Clara Bow by Taylor Swift: A Song Analysis
An analysis of the song Clara Bow and the explanation of the artists it mentions.
The Tortured Poets Department is the American singer Taylor Swift's latest released album. The album was released on April 19, 2024. One of the songs from the album, Clara Bow, is a short 2 minutes long song from the album where Swift mentions artists like Clara Bow, Stevie Nicks, and herself.
What do these artists represent in the song, and why did she choose to mention them?
"A commentary on what I’ve seen in the industry that I’ve been in over time," Swift says about the song. So let's take a look at the lyrics:
"You look like Clara Bow
In this light, remarkable
All your life, did you know
You'd be picked like a rose?"
Genius interprets the mention of Clara Bow as a way to reference Bow's mental health issues due to fame. Clara Bow was an American actress who was famous during the silent era. She kept her fame and success after talkies became popular. She is known as an icon for her fight for her independence and sexual freedom. She had a tough life dealing with censorship, trials, gossip, and pressure from the media but remained a star. The last two lines are a reference to the times before Swift's career when people in power kept comparing her to other female stars and how she was better than them.
“And they’d say, ‘You know, you remind us of’ and then they’d name an artist, and then they’d kind of say something disparaging about her, ‘But you’re this, you’re so much better in this way or that way.’ And that’s how we teach women to see themselves, as like, ‘You could be the new replacement for this woman who’s done something great before you.’” - Taylor Swift
The phrase ''picked like a rose'' is also interpreted by Genius as highlighting the temporality of an artist's shine. Once flowers are picked, they are admired and loved, but they always die in the end. Their beauty and importance are temporary.
"I'm not trying to exaggerate
But I think I might die if it happened
Die if it happened to me
No one in my small town Thought I'd see the lights of Manhattan"
The songs started with Swift getting compared to other artists, getting praised, and showing the listeners her thought process at the beginning of her career. She is loved, and she is important. As the song continues, she expresses her excitement for her future career, referring to her old song Mean, where she talks about her ex, who did not believe that she would be successful in her career.
Someday, I’ll be livin' in a big, ole city
And all you’re ever gonna be is mean - Mean
People didn't believe she would be big enough, but she dreams about the possibility and claims that she would die from happiness and excitement.
This town is fake, but you're the real thing
Breath of fresh air through smoke rings
Take the glory, give everything
Promise to be dazzling"
She is still getting compared to the others while being praised. The first two lines seem to be positive as they explain how she is different and better from the others. Then, in the last two lines, we see the pressure that comes with this. She has to give everything; it has to be dazzling and perfect if she wants to make it.
"You look like Stevie Nicks
In '75, the hair and lips
Crowd goes wild at her fingertips
Half moonshine, a full еclipse"
Stevie Nicks is an American singer-songwriter and also a member of Fleetwood Mac. She was one of the biggest stars of her time and still is. Her look during the 75's was compared with Swift's look with blonde bangs.
Stevie Nicks and Taylor Swift go way back to the 2010 Grammys, where they performed together. Nicks expressed her opinions about Swift's songwriting by calling it very honest and vulnerable. Then, Stevie Nicks wrote a poem for The Tortured Poets Department and joined the Eras tour, where Taylor Swift performed Clara Bow.
The crown is stained, but you're the real queen
Flesh and blood amongst war machines
You're the new god we're worshipping
Promise to be dazzling"
The crown is a reference to the term it girl." I think this line can be interpreted in two different ways. It can have a positive meaning. To illustrate, the line might mean how, despite how toxic and fake the industry is, you still stick to your real self. There are a lot of people who are at war with you, trying to take you down, but you still stand tall. It also can have a negative meaning. As in the beginning of the song, you are still compared to the others and are praised for being the different one. You are among the war machines that are trying to destroy the careers of other people and maybe even yours without you realizing it. As for the last two lines, the word ''new'' before god again is a reminder that there were former gods that people worshipped; you are the new one. You are worshipped, looked up to, praised, loved, and adored. However, there is a possibility that you might become the old one in the future. Everything is temporary. You are temporary.
Beauty is a beast that roars down on all fours
Demanding more
Only when your girlish glow flickers just so
Do they let you know
It's hell on earth to be heavenly
Them's the breaks, they don't come gently
These lyrics are about how new young artists have the demanding pressure of being beautiful and staying young. Beauty is like a beast that is trying to get you, screaming at you. You need to be more pretty and more fitting in the eyes of the people to keep your place in the industry. She also implies how there is pressure to stay young and be fresh in the industry to keep being famous. The girls with the girlish glow have to keep their youth to not be replaced. Getting old is considered something scary and negative, as you can lose your relevance and be replaced. The last phrase has a meaning like how you cannot change how things are; they are just the way they are and they are not kind. Living as an artist who is trying to be perfect is like experiencing hell, but you cannot do anything to change it.
"You look like Taylor Swift
In this light, we're lovin' it
You've got edge, she never did
The future's bright, dazzling"
Now, she has become the old artist that the new artists are compared to. She is not the unique one, but new artists are. Similar to how people told her how different and better she is than the old artists in the beginning, younger artists will be compared to her. They will be praised because they are better than her. It is a cycle that never ends, and everyone is replaceable.
“I picked women who have done great things in the past and have been these archetypes of greatness in the entertainment industry, Clara Bow was the first ‘it girl.’ Stevie Nicks is an icon and an incredible example for anyone who wants to write songs and make music.” - Taylor Swift
Growing up and getting forgotten in the industry was a theme Swift explored before as well. Songs like The Lucky One, Nothing New, You're On Your Own, and Kid deal with themes like growing up, being new in the industry, and the fear of getting forgotten. In Clara Bow, Swift deals with these themes by mentioning iconic figures and ends the song with herself to show the never-ending cycle of becoming the new artist and the old artist.
References:
https://genius.com/Taylor-swift-clara-bow-lyrics
https://www.marieclaire.com/celebrity/taylor-swift-stevie-knicks-poem-tortured-poets-department/