Taylor Swift’s “CANCELLED!” Lyrics Are An Angsty Friendship Anthem

Even after Taylor Swift announced that she owned all of her master recordings and didn’t feel compelled to re-record Reputation, Swifties still hoped she might release the vault tracks (aka, the unreleased gems that never made the original 2017 album). So far, Swift hasn’t announced specific plans to that end — she’s been a little busy living The Life of a Showgirl — but a new song very much sounds like a spiritual sister to Rep, anyway.

Speaking Up For Her Squad

Swift’s “CANCELLED!” lyrics explain her frustration with the women in her life being subject to critical double standards. “Did you girlboss too close to the sun? Did they catch you having far too much fun?” she asks in a haunting, whisper-y voice, evoking some of the same sentiments she once voiced in “Nothing New” from Red (Taylor’s Version).

But if that Swift was sad, this one is angry — in a “Look What You Made Me Do” way, depicting her crew with figurative cloaks, knives, and poison. “At least you know exactly who your friends are. They’re the ones with matching scars,” she says, suggesting that she tends to get along with women who know the toll of public scrutiny.

While Swift spoke out against her critics in 2024’s “But Daddy I Love Him” and “Who’s Afraid Of Little Old Me?”, “CANCELLED!” is focused more on Swift’s pals, and several listeners interpreted it as a show of support for Blake Lively, who has been dealing with the It Ends With Us scandal since August of last year.

Taylor Swift’s “CANCELLED!” Lyrics

Read the full lyrics to Swift’s new song below.

You thought that it would be OK at first

The situation could be saved, of course

But they’d already picked out your grave and hearse

Beware the wrath of masked crusaders

Did you girlboss too close to the sun?

Did they catch you having far too much fun?

Come with me, when they see us they’ll run

Something wicked this way comes

Good thing I like my friends cancelled

I like ‘em cloaked in Gucci and in scandal

Like my whiskey sour

And poison thorny flowers

Welcome to my underworld, where it gets quite dark

At least you know exactly who your friends are

They’re the ones with matching scars

It’s easy to love you when you’re popular

The optics click, everyone prospers

But one single drop, you’re off the roster

Tone deaf and hot, let’s f*cking off her

Did you make a joke only a man could?

Were you dressed too smug for your own good?

Or bring a tiny violin to a knife fight?

Baby that all ends tonight

Good thing I like my friends cancelled

I like ‘em cloaked in Gucci and in scandal

Like my whiskey sour

And poison thorny flowers

Welcome to my underworld, it’ll break your heart

At least you know exactly who your friends are

They’re the ones with matching scars

They stood by me before my exoneration

They believed I was innocent, so I’m not here for judgement

But if you can’t be good, then just be better at it

Everyone’s got bodies in the attic, or took somebody’s man

We’ll take you by the hand

And soon you’ll learn the art of never getting caught

It’s a good thing I like my friends cancelled

I like ‘em cloaked in Gucci and in scandal

Like my whiskey sour

And poison, thorny flowers

Yeah it’s a good thing I like my friends cancelled

I salute you if you’re much too much to handle

Like my whiskey sour

And poison, thorny flowers

Can’t you see my infamy loves company?

Now they’ve broken you like they’ve broken me

But a shattered glass is a lot more sharp

Now you know exactly who your friends are

We’re the ones with matching scars