“Bigger Than The Whole Sky” by Taylor Swift
“Bigger Than The Whole Sky” is a song of mourning. However, it is never specified if the addressee, i.e. the person who is no longer around, is actually dead or perhaps is a significant other who has gone their separate way.
To some extent the lyrics can be interpreted either way, in that in the aftermath of this person leaving, the vocalist is finding it hard to perceive a future without him or her. In other words, her plans have “turned into ashes” in the aftermath of the addressee’s departure.
All expressed sentiments considered, it would be more reasonably to presume that this is a genuine song of bereavement, as in one in which the person being sung to has died. And as speculated by many listeners, it wouldn’t be out of the way to come to the conclusion that Taylor Swift is more specifically speaking to miscarriage, as in the addressee being the vocalist’s child who did not make it into the world.
Again, most of the song reads more generally, as if the departed can be applicable to a number of relationship types. But it’s the bridge that really drives home the notion that the addressee ‘never was’, in a manner of speaking.
In Conclusion
For the record, there doesn’t appear to be any evidence that Taylor herself ever suffered a miscarriage (or has ever been pregnant to begin with). Also, she never offered an official explanation as to what this song is about.
But again, logic itself has led listeners towards presuming that she is indeed singing as a grieving mother, i.e. one who has lost her child during pregnancy or birth. So whereas Swift does clearly appear to be pro-abortion, obviously she is still sympathetic to women who want to keep their fetuses yet end up losing them nonetheless.
Release of “Bigger Than the Whole Sky”
This is the one track from the “3am Edition” of “Midnights”, Taylor Swift’s 10th studio album. It really caught on with the public upon release, specifically in terms of being interpreted as relating to miscarriage. By virtue of this, even though the song wasn’t released as a single on its own, it appeared on music charts in multiple countries, including Sweden and the United Kingdom.
In the UK, it appeared on three different listings, including making it onto the top 10 of the UK Singles Download Chart.
In the United States, “Bigger Than the Whole Sky” also did very well commercially. It made it onto the Hot 100 (where it was a top 30 hit).
In addition to the above regions, this tune was also commercially successful in the following countries:
- Canada
- Greece
- Hungary
- Portugal
- Philippines
- Sweden
- Vietnam
In Canada and Philippines, for example, it was a top 20 hit.
21st October, 2022 marks this song’s official release date. And the label that backed the release of this track is Republic Records.
Credits
The writing and producing of this song is a product of the composition partnership between Jack Antonoff and Taylor Swift.
Reaction from Fans
This song is one that hits many Swifties the hardest as they share their personal stories of loss. Many have shared their grievances after going through a miscarriage, losing their loved ones to cancer, accidents, etc.
One fan shared the story of how he lost his whole family after leaving their religion and cutting out his abusive mother, which has resulted in them shutting him out completely. Despite them being alive, he shared that it’s heart breaking to mourn them.
