“I Forgot That You Existed” by Taylor Swift
It’s no secret that major-pop artists have a tendency to drop songs based on their personal lives, even if no proper nouns are ever mentioned. And such is the hypothesized case in Taylor Swift’s “I Forgot That You Existed”.
As we can see from the onset of the song, the person Taylor is addressing is someone whom she concludes has done her extremely “wrong”. That is to say that this person treated her unjustly. And it is made known that the specific type of negativity he practiced was “throwing shade”, which would basically mean he dissed her, even if in a roundabout kind of way. And the result was that she entered into a deep depression. This toxic interaction dominated her thought processes.
But then one night, as if by magic, she just totally forgot that this person even exists. This is not a literal statement. In fact she has not forgotten about the person. Rather his shady words and actions no longer have an emotional impact on her. And as a result, Taylor is now emotionally liberated.
Is this song about Calvin Harris?
The bridge of the track especially points to the idea that this is about an actual person in the singer’s life. And in that regard two names have come up, both equally intriguing. First is Scottish EDM DJ Calvin Harris, whom Swift dated from 2015 to 2016. Post-breakup, Harris had been accused of harboring bitter feelings, which he may have displayed publicly, towards Taylor Swift.
Could it be about Kanye West?
And the other theory, of course, is that it is about Kanye West. Tay Tay’s drama with Yeezy had been going on for nearly a decade. And some fans see this as a celebration of her finally leaving that trying chapter of her life in the past.
Conclusion
But the fact that this song can be interpreted from either a romantic or general interpersonal perspective is a confirmation of its universality. That is to state that the specific type of relationship the singer has with the addressee is less important than the message being relayed. And that message is that, finally, Swift has been able to ‘forget’ about someone who caused her a great amount of grief.
What Taylor Swift has said about “I Forgot That You Existed”
According to her, it is a song that shrugs off the negative things in her life that caused her “a lot of struggle and pain”. Below is a portion of her statement regarding this song’s meaning:
Writing and Production
Swift composed this song. She also handled its production along with her frequent collaborator Fun’s Jack Antonoff.
Release Date of “I Forgot That You Existed”
Swift and her team released this song on August 23rd, 2019 along with its album, Lover. Lover was released as Swift seventh studio album. It produced the following singles:
- “Me!”
- “You Need to Calm Down”
- “Lover“
