What Is Taylor Swift's 'Guilty As Sin?' About? The Spicy Lyrics Meaning Explained

28 April 2024, 12:18 | Updated: 29 August 2024, 16:19

Taylor Swift's Guilty As Sin? lyrics leave fans blushing. Picture: Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for The Recording Academy, Republic Records

"Without ever touching his skin, how can I be guilty as sin?"

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Taylor Swift has left fans all over the world blushing thanks to the meaning behind the lyrics to her new song 'Guilty As Sin?'

After a record breaking release day, it's fair to say that we are truly in our 'Tortured Poets Department' era. Taylor's stunning 11th studio album has completely taken over the charts and social media, with fans dissecting every single lyric on what's by far her most personal album yet.

From 'So Long, London' to 'So High School', Taylor weaves her way through the dizzying highs and devastating lows of heartbreaks and new romances with some of her most intricate songwriting.

There's also plenty of surprises on the album too, including 'Guilty As Sin?' which is now trending on TikTok thanks to its catchy melody and unexpectedly sad yet spicy lyrics.

But what is it about and what/who might have inspired it? Here's what those lyrics mean.

Read more: How to listen to The Official Swift Top 40... as voted for by you

Who is Taylor Swift's 'Guilty As Sin?' about?

Taylor Swift's 'Guilty As Sin?' sees her sing about fantasising about someone else. Picture: Republic Records

'Guilty As Sin?' sees Taylor, the narrator, bored, pining and fantasising about someone, and questioning whether or not she should feel guilty about something that has never physically happened. (Hence the question mark in the title.)

All of what Taylor is singing about here is happening inside her head – a fantasy. And yes, there’s a very strong sexual narrative that runs through the track.

Each chorus starts with Taylor posing the question: What if he's written 'mine' on my upper thigh / Only in my mind?

She then details the fantasies, first singing: I keep recalling things we never did / Messy top lip kiss / How I long for our trysts. In the second chorus, those lyrics progress into: My bedsheets are ablaze / I’ve screamed his name / Building up like waves / Crashing over my grave.

In the second verse, she goes on to sing: These fatal fantasies / Giving way to labored breath, takin' all of me / We've already done it in my head.

Then, at the end of each chorus, she rationalises all of those potentially dangerous thoughts with a simple: Without ever touching his skin / How can I be guilty as sin?

Taylor Swift - Guilty as Sin (Official Lyric Video)

Fans are now only just realising that the lyrics appear to be about self-pleasure while dreaming up scenarios and thinking about someone else romantically.

'Guilty As Sin?' has now been compared to the likes of 'Dress' and 'False God' as some of Taylor’s 'spiciest' and 'horniest' songs. As you can imagine, fans can't get enough of it.

Over on Reddit, one Swiftie wrote: "The most poetic masturbation song I’ve ever heard." Another added: "We got a new nominee for Taylor’s horniest song."

A third simply wrote: "Taylor’s got me clutching my pearls lmao"

Is 'Guilty As Sin?' about Matty Healy?

Taylor has not explicitly explained who inspired the song, and she may never do so! The focus on this song is not really about the who, but more about the desperate feeling of pining after the thought of someone else, and wrestling with the guilt of it.

That said, fans have made links between the lyrics and Matty Healy. Taylor sings about the 'Blue Nile', a band who released the song 'The Downtown Lights'. In a 2016 interview with Vulture, Matty called The Blue Nile his "favourite band of all time."

Read the full 'Guilty As Sin?' lyrics here:

VERSE 1
Drownin' in the Blue Nile
He sent me "Downtown Lights"
I hadn't heard it in a while
My boredom's bone-deep
This cage was once just fine
Am I allowed to cry?
I dream of crackin' locks
Throwin' my life to the wolves or the ocean rocks
Crashin' into him tonight, he's a paradox
I'm seeing visions
Am I bad or mad or wise?

CHORUS
What if he's written "mine" on my upper thigh only in my mind?
One slip and fallin' back into the hedge maze
Oh, what a way to die
I keep recalling things we never did
Messy top-lip kiss, how I long for our trysts
Without ever touchin' his skin
How can I be guilty as sin?

VERSE 2
I keep these longings lockеd
In lowercase, inside a vault
Somеone told me, "There's no such thing as bad thoughts
Only your actions talk"
These fatal fantasies
Giving way to labored breath, takin' all of me
We've already done it in my head
If it's make-believe
Why does it feel like a vow we'll both uphold somehow?

CHORUS
What if he's written "mine" on my upper thigh only in my mind?
One slip and fallin' back into the hedge maze
Oh, what a way to die
My bed sheets are ablaze
I've screamed his name
Buildin' up like waves crashin' over my grave
Without ever touchin' his skin
How can I be guilty as sin?

BRIDGE
What if I roll the stone away?
They're gonna crucify me anyway
What if the way you hold me is actually what's holy?
If long-suffering propriety is what they want from me
They don't know how you've haunted me so stunningly
I choose you and me religiously

CHORUS
What if he's written "mine" on my upper thigh only in my mind?
One slip and fallin' back into the hedge maze
Oh, what a way to die
I keep recalling things we never did
Messy top-lip kiss, how I long for our trysts
Without ever touchin' his skin
How can I be guilty as sin?

OUTRO
He sent me "Downtown Lights"
I hadn't heard it in a while Am I allowed to cry?