Having (teenage) girls changes you… lol

My oldest technically isn’t a teenager yet. She’s a middle schooler and that is probably a stage of life in its own right.

She listens to Taylor Swift all the time and I guess some of her songs have been stuck in my head from time to time.

I do really enjoy “Out of the Woods,” which is also a song they are using to promote a new animated film by Illumination called “Migration,” so it seems like I hear it several times every time I watch TV.

Here are the full lyrics:

Looking at it now
It all seems so simple
We were lying on your couch
I remember

You took a Polaroid of us
Then discovered (Then discovered)
The rest of the world was black and white
But we were in screaming color
And I remember thinking

Chorus
Are we out of the woods yet?
Are we out of the woods yet?
Are we out of the woods yet?
Are we out of the woods?

Are we in the clear yet?
Are we in the clear yet?
Are we in the clear yet?
In the clear yet, good

Looking at it now
Last December (Last December)
We were built to fall apart
Then fall back together (Back together)

Ooh, your necklace hanging from my neck
The night we couldn’t quite forget
When we decided, we decided
To move the furniture so we could dance
Baby, like we stood a chance
Two paper airplanes flying, flying, flying
And I remember thinking

(Repeat Chorus)

Remember when you hit the brakes too soon?
Twenty stitches in a hospital room
When you started crying, baby, I did too
But when the sun came up, I was looking at you

Remember when we couldn’t take the heat?
I walked out, I said “I’m setting you free”
But the monsters turned out to be just trees
When the sun came up you were looking at me

You were looking at me, oh
You were looking at me
(Are we out of the woods yet?)
(Are we out of the woods yet?)
(Are we out of the woods yet?)
(Are we out of the woods?)

I remember
(Are we in the clear yet?)
(Are we in the clear yet?)
Oh, I remember

(Repeat Chorus x2)

The song is about relationship troubles (that seem to follow Taylor Swift around), and how there are times when you can get stuck on a loop with someone. Something good and then something bad and then a breakup, and then back together, and on an on, wondering when the trip on the merry-go-round will end.

It’s a super catchy song, and if you left it on repeat, you could go on the ride for hours. In the song, I believe she is hoping, pleading that the cycle will end, as it is the question she is desperately trying to answer.

I don’t think they made it out of the woods.

Something was too much. Something ended the ride and they went their separate ways. Sometimes ending a relationship is hard. Sometimes it feels like you shouldn’t end it. Sometimes you have no choice in a relationship ending. It is painful for both most of the time.

Relationships take work and oftentimes you have to fight to keep it going. Both parties have to be on the same page and have to want it the same amount. Otherwise, you won’t make it out of the woods.