A (2:07)

So I think people seem to like your singing and we seem to get people listening longer. So let's dive right in.

B (2:17)

Sure. All right, let me get that note. Let me just like walk in with this note.

A (2:22)

Lock in. That was. I was watching SNL and their high school kids were saying lock in.

B (2:29)

Really? Was this a skit this past.

A (2:32)

This was a skit during the Weekend Update and.

B (2:36)

Oh. Oh my God. Yeah, I know what skit you're talking about.

A (2:39)

Yeah. Your two favorite phrases of which are lock in and low key.

B (2:45)

I think it's officially been killed at this moment in time.

A (2:48)

Well, if it's on an SNL thing,

B (2:50)

it's Certainly no, not snl. SNL wounded it mortally. But I think you using them has officially, like, absolutely slaughtered it, you know.

A (2:59)

Well, that. That logo. Low key bothers me. Come back. Come back. Antonia. Antonia, come back. What's going on? Okay, okay. That more than low key bothers me.

B (3:17)

Okay, whatever you mean high key, you can say high key. That's another thing that you can say.

A (3:21)

Oh, it is. People can say high key.

B (3:23)

Yeah. I'm not allowed to tell you that, so don't tell anyone I told you. But yeah, you can say high key. Okay.

C (3:28)

Never be so kind, you forget to be clever. Never be so clever, you forget to be kind.

A (3:44)

Yeah.

B (3:46)

Do you want me to keep going on?

A (3:48)

Let's just talk about this briefly and then you can dive in. This is a very nice turn of phrase.

B (3:56)

Yeah.

A (3:57)

It's actually called a chiasmus. Sometimes this specific kind of where you repeat words in reverse order is also specifically called an antimetaboly, but everyone really calls it chiasmus. And it is something that Taylor loves. She's got another one in this song. But it's a very memorable way of expressing things. And never be so kind, you forget to be clever. And she also picks up the never and clever.

B (4:32)

Yeah.

A (4:33)

So she's added, you know, the full double rhyme. Presumably this may be one of her. The lessons she learned from her, from Marjorie, seems to be the one possible interpretation. Well, and I think the chorus, you know, the immediate lines that follow the chorus, you know, support that. So why don't you dive right in?

C (4:55)

Yeah. If I didn't know better. I think you're still around.

B (5:03)

Do you want me to keep going?

A (5:04)

Yeah, yeah.

C (5:06)

Would die, didn't stay dead. Would die, didn't stay dead. You're alive, you're alive. In my head. Would die, didn't stay dead. Would die, didn't stay dead. You're alive, so alive.

B (5:24)

I think it's something like that.

A (5:26)

Yeah. Yeah. Powerful stuff. You know, this song is a four minute long song, but it doesn't have many words. It's sung very slowly. Lot of repetition here, but yes. And if I didn't know better, I'd think you were talking to me now.

C (5:45)

Yeah.

A (5:46)

So maybe her grown up self knows better, but she still.

B (5:52)

Well, maybe that's a bit of foreshadowing. Joe, don't tell him that. Her grown self knows better.

A (5:57)

Well, you know, it's an odd thing to say if I didn't know better, but.

B (6:03)

Right.

A (6:04)

The point is, I don't know.

B (6:06)

I only ever say it in jokes, like if I didn't know better. I'd say you were trying to tell me to do my homework. I said that to my friend literally today.

A (6:19)

Yeah. It is an unusual phrasing. And she just said, you know, the. Never be so kind. You forget to be clever. And this is sage advice that you don't want to be so soft.

B (6:31)

Well, you forget to.

A (6:31)

That you get taken advantage of, but you don't want to be so cynical that you aren't kind. And then I think you were talking to me now. So presume possibly this is something, some version of a statement that her grandmother said to her. We do get these truisms and stories from grandmothers. If I didn't know better, I'd think you were still around.

B (6:57)

Feels like her advice is just so prescient. So everything about her, I don't know, it's just like, you hear stories about your grandparents all the time. Because why wouldn't you? I mean, that's who made, like, your parents what they are. And then your parents made you who you are. So it's like your grandparents are part of who you are.

A (7:18)

Yeah. And. And her mother said that Taylor reminded her so much of her grandmother. And you hear that?

B (7:27)

Yes, I get that.

A (7:27)

That's another thing.

B (7:28)

But I'm like, yeah.

