Talk of being in the initial throes of an intense love (or, at least, an intense infatuation) is nothing new in terms of fodder for pop songs. In truth, it’s what most pop songs—the “timeless” ones, anyway—are renowned for. Because, in addition to Jane Austen novels and rom-coms, they peddle the beloved lie of a love that can last forever. Not just any love though: a passionate one that burns and endures long after the honeymoon phase. And yet, with Taylor Swift’s “Lavender Haze” and Miley Cyrus’ “Rose Colored Lenses” being released on the heels of one another (with the former put out as a single in November of 2022 and the latter unveiled on Cyrus’ Endless Summer Vacation in March of this year), the subject of being willfully caught in the veil of amorous illusion (presumably in a shade of lavender or pink) has made a surprising comeback. While one might have formerly associated such talk of young love (meaning a new love in general, not merely or solely being of a “young age” and also being in love) with the 1950s (e.g., The Platters’ “Only You,” The Flamingos’ “I Only Have Eyes For You” and Dean Martin’s “That’s Amore”), it seems that Swift and Cyrus each want to do their part to remind audiences that a “pop song kind of love” remains possible. Even in this epoch of sex robots and AI.
With the aforementioned 50s in mind, it’s only appropriate that Swift extrapolated the title of “Lavender Haze” from none other than the “Golden Age of Television” itself. A term that Mad Men revitalized in a season two episode called “The Mountain King.” In it, Don tells Anna Draper (Melinda Page Hamilton), the widowed wife of the real Don Draper, that he’s met a girl. In this case, Betty (January Jones). Seeing the way he lights up when he talks about her, Anna remarks, “Look at you. You’re in the lavender haze.” At this time, it would have been the late 50s, so it tracks when Swift noted of the song, “…it turns out that it was a common phrase that was used in the 50s where they would just describe being in love. Like, if you were in the ‘Lavender Haze,’ that meant you were in that all-encompassing love glow, and I thought that was really beautiful.” Even if also kind of vomit-inducing.
As for Cyrus, she opted to use a more conventional, widely-known expression by turning “rose colored glasses” into “rose colored lenses” for a song that very much echoes the sentiments presented in “Lavender Haze.” Chief among them wanting to stay in the bubble that a freshly-brewing love can accommodate. One characterized by sex-stained sheets and never leaving the bedroom. Cyrus addresses this indelible image (a common cliché for good reason) in the lyrics, “We could stay like this forever/Lost in wonderland/With our head above the clouds/Fallin’ stupid like we’re kids/Wearin’ rose colored lenses/Let’s just play pretend.”
Indeed, that’s exactly what Swift wants to keep doing as well, even as the curious, prying eyes of the media start to encroach upon her. This much is addressed in that portion of “Lavender Haze” that goes, “I just wanna stay in that lavender haze…/Talk your talk and go viral/I just need this love spiral/Get it off your chest/Get it off my desk.” In other words, let a bitch keep fucking in peace without media gossip buzzing in her ear. And yet, as Swift acknowledged, even the hoi polloi are subjected to their lavender haze being burst sooner and with more ease in this modern era of social media. So it was that she remarked of its relatability to the “commoner,” “I guess theoretically when you’re in the ‘Lavender Haze,’ you’ll do anything to stay there and not let people bring you down off of that cloud. And I think a lot of people have to deal with this now—not just, like, quote-unquote public figures—because we live in the era of social media and if the world finds out that you’re in love with somebody, they’re gonna weigh in on it.”
Cyrus clearly feels the same way about protecting a new relationship’s privacy as she croons, “Let’s just play pretend/Wearin’ rose colored lenses/Pretend we’ll never end/Naked in conversation/Drown me in your delight/Endless summer vacation/Make it last ’til we die.” When Cyrus refers to a “death” here, however, it seems to allude more to the Lana Del Rey sense of it when she woefully laments of being a couple in love before the inevitable breakup, “You and I/We were born to die.” But until then, Cyrus insists that they “make a mess of a nice hotel.”
Swift, too, exhibits the sort of willful naïveté (read: denial) that makes her capable of ignoring reality for as long as possible. Six years, to be exact. For that was the extent of her “lavender haze” with Joe Alwyn, the muse who inspired the track (as he did numerous others of Swift’s from Reputation onward). As for the other “muse” of the single—the 50s—funnily enough, Swift mocks the very decade (and its narrow-minded views of women) that’s technically responsible for creating the song at all. This despite overtly paying homage to that period in time when love—specifically, “fresh love”—was painted with the very rose colored lenses Cyrus also speaks to in her song of the same name. Nonetheless, Swift rebuffs “quaint” 50s ideas via the lines, “All they keep askin’ me/Is if I’m gonna be your bride/The only kind of girl they see/Is a one-night or a wife,” in addition to, “Surreal, I’m damned if I do give a damn what people say/No deal, the 1950s shit they want from me.”
In the end, though, it’s “1950s shit” that both Swift and Cyrus (along with so many others) patently want out of love. Which is why they know they must keep their tinted haze/glasses up for as long as possible in order to continue fostering the delusion that such a thing can exist. As everyone must…before the smoke clears, the tint of the glasses dissipates and all we see in front of us is a hideous monster that makes us want to take a Lysol shower as a result of ever allowing them access to our body and mind.
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