But mostly, I think it's about mind games. Maybe, I'm making something more serious out of an innocent love song, but that's how I see it. If you take the chorus:
Come on, come on, don't leave me like this
I thought I had you figured out
Something's gone terribly wrong, you're all I wanted
Come on, come on, don't leave me like this
I thought I had you figured out
Can't breathe whenever you're gone
Can't turn back now I'm haunted.
The reason I don't interpret this song as being dumped, or left hanging, or simply being 'tricked' (like forever and always) is because the song seems to have a feeling of repetition and being trapped. Being led to believe that someone loves you, then having your heart broken by them, then them saying they were 'sorry' and then getting back with you and breaking your heart again... like I said, maybe it's a little far-fetched. Consider the first verse:
You and I walk a fragile line - I believe referring to a person's tendency to 'snap'.
I have known it all this time, but I never thought I'd live to see it break - talking about the end of the relationship.
It's getting dark and it's all too quiet and I can't trust anything now - feelings of hopelessness at the endless cycle.
And it's coming over you like it's all a big mistake - like it's happening again, and again.
You see what I'm getting at?
Stood there watched you walk away from everything we had - either one of many 'ends' or the actual finish.
But I still mean every word I say to you - this is easy, "I still love you."
He will try to take away my pain, and he just might make me smile
But the whole time I'm wishing he was you instead - nobody compares to this particular person.
Oh, holding my breath, won't lose you again - can't let somebody go
Something keeps me holding on to nothing - there is nothing left of them, but she is holding onto the memory.
Maybe I'm seeing it the way I want to, I could well be influenced by personal experience. But it's something to think about. And as for who it's about in particular, well, I don't know. Lots of speculation about Jake Gyllenhaal (or whatever his name is) and about Taylor Lautner, but I don't think it can really be about either of them. The end of Gyllenhaal was only a couple of days before album release (impossible) and the song doesn't really describe what happened with Tay (Back to December). So I don't know. It's possible that it's about Joe Jonas, but it's been a while! So I don't know.
That's my interpretation.
Taylor explained why she used a string section for this song: "I wanted the music and the orchestration to reflect the intensity of the emotion the song is about, so we recorded strings with Paul Buckmaster at Capitol Studios in Los Angeles. It was an amazing experience - recording this entire big, live string section that I think in the end really captured the intense, chaotic feeling of confusion I was looking for."
Chorus: He has told you all of his secrets: you figured out who he really was. It's terrible because he is the only on that you want. You care so much for him, that it hurts when you're apart. You can't go back to the old way before you met him when you weren't hurting.
Second part: You couldn't do anything to stop him from turning away from everything you two had worked to have. You still love him, though. You have a new boyfriend and he makes the pain numb and helps a little bit but you wish so desperately that it was your now ex-boyfriend. You keep on hoping even though there is nothing that has happened lately that should allow you to hope.
Third part: There's no way that you and your ex-boyfriend can be "done" because, in your mind, he's perfect for you...
It's like Taylor wrote this song for my situation...what I wrote as my interpretation is what's going on. Flagged tennis13on February 22, 2012 Link