Sexual Innuendo Behind Taylor Swift’s “Wildest Dreams” [Song Review]

The 9th track on Taylor Swift‘s best performing album “1989” is a song titled “Wildest Dreams”, which is seems to be speaking about a steadfast relationship the singer experienced.  The lyrics of the song very clearly reference to some intimate situations. This is an interesting turn of events from innocent, little Taylor Swift (Well, not anymore, she is a big girl of 25 now).

Taylor Swift’s Music Evolution from Speak Now and Red Eras to ‘1989’ Era

“Wildest Dreams” is an emotional song, no doubt about it. But it is not a heartbreaking song. Had this track come out in ‘Speak Now’ or ‘Red’ eras, it would have been a whole different song. It would have been a lot more about how the singer was betrayed and how it left her heart bleeding. But this is ‘1989’ era, the happy era-the POP era-the getting-over-heartbreaks era. Hence that has factored a lot into the whole ‘1989’ album and evidently into “Wildest Dreams” track. In this song we don’t hear Taylor mourning-but rather asking her lover to cherish all the good memories about her/them. This goes inline with what Taylor Swift said in an interview when questioned about the theme behind “Wildest Dreams”;

“When I meet someone, and we have a connection, the first thought I have is, ‘I hope you think well of me when this is over'”

That is all true and fair. But what Taylor cleverly omitted was the sexual innuendo within “Wildest Dreams”. We shall get to that when we go through the lyrics of the song.

Breakdown of “Wildest Dreams” Lyrics

[Verse 1]

He said, “Let’s get out of this town
Drive out of this city, away from the crowds”
I thought, heaven can’t help me now
Nothing lasts forever
But this is gonna take me down

The first verse itself starts with the pitfall Taylor is currently in. Her boyfriend (guy) asks if the could leave this town and city. According to him the town is too crowded, which is a reference to all the people (must be so many of them) against their relationship. And the singer is having second thoughts about this. She wants to stay and he wants to move. The relationship has now reached its conclusion. Immediately Taylor knows that there is nothing anybody could do to salvage this relationship-not even the heavens! Maybe she was expecting this. As soon as she realized the relationship has run its course, she is already making up his mind, moving on–“nothing lasts forever”. But like every end relationship’s end this too is going to hurt so much.

Had it been the Speak Now or Red era, the events of the song would have spanned within the verse alone. However in ‘1989’ era Taylor Swift is all about moving on, and hence the following verses.

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Buy “Wildest Dreams” track on iTunes / Amazon 

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[Pre-chorus]

He’s so tall and handsome as hell
He’s so bad, but he does it so well
I can see the end as it begins
My one condition is

Taylor is a hopeless romantic. This pre-chorus section tells how she sees her partner. Tall and handsome seems to work very well with Taylor (*wink*wink*). The guy in the song is a ‘bad boy’ and Taylor doesn’t even care because “he does it so well”. Taylor, you hopeless romantic, she is utterly enchanted by this guy. The ‘bad boy’ package comes with a dish of heartbreak towards the end, and hence the next line says that she knew this relationship was doomed from the very moment it began. But she wanted the thrill ride anyway.

[Chorus]

Say you’ll remember me
Standing in a nice dress, staring at the sunset, babe
Red lips and rosy cheeks, say you’ll see me again
Even if it’s just in your
Wildest dreams, ah-aah ha
Wildest dreams, ah-aah ha

The chorus of “Wildest Dreams” perfectly sums up Taylor’s feeling about the relationship. She wants no heartbreak in her life. She wants both of them to only remember the fond memories-the good ones-nice dresses, sunsets, red lips her rosy cheeks are all that they have left to cherish. And she wants him to see her in his dreams-not just dreams-but wildest dreams! ‘Wildest dreams’ in literature mean “a series of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations occurring involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep” according to TheFreeDictionary. So again Taylor is showing signs of a positive outlook towards this whole breakup.

[Verse 2]

I said, “No one has to know what we do”
His hands are in my hair, his clothes are in my room
And his voice is a familiar sound, nothing lasts forever
But this is getting good now

OK, here comes the NSFW content. I’m just kidding! “Wildest Dreams” describes the sex scene in a very subtle way. It looks as if Taylor lead on the guy with that highly motivational first line. Clearly both of them want to keep this relationship a secret, maybe because the whole town is against them (wonder if the guy being a bad boy has something to do with this. Comment). The sex is depicted with a very intimate love making scenario. His hands in her hair is a reference to the pleasure of what she is experiencing. His clothes are on the room floor (duh!). Sounds like a very spontaneous and adventurous encounter. Also the singer says this has been going on for a while, that she is familiar with his ‘voice’. And just when it was starting to get good-feel right-it all crumbles down. Poor Taylor!

[Bridge]

You see me in hindsight
Tangled up with you all night
Burning it down
Someday when you leave me
I bet these memories
Follow you around

The next sexual reference in “Wildest Dreams” appear in the bridge of the song. ‘Tangled’ up in the bed ‘all night’ is the way these sexual encounters usually go (phew). These words scream of intense physical love making (I’m trying to sugarcoat it as much as possible. lol). This is by far the most graphic lyrics I have seen from Taylor thus far. And Taylor wants him to remember THAT! Maybe Taylor wants him to remember what he is missing out by leaving her. She even bets that these memories will follow him around (duh!). She specifically uses the word “someday” here to tell how sure she is of their eventual fall-out.

[Chorus-variant]

Say you’ll remember me
Standing in a nice dress, staring at the sunset, babe
Red lips and rosy cheeks, say you’ll see me again
Even if it’s just in pretend

“Wildest Dreams” ends with a variation of the chorus-a slight modification to the original chorus. The final line has been altered to “Even if it’s just in pretend”, replacing “Even in your wildest dreams”. This further fortifies her attempt to give out the theme of “Wildest Dreams”. She wants to feel OK, after the eventual and undeniable fall out. She wants him to remember the good times they had and she wants to believe it is in fact what will happen-even though it is an unlikely reality.

I love this song. I have said that to pretty much every song out of Taylor’s best selling ‘1989’ album. And that’s not even an exaggeration.

Lyrically this is not Taylor’s best work, but it gets the job done. I don’t think Taylor was aiming at a lyrical masterpiece with “Wildest Dreams” anyway. She wanted to keep it simple, humble and low key. So I guess she wanted the lyrics to match the overall appeal of the song too.

Taylor Swift and Max Martin produced “Wildest Dreams” together. Max Martin’s signature paced electric drums are absent in this track. In it’s place a solemn, calm and strong thump beat has veiled the track. Kudos to Max Martin on the music!

So overall, the 9th track on ‘1989’ album is a total win!!!

Let us know what you think about the song “Wildest Dreams”, you interpretation of the song and any other thing you want to share with the community.