If I wanted to know who you were hanging with
While I was gone, I would've asked you
It's the kind of cold, fogs up windshield glass
But I felt it when I passed you
There's an ache in you, put there by the ache in me
But if it's all the same to you
It's the same to me
[Chorus]
So we could call it even
You could call me "babe" for the weekend
'Tis the damn season, write this down
I'm stayin' at my parents' house
And the road not taken looks real good now
And it always leads to you and my hometown
[Verse 2]
I parkеd my car right between the Methodist
And thе school that used to be ours
The holidays linger like bad perfume
You can run, but only so far
I escaped it too, remember how you watched me leave
But if it's okay with you, it's okay with me
[Chorus]
We could call it even
You could call me "babe" for the weekend
'Tis the damn season, write this down
I'm stayin' at my parents' house
And the road not taken looks real good now
Time flies, messy as the mud on your truck tires
Now I'm missing your smile, hear me out
We could just ride around
And the road not taken looks real good now
And it always leads to you and my hometown
Sleep in half the day just for old times' sake
I won't ask you to wait if you don't ask me to stay
So I'll go back to L.A. and the so-called friends
Who'll write books about me if I ever make it
And wonder about the only soul
Who can tell which smiles I'm fakin'
And the heart I know I'm breakin' is my own
To leave the warmest bed I've ever known
We could call it even
Even though I'm leaving
And I'll be yours for the weekend
'Tis the damn season
[Chorus]
We could call it even
You could call me "babe" for the weekend
'Tis the damn season, write this down
I'm stayin' at my parents' house
And the road not taken looks real good now
Time flies, messy as the mud on your truck tires
Now I'm missing your smile, hear me out
We could just ride around
And the road not taken looks real good now
And it always leads to you and my hometown
It always leads to you and my hometown
About
“‘tis the damn season” is the fourth track on evermore, and marks the first time that Taylor Swift has cursed in a song title.
In the liner notes of the album, Swift wrote that one of the song storylines on evermore was about “what happens when [Dorothea] comes back [from Hollywood] for the holidays and rediscovers an old flame.” This likely refers to “‘tis the damn season” given the lyrical mentions of both Los Angeles and the winter holidays. Notably, evermore was released two weeks prior to Christmas 2020, making the title timely yet ironic.
Swift also teased the title in an Instagram story two days before she announced the album.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
Producer and co-writer Aaron Dessner told Rolling Stone:
That song, to me, has always felt nostalgic or like some sort of longing. And the song that Taylor wrote is so instantly relatable, you know, ‘There’s an ache in you put there by the ache in me.’ I remember when she sang that to me in my kitchen — she had written it overnight during The Long Pond Studio Sessions, actually.
This song debuted #39 on Billboard’s Hot 100, being the fourth-highest charting song off the album.
- 1.willow
- 3.gold rush
- 4.’tis the damn season
- 5.tolerate it
- 7.happiness
- 8.dorothea
- 10.ivy
- 11.cowboy like me
- 13.marjorie
- 14.closure
- 15.evermore
- 17.it’s time to go