invisible string
Producer
invisible string Lyrics
Green was the color of the grass
Where I used to read at Centennial Park
I used to think I would meet somebody there
Teal was the color of your shirt
When you were sixteen at the yogurt shop
You used to work at to make a little money
[Chorus]
Time, curious time
Gave me no compasses, gave me no signs
Were there clues I didn't see?
And isn't it just so pretty to think
All along there was some
Invisible string
Tying you to me?
Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh
[Verse 2]
Bad was the blood of the song in the cab
On your first trip to LA
You ate at my favorite spot for dinner
Bold was the waitress on our three-year trip
Getting lunch down by the Lakes
She said I looked like an American singer
Time, mystical time
Cutting me open, then healing me fine
Were there clues I didn't see?
And isn't it just so pretty to think
All along there was some
Invisible string
Tying you to me?
Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh
[Bridge]
A string that pulled me
Out of all the wrong arms, right into that dive bar
Something wrapped all of my past mistakes in barbed wire
Chains around my demons
Wool to brave the seasons
One single thread of gold
Tied me to you
[Verse 3]
Cold was the steel of my axe to grind
For the boys who broke my heart
Now I send their babies presents
Gold was the color of the leaves
When I showed you around Centennial Park
Hell was the journey, but it brought me heaven
Time, wondrous time
Gave me the blues and then purple-pink skies
And it's cool, baby, with me
And isn't it just so pretty to think
All along there was some
Invisible string
Tying you to me?
Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh
Me
Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh
[Outro]
(Ah-ah-ah)
(Ah-ah-ah)
About
“invisible string” references an east Asian folk myth about a red thread of fate tying two soulmates together. Like on Swift’s 2019 track “Lover,” she expresses gratitude for past romantic failures since they paved the way for her relationship with Joe Alwyn.
The song includes several nods to Swift’s past work, including October 2014’s “Bad Blood” and November 2017’s “Delicate.” Like on October 2012’s “Red” and August 2019’s “Daylight,” she uses the connotations of different colors to convey the intensity of her love for a partner.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
In the album’s prologue, Swift explains the song’s imagery:
A single thread that, for better or for worse, ties you to your fate.
Anyone looking for lyrical Easter eggs to confirm that Swift still draws from her own life will be particularly pleased by the song “Invisible String,” a sort of “bless the broken roads that led me to you” type song that finds fulfillment in a current partner who once wore a teal shirt while working as a young man in a yogurt shop, even as Swift was dreaming of the perfect romance hanging out in Nashville’s Centennial Park.
With “Invisible String,” she sings over the sound of cherubs plucking harps, tracing a years-long relationship back to its start…Providing those garish narrative details — fro-yo and a teal polo — in her mildest voice makes her testimony feel totally real and a little sad.
–Chris Richards for The Washington Post
I’d be lying if I said there weren’t multiple points throughout this album where I worried that Swift and her boyfriend Joe Alwyn had broken up. Thankfully, “Invisible String” is a rosy, wide-eyed ode to love. The plucky guitar paired with Swift’s soft vocals is a sound I want to live in, which is fitting since this track feels like coming home.
–Courteney Larocca for Insider
One of the loveliest tracks on folklore, the surprise album the singer-songwriter made primarily with the National’s guitarist Aaron Dessner, stands out for a strangely similar reason: a thread connecting two strangers that exists long before either realizes it’s there. “And isn’t it just so pretty to think/All along there was some/Invisible string/Tying you to me,” she sings on the delightfully plucky “invisible string,” simultaneously recalling famous lines from Jane Eyre and The Sun Also Rises.
“invisible string” debuted at #37 on the Billboard Hot 100 during the chart week of August 8, 2020.
