Holy Ground
Taylor has described Holy Ground as reminiscing on a past relationship, which the final is. The draft lyrics in the Lover Journal do not refer to it as a past relationship however, that was added later. The album arrangement of Holy Ground is upbeat, fast tempo, with State of Grace it was part of the anthemic opening of the Red Tour. In the 2019 BBC Live Lounge which was recorded in NY Taylor played it slow and sad:
Red Secret Message "When you came to the show in SD"
The Secret Message for Holy Ground is "When you came to the show in SD." Which may be Saint-Denis, the district and canal in Paris very close to Le Zenith which Taylor played on 17 March 2011.
They had the opportunity to meet when One Direction and Taylor were both in LA in 25-30 January 2011. This may be the referred to "first glance". Begin again shows them texting each other. From then until the 16 March they toured different countries.
One Direction had a 3 day weekend 16 - 19 March. Harry left Brighton the morning of 17 March. Taylor was in Paris on the 16, 17 and 18 March. Taylor then went to Madrid and Harry re-appeared at the O2 on 19 March. Thank you @cntfightmydemonsthyknowhowtoswim for these links.
This was the first show on the Speak Now Tour that Taylor played Fearless and Train's "Soul Sister" in a mash up, which appeared on/off for the rest of the tour. Soul Sister was Harry's X-Factor audition song.
They were then both in London and on Wednesday 23 March Taylor wore a white dress similar to the cover of Begin Again. Taylor was in London many times for the rest of the year
What about San Diego?
People have theorised that SD is her show in San Diego on 20 October 2011, suggestion Joe Jonas attended, however he was in Paris on that date. One Direction did have time off then though.
Why Paris?
Paris features in the music videos for Begin Again, Everything has Changed, Falling, Paris Lyric video and the Love on Tour Images for What Makes you Beautiful.
What Taylor said about the song
In the Red album talk Taylor said she wrote the song about a past relationship and appreciated the relationship for what it was. Of note, she pauses *a lot*, like 6 times in 10 seconds, and pinches her hands, in the part where she says it was a past relationship.
Taylor said she wrote Holy Ground after seeing the muse in February 2012. In January, she had been 'holidaying' in London (having spent months there the year before) being papped walking alone. She left London the same day as One Direction, 27 January, ahead of Harry's 18th birthday 1 February 2012. See 2011 timeline. More thanks to @cntfightmydemonsthyknowhowtoswim
She speaks with no pauses once she talks about the production. She mentioned Jeff Bhasker, who worked on the song and went on to be one of Harry's main collaborators.
Lover Journal
Taylor also shared a Lover Journal (book 3) entry for March 16 2011, where in Paris, she said "My life is so beautiful right now. Every once in a while I have to remind myself to breathe and take in the view", later a Lyric in Paris and something Harry said on the Jonathan Ross show 16 November 2013.
The original lyrics to Holy Ground are on the next page (dated "February 2012", and not yet complete) with Love Story on the adjacent page. These February 2012 Lyrics are quite different, "Back when" and the last verses with "dust on every page" are missing, it is reminiscing, but not after a break up. It is likely the song was further developed when recorded mid-year and their relationship changed.
Live Performances
Holy Ground was on the Red Tour setlist and then only played a handful of times:
30 June 2015 - 1989 Surprise Song in Dublin, followed a Clean speech:
Everyone here tonight has [...] things that haunt them. [...]. Memories you wish you didn’t have. Memories you wish you could forget. [...] whether you lost someone you never thought you’d lose or you lost yourself. Or you fell in love with a person or a habit that was bad for you, and you couldn’t quit. [...].
22 October 2016 - her only live show of 15 songs that year, played between Style and an Enchanted/Wildest Dreams mashup. Harry and Taylor had been in New York.
22 May 2018 - Reputation Surprise Song in Seattle, first show after their anniversary.
29 August 2019 - BBC Live Lounge recorded in NY (above) one of 6 songs. Harry was in London, on the 19th he lost the Rose Ring.
27 May 2023 - Eras Surprise Song, NJ, in a green dress with False God. "I feel pretty good about this song for tonight, it's called Holy Ground". It also replaced EHC in the recorded Red intro when the Joe Break up was announced in April 2023.
