Surprise! Surprise! A second unreleased track by Taylor Swift surfaced online today. The track, titled “Need” is a cut that did not make it to Taylor’s 2019 album ‘Lover.’
Along with the leak of “Need” online, another track “All Of The Girls,” too surfaced online on March 1, 2023. Not much information is known about the source of the leak. The songs are scrapped tracks from Taylor Swift’s seventh studio album ‘Lover.’
In this song, Taylor Swift attempts to dissect some emotions associated with love. Namely, she talks about lust, desire, fear, passion, and wants. Taylor seems to confess that ‘need’ is what keeps a relationship alive for a lifetime. She dismisses ‘lust’ as being a short-lived fire that accomplishes very little.
Taylor Swift “Need” Lyrics Meaning and Song Review
First, Taylor Swift compares ‘wants’ to a cigarette smell on a jacket in the wrong part of town–it attracts the wrong crowd. A ‘want’ makes you jump on to lose branches on hunches. These don’t last. Wants can be replaced by other wants or needs.
‘Desire,’ according to Taylor Swift’s dictionary is a whiskey swirling in a glass feeding all the wrong thoughts into your head. It reminds you of past memories that should be dead and buried. And when the alcoholic inhibitions wear out come morning light, you are left with regrets.
I would go anywhere that you lead
I am hopeless, breathless, burning slow
‘Passion,’ is defined by Taylor’s dictionary for love and witchcraft, as a passing ‘thing.’ Taylor didn’t even bother finding a better metaphor for it. This ‘passion’ is not to be confused with passion for work and goals. Taylor’s dictionary only applies to love and affairs. In this context, passion, too, is a wildfire that fizzled out fast. She cleverly calls it ‘chemistry’ as literal chemical compounds in our body and mind help generate the feeling of ‘passion’ and arousal.
Lust is a whole different demon. Taylor calls it a liar as it can portray people in an entirely different light. Lust defies logic. It consumes us fast and pushes us to make mistakes. One of the key drivers of lust is physical attraction. But as they, beauty is only skin deep, and nothing stands a lifetime on shallow ground.
In the chorus of the song, Taylor Swift reveals the correct emotion for a healthy relationship–need. It is the needs that keep the fire alive and last us for a lifetime.
A ‘need’ is usually defined as something you cannot get rid of or replace with another. There are no substitutes for needs, unlike wants. So, when you need someone in your life, it carries more depth than wanting someone.
Taylor Swift knows what fear feels like, too. It is the feeling when you imagine your lover leaving you. It is the feeling of imagining your lover with someone else.
When wanting someone turns into needing someone, everything turns into a brighter light. A kiss is not just a kiss anymore–it is a message whispered through lips. Holding hands is not a mere physical connection. It is them holding you and you holding them.
What Taylor does not mention within these lyrics is that needs are also dangerous when you rely on others to fulfill these for you. Maybe this is why you need to find the one who needs you as well.
Let us hear what you think about this song in the comments below. Read the complete lyrics to the song on Genius.