What It Means to be a Mirrorball

From all of Taylor Swift’s albums that she has released over the past fifteen years, “Folklore” is an indie-folk album released in July of 2020 which houses some of the most relatable and personal songs lyrically.

One of my favourites on this album - and among Swift’s entire discography - is “mirrorball”. The mirrorball, usually known as a disco ball, is an extended metaphor throughout the song.

According to CBC, Taylor is known to be one of the best lyricists of our generation, and I wholeheartedly agree. Her songs have amazing storytelling, and though she often writes about her own experiences, she has the ability to connect and resonate with us - her audience.

Before I dive deeper into the song “mirrorball”, I highly recommend you to listen to the song if you haven’t already, and pay close attention to the lyrics.

For ease and concision, I will be addressing the “I” in the song as “she”.

Before looking at the song itself, the title is too important to skip, “mirrorball”. When you think of a mirrorball (or a disco ball), you would imagine it as a glamorous, shining, sparkling item, high up on the dance floor, existing for others’ entertainment, whether it’d be for dancing or setting up a clearer atmosphere. It’s something that people marvel at for their ambience, but a mirrorball is only like this because it is made up of thousands of reflective surfaces. These small squares have been broken thousands of times from a collage of glass. These fractured, broken squares of glass constitute the collage of a mirrorball. When light is shone on the mirrorball, it’s a shiny, beautiful thing, but when the lights are off, it’s still hanging on the ceiling, but nobody is watching it. In my view, the mirrorball represents people in society who have been broken many times to get to where they are today, but most people can only see their altered, yet ‘perfect’ persona In reality, they’re struggling to upkeep that persona. Moreover, the metaphor of mirrorballs alludes to individuals who have different versions of themselves that they show to different people. Despite being unintentional, it is clear that everyone does this. For example, you would act differently in front of your parents than you do with your friends, and differently than you would with your teachers.

[Verse 1]
I want you to know
I'm a mirrorball
I'll show you every version of yourself tonight
I'll get you out on the floor
Shimmering beautiful
And when I break it's in a million pieces

Right off the bat, she explicitly says that she is “a mirrorball”. She says that she is going to “show you every version of yourself tonight”, which could mean that she reflects and mirrors the people around her. This could make her go through an existential crisis where she’s in constant self questioning. “I’ll get you out on the floor” is like a fun invitation to come to the dance floor, suggesting that she is an exciting person who is able to push you to step out of your comfort zone and have fun every once in a while - we love these people! After the line “shimmering beautiful”, she says that “when [she] breaks it’s in a million pieces”. This shifted line shows her vulnerability, that even though she looks so put together, she is prone to being ‘broken’.

[Verse 2]
I can change everything about me to fit in
You are not like the regulars
The masquerade revelers
Drunk as they watch my shattered edges glisten

“Chang[ing] everything around me to fit in” suggests how she feels like she has to act or be a certain way in front of other people, like she’s out of place within her friends and surroundings, that she can’t be her true fragile self around them. She then mentions how “you” are “not like the regulars”, the regulars she is referring to are “the masquerade revelers”. A masquerade is a party where people wear masks, and masks can be associated with being fake or hiding the wearer’s true identity. A reveler is someone who dances, sings, basically has great fun at a party, usually noisily. She says that these masquerade revelers are “drunk as they watch [her] shattered edges glisten”, where each shard of reflective glass had been shattered, therefore having a sharp edge, resembling a harmful shard, but the word “glisten” suggests that the spectators are enjoying the view. She’s implying that “you” aren’t like those people who hide their true selves while they are fascinated by someone’s struggling and pain.

Finally, the bridge. My favourite part of the song, and it definitely hits the hardest.

[Bridge]
And they called off the circus
Burned the disco down
When they sent home the horses
And the rodeo clowns
I'm still on that tightrope
I'm still trying everything to get you laughing at me

The first few lines clearly illustrate a circus - a bright, dazzling, eye-catching amusement - closing as all the glamour dies down. However, she’s “still on that tightrope. . .trying everything to get you laughing at me”, conveying that although everyone else had stopped trying, stopped working so hard, she’s still doing anything she can in hopes to still fulfill the expectations of those around her. Taylor wrote this part about herself in 2020, where she found out that all her shows had been canceled, but she was still writing songs, even though she had a reason to just sit back.

[Bridge]
I'm still a believer but I don't know why
I've never been a natural
All I do is try, try, try

She says that she’s “still a believer”, but she “doesn’t know why”, implying that she has believed (that she is already ‘perfect’) before, but she only got let down, and thus she doesn’t know why she’s still believing for a change. “All I do is try, try, try” is repetition creating a really powerful statement showcasing her struggling and true efforts, while giving her absolute best. The word “try” however, implies that an attempt has been made, but the goal was not reached.

In a clip where Taylor was talking about her “Folklore” album, she describes the song as “lonely, disco ball, twinkly lights, neon signs, a couple of stragglers on the dance floor, just sort of a sad, moonlit, lonely experience”, and she mentions about “mirrorball” that “It’s a metaphor for so many people who have to be different versions of themselves around different people . . . Everybody has to be duplicitous, or feels like they have to, in some ways be duplicitous, and that’s part of the human experience but it’s also exhausting.”

Mirrorball is a song that Taylor wrote in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic, witnessing shows and concerts being forced to stop, but people and her fans were still expecting her to shine and entertain, creating new songs and albums. But the way this song was written makes it possible for many and most people to relate. The way that Taylor is able to translate those familiar, melancholy feelings into poetry and music is ethereal. It makes you feel understood in a comforting way.