We know from Swift’s later work that she was a noted scholar of Greek philosophy during this era of her life “You know how to ball / I know Aristotle” (So High School). It is thus worth digging into Swift name dropping a group of people who were deeply upset by her success – the world-denying philosophers known as the Cynics.

Swift’s relationship was a physical experience. Since breaking up, the full-bodied physical experience of another person has been replaced by a flattened, empty version. For example, Swift sings: “I’ll watch your life in pictures like I used to watch you sleep.” When they were together, Swift saw a three-dimensional, moving, human being. After the break-up, she will now see him only through static, pixelated representations on an instagram feed.

In literature and popular culture, ghosts generally linger because they have unfinished business from their lives.

As in Never Grow Up, time in Innocent is a double-edged sword. Although growing up is terrible, it also provides healing and growth.