“Hoax” by Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift in “Hoax” speaks about a doomed relationship which drove her into a period of brokenness and pain. Although she is aware of the danger of staying with this person, she seems unable to move on because she still believes she’ll be better off staying with him.

The writer clearly recognizes that the relationship has led her into a downward spiral, however, she helplessly holds on since she is not ready to move on to another relationship. In the bridge, she details the extent of pain she feels as a result of their separation and how there was no need for this person to keep hurting her when he already knew how fragile she was.

Despite how heartbroken she feels, the singer reflects on the possibility of staying with this person, probably because she is afraid of meeting someone new and having to go through another cycle of falling in love and breaking up.

“Hoax” Particulars

Writing: Aaron Dessner in collaboration with Swift herself
Production: Exclusively by Dessner
Album: Taylor’s “Folklore”
Month and Year of Release: July 2020

Summary

Taylor uses “Hoax” to look into the futility of a past unhealthy romantic union as against an inability to let go of that relationship.

Was “Hoax” a single?

No. However, it was one of the big songs on “Folklore”. The following are Folklore‘s official singles:

• “Cardigan“
• “Betty“
• “Exile“