The Great War
Taylor Swift Lyrics

My knuckles were bruised like violets
My knuckles were bruised and sore, almost like they had turned into violets due to the punching I had done.

Sucker punching walls, cursed you as I sleep-talked
I punched walls like a fool, and even in my sleep, I cursed you for what you did to me.

Spineless in my tomb of silence
I felt weak and helpless, trapped in a tomb of silence where I couldn't express myself.

Tore your banners down, took the battle underground
I tore apart your banners and started a hidden battle against you.

And maybe it was ego swinging
Perhaps it was my ego that made me act the way I did.

Maybe it was her
Maybe the girl you chose over me was at fault.

Flashes of the battle come back to me in a blur
I get occasional flashes of the battle that take me back to that situation, but it's blurry.

All that bloodshed, crimson clover
The violence and bloodshed during the war are like crimson clover, a plant with red flowers.

Uh-huh, sweet dream was over
The sweet dream of love and togetherness was over.

My hand was the one you reached for
You reached out to me for help and support during the war.

All throughout the Great War
Throughout the war, we fought together and faced everything side by side.

Always remember
I will always remember everything we went through during the war.

Uh-huh, tears on the letter
There were tears on the letter you wrote to me, and it was emotional for me to read it.

I vowed not to cry anymore
I made a promise to myself to stop crying and be stronger.

If we survived the Great War
If we managed to survive the war, things would be different.

You drew up some good faith treaties
You proposed some good and fair treaties during the war.

I drew curtains closed, drank my poison all alone
I shut myself off from the world, and drank poison, both figuratively and possibly literally.

You said I have to trust more freely
You advised me to trust more and be more open.

But diesel is desire, you were playin' with fire
Desire can be like diesel, strong and explosive, and you were playing with fire by testing my limits.

And maybe it's the past that's talkin'
Maybe the past is the reason that I think and react the way I do.

Screamin' from the crypt
My inner feelings are screaming out from within, like they're trapped in a crypt.

Tellin' me to punish you for things you never did
My inner feelings are telling me to take revenge on you for things that you did not actually do.

So I justified it
I tried to justify my actions based on my inner feelings.

Uh-huh, the bombs were close and
The bombs were exploding nearby us during the war.

Always remember
I will always remember what we went through during the war, and how close we came to losing each other.

Uh-huh, the burning embers
The burning embers of the war still smolder in my mind.

I vowed not to fight anymore
I promised myself that I would never fight again.

If we survived the Great War
If we made it through the war together, we could survive anything.

It turned into something bigger
What started as a small conflict turned into something much larger.

Somewhere in the haze, got a sense I'd been betrayed
The confusion of the war made me feel like I had been betrayed by you at some point.

Your finger on my hair pin triggers
You had control over me, like you were holding a hairpin trigger to a weapon.

Soldier down on that icy ground
One of our soldiers was wounded, lying on the icy ground.

Looked up at me with honor and truth
The wounded soldier looked up to me with honor and truth, even in their weakened state.

Broken and blue, so I called off the troops
The wounded soldier was broken and sad, so I decided to call off any further conflict.

That was the night I nearly lost you
I nearly lost you on that night, but we managed to pull through together.

We can plant a memory garden
We can create a memory garden to honor those who were lost during the war.

Say a solemn prayer, place a poppy in my hair
We can pray solemnly and place poppies in our hair to remember those who fought and died during the war.

There's no morning glory, it was war, it wasn't fair
There is no glory in war, and it was not fair to anyone who fought or suffered during it.

And we will never go back
We will never go back to that dark and tumultuous time in our lives.

Uh-huh, the worst was over
The worst of the conflict and turmoil was over, and things had settled down.

I vowed I would always be yours
I made a promise to always be yours, no matter what.

'Cause we survived the Great War
We survived the Great War together, and nothing could ever break us apart again.