it's reasonable to conclude that Taylor feels somewhat similar. She may have found the true love of her life and she may be looking forward to settling down at least in some sense of that phrase. But this woman couldn't leave her life as a performer behind her and still be herself. It's part of her, like the showgirl. She's married to the hustle. They are one. Another reason the trad wife reading doesn't hold is that wishlist is only track eight, two thirds of the way into the album. In traditional story structure act two, the rising action shows our hero facing trials, not finding ultimate resolution. This song shows us another challenge she's navigating that should lead us to ask, what is the trial? The answer lies in the context of the previous song. The content of the verses of this song and the stylistic choices of the title itself. Let's take a deeper look at the context to make sense of this song. Another key aspect from Act two of any story is a scene where the hero considers turning back, tries to find a way out. They begin to realize just how hard this is going to get and just how brutal the ultimate conflict is that they're facing and they want to escape. And that's precisely what we see in wishlist. Actually romantic had our showgirl feuding with someone, maybe a peer or aspiring peer in a very public and rather nasty cat fight. Her claws were out and she seemed to be using every weapon at her disposal to put this other woman in her place to get her to back off. She played it off as a silly nuisance, but a closer look revealed Some serious emotional upset. It also revealed that apparently no man had ever truly loved her. While she might have won this particular fight, we get the sense that she might feel like she is losing the war. Wishlist comes as yet another jarring contrast. This song is actually romantic, but she plays with our expectations by naming it wishlist, and particularly by putting those dollar signs in there in place of the ss, I'm honestly kind of shocked that those dollar signs aren't getting more attention. It's a very strange choice, especially for Taylor Swift. Using dollar signs in place of the letter S is something we might expect from a rap artist who's thinking about all the expensive stuff they can buy. It definitely makes us expect a song about luxury, which is exactly what we get, only not in the way we expect. The verses list expensive, prestigious, or otherwise luxurious items that they want, but not our showgirl. The question is, do we believe her? my answer is yes and no. Let's dive into the lyrics themselves and see what we find and heads up. This song does include explicit language, verse one. They want that yacht life under chopper blades, so they want to live on a private yacht, maybe in the Mediterranean with a helicopter to take them wherever they want to go. They want those bright lights and Baxi shades. Bright lights should remind us of Elizabeth Taylor, so they represent fame and celebrity. Baxi is short for Balenciaga, which is a high-end brand of sunglasses and a fat ass with a baby face. This line makes me think of plastic surgery, you know, like butt implants and all the stuff they can do to make your face look young. Notice the incredible specificity Of these lines. Classic Taylor Swift songwriting. She doesn't say they want expensive stuff and brand name goods. She says Yacht life. Chopper blades, Valencia shades. She gives us things we can picture. We can hear like the chopper blades. We can feel. This specificity is one of her signature strengths that we will be discussing in my upcoming write like Taylor Swift workshop. You can check it out, learn more. Sign up at mara eller.com/write like Taylor, it's going down on December 10th, so be sure to check it out before then. She sings, they want it all. So, so far we have expensive luxury lifestyle picks. They want all the stuff that lots of money can buy. verse one continues. They want that complex female character. Okay, this one's a little different. That doesn't seem to have anything to do with money or luxury, although it may be pretty difficult to attain. They want that critical smash Palm Door and an Oscar on their bathroom floor. They want it all. The Palm Door is the highest prize awarded to the director of the best feature film at the Cannes Film Festival. So this seems to be getting into prestige. It also takes money to make a great film, but the award itself is more about prestige. Same for winning an Oscar, but this one's on the bathroom floor. What does that imply? It makes me think of a mess, first of all, maybe a hotel room wrecked by a wild celebratory party. It also implies that the award is not actually being valued very much. You don't leave something precious to you on the bathroom floor. Like why is it in the bathroom in the first place? That's not where you display something or protect something important to you. There's a sense of carelessness here and also a hint that this once in a lifetime award isn't actually bringing the satisfaction the person probably expected they want. It all takes on a slightly more complex tone here. They want it all, but it's starting to