Taylor Swift at a 2007 concert and in 2019
When Taylor Swift was only 14, she wasn't just dreaming of boys, cats, and cashmere cardigan sweaters. All perfectly reasonable things to dream about, by the way. She was writing songs. In fact, she wrote a whole demo of songs which she ultimately sent to record labels in 2003.
One such song was "Baby Blue," which became the second track on her demo. According to a Taylor Swift fan account called Songs by Taylor Swift (@songsbytaylor) on Instagram, Taylor wrote "Baby Blue" shortly after her family moved to Nashville. It wasn't until August of 2023 that music journalist Brian Mansfield finally leaked it, "giving fans a glimpse of Taylor Swift's early songwriting talent." With only a 12-string acoustic guitar, Taylor croons in a crisp Mezzo Soprano range, with a slight country twang over a pop vibe.
Now, the song is going viral again, and a whole new fanbase is both loving it and finding Easter eggs sprinkled into the lyrics, creating thematic through-lines so very typical of her songwriting. Such classic Swift themes include small towns, sweet young love, and, in this case, the color blue. But we'll come back to that.
The tune begins with the unmistakable sweetness of Taylor's voice singing, "Small town, big blue eyes, little blonde baby with stars in her eyes." The chyron over a teenage photo of Swift explains, "The story follows a blonde girl growing up in a small town with the color blue (her baby gown, bedroom sheets) symbolizing key moments in her life."
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She continues to sing about having "blue on the mind," but the description on the Insta-reel digs in further. "At 18, she falls in love with a guy named Hank, who takes her to prom. He gives her a blue corsage, and their young love blossoms. The color blue comes back with their newborn baby, nicknamed 'Baby Blue.'"
The chorus is where she really shines, singing in a higher register, "She was an archangel, sweet danger, living and loving and singing her song. Knew what she wanted, and knew what she loved, and she looooooved… Baby Blue."
The online comments from Swifties sparkle with excitement. One shares, "I'm hearing strong The Chicks influence here." Another demands a "Taylor's Version" (of course referring to Taylor rerecording her masters so that she could own her songs again). And another focuses on the color choice. "It's interesting that she used the color blue to symbolize Joe at later times in her life." (Joe refers to Joe Alwyn, an English actor that Taylor dated for over 6 years.)
On the r/TaylorSwift subreddit, someone inquires about the use of blue in her songs, even before this demo leaked, asking, "What does she mean? She uses blue a lot on the Lover album." (She was dating the aforementioned Joe while writing and recording the Lover album, so theories are colliding.) Someone else adds, "I just learned the other day that in filmmaking, blue symbolizes isolation. So maybe it’s another way of saying that Taylor likes that Joe isn’t aiming to get a lot of attention and was more isolated than other guys she’s dated."
Joe Alwynen.m.wikipedia.org
In the same subreddit, but a different thread, someone else brings up the topic. A Redditor writes, "Taylor uses her own meaning of blue, so it's not necessarily just sadness but rather a longing love. She uses it more specifically in her songs about Joe; in her previous lyrics, it has traditional connotations of blue. It seems to symbolize this sort of emotional, difficult, heartbreaking love."
Seeing as how the theme goes back over 20 years, it's possible she simply likes the color blue. But it's Taylor Swift, and usually, every lyric and idea is meticulously crafted to symbolize a feeling or a longing or an A-list actor or a Kansas City Chief. We might never know exactly the meaning behind "Baby Blue," but either way, fans agree—the song sure bops.
Dean Hoffmann's mugshot.