Taylor Swift - Better Than Revenge
Now go stand in the corner and think about what you did
Ha, time for a little revenge
The story starts when it was hot and it was summer
And, I had it all I had him right there where I wanted him
She came along, got him alone, and let's hear the applause
She took him faster than you could say sabotage
I never saw it coming, nor would I have suspected it
I underestimated just who I was dealing with
She had to know the pain was beating on me like a drum
She underestimated just who she was stealing from
(Chorus) She's not a saint and she's not what you think
She's an actress, whoa
She's better known for the things that she does
On the mattress, whoa
Soon she's gonna find
Stealing other people's toys on the playground
Won't make you many friends
She should keep in mind
She should keep in mind
There is nothing I do better than revenge, ha
She looks at life like it's a party and she's on the list
She looks at me like I'm a trend and she's so over it
I think her ever present frown is a little troubling
And, she thinks I'm psycho
'Cause I like to rhyme her name with things, but
Sophistication isn't what you wear, or who you know
Or pushing people down to get you where you wanna go
Oh they didn't teach you that in prep school
So it's up to me
But no amount of vintage dresses gives you dignity
(Think about what you did)
(Chorus)
I'm just another thing for you to roll your eyes at honey
You might have him, but haven't you heard
I'm just another thing for you to roll your eyes at honey
You might have him, but I'll always get the last word
Whoa
(Chorus)
And do you still feel like you know what you're doing
'Cause I don't think you do, oh
Do you still feel like you know what you're doing
I don't think you do, I don't think you do
Let's hear the applause
C'mon show me how much better you are
See you deserve some applause
'Cause you're so much better
She took him faster than you could say sabotage
After Taylor Swift lost the rights to her music in 2019, she committed to re-releasing her albums so that she would own the masters. She wrote one of these albums, Speak Now, in 2010 when she was 19 and changed some of the lyrics in the re-recorded version of the song “Better than Revenge” that came out in July of 2023 after realizing they were problematic. This song is about a man who leaves Swift for another woman —the problem is that the song uses insults to try to hurt the girl involved (lyrics underlined in blue).
While no one knows the truth of what happened, Swift refers to the man as if he is an object that someone can take, which is not the case. In reality, the man is also to blame. Any situation with cheating is never only the fault of one person. This song only blames the relationship issue on the girl, sending a negative message to girls that they should be angry with one another when something like this happens and promoting misogyny.
Swift uses tactics like talking down to the girl in lyrics such as, “She took him faster than you could say sabotage” and shaming the girl for private affairs with the lyric, “She’s better known for the things she does on the mattress.” These are lyrics that may suggest to young girls that it is okay to only blame a woman for infidelity.
Fortunately, Swift has realized her error and in her newly recorded version of this song, she changed the harmful lyric about the mattress and replaced it with a lyric that blames both the man and the woman, “He was a moth to the flame, she was holding the matches.”