“The Other Side of the Door” by Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift’s “The Other Side of the Door” is a complex song lyrically. And perhaps the best way to describe it is by starting off by revealing the source of the tiff between the singer and the addressee from the jump, as opposed to at the end, as it is disclosed in the song.   

And that would be, apparently, the addressee cheating on the singer. Moreover it would appear that doing so is some kind of habit he possesses. So accordingly it is him who is on “the other side of the door”. And basically, the reason he’s in the metaphorical doghouse is because he did in fact hookup with another lady.

Thesis Sentiment of “The Other Side of the Door”

Despite the above being noted, that is not the actual thesis sentiment of this song. Rather there are two other ideas that can contend for that title. And it’s all intertwined anyway, thus adding to the aforenoted complexity of the narrative.

Or put more simply yes, the narrator is in fact angry at the addressee. In fact she reads like one of those types of ladies who simply cannot bear the thought of her man being with another woman. And the reason we can come to such a conclusion is because she obviously has tried to forgive the addressee or at least is feeling, to some degree, compelled to do so.

Or more to the point is the simple notion that she cannot forgive him. Has he cheated? Yes. But does she want him back? Yes. Or as Taylor herself puts is, she actually ‘needs’ him. For instance, the vocalist is in a situation where she spends her me time looking at pics of them and “staring at the phone”, waiting for him to call. 

So that would make you think that when he does actually ring she would pick, right? Wrong, dear reader – he has in fact “called a hundred times”, just to receive the ghost treatment. Indeed the vocalist is doing everything within her power to make him feel as if he is not wanted. 

This appears to be some type of last-straw move which her mind, i.e. her “pride”, is telling her to do. But as for her heart, we can say she probably needs him now more than ever.

In the end…

So conclusively, as far as trying to ascertain a thesis we can begin with there being one main subject of the song, that being the singer. However, she possesses a split personality – the one she displays in front of her significant other, and the one that comes to the forefront when he’s not around – or let’s say the one that she refuses to reveal to him. 

So when he comes knockin’ for instance, the former would tell him to go away, to his face. But at the same time, internally, the latter is still professing her love for him. It is not actually saying ‘let him in’ but rather “I’m in love with you”. 

And at the end of the day, the story ends on that very cliffhanger. But underneath it all, all lyrics considered we can come to a one conclusion. And it is that whereas the addressee may be getting the cold shoulder in the here and now, if he keeps persisting, he can win his girl back. And what makes us think so? This is because she apparently is still very much in love with him.

Facts about “The Other Side of the Door”

This song was written exclusively by Taylor Swift, who was but a teen at the time. And she also lent her hand to the production of the track, being buttressed in that regard by Nathan Chapman.

The official release date of this track is listed as 11 November 2008. That is the same date upon which Big Machine Records first made the entirety of Taylor Swift’s second album, “Fearless”, public. However this song was actually part of an addendum to the album, called Fearless Platinum Edition, in which six additional tracks were added onto the standard edition of the project in 2009.

Then of course there is “The Other Side of the Door (Taylor’s Version)”. This is a re-recording of the song, staying as true to the original as possible, which Taylor dropped in 2021. This time around it was released via Republic Records.

Of course we don’t normally hear of musicians re-recording and re-releasing an entire album – and then some – 15 years after it originally came out. But that is because Taylor wanted to own the actual master recordings to the features songs this time around. 

The masters to the original Fearless were own by Big Machine Records, who then turned around and sold them to a business entity called Ithaca Holdings in 2019. That move thoroughly hurt Taylor partially because, according to her side of the story, she made an attempt to buy them herself beforehand. 

Or rather let’s say that whereas she was cool with Big Machine, the label that put her on, owning them, she wasn’t keen on the idea of someone else – especially Scooter Braun – doing so. 

So she has now pledged to rerecord all six of her first albums that were part of that transaction. And the first one of these new editions to come out was “Fearless (Taylor’s Version)” in 9 of 2021, which features the aforementioned “The Other Side of the Door (Taylor’s Version)”.