Lyrics
I was reminiscing just the other day
While having coffee all alone, and Lord, it took me away
Back to a first glance feeling on New York time
Back when you fit my poems like a perfect rhyme
The first verse includes drinking coffee alone, coffee being a theme. Here Taylor drinks coffee alone, similar to Is it over now? “let's fast forward to 300 takeout coffees later" it is post-break up. This is in the original lyrics, but separated by distance.
The second half remembers a brief meeting and includes that Taylor and her muse travel a lot and share a love of poetry and rhyme.
The original lyrics differ here, importantly "back when" is missing, the relationship was still current and Taylor felt completed by the person. It was "Back to the first glance feeling on new time, you were the last word filling out the end of the rhyme"
Took off faster than a green light, go
Yeah, you skip the conversation when you already know
I left a note on the door with a joke we'd made
And that was the first day
This second verse hits themes in Haylor songs of how quickly they fit:
Lover "Have I known you for 20 seconds or 20 Years"
Labyrinth "Never trust it if it rises fast / It can't last"
Message In A Bottle: But time moves faster, replaying your laughter, disaster
You Are In Love: Time moved too fast, you play it back
Coney Island: The fast times, the bright lights, the merry go
Also skipping conversation is a theme of not communicating
The note on the door is visualised as a piece of paper on a hotel door in the lyric video. It reminds me of The Very First Night's "Didn't read the note on the Polaroid picture". This lyric also reminds me of Begin Again "I think it's strange that you think I'm funny, 'cause He never did"
And darling, it was good
Never looking down
And right there where we stood
Was holy ground
The Chorus is the end of the February 2012 lyrics. "Holy" ground has always confused me, but I think the clue is in the secret message, it was "Saint" Denis.
Down is in a lot of songs, this is just some:
Come Back... Be Here "And now that I can put this down"
IKYWT "'Til you put me down, oh"
Style "And when we go crashing down, we come back every time"
IWYW "We're a crooked love in a straight line down"
Wonderland "Took a wrong turn and we / Fell down a rabbit hole."
Spinning like a girl in a brand new dress
We had this big wide city all to ourselves
We blocked the noise with the sound of 'I need you'
And for the first time I had something to lose
tee hee Dress: "Only bought this dress so you could take it off"
Question…?: Good girl, sad boy, big city, wrong choices
Need is in:
Come Back… Be Here: I guess you’re in New York today, I don’t wanna need you this way
This Love: When you’re young you just run but you come back to what you need
New Romantics: We need love, but all we want is danger
End Game: I’m one call away whenever you need me
Don’t Blame Me: Shaking, pacing, I just need you
Need "Oh, It's a need, it's a need I would go anywhere that you lead"
And I guess we fell apart in the usual way
And the story's got dust on every page
But sometimes I wonder how you think about it now
And I see your face in every crowd
This verse is clear the relationship has ended, but was added after February 2012. Fell apart is also in:
The Very First Night: Back then we didn’t know we were built to fall apart
Out Of The Woods: "We were built to fall apart, then fall back together"
Taylor has also made the story/page reference is a theme in many songs
New Year’s Day: "Don’t read the last page, but I stay"
Death By A Thousand Cuts: "But if the story’s over, why am I still writing pages?"
Paris: "Privacy sign on the door and on my page and on the whole world"
Tonight I'm gonna dance
For all that we've been through
But I don't wanna dance
If I'm not dancing with you
There is a lot of dancing in Haylor songs:
22: Everything will be all right if we just keep dancing like we’re 22
The Very First Night: Danced in the kitchen, chased me down through the hallway
Out Of The Woods: To move the furniture so we could dance, baby, like we stood a chance
You Are In Love: You two are dancing in a snow globe 'round and 'round
Dancing With Our Hands Tied: If I could dance with you again
Cardigan: I knew you, dancing in your Levi’s, drunk under a streetlight
Cowboy Like Me: And you asked me to dance, but I said, “Dancing is a dangerous game”
Maroon: And I chose you, the one I was dancing with in New York, no shoes
Glitch: I thought we had no chance and that’s romance, let’s dance
and bonus Dancing, after this she learned to Dance alone:
Shake It Off: I’m dancing on my own, I make the moves up as I go
New Romantics: We are too busy dancing to get knocked off our feet
20 notes
·
View notes