seem like they don't feel like they're getting it or that they have it, even if they do have lots of these things. Then the pre-course, and they should have what they want. They deserve what they want, hope they get what they want. This repetition sets up a contrast with the first line of the chorus. I just want you. They want all of that stuff they think will fulfill them. And I wish them luck, but I don't want any of that. I just want you. Well, not just you. The next line is have a couple kids, got the whole block looking like you. She also wants to have kids, a family. Got the whole block looking like you has provoked some controversy, But the most compelling interpretation of this line is that she's using understatement as a form of irony, followed by hyperbole or exaggeration. She doesn't actually want a couple kids. She wants a bunch of kids enough to fill up a whole block and that they look like you, is a way of telling her man she loves how he looks. Side note, apparently the Kelsey Jeans are very strong, so it's likely that if and when Travis and Taylor have kids, they'll look a lot like him. And now we get perhaps the most interesting line of the song and the first and only time she drops the F-bomb on the album. We tell the world to leave us the F alone and they do. Wow. While many of the songs on this album are rated explicit, this is the only song with what is considered to many, at least in the American South where I live, to be the strongest curse word among those commonly used. Why is this the line that requires such emphasis? We tell the world to leave us alone. The clean version definitely lacks some of the intensity conveyed by the original. This is something she really, really wants and she's angry about it. It's the kind of thing you say after you've already asked for it multiple times and haven't gotten it. We tell the world to leave us alone. And they do. And then she says, wow. It conveys a sense of amazement that this happens finally. But there's a hint of sarcasm too. Like, wow, was that really so effing hard to do? This is the line that tells us this is a fantasy. This is something that's never going to actually happen, not fully. And the way this line is written in the present tense, it's like she's imagining it. It's not, I want them to leave us alone. It's a dream coming true. Taylor said the chorus is describing her happy place where she escapes mentally in times of stress, pressure, anxiety, or chaos since meeting Travis. So yes, she's imagining a life of married domestic bliss, but she very clearly talks about it as a fantasy. That doesn't mean that she actually wants to abandon the life she's worked so hard to build. I think she wants both, and maybe the showgirl does too. The thing that she seems to actually want the most, at least in this moment, in this song, is not actually the other person or the kids, but to be left alone by the public, to escape her public life. The scrutiny and hassle, the paparazzi, the online haters. She's disillusioned with the fame once again, and perhaps also sad about or even scared of the person she's becoming, like we discussed in actually romantic. She's starting to doubt that she'll be able to defeat the forces warring against her and perhaps inside her. And she just wants out. In a way, this could actually be showing her heroin at her lowest point. Her dark night of the soul when she feels like all is lost unless she throws away everything she's ever wanted and that she's devoted her entire life to achieving. Think about it. What do you think was on her wishlist right before the fate of Ophelia? A lot of what she actually has now, right? And maybe a lot of the things listed in the verses too, at least in some form. But the reality of having these things is quite different from the fantasy. I think so much of this album is about dreams and fantasy. Ophelia lived in fantasy. and Elizabeth Taylor, she fantasizes about a lover being forever. As long as she can also keep her wealth and fame. Then you've got the sleepless nights full of longing in Opalite. The father figure making your dreams come true only to find yourself in a nightmare. In eldest daughter, she's fantasizing about getting that beautiful, innocent life back. Ruin the friendship shows her dreaming about what could have been with this guy from high school. Even actually romantic is kind of a fantasy because she's trying to pretend she isn't bothered by the gossip. And now in wishlist, she's in full on fantasy mode. It's interesting that the content of the fantasy shifts fairly dramatically after father figure, from dreaming about stardom and success to dreaming about escape. Our heroine feels utterly lost, even as she cannot lose her trail of paparazzi for a single second. So it makes sense that she's dreaming about a driveway with a basketball hoop. She just wants a normal life or what she thinks of as normal. Something that for many people is easily attainable, but that for her is entirely out of reach. All the money in the world can't buy her. That kind of quiet life at this point. The chorus concludes, boss up, settle down, got a wishlist. I just want you. Boss