Shortly after announcing The Tortured Poets Department as her next original album, Taylor Swift opened up to an Eras Tour crowd in Melbourne, Australia, about what the project meant to her. “More than any of my albums that I’ve ever made — I needed to make it,” she said in February, via NME. “It was really a lifeline for me. Just the things I was going through and the things I was writing about. … I never had an album where I needed songwriting more than I needed it on Tortured Poets.”
The comments fueled fan theories that this would be a confessional breakup album, but if people were expecting a melancholic ode to a relationship lost, they’ll be surprised by the sharp, biting ire of at least one song.
Here are “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived” lyrics, explained.
A Taylor Swift Bridge For The Ages
The song is set after a relationship ends, in which the narrator is now doubting everything. “Was any of it true? Gazing at me starry-eyed in your Jehovah’s Witness suit, who the f*ck was that guy?”
Swift sings about a guy who showed her off, but didn’t treat her right in private. She also makes multiple references to drug use, and wonders, “I just want to know if rusting my sparkling summer was the goal.”
But then there’s the bridge — and it might go down as one of Swift’s best ever. “Were you sent by someone who wanted me dead? Did you sleep with a gun underneath our bed?” she asks as the music climbs, before implying that the ex was living a lie the entire time. “Were you writing a book? Were you a sleeper cell spy? In 50 years, will all this be declassified?”
Swift has written some devastating breakup bridges, but few have come close to this level of venom. It’s one thing to imply someone is a poor partner. It’s another thing entirely to paint them as a malevolent force. “You deserve prison but you won’t get time,” she sings.
But… Who Is The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived?
As always, Swifties can only speculate as to who this song is about — and even then, not every detail is likely autobiographical.
The line about Swift’s “sparkling summer” being rusted seems to hint at a relationship that fell apart during the warmest time of year. Swift and Joe Alwyn’s breakup was announced in April, while her reportedly “always casual” connection with The 1975’s Matty Healy cooled off by June, per People.
It’s worth noting that Swift’s line, “I would have died for your sins,” is somewhat reminiscent of “I would die for you in secret” from “Peace,” which Swift previously told Rolling Stone was inspired by her personal life.
That song, too, navigated the gap between a relationship’s public facade and private challenges. That isn’t to say the tracks are connected — they have very different emotional contexts — but if nothing else, it seems Swift has been thinking about these themes for a while.
“The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived” Lyrics
Read the song’s full lyrics below.
Was any of it true?
Gazing at me starry-eyed
In your Jehovah’s Witness suit
Who the f*ck was that guy?
You tried to buy some pills
From a friend of friends of mine
They just ghosted you
Now you know what it feels like
And I don’t even want you back, I just want to know
If rusting my sparkling summer was the goal
And I don’t miss what we had, but could someone give
A message to the smallest man who ever lived?
You hung me on your wall
Stabbed me with your push pins
In public, showed me off
Then sank in stoned oblivion
‘Cause once your queen had come
You’d treat her like an also-ran
You didn’t measure up
In any measure of a man
And I don’t even want you back, I just want to know
If rusting my sparkling summer was the goal
And I don’t miss what we had, but could someone give
A message to the smallest man who ever lived?
Were you sent by someone who wanted me dead?
Did you sleep with a gun underneath our bed?
Were you writing a book? Were you a sleeper cell spy?
In 50 years will all this be declassified?
And you’ll confess why you did it, and I’ll say, “Good riddance”
‘Cause it wasn’t sexy once it wasn’t forbidden
I would’ve died for your sins, instead I just died inside
And you deserve prison, but you won’t get time
You’ll slide into inboxes and slip through the bars
You crashed my party and your rental car
You said normal girls were “boring”
But you were gone by the morning
You kicked out the stage lights, but you’re still performing
And in plain sight you hid, but you are what you did
And I’ll forget you, but I’ll never forgive
The smallest man who ever lived
