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"'Tis the Damn Season" (stylized as "'tis the damn season") is the fourth track from American singer and songwriter Taylor Swift's ninth studio album, evermore, released on December 11, 2020, through Republic Records.

Background[]

"After the Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions, [Taylor] stayed for quite a while and we recorded a lot. She actually wrote “‘Tis the Damn Season” when she arrived for the first day of rehearsal. We played all night and drank a lot of wine after the fireside chat -- and we were all pretty drunk, to be honest -- and then I thought she went to bed. But the next morning, at 9:00 a.m. or something, she showed up and was like, “I have to sing you this song,” and she had written it in the middle of the night. That was definitely another moment [where] my brain exploded, because she sang it to me in my kitchen, and it was just surreal. That music is actually older -- it’s something I wrote many years ago, and hid away because I loved it so much. It meant something to me, and it felt like the perfect song finally found it. There was a feeling in it, and she identified that feeling: That feeling of… “The ache in you, put there by the ache in me.” I think everyone can relate to that. It’s one of my favorites."

The song is connected to Dorothea. The song is about Dorothea, the girl who left her small town to chase down Hollywood dreams - and what happens when she comes back for the holidays and rediscovers an old flame.

Trivia[]

  • Taylor mentioned the song title in an Instagram story a few days before the song's announcement.

Lyrics[]

[Verse 1]
If I wanted to know who you were hanging with
While I was gone, I would've asked you
It's the kind of cold, fogs up windshield glass
But I felt it when I passed you
There's an ache in you, put there by the ache in me
But if it's all the same to you
It's the same to me

[Chorus]
So, we could call it even
You could call me "Babe" for the weekend
'Tis the damn season, write this down
I'm stayin' at my parents' house
And the road not taken looks real good now
And it always leads to you in my hometown

[Verse 2]
I parked my car right between thе Methodist
And the school that used to bе ours
The holidays linger like bad perfume
You can run, but only so far
I escaped it, too, remember how you watched me leave?
But if it's okay with you
It's okay with me

[Chorus]
So, we could call it even
You could call me "Babe" for the weekend
'Tis the damn season, write this down
I'm stayin' at my parents' house
And the road not taken looks real good now
Time flies, messy as the mud on your truck tires
Now I'm missing your smile, hear me out
We could just ride around
And the road not taken looks real good now
And it always leads to you in my hometown

[Bridge]
Sleep in half the day just for old times' sake
I won't ask you to wait if you don't ask me to stay
So I'll go back to L.A. and the so-called friends
Who'll write books about me if I ever make it
And wonder about the only soul
Who can tell which smiles I'm fakin'
And the heart I know I'm breakin' is my own
To leave the warmest bed I've ever known

[Pre-Chorus]
So, we could call it even
Even though I'm leavin'
And I'll be yours for the weekend

[Chorus]
We could call it even
'Tis the damn season, write this down
I'm stayin' at my parents' house
And the road not taken looks real good now
Time flies, messy as the mud on your truck tires
Now I'm missing your smile, hear me out
We could just ride around
And the road not taken looks real good now
And it always leads to you in my hometown
And it always leads to you in my hometown

Live performances[]

"'tis the damn season" is performed as the first song in the evermore section of The Eras Tour. During shows opened by HAIM, the song was replaced by "no body, no crime" which Swift performed alongside the band.

References[]

evermore
"willow" • "champagne problems" • "gold rush" • "'tis the damn season" • "tolerate it" • "no body, no crime" • "happiness" • "dorothea" • "coney island" • "ivy" • "cowboy like me" • "long story short" • "marjorie" • "closure" • "evermore"
Deluxe Edition
"right where you left me" • "it's time to go"
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