up, settle down is another interesting contrast because they're kind of opposites. Not only do you have the up and down contrast there, but their meaning is also opposite. Boss up means taking matters into your own hands, working hard, overcoming adversity. It sounds like the opposite of what she's singing about in this song, but maybe in a way she would have to boss up and work extremely hard to create the life she's dreaming about here. Ironically, settling down into a more traditional life a might require more ambition and drive than just about anything else. Maybe a level of self-discipline too, to force herself to leave behind the fame success she has worked so hard to achieve and that she's loved so much. We will pause here and pick up with verse two in part two on wishlist. Welcome back. This is part two of our deep dive into wishlist as part of Lit one 12, the Life of a Showgirl. We're picking up with verse two. They want that freedom living off the grid. They want those three dogs that they call their kids and that good surf, no hypocrites, they want it all. They want a contract with R Madrid. They want that spring break that was effing lit and then that video taken off the internet. They want it all. I imagine this is a list of the things she's heard people longing for. The three dogs stands out a little as something that's actually fairly achievable, but maybe that's just something that people want that she does not want. What stands out to me in this verse is how the things that seem to conflict with one another. They want freedom, but also three dogs, which are a big responsibility. They want the crazy spring break and then the video showing them being wild taken off the internet. It's like you can't have both. You can't have it all. There's also something interesting that happens musically here. Up until now, the music has been pretty simple. A dreamy romantic feel with simple piano chords, slightly distorted, it gives a sense of unreality, maybe. But then in the second half of this second verse, she uses a completely different chord progression that borrows chords from other keys, giving it that strange feel. These chords literally don't fit in the song. So I wonder if these things that she's listing are supposed to not fit in some way. Of note is that this starts when she sings about the contract with Real Madrid. Could it be a warning about the danger of signing contracts? She also has background vocals for this part, giving it a bit more of a showgirl feel. It's a little playful, tongue in cheek, maybe gently mocking these things that other people want. The musical playfulness continues in the bridge. The melody is sung in a different rhythm from the underlying beat, which is called syncopation. I think it's technically delayed triplets in this case, which creates an off balance, unpredictable feel. She sings. I made wishes on all of the stars. Please God bring me a best friend who I think is hot. This line gives a preview of the next song, which is all about superstition. It tells us that she always wanted a best friend she found attractive. I thought I had it right once, twice, but I did not. So she thought she'd found this best friend she thought was hot before, but she was wrong. You caught me off my guard. Maybe a little basketball reference here. I hope I get what I want,'cause I know what I want. She finally knows what she really wants, what she wants most. I think this is the most sincere part of the song where she's come out of the fantasy and is genuinely saying that what matters most is having a romantic partnership based on deep friendship plus physical attraction. I think it's important to note that she doesn't say she wants a man to rescue her, or a leader or some other trad wife kind of thing. A best friend she thinks is hot is a completely gender neutral statement. It points to equality in the relationship and closeness built on emotional connection primarily. And the focus here is on her knowing what she wants. It's not about her waiting to be wanted, so agency is back at the forefront. She knows what she really wants. Sure. He probably pursued her too. He caught her off guard, but she's actively choosing this person Still. She's not sure it's gonna work out for them. There's a lot that feels beyond her control. Not so much their relationship, but the outside pressures that come with her fame, which perhaps points us to the ultimate antagonist or villain in this drama. Then we have the chorus again and the song ends. On the surface, this song is light, fun, romantic, but when you listen more closely, it's actually full of longing for a life. She doubts she'll ever fully have. The acoustic version makes that aspect a lot clearer. I think it's just her and her guitar until a violin comes in for the last chorus. It's sweet but sad, wistful. Behind the luxury items and suburban fantasies, there's a lot that's not actually so great in these lyrics. She mentions the bright lights, which we know from Elizabeth Taylor are not all good. The Oscar on the bathroom floor is not great. Signing a contract is always risky as we know from Father figure. They want that video taken off