I Can See You (Taylor’s Version) [From The Vault]
Producers
I Can See You (Taylor’s Version) [From The Vault] Lyrics
I-I-I-I
[Verse 1]
You brush past me in the hallway
And you don't think I, I, I can see ya, do ya?
I’ve been watchin' you for ages
And I spend my time tryin' not to feel it
[Pre-Chorus]
But what would you do if I went to touch you now?
What would you do if they never found us out?
What would you do if we never made a sound?
[Chorus]
’Cause I can see you waitin' down the hall from me
And I could see you up against the wall with me
And what would you do? Baby, if you only knew
That I can see you
[Post-Chorus]
I-I-I-I
[Verse 2]
And we kept everything professional
But something's changed, it's somethin' I, I like
They keep watchful eyes on us
So it's best that we move fast and keep quiet
You won't believe half the things I see inside my head
Wait 'til you see half the things that haven’t happened yet
But what would you do if I went to touch you now?
What would you do if they never found us out?
What would you do if we never made a sound?
[Chorus]
’Cause I can see you waitin' down the hall from me
And I could see you up against the wall with me
And what would you do? Baby, if you only knew, oh, oh, oh
That I could see you throw your jacket on the floor
I could see you, make me want you even more
What would you do? Baby, if you only knew
That I can see you
[Post-Chorus]
I-I-I-I
[Bridge]
I can see you in your suit and your necktie
Passed me a note sayin’, "Meet me tonight"
Then we kiss and you know I won't ever tell, yeah
And I could see you being my addiction
You can see me as a secret mission
Hide away and I will start behaving myself
[Pre-Chorus]
I-I-I-I
Oh-oh, oh, oh
I can see you waitin' down the hall from me
And I could see you up against the wall with me
And what would you do? Baby, if you only knew, oh
That I could see you throw your jacket on the floor
I could see you, make me want you even more
What would you do? Baby, if you only knew
That I can see you, oh, I can see you
[Outro]
Oh, I see you, I see you, baby
I see you
(I-I-I-I) I see you, I see you, baby
Oh, baby
About
“I Can See You” shows Swift seductively addressing her potential lover. Ensnared with a sexual atmosphere, she continuously challenges and invites her partner to explore their newfound relationship, both romantically and sexually.
With similar themes, this song is reminiscent of her 2017 reputation track, “Dress,” which delved into her sexual admiration of her now ex-boyfriend Joe Alwyn. Although this track does not seem to address anyone in particular and was originally written around 2010 for the first version of Swift’s Speak Now album, it emphasizes Taylor’s recent use of rock and alternative sonics.
The blend of synthesizer, guitar and bass mash up to create a rather new and fresh sound to Taylor. The experimental sound, in which Swift also later went on to dive into throughout albums like 2017’s reputation and 2022’s Midnights, have always made Swift’s discography as a whole interesting to listen to. Especially around the time her 2014 album, 1989, in which she fully embraced Pop music and Pop influences in her songs, she talked about how she always wanted to be experimental with her art – during a 2015 interview for extratv, she said:
I think that it’s important to experiment with different things. I think that the direction you wanna go musically, it has to surprise people. There are a lot of my songwriting that I haven’t explored yet.
“I Can See You” is a magnetic blend of atmospheric production, enticing melodies, and Taylor Swift’s signature storytelling prowess. It captures the essence of longing, secrecy, and the undeniable attraction between two souls who dance on the edge of temptation.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
Taylor Swift announced the music video for the song on July 8th, 2023, saying:
WELL. SO. I’ve been counting down for months and finally the ‘I Can See You’ video is out. I wrote this video treatment over a year ago and really wanted to play out symbolically how it’s felt for me to have the fans helping me reclaim my music. I had my heart set on Joey King, Taylor Lautner and Presley Cash starring in it. Joey and Presley had been in the video for ‘Mean’ when they were 9 and 13 and they are back and so ridiculously bad ass!! Taytay is INCREDIBLE in this (didn’t have a stunt double!) and shout out to Tay Lautner for being so awesome to hang with on set. The Tale of 3 Taylors 😆 I always wanted to direct fight scenes/a heist storyline and had the most incredible time plotting this out with my amazing DP Jonathan Sela. So proud of this one.
VIA TWITTER
During the tracking week ending July 22, 2023, the song debuted at #5 on the Hot 100 chart. The song marks Swift’s 42nd song to peak within the Hot 100’s top 10.
- 19.I Can See You (Taylor’s Version) [From The Vault]