If you’re in possession of a hard copy of one of Taylor Swifts CDs (which might actually be a rare occurrence these days thanks to iTunes and YouTube) then you’ve witnessed the wonders that are the hidden messages in her song lyric booklets. If you didn’t know these were a thing, I highly recommend googling it and gaining some invaluable insight into her many romances. She may think she’s being cryptic, but how many men has Taylor Swift shared maple lattes with? That’s a very specific and seasonal beverage!
And if T-Swizzle shares her secrets via lyric booklet, what’s to stop other singers from doing it, too? In fact, what’s to say that some of them haven’t tried to leave us messages in their lyrics before, and we’ve just missed them? So I took it upon myself (you’re welcome) to take a deeper look at songs by some beloved pop stars, and to make educated guesses about what these singers really wanted us to know.
1. The Heart Wants What It Wants // Selena Gomez
The Bed’s getting cold and You’re not here
The future that wE hold is so unclear
But I’m not alive until You call
And I’ll bEt the odds against it alL
Save your advice ’cause I won’t hear
YOu might be right but I don’t care
There’s a million reasonS why I should givE you up
But the heaRt wants what it wants
The heart wants what it wants
Hidden Message: BYE BYE LOSER
We may have all thought this was a poignant tribute to the turbulent love affair of Gomez and Bieber, but it seems to me that Selena couldn’t get rid of him fast enough. You go girl. Hit him where it hurts.
2. Mirrors // Justin Timberlake
‘Cause I don’t wanna Lose you nOw
I’m lOoKin’ right at the other half of me
The vacancy that sat in my heart
Is a sPace that now you hold
Show me how to fight foR now
And I’ll tEll you, baby, it was easy
Comin’ back here To you once I figured it ouT
You were right here all along
Hidden Message: I LOOK PRETTY
Yet another song that seemed like a declaration of true love – JT’s hidden message suggests that the mirror he references is really just for checkin’ himself out. Typical.
3. Roar // Katy Perry
You held me down, but I Got up
Already brushing Off the dust
You hear my voice, you hear that souNd
Like thuNder gonnA shake the ground
You held me down, But I got up
GEt reAdy ’cause I’ve Had enough
I see It all, I see iT now
Hidden Message: GONNA BE A HIT
Katy Perry is no idiot. She knew that if she pumped the lyrics full of empowering messages, the song would top the charts. But she might as well be honest with her real motives in the liner notes. Gotta keep the fans happy, right?
4. Jealous // Nick Jonas
I turn my chin music up
and I’M puffing my chest
I’m getting red in the face
You can call me OBSESSED
It’s not your fault that they hover
I mean no disrespect
It’s my right to be hellish
I still get jealous
Hidden Message: I’M OBSESSED
Nick Jonas tried to be all sneaky and cover up the creepiness of this song. But if you look at what the lyrics are really saying, it’s pretty clear that he’s a little lot overprotective. Take a chill pill, Nick.
