Here's What Taylor Swift's "Babylon" Lyrics Are Really About
Many Swifties are confused by the dense new song, so let's break it down.
Swifties, gather round. The self-proclaimed Chairman of the Tortured Poets Department is back, and this time, she’s giving us a history lesson.
On Sept. 23, Taylor Swift announced The Life Of A Showgirl: The Encore, an extended version of her 2025 album with four brand new tracks, which dropped on the 25th. The final addition to the record, “Babylon,” might ring some bells for veteran listeners — this isn’t the first time Swift has name-dropped the ancient city in her lyrics.
However, despite the familiarity, many fans expressed confusion over the dense lyrical story upon the track’s release. So let’s clear everything up.
What Is “Babylon” Really About?
Swift’s “Babylon” starts off following a character who runs away (or, “flees the stable”) from their suffocating, small hometown, to become a “liberated libertine” — but then, realizes they miss the quaint, charming life they left behind.
In the second verse, Swift reveals this runaway has become cold-hearted and money-hungry, until a woman steps into their life and causes them to rethink their choices. But in the following chorus, it’s revealed that the character never makes it “official” with her. Only once she’s gone, do they realize what they had, and what they lost.
In the bridge, Swift describes the consequences of living in the past, and not appreciating what you have in the moment. She sings, “You're using nostalgia as a weapon to hurt yourself / But darling, you end up hurting everybody else.”
In the last chorus, a woman hangs Christmas lights with her son, while the father is absent. She sneaks into the bathroom to call her mom, saying, “It's just not worth it if we're not what he wants.” She describes the father’s regret in the last line of the chorus, singing, “You never knew that it was Babylon ‘til it was gone.”
Unlike most of Swift’s famous songs, “Babylon” does not appear to be clearly inspired by one person in her life. Rather, it reads as more of a parable — an imagined story meant to impart the importance of appreciating what you have in the present, rather than getting lost in the past or future.
Swift’s Fascination With Babylon Isn’t New
Located in modern-day Iraq, Babylon was founded around 3000 BC. During its peak, word of the city’s massive size and sophisticated culture spread around the ancient world, until it was conquered by Alexander the Great in 331 BC. Unlike his other conquests, Alexander did not burn Babylon to the ground, choosing to rule over it and rebuild it instead, but when he died, it fell into decline. For Swift’s purpose, Babylon serves as an apt metaphor for an incredible place, or person, that was ultimately lost to time.
If the city’s name rings a bell, it might be because Swift has referenced it before. In “Cowboy Like Me,” from Swift’s 2020 album evermore, she sings “Now you hang from my lips / Like the Gardens of Babylon.” This is a reference to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the ancient Seven Wonders of the World. The Hanging Gardens are also mentioned in Swift’s 2024 duet with Gracie Abrams, “Us.”
The legendary location was described by ancient sources as lush, towering, tiered gardens located somewhere within the ancient city, though the actual location has yet to be discovered. The mysterious, verdant wonder makes a perfect metaphor for one of Swift’s favorite topics: trying to reclaim an impossibly beautiful moment that’s sadly been lost to time.
