Did you ever hear about the girl who got frozen? In this week’s deep dive episode, we discuss the evermore bonus track, “right where you left me.” We explore themes of feeling stuck, the haunting presence of the narrator, the plea for help, and how we see attitudes in the song mirrored in society. This beautiful and ultimately sad song also inspired a wide range of references from Elle Woods to Charles Dickens to Foucault. This song definitely has some layers, so join us as we unpack their meaning and ultimately try to get to the purpose of “right where you left me.” 
 
Mentioned in this episode: 
Arrested Development
Ghost (the movie) 
School Spirit (show on Netflix)
"Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens 
The Man Who Can’t Be Moved (song)
"The Notebook" by Nicholas Sparks
"The Picture of Dorian Gray" by Oscar Wilde 
"The Age of Adelaide" (film) 
"The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue" 
"Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" by J.K. Rowling
Legally Blonde 
The Last Five Years
"No Exit" by Jean-Paul Sartre
"1984" by George Orwell
"Discipline and Punish" by Foucault 
"Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury 
Jeremy Bentham’s body 
Looking for an audio book? Check out our Libro.fm playlist https://tidd.ly/47uhRVI
***
Episode Highlights: 
[0:35] - Introduction to “right where you left me” 
[2:45] - Setting the scene of the song 
[7:07] - Metaphorically and literally being stuck 
[10:00] - The characters in this song 
[17:50] - “the glass shattered on the white cloth” 
[24:52] - The Panopticon and society’s expectations
[36:15] - Taylor’s use of “haunting” as imagery
[43:09] - The song as a metaphor for mental health 
 
Subscribe to get new episode updates: aptaylorswift.substack.com/subscribe
 
Follow us on social! 
TikTok → tiktok.com/@APTaylorSwift
Instagram → instagram.com/APTaylorSwift
YouTube → youtube.com/@APTaylorSwift
Link Tree →linktr.ee/aptaylorswift
Bookshop.org → bookshop.org/shop/apts
Libro.fm → https://tidd.ly/47uhRVI

 
This podcast is neither related to nor endorsed by Taylor Swift, her companies, or record labels. All opinions are our own. Intro music produced by Scott Zadig aka Scotty Z.