Taylor Swift’s “Out of the Woods” Lyrics Meaning

On “Out of the Woods”, Taylor Swift is addressing a romantic interest. And according to its wording, the primary sentiment which defines this relationship is anxiety. In other words, the title itself is an idiom pointing to feeling of a lack of safety. But said danger which the singer perceives is not of the physical variety but rather regular threats which endanger the perpetuation of her romance with the addressee.

In relation to this track, Taylor has gone on to state that is based on a past relationship she was in. Moreover concerning the aforementioned threats, in explaining the tune the singer gave the impression that they were both internal and external. That is to say that being a high-profile lady like herself who also has the tendency to date her celebrity peers, there will always be a certain amount of unwanted attention on her relationships.  Moreover the implication is that she was in a romance which was unsteady in and of itself. And in combining these factors, even though she cared for this person she knew that their relationship could end at any given time.

But which Taylor Swift relationship is this song about?

Now concerning which of her relationship Swift is actually singing about, the most-plausible theory would be the one she had with Harry Styles. This is a union she expounded on before on her 2012 track “I Knew You Were Trouble“. During that time she gave the blatant indication that Harry was someone who is not keen on commitment.  And although she is not as forthcoming on “Out of the Woods”, rather focusing more on the good times they had together, that same type of sentiment still comes through. Or stated differently, one of the reasons she was so anxious about this relationship was because she knew she was dating the type of guy who was not likely to stick around.

Facts about “Out of the Woods”

The official release date of this track was on 14 October 2014. At the time of its release, it was a promotional song from Taylor’s fifth-studio album, 1989. And later, during January of 2016, Big Machine Records reissued it as the sixth single proper from the album.

“Out of the Woods” appeared on four Billboard charts, peaking at number 18 on the Hot 100. For the record, this was 61^st time Taylor had made it onto the Billboard Hot 100.  And in doing so she became the female singer with the second-most entries on that distinguished list. That put her behind only the legendary Aretha Franklin herself.

“Out of the Woods” also charted in nearly 15 other countries besides the US, most notably scoring a number 1 in Israel and also achieving that feat on the iTunes chart.

Taylor produced and wrote this song, working on both ends alongside Jack Antonoff.

The music video to this song finds the singer literally in the woods, facing challenging conditions such mud and snow. And according to its director Joseph Kahn, Taylor filmed all of those scenes herself, without the utilization of a stunt double or CGI.