What Is Taylor Swift's Say Don't Go Really About?

Just in time for the spooky season, Taylor Swift gave her fans some auditory treats to indulge in while rocking their Halloween costumes inspired by Swift's Kansas City Chiefs cheerleader era. But, the only scary thing about her song "Say Don't Go" is how good it is.

For Swifties, the release of "1989 (Taylor's Version)" was a bit like receiving king-size candy bars from every house in the neighborhood on Halloween. In addition to "Say Don't Go," the record includes four other bonus tracks that weren't featured on the original album: "Is It Over Now?," "Now That We Don't Talk," "Suburban Legends," and "Slut!"

Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee Diane Warren has a co-writing credit for "Say Don't Go." She told Rolling Stone she was happy that Swift decided to include it on her "1989" re-release after leaving it off the original album almost a decade ago. Warren, who has penned hits including the Aerosmith ballad "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" and the Cher classic "If I Could Turn Back Time," revealed that she got to preview the song ahead of its release. "I said, 'Oh my god, this is f***ing awesome,'" she recalled. Sure, she's biased, but a rave review from the songwriting icon still has to make Swift feel pretty good about her decision to finally let her fans hear the track. "It was worth the wait," said Warren. While "Say Don't Go" was co-written, it does still explore a theme that Swifties never tire of.

One thing that's impressive about Taylor Swift is how she always seems to find new ways to express the unbearable pain of heartbreak. "Say Don't Go" is about a relationship that begins with one party fearing that it's inevitable. "I've known it from the very start / We're a shot in the darkest dark," Swift sings. Darkness is a recurring theme; Swift explores how the night can go from being a magical time where lovers whisper sweet nothings in each other's ears to a representation of the emptiness of a lost love. And with just a few words, she takes us from being wooed to being abandoned and ghosted: "Why'd you whisper in the dark / Just to leave me in the night? / Now your silence has me screamin', screamin'."

There are red flags that this relationship is doomed, but the scorned party ignores a big one — her lover not feeling as strongly for her as she does for them — because she's too in love. "Oh no, oh no, it's not fair / 'Cause you kiss mе and it stops time / And I'm yours, but you're not mine," Swift sings. She describes her pain using the visceral imagery of blood and a knife being twisted but would still take the one who caused her so much anguish back in an instant. We learn this from the chorus: "I would stay forever if you (Say) say, "(Don't) don't (Go) go."

E! News suggested that "Say Don't Go" is about Taylor Swift's short-lived romance with Harry Styles, and some Swifties agree. On the Taylor Swift subreddit, one fan wrote that the lyric "Just to leave me in the night" reminded them of a 2013 Vanity Fair article. For the piece, Swift gave a source permission to speak about her relationship with the "Watermelon Sugar" singer. The insider claimed that it started to unravel when Styles "disappear[ed] one night and after that it was like he just didn't want to keep going." This is also reminiscent of the song's overarching theme about one person wanting to continue a relationship while their partner is pulling away.

The source claimed that Styles was the one who did the pursuing before the pair began dating, not Swift. "He was all, like, 'You're amazing — I want to be with you. I want to do this,'" they said. One of the lyrics in "Say Don't Go" is a question Swift could have asked Styles after he purportedly made her feel like he was all-in only to become distant from her: "Why'd you have to lead me on?" These aren't the only lyrics that capture the confusion such behavior would cause, either. "Why'd you have to (Why'd you have to) / Make me want you? (Make me want you)," Swift sings. "Why'd you have to (Why'd you have to) / Give me nothin' back?"