What We Think Taylor Swift's Vault Track Suburban Legends Is Really About

Taylor Swift's "Suburban Legends" tells the story of a woman who thought her teen romance would be the stuff of, yes, "suburban legends." It's implied that the two grew up in a small 'burb, where dating the right person in high school can boost your prestige level around town to astronomical levels. Although she and her lover have "mismatched star signs," she still had hopes their love would beat the odds and be "more than a chapter in my old diaries/With the pages ripped out." She even fantasizes about being with him long enough to go to their class reunion together and see the shocked reaction of their old classmates in their "1950s gymnasium." You can almost see the crepe paper swags on the bleachers and smell the lingering aroma of basketball high-tops. 

The repeat of the chorus indicates the couple parted ways at some point after high school, perhaps headed to college, a career, or a new city. Still, it was intended to be just temporary: "[Y]ou told me we'd get back together/And you kissed me in a way that's gonna screw me up forever," Swift recalls. They left on good terms, confident they would be regarded as "national treasures" when they returned to their tract-house hometown and picked up where they left off. 

But, this being Taylor Swift — not to mention Taylor Swift in her major pop-star era — the song ends with smashed dreams. (Beautifully written ones, but smashed nonetheless.)