A (7:31)

And look, I. My mother was the most influential person in my life. I don't think, you know, that's a shock to anybody who knows me. And her. Her words echo in my head. She famously repeated the same story dozens and dozens of times. And, you know, this is a song about immortality. What died didn't stay dead. And this is a theme that Taylor writes about a lot, particularly in Life of a Showgirl. You know, you can't kill me, right? And the Elizabeth Taylor idea that fame lives beyond. And, you know, in this song, Marjorie, her grandmother, is alive to Taylor, and Taylor is now giving her immortality in this song. And this is a power that Taylor understands she has with her song choices, what she chooses to write and say about people. So you're alive. You're alive in my head. But now she's alive for everyone. And in the music video, the lyric music video, we see the home movies of her grandmother, and I think in the Eras tour, they play that also in the. In the. In the big screen when she's singing. So this is, you know, this is just a great, great tribute. Let's. Yeah, let's go on.

B (8:56)

Can keep going on. Let me just get these notes. Okay, I got it.

A (9:01)

Yeah.

C (9:04)

Never be so polite. You forget your power. Never wield such power, you forget to be polite. And if I didn't know veteran, I think you were listening to me now. If I didn't know better, I think you were still around. What died, didn't stay dead. What died, didn't stay dead. You're alive. You're alive. In my head. What died, didn't stay dead. What died, didn't stay dead. You're alive. So alive.

B (10:03)

Yeah, yeah.

A (10:04)

Nice. And so we have the second chiasmus. The again, never be so polite. You forget your power. Never wield such power. You forget to be polite. And I'll come back to discussing chiasmus a bit more at the end. It's definitely one of the single most memorable rhetorical devices that there is. It is something Taylor uses a lot in Mastermind. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail in look what you made me do. I don't trust nobody, and nobody trusts me. And then one I didn't know about, but Google helped me find from daylight in Lover. Luck of the draw only draws the unlucky, which is just a commentary on if you're not proactive in your dating, you're going to get stuck. You're going to be unlucky.

B (11:05)

Yeah.

A (11:06)

So, yeah, this is again, another aphorism, another truism.

B (11:13)

I mean, a lot of this very true.

A (11:16)

And she switched over from if I didn't know better, I'd think you were talking to me now to if I didn't know better, I'd think you were listening to me now. And this idea that she is speaking to her through her music, Taylor is speaking to her grandmother, the musician, through her music. And again, this immortality that she has, everyone is immortalized in our memories. But obviously, the writers of songs famously get to immortalize people in their songs. The hero's journey stories, the great epic poems, right? We remember Achilles and, you know, that is the point of those epic. The original bards, the original singer songwriters, right. Said many times, if you're not remembered, you're an unsung hero. Right? So in some sense, you know, the songwriters turn people into heroes and just, you know, it's a very moving, very moving song. She often tears up, you know, it's just. It's hard for her to sing this.

B (12:43)

Yeah. I mean, the bridge is, like, even worse.

A (12:47)

And it's the longest bridge. This is a long bridge.

B (12:50)

It's a very long bridge.

A (12:51)

I don't know if she's ever written such a. Because what she has done here is interesting. So far, nothing has happened.

B (13:02)

Right. We don't know what's happened. We're just kind of. It's kind of like. I think this is kind of the precursor, remembering somebody before you actually have the memories. You're remembering the idea of them, of who they were, what they make you feel. I was watching an episode of Black Mirror that I actually put off watching for a long time. I've seen, like, every episode except Eulogy. And it's about. It's the episode that Paul Giamatti stars in, which I think the only reason the episode is as good as it is is because of Paul Giamatti. Like, his acting is crazy. Like, he, like, whoever, like, put him in, like, a drama program at a young age, like, had a vision, and the vision was, like, revealed to them in a divine dream because, like, he's just such a good actor. Like, holy freaking moly. He was, like, tearing up. Like, he was, like, being silly. He was, like, being crazy. I was like, damn, Paul, like, go off. I'm a great big Paul Giamatti fan, and he's Italian like me. So, you know, I love that. And anyway, so I was watching Eulogy. The premise is, of course, if you don't know Black Mirror, every episode is different. New techniques, new dystopia. Sometimes it's good, Most of the time it's bad. This one was really nice. It was where you could step into photographs. And it was because a company named Eulogy had been created to help loved ones reconcile with the deaths of their loved ones. And he remembered the time that he had with her very slowly at first. And then it kind of. It kind of became like, you could. You learned all about his life through. Through that. That's why I say it was really beautiful. And it reminds me of the song a lot. Very pertinent.

A (14:51)

Let's get to some stuff actually happening.

B (14:53)

Let's get to the bridge.

D (14:55)

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B (15:49)

The autumn. Okay, all right.

