Taylor Swift's "Mirrorball" Explanation

About

Taylor Swift's "Mirrorball" Explanation refers to a viral clip from the Taylor Swift concert documentary Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions where she explains the meaning behind her song "Mirrorball" to her producer Jack Antonoff. In September 2022, an audio clip of Swift's explanation became popular on TikTok.

Origin

On November 25th, 2020, Taylor Swift's concert documentary Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions released on Disney+. Throughout the documentary, Swift and her producer Jack Antonoff discuss various songs from the album Folklore. At one point she explains the meaning behind her song "Mirrorball," comparing mirrorballs, also known as disco balls, to "broken" people, saying, "every time they break, it entertains us," saying it's a metaphor for celebrity and people who feel like they have to be "different versions of themselves for certain people."^[3]

We have mirrorballs in the middle of a dance floor because they reflect light, they are broken a million times and that's what makes them so shiny, we have people like that in society, too. They hang there and every time they break it entertains us. And when you shine a light on them it's this glittering, fantastic thing, but then a lot of the time when the spotlight isn't on them they're just still there on a pedestal but nobody's watching them. It was a metaphor for celebrity, but it's also a metaphor for people who have to feel like they have to be on for certain people.

On August 27th, 2022, TikToker^[1] @moonylths posted a video set to Swift's explanation of the song compiling various footage of herself with friends, garnering over 29,000 views in two weeks (shown below).

Spread

The sound gained popularity on TikTok over the following days in similar videos. On August 28th, TikToker^[2] @folkloverrmore posted a video set to the original sound that gained over 1.1 million views in a week (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References