the internet, but there's no escaping the public lives that we all lead now, and there's definitely no way she can live a normal private life where everyone leaves them alone. But also, does she really want that? Sure, she fantasizes about it, but might it become yet another time when the fantasy is better than the reality if she were to actually achieve it? Think about what you know of Taylor Swift for a minute. How long do you think she could last without writing songs and dreaming up new schemes and interacting with her fans? She loves the spotlight. She has ever since she was 11, and sang the national anthem in front of her first big crowd. She's married to the hustle, to the hard work and the creative expression and the public accolades. She's a type A and that's never going to change, and it shouldn't, even if she's in a committed relationship. You can see it in Taylor and Travis's dynamic on that podcast. They're equals. If anything, she's the one in charge and it works for them. In Lavender Haze released only three years ago on midnights. She's sang, no deal the 1950s shit they want from me. She's saying I'm not down with that 1950s trad wife life. Like that's not me. And I don't think she's done a complete 180 since then. Instead, I think this song is a moment of indulging in a fantasy she knows to be just that, a dream that feels so good, precisely because it's so opposite of what she has In many ways. She doesn't want the fame and luxury because she already has it. We always want what we don't have. Right. But this exercise in fantasy does seem to help her find clarity in one way that she wants to be with this guy, her best friend. That is what she wants now. This is what she's been missing. What she'd almost given up on ever being able to find. The rest of the story will reveal whether she's able to hold onto this most precious luxury of all, genuine connection with a romantic partner, or if the pressures of her public life will make him wither like all the others before him, or perhaps worse, turn her into a person that neither of them likes. Here are your discussion questions. First, how do you interpret the idea of fantasy in wishlist? Do you see it as a moment of escapism, clarity, or both? Number two, how does this reading of wishlist impact your interpretation of the next track, Wood? Might it be more complex than you or others had originally concluded? And now for your writing prompts, I'm gonna list them here, but remember that you can also find them written out in one place by going to mara er.com/prompts. We'll start with memoir. What is on your current wishlist? If you're listening to this in real time, it could be your literal Christmas list, but feel free to dream big here too. Write a stream of consciousness, list of everything you can think of that you want. Then try to isolate the three to five desires that are most important to you. Number two, describe a time when your personal desires clashed with how others saw you or what others expected of you. How did you reconcile or fail to reconcile that tension? Number three. Reflect on a moment of mental escape or daydreaming that helped you cope with pressure or scrutiny. This could be a specific moment or a fantasy you often return to. What did or does that fantasy reveal about your priorities or hidden desires? And now for fiction, number one, Get into the head of your main character by writing a wishlist for them. This will help you tap into their deeper motivations, but feel free to include superficial things too. And try to include some things that are highly specific, ala chopper blades and Valencia shades. Number two, write a scene where your character retreats into a fantasy world to cope with stress. Use that fantasy to reveal their real desires, fears, or regrets. And number three, write a story where the protagonist must choose between what the world expects of them and what they truly want. And that is it for today's lesson on wishlist. I am really excited that we get to talk about Wood next. Finally, this is one that I think is most misunderstood. I think it's about a lot more than just Travis's parts, so make sure you come back to hear that episode next. And in the meantime, check out my new workshop that's gonna be live on December 10th. Replays included. If you can't make it live, it's called Write like Taylor Swift. Where it'll be unpacking all of the things that Taylor does to make her songs so memorable and impactful, and seeing how you can use those in your own writing, whether that's memoir fiction or something in between. It's not a songwriting workshop. And there's no writing experience or Taylor expertise required. You can go to mara writeliketaylor to learn more and register. And that is it for today's lesson. If you're loving these deep dives. Make sure to follow the podcast or come join the discussion on social media. My links are in the show notes. I'd love to hear your questions, comments, and insights. Class is always about bringing you into the conversation, helping you to do your own thinking and come to your own conclusions, so I'd love to see you involved. Until next time, class dismissed.