C (15:51)

The autumn chill that wakes me up. You love the amber sky so much. Long limbs and frozen swims. You'd always go past where our feet could touch. And I complained the whole way there. The car right back and up the stairs. I should have asked you questions. I should have asked you how to be asked you to write it down for me. Should have kept every grocery store receipt. Cuz every scrap of you would be taken from me. Why should you signed your name Marjorie. All your closets of backlog dreams and how you left them all to me.

B (16:30)

Yeah, that's like. All your closets of backlog dreams and how you left them all to me was just crazy because she's a singer and her grandma's a singer and you could never really do as much as a. As you wanted to as a woman back, you know, in the olden days when Marjorie lived. Couldn't do as much as a woman. Person of color. Couldn't do as much as an immigrant, but you still can't.

A (16:52)

Well, she had a lot. I mean, she did have. She did have a lot of success.

B (16:57)

Yeah, she did.

C (16:58)

She did.

A (16:58)

Obviously, Obviously not the same kind of success. I mean, I'm sure one of Taylor's

B (17:04)

like a color colorario or something like that.

A (17:07)

She was like coloratura.

B (17:09)

Yeah, that she was a coloratura soprano. I remember that. Somebody told me that somewhere a long time ago. So. Yeah, coloratura. Yeah, she just. She can just do crazy things with her voice. Like she was able to like, do like, I mean, serious flips, like go from like really low to really high, really fast.

A (17:27)

Well, you know, I'm sure she never lived to see Taylor's great success. You know, she died at third when Taylor was 13. In fact, relatable. Taylor relates this.

B (17:44)

You know, I mean, I was 14.

A (17:45)

You know, Taylor relates how she thinks she was in Nashville handing out tapes or, you know, and stuff. So, you know, she feels, you know, very, very connected to her grandmother. You know, obviously all of Taylor's great success happened after that, but the connection is there. And you know, this is a great. This is a great scene painting.

B (18:15)

Normally.

A (18:15)

Taylor paints normally.

B (18:17)

I feel like she would be a great novel writer. I don't know why she does not do that. Oh, my God. They agree with you. The NSA agrees with you. Yeah, I don't know if you saw a little thumbs up. The riverside gods have been appeased. Happiness, remembrance.

A (18:31)

She wishes so much for anything, any scrap that a grocery store receipt would have been, you know, enough with her signature. And watch this. You sign your name Marjorie and all your closets of backlog dreams and how you left them all to me. So she does see herself fulfilling the full dream that perhaps her grandmother couldn't do given the time of, you know, that, you know, she was. Her grandmother was born in the 1920s, the way your grandmother was born in the 1920s. And my mother's father died when she was 17 in 1942. And so my mother had to go support the family that happened to be World War II. They wanted women in the workforce, gave her aptitude tests. And so she also had this amazing career that, that, you know, was unique for a woman of that, of that era. Look, I, I think about my mother every day. You know, that's just, You know, I, I, it's. Certain people are still with us.

B (20:00)

All right, do that last part.

A (20:02)

Let's do the, yeah, the final chorus with a couple tweaks in it.

B (20:07)

Yeah.

C (20:09)

What? I didn't stay dead. What? I didn't stay dead. You're alive. You're alive. In my thing. What died, didn't stay. He did. What died, didn't stay. He did. You're alive. So alive. And if I didn't know better, I think you were saying to me now, if I didn't know better, I think you were still around. I know better, but I still feel you all around. I know better, but you're still around.

B (21:06)

There you go.

A (21:08)

Yeah. Powerful, powerful twists here. The first one being I think you were singing to me. Now, she did have records. Her mother saved records.

B (21:23)

Well, isn't the actual song like. Doesn't that include snippets of her singing at the outro?

A (21:30)

Right. When she says, I think you were. Yeah, when she sings, I'd think you were singing to me. Now, was it Destner mixed in some of the, of the music that, on the records that Taylor's mother had kept.

B (21:49)

Yeah. And in the outro of her mother.

A (21:53)

Yeah, yeah. And then she switches it. Instead of saying, if I didn't know better, she says, I know better, but you're still around. In fact, those are the first two buts in the entire. These two at the very end.

B (22:14)

It's probably why part of it is so powerful. Powerful. Powderful

A (22:20)

powerful. Yeah. And, and, and of, you know, you're listening to music of her grandmother. She is. But I'm. She's feeling her. And she has, through her art, kept Marjorie alive and still around and everyone now can enjoy and remember. And, you know, look, as long as Taylor's music is being played, this song will be played and Marjorie will. Will live. And, you know, this is maybe the best song that Taylor has written that doesn't have this underlying meaning. It's. It's. She is telling. She is. She is trying to create some powerful emotions in a straightforward way. And it's easier for her to do because these are very genuine personal emotions for her. It's a great song. I think that when you watch the music video, you're gonna be moved when you understand the story. And that it was the age of 13. And of course, that that was the turning point for. I mean, Taylor became. Started to become famous after.

