“Cancelled!” Is an Ode to All of Taylor Swift’s Friends Who Stood by Her When She Was Canceled

• Curious about the lyrics to Taylor Swift’s new song, “Cancelled!”? Same, so we analyzed them.
• The song is largely about Taylor singing about liking her friends cancelled, and relating.
• Note: Taylor spelled “cancelled” the British way (with two Ls), which doesn’t seem like an accident!

There’ve been a lot of theories about what Taylor Swift’s new song “Cancelled!” off The Life of a Showgirl would be about—especially because the double Ls are a Britishism. But looks like the song is, as the title implies, about being canceled.

Taylor—who is no stranger to being canceled herself (like, hello, Reputation)—sings that she likes her friends canceled and relates, with lyrics like “Welcome to my underworld /
Where it gets quite dark /At least you know exactly who your friends are / They’re the ones with matching scars.”

Check out the full lyrics, via Genius.

You thought that it would be okay, at first
The situation could be saved, of course
But they’d already picked out your grave and hearse
Beware the wrath of masked crusaders
Did you girl-boss too close to the sun?
Did they catch you having far too much fun?
Come with me, when they see us, they’ll run
Something wicked this way comes
Good thing I like my friends cancelled
I like ’em cloaked in Gucci and in scandal
Like my whiskey sour
And poison thorny flowers
Welcome to my underworld
Where it gets quite dark
At least you know exactly who your friends are
They’re the ones with matching scars
It’s easy to love you when you’re popular
The optics click, everyone prospers
But one single drop, you’re off the roster
“Tone-deaf and hot, let’s fuckin’ off her”
Did you make a joke only a man could?
Were you just too smug for your own good?
Or bring a tiny violin to a knife fight?
Baby, that all ends tonight
Good thing I like my friends cancelled
I like ’em cloaked in Gucci and in scandal
Like my whiskey sour
And poison thorny flowers
(Honey) Welcome to my underworld
It’ll break your heart
At least you know exactly who your friends are
They’re the ones with matching scars
They stood by me
Before my exoneration
They believed I was innocent
So I’m not here for judgment, no, ooh
But if you can’t be good, then just be better at it
Everyone’s got bodies in the attic
Or took somebody’s man, we’ll take you by the hand
And soon you’ll learn the art of never getting caught
It’s a good thing I like my friends cancelled
You know that I like ’em cloaked in Gucci and in scandal
I like my whiskey sour
And poison thorny flowers (Ooh)
Yeah, it’s a good thing I like my friends cancelled (Cancelled)
I salute you if you’re much too much to handle
Like my whiskey sour (I like it)
And poison thorny flowers (I love it)
Can’t you see my infamy loves company?
Now they’ve broken you like they’ve broken me
But a shattered glass is a lot more sharp
And now you know exactly who your friends are
You know who we are
We’re the ones with matching scars

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