"Innocent" is the eleventh track from the standard edition of American singer and songwriter Taylor Swift’s third studio album, Speak Now, released on October 25, 2010, through Big Machine Records. It is also the eleventh track from Swift's third re-recorded album, Speak Now (Taylor's Version), released on July 7, 2023, through Republic Records.
Background[]
| “ | The song "Innocent" is about something that really intensely affected me emotionally. It took a while to write this one. I was fortunate enough to get a chance to perform this song on the VMAs, and that's the first time that anyone ever heard it. Putting out an album called Speak Now where you're supposed to say what you feel when you know how you feel, I felt that performing that song on that particular award show was appropriate. I hope everybody likes this one. | ” |
Hidden message[]
Hidden message: Life is full of little interruptions.
Lyrics[]
[Verse 1]
Guess you really did it this time
Left yourself in your war path
Lost your balance on a tightrope
Lost your mind trying to get it back
[Pre-Chorus 1]
Wasn't it easier in your lunchbox days?
Always a bigger bed to crawl into
Wasn't it beautiful when you believed in everything
And everybody believed in you?
[Chorus]
It's alright, just wait and see
Your string of lights are still bright to me, oh
Who you are is not where you've been
You're still an innocent
Still an innocent
[Verse 2]
Did some things you can't speak of
But at night you live it all again
You wouldn't be shattered on the floor now
If only you had seen what you know now then
[Pre-Chorus 2]
Wasn't it easier in your firefly-catching days?
When everything out of reach
Someone bigger brought down to you
Wasn't it beautiful running wild till you fell asleep
Before the monsters caught up to you?
[Chorus]
It's alright, just wait and see
Your string of lights are still bright to me, oh
Who you are is not where you've been
You're still an innocent
It's okay, life is a tough crowd
Thirty-two and still growing up now
Who you are is not what you did
You're still an innocent
[Bridge]
Time turns flames to embers
You'll have new Septembers
Every one of us has messed up, too, ooh
Minds change like the weather
I hope you remember
Today is never too late to be brand new, oh
[Chorus]
It's alright, just wait and see
Your string of lights are still bright to me, oh
Who you are is not where you've been
You're still an innocent
It's okay, life is a tough crowd
Thirty-two and still growing up now
Who you are is not what you did
You're still an innocent
You're still an innocent
[Outro]
Lost your balance on the tight rope
It's never too late to get it back
Live performances[]
Swift performed "Innocent" for the first known time on September 12, 2010, in Los Angeles, California, at the 2010 MTV Music Video Awards - the song was based on the 2009 ceremony, during which Kanye West interrupted her acceptance speech when she received the award for best female video of the year. The song was also performed as a surprise song on November 24, 2023, in São Paulo, Brazil, on The Eras Tour.
Trivia[]
- The song was interpolated in her 2017 song, "Look What You Made Me Do".
References[]
| Speak Now | ||
|---|---|---|
| "Mine" • "Sparks Fly" • "Back To December" • "Speak Now" • "Dear John" • "Mean" • "The Story Of Us" • "Never Grow Up" • "Enchanted" • "Better Than Revenge" • "Innocent" • "Haunted" • "Last Kiss" • "Long Live" | ||
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