C (23:45)

Yeah,

B (23:47)

this has been hard.

A (23:49)

And I just wanted to end by saying, you know, Cause we're always trying to have lessons for people. You know, there is no question that if you want a memorable speech or a memorable post online, it's a very good idea to use chiasmus. In fact, when I was researching my book Language Intelligence, which really dives into the figures of speech, I have a whole section here on chiasmus. And in 2010, the second most retweeted tweet of 2010 was from the rapper Drake. We always ignore the ones who adore us and adore the ones who ignore us. So a lot of these, you could

B (24:37)

say that he was in his feelings.

A (24:41)

There you go. Ray Bradbury, the science. I love rape author who wrote, but

B (24:50)

I love his writing is what I mean. I don't.

A (24:53)

Well, he's a great writer.

B (24:55)

If he did anything.

A (24:56)

He famously. He wrote Fahrenheit 451 is Ray Bradbury.

B (25:02)

I want to get canceled. Problematic.

A (25:06)

Oh, come on, stop. Look, do not be looking up,

B (25:11)

okay?

A (25:14)

He wrote the Martian Chronicles. But he had an advice for writers. You have to know how to accept rejection and reject acceptance. So don't take the criticism too hard. Don't take the praise to let it get to your head. So these are chiasmus. And two of the most famous chiasmus in US History were from the inaugural address of John F. Kennedy. Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.

B (25:51)

True. Sorry. Ray Bradbury has been cleared of most. Yeah, I've just googled him.

A (25:57)

I'm so happy that you have cleared.

B (26:01)

I singularly have cleared Ray Bradbury. You guys don't need to do it anymore.

A (26:06)

Done JFK in the same speech said, let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate.

B (26:17)

Wow. I see what I eat and I eat what I see. That is a famous one from Alice in Wonderland. I see what I eat and I eat what I see. The Mad Hatter's like, he's joking. He's like, oh, it's not the same thing at all. You see, I see what I eat means that. Well, I. When I'm eating, I see it, but when I eat what I see, that means that every time I see something, I eat it. I mean, it can. It can at some point feel very patronizing to use chiasmus all the time. It's very powerful.

A (26:51)

Well, I don't think you should use it all the time.

B (26:53)

No, no, no, I know. I will just say, yeah, they like. They like when you flip other words,

A (26:57)

you can come up with one that is relevant for you, and that actually makes sense.

B (27:02)

You can't just say, like, I, I, we. We need to. We need to care about what we think and not just think about caring.

A (27:16)

Whoa.

B (27:17)

Like, I just came up with that one. What the fuck does that even mean? You know, I see that a lot. People say, shit.

A (27:27)

It is often used in humor. Mae west famously said, I was about to say that. It's not the. It's not the men in my life. It's the life in my men.

B (27:39)

Amen, sister. I appreciate that.

A (27:43)

Shakespeare loved him. Better a witty fool than a foolish wit. So anyway, I think I'm a witty fool.

B (27:52)

I think most people who know me would consider me a witty fool. I seem like I have a foolish wit, too. I think that cancels out then. Just makes me odd.

A (28:00)

Maybe it does. I have found if I am able to come up with a chiasmus, it will be quoted. People will remember it. If I could come up one. When I'm being interviewed by the media, it's the kind of thing they will put in.

B (28:17)

Yeah.

A (28:18)

And because it's memorable. These are memorable.

B (28:20)

I have one. It's not the media in power. It's the power in the media.

C (28:27)

Whoa.

A (28:31)

Well, I will tell you. In the. One of the James Bond movies.

B (28:35)

Yeah.

A (28:36)

Die Another Day with James Bond, played by Pierce Brosnan, and. And the gadget guru Q, played by John Cleese, the great Monty Python comedian. James Bond says to Q, you're smarter than you look. To which Q replies, better than looking smarter than you are.

C (28:58)

I see.

A (29:00)

So the great song lyrics, all of the lyrics that you remember the most are going to be a figure of speech. They were designed to be the memory tricks of the great bars. And as we've said many times.

B (29:16)

What about I want a hippopotamus for Christmas? Which trick is that? Literary man.

A (29:24)

Could be hyperbole.

B (29:26)

No, I think she actually wants a hippopotamus for Christmas. And if her parents, like, don't get her the hippopotamus, she'll be really mad, like some girls want ponies, but this bitch knows what she wants and it's a hippopotamus.

