Song Analysis: “The Lucky One” by Taylor Swift

For this blog post, I’m analyzing “The Lucky One” by Taylor Swift, looking at the storyline, and finding the characters, inciting incident, setting, conflict, and resolution. I’ve put the lyrics below for your convenience.

Let’s take a look at the first verse:

New to town with a made up name
In the angel city, chasing fortune and fame
And the camera flashes, make it look like a dream
You had it figured out since you were in school
Everybody loves pretty, everybody loves cool
So overnight you look like a sixties’ queen

Setting and introduction to first character: A girl without a name, in the setting, “the angel city,” or Los Angeles. Some people speculate because of later parts in the song that the song is about Joni Mitchell. On to the bridge!

Another name goes up in lights, like diamonds in the sky

Inciting incident: The inciting incident is split between the first verse and the bridge; a girl wants to be liked, so she changes to be “like a sixties’ queen;” soon she becomes famous.

And they’ll tell you now, you’re the lucky one
Yeah, they’ll tell you now, you’re the lucky one
But can you tell me now, you’re the lucky one, oh, oh, oh

 Foreshadowing of the conflict comes here when Taylor Swift asks the girl she is singing about if she is sure she is lucky because of her situation, despite what everyone is telling her. Second character: Swift puts herself into the song here, rather than just narrating.

Now it’s big black cars, and Riviera views
And your lover in the foyer doesn’t even know you
And your secrets end up splashed on the news front page
And they tell you that you’re lucky
But you’re so confused
Cause you don’t feel pretty, you just feel used
And all the young things line up to take your place

Conflict and rising action: The conflict begins as problems start to arise that come with fame. Her life is broadcasted through the  media. People think she’s lucky for her fame but she feels used—maybe by the people she chooses to have in her life, or maybe by the people who are trying to use her life as entertainment. If something happens to her, she’ll just be replaced by the next young girl to come along.

Another name goes up in lights
You wonder if you’ll make it out alive

Climax: The girl wonders if she’ll live through her circumstances.

And they’ll tell you now, you’re the lucky one
Yeah, they’ll tell you now, you’re the lucky one
But can you tell me now, you’re the lucky one, oh, oh, oh

It was a few years later, I showed up here
And they still tell the legend of how you disappeared
How you took the money and your dignity, and got the hell out
They say you bought a bunch of land somewhere
Chose a rose garden over Madison Square
And it took some time, but I understand it now

Falling action and resolution: The girl that Taylor Swift is singing about slips away from the spotlight for peace. She also notes that she understands the girl’s decision and the problems she faced because she was going through the same thing while writing the song.

Clarification of characters: Many people speculate that this part of the song indicates that the girl in the story is Joni Mitchell because of how Mitchell would evade the spotlight for sometimes years at a time. Swift, when she released her album, said that the song was one that she wrote about someone she admired, and also noted her love of Joni Mitchell, although she did not say that “The Lucky One” was about Mitchell.

‘Cause now my name is up in lights, but I think you got it right
Let me tell you now, you’re the lucky one
Let me tell you now, you’re the lucky one
Let me tell you now, you’re the lucky one, oh, oh, oh
And they’ll tell you now, you’re the lucky one
Yeah, they’ll tell you now, you’re the lucky one
And they’ll tell you now, you’re the lucky one, oh, oh, oh
Oh, whoa, oh, oh

 Denouement: Swift clarifies her understanding of the girl in the song, saying that not only does she understand her, but that the girl in the song is luckier in the position she is in now.

Genre and Blake Snyder formula: Since Swift doesn’t explicitly say the song is about Joni Mitchell, although she hints at it, I’d say the genre of this song is a reality-based drama. The Blake Snyder formula that was used in this was “Out of the Bottle;” the girl wished to have fame and be liked, she got what she wanted and faced the consequences of that, and she found in the end that she would be happiest if she chose to remove herself from the situation.