The Fate of Ophelia – English Lyrics

• By: Taylor Swift
• Album: The Life of a Showgirl

Lyrics & Translation

Dive into the layered narrative of Taylor Swift's 'The Fate of Ophelia,' a track that masterfully flips the tragic Shakespearean metaphor of Ophelia into a declaration of rescue and loyalty. By exploring the poignant contrast between past isolation and present devotion, this synth-pop gem not only reveals deep personal meaning but also showcases Swift's skill in weaving classical literature into modern pop, encouraging listeners to delve into the original tragic source material to fully appreciate the joyful pivot she has made in her own story.

[English]

I heard you calling on the megaphone

You wanna see me all alone

As legend has it, you

Are quite the pyro

You light the match to watch it blow

And if you'd never come for me

I might've drowned in the melancholy

I swore my loyalty to me, myself, and I (Me, myself, I)

Right before you lit my sky up

...

All that time, I sat alone in my tower

You were just honing your powers

Now I can see it all (See it all)

Late one night, you dug me out of my grave and

Saved my heart from the fate of

Ophelia (Ophelia)

Keep it one hundred

On the land, the sea, the sky (Land, sea)

Pledge allegiance to your hands

Your team, your vibes

Don't care where the hell you been (Been)

'Cause now, you're mine (Now)

It's 'bout to be the sleepless night

You've been dreaming of

The fate of Ophelia

...

The eldest daughter of a nobleman

Ophelia lived in fantasy

But love was a cold bed full of scorpions

The venom stole her sanity

And if you'd never come for me (Come for me)

I might've lingered in purgatory

You wrap around me like a chain, a crown, a vine (Chain, crown, vine)

Pulling me into the fire

...

All that time, I sat alone in my tower

You were just honing your powers

Now I can see it all (See it all)

Late one night, you dug me out of my grave and

Saved my heart from the fate of

Ophelia (Ophelia)

Keep it one hundred

On the land, the sea, the sky (Land, sea)

Pledge allegiance to your hands

Your team, your vibes

Don't care where the hell you been (Been)

'Cause now, you're mine (Now)

It's 'bout to be the sleepless night

You've been dreaming of

The fate of Ophelia

...

'Tis locked inside my memory

And only you possess the key

No longer drowning and deceived

All because you came for me

Locked inside my memory

And only you possess the key

No longer drowning and deceived

All because you came for me

...

All that time, I sat alone in my tower

You were just honing your powers

Now I can see it all (I can see it all)

Late one night, you dug me out of my grave and

Saved my heart from the fate of

Ophelia

Keep it one hundred

On the land, the sea, the sky (Land, the sea)

Pledge allegiance to your hands (Your hands)

Your team, your vibes

Don't care where the hell you been (Been)

'Cause now, you're mine ('Cause now)

It's 'bout to be the sleepless night

You've been dreaming of

The fate of Ophelia

...

You saved my heart from the fate of

Ophelia

...

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
calling /ˈkɔːlɪŋ/ B1	noun - a strong inner impulse toward a particular activity or career verb - to cry out loudly
legend /ˈledʒənd/ B2	noun - a traditional story sometimes popularly regarded as historical but not authenticated
pyro /ˈpaɪroʊ/ C1	noun - a pyromaniac; a person with a mania for setting things on fire
match /mætʃ/ A1	noun - a short, thin piece of wood or cardboard tipped with a combustible material verb - to be equal to
melancholy /ˈmelənkɒli/ C1	noun - a feeling of pensive sadness, typically with no obvious cause adjective - sad and pensive
loyalty /ˈlɔɪəlti/ B2	noun - the quality of being loyal
tower /ˈtaʊər/ A2	noun - a tall, narrow building, especially one that is part of a castle, church, or town hall
powers /ˈpaʊərz/ B1	noun - the ability to do something or act in a particular way, especially a faculty or capacity
grave /ɡreɪv/ B1	noun - a hole dug in the ground to receive a coffin or corpse
fate /feɪt/ B2	noun - the development of events beyond a person's control, regarded as predetermined by a supernatural power
pledge /pledʒ/ B2	verb - commit (a person or organization) by a solemn promise noun - a solemn promise or undertaking
allegiance /əˈliːdʒəns/ C1	noun - loyalty or commitment of a subordinate to a superior or of an individual to a group or cause
sleepless /ˈsliːpləs/ B2	adjective - having trouble sleeping
daughter /ˈdɔːtər/ A1	noun - a female child
nobleman /ˈnəʊbəlmən/ B2	noun - a man of noble rank or birth
fantasy /ˈfæntəsi/ B1	noun - the faculty or activity of imagining things, especially things that are impossible or improbable
venom /ˈvenəm/ B2	noun - a poisonous substance secreted by animals such as snakes, scorpions, and spiders and typically injected into prey or aggressors by biting or stinging
sanity /ˈsænəti/ C1	noun - the ability to think and behave in a normal and rational manner; sound mental health
purgatory /ˈpɜːrɡətɔːri/ C2	noun - (in Roman Catholic doctrine) a place or state of suffering inhabited by the souls of sinners who are expiating their sins before going to heaven
drowning /ˈdraʊnɪŋ/ B1	verb - to die through submersion in and inhalation of water
deceived /dɪˈsiːvd/ B2	verb - to cause (someone) to believe something that is not true, typically in order to gain a personal advantage

Key Grammar Structures

• You wanna see me all alone

  ➔ Contractions

  ➔ The phrase uses "wanna" as a contraction for "want to", which is informal spoken English to make sentences more natural and fluid.

• I swore my loyalty to me, myself, and I

  ➔ Emphasizing pronouns

  ➔ The phrase "me, myself, and I" uses reflexive pronouns like "myself" to emphasize the self, reinforcing personal commitment or independence in the context.

• All that time, I sat alone in my tower

  ➔ Past continuous tense

  ➔ The phrase uses past continuous "sat" to describe an ongoing action in the past, indicating prolonged isolation during a specific period.

• And if you'd never come for me

  ➔ Second conditional

  ➔ This is a second conditional structure with "if" and the past simple "come", expressing hypothetical situations and unrealized possibilities in the past.

• The venom stole her sanity

  ➔ Active voice with metaphor

  ➔ The sentence uses active voice "stole" to personify "venom" as an agent, creating a metaphorical image of madness being taken away.

• Keep it one hundred

  ➔ Idiomatic expressions

  ➔ The phrase "keep it one hundred" is an idiomatic expression meaning to be completely honest or genuine, often used in informal contexts for sincerity.

• It's 'bout to be the sleepless night

  ➔ Present continuous for future

  ➔ The phrase uses "'bout to be" in present continuous form to indicate an upcoming or imminent event, informally predicting the future.

• Locked inside my memory

  ➔ Passive voice

  ➔ The phrase uses passive voice with "locked", where the subject "my memory" receives the action, emphasizing retention without specifying the doer.

• No longer drowning and deceived

  ➔ Adverbs modifying participle adjectives

  ➔ The phrase uses adverbs like "no longer" to modify the participle adjectives "drowning" and "deceived", indicating a change from previous states.

• All because you came for me

  ➔ Causal conjunctions

  ➔ The phrase uses "because" as a causal conjunction to explain the reason for a preceding action, linking the outcome to the cause.