A (29:42)

Well, if she's three, then perhaps she's not being hyperbolic, she's just unaware of the impracticality of the matter.

B (29:52)

But I remember that one very clearly. If you ask me to come up with one lyric from a song with a gun to my head in under a millisecond, I'm gonna say, I want a hippopotamus for Christmas.

A (30:04)

Which song is that?

C (30:05)

I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas.

B (30:07)

That's the literal song title. You've never heard it? It's a Christmas classic.

A (30:11)

Okay, I think that we have.

B (30:13)

Don't got that out. The people need to know. The people need to know that I'm a fan. You mean we've beaten this hippopotamus to death? Okay, I'm done. I'm seriously done. I'll stop and I'll leave and we can end the episode.

A (30:28)

I think you probably have some song lyrics that are more memorable to you than the hippopotamus.

B (30:34)

I don't think so. Continue, though.

A (30:38)

Oh, well, I think we're. All I'm just saying is, as often say, the most important thing is to be memorable. Memorable. Because if people don't remember what you say, it doesn't matter what you say. So this is all about learning the storytelling tricks of the great bards and doing that through the modern day bards, the singer songwriters. And Taylor is certainly a modern day bard inducted into the hall.

B (31:15)

I think the second youngest to be inducted in the Rock and Roll hall of Fame

A (31:21)

and also the Songwriters hall of Fame.

B (31:24)

Yeah, I think so. I think the Songwriters hall of Fame.

A (31:27)

I think it was like Stevie Wonder might have been the youngest.

B (31:30)

Yeah.

A (31:31)

Because, like, he was ridiculously precocious. And yeah. I think that, you know, this song shows that even simple lyrics in the hands of someone who knows what they're doing can be, you know, a masterful song. Alrighty. My daughter has to go off and

B (32:07)

rehearse you for my musical.

A (32:09)

Wow.

B (32:11)

Yes. Very, very. I'm doing. I'd be doing it. You know me.

C (32:17)

La la, la. La, la, la.

A (32:19)

I'm looking forward to seeing it next month. Very exciting.

B (32:25)

Oh, is that already happening in a month? Oh, my God, it is. Oh, my God. It's less than. Oh, my God. It's in three weeks.

A (32:33)

It's. It's a little over three weeks.

B (32:35)

Holy freaking moly. I actually have to start memorizing lines.

A (32:38)

I hope I. I hope it's all coming together. You have a big speech at the end. Yes.

B (32:43)

Yeah, that's what I'm. I'm giving the fire address. Exits to your right, folks. So that's what I'm doing.

A (32:51)

This is not the first time that you have been cast in a role that has a big speech.

B (32:57)

That is true. They seem to like me for those. I think I talked about the big

A (33:02)

speech on the moors.

B (33:05)

Yeah, you on the moors now. I played Heathcliff. I still haven't seen the new Wuthering Heights, though. We can cut all this out, but

A (33:11)

anyway, maybe we'll cut some of it out.

B (33:15)

Sorry, I broke my fidget on camera.

A (33:20)

No, no one can see that part at the bottom. We have. You're not. You're. The fidget's not on the.

B (33:24)

No, it exploded up and everywhere. Holy moly. That must have looked like a firecracker. Bye, guys. Sleep well. All right, see you next.

A (33:35)

Bye, guys. We will see you next week with one of our personal. Both of our personal favorites from Evermore Champagne Problems.

B (33:45)

So good. Maybe I'll play it live on the piano. Maybe I can. We'll, like, lock in with the piano and I'll play it live because I know how to play it.

A (33:54)

Can you borrow a keyboard, honey?

B (33:57)

Our dorm has music rooms with live pianos. That's what I do when I'm bored sometimes.

A (34:02)

All right, I think we wrapped up already.

B (34:05)

I love you, dad.

A (34:07)

Practice. All right, bye.

E (34:11)

The war is over and both sides lost. Kingdoms were reduced to cinders and armies scattered like bones in the dust. Now the survivors claw to what's left of a broken world, praying the darkness chooses someone else tonight. But in the shadow dark, the darkness always wins. This is old school adventuring at its most cruel. Your torch ticks down in real time. And when that flame dies, something else rises to finish the job. This is a brutal rules light nightmare with a story that evil emerges organically based on the decisions that the characters make. This is what it felt like to play RPGs in the 80s. And man, it is so good to be back. Join the Glass Cannon podcast as we plunge into the shadow dark every Thursday night at 8pm Eastern on YouTube.com theglasscanon with the podcast version dropping the next day. See what everybody's talking about and join us in the dark.

B (35:13)

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D (35:52)

Wherever you get your podcasts.