Fans convinced Taylor Swift’s new song “Mad Woman” is about Daenerys Targaryen

Game of Thrones fans are convinced that Taylor Swift’s new song “Mad Woman” is about the final days of Daenerys Targaryen. After listening to it, so am I.

Taylor Swift is an admitted Game of Thrones superfan. And I’m not making this up; she outlined how the songs on her 2017 album reputation were directly inspired by the show. “‘Look What You Made Me Do’ is literally Arya Stark’s kill list,” she said last year. “‘King of My Heart’ was influenced by Khal Drogo and Daenerys. It’s even got this post-hook of drums — I wanted them to sound like Dothraki drums…’I Did Something Bad’ I wrote after Arya and Sansa conspire to kill Littlefinger. [That song and ‘Look What You Made Me Do’ have] Cersei vibes, too. Daenerys as well.”

Okay, so with context, I wasn’t that shocked to hear that people thought that one of her songs — “Mad Woman,” off her newly released album Folklore — was inspired by Daenerys Targaryen’s genocidal spree in the final season of Game of Thrones. And listening to it…yeah, I see it. Check out the song:

Honestly, I’m not sure how you couldn’t see it. Just look at the lyrics:

"Every time you call me crazy, I get more crazy/What about that?And when you say I seem angry, I get more angryAnd there’s nothing like a mad woman/What a shame she went madNo one likes a mad woman/You made her like thatAnd you’ll poke that bear til her claws come out and you find something to wrap your noose around"

Am I crazy? I don’t think you have to read very deep into this to see a sympathetic take on Daenerys Targaryen’s final descent into violence. There’s the word “mad,” of course, which was associate with her father, “the mad king,” and with Targaryens in general. Dany’s story in season 8 was all about her trying to lay claim to the Iron Throne, but encountering resistance from the very people she was trying to rule. Was she always mad, or were people trying to undermine her — like Sansa and Varys — driving her to the edge?

Speaking of Sansa, this line from the first verse stuck out: “Does she smile, or does she mouth, ’f*ck you forever?’” Anyone else get flashbacks to Dany’s famous strained smile during her chat with Sansa in “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms”?

Image: Game of Thrones/HBO

And the lyrics continue:

"It’s obvious that wanting me dead has really brought you two together"

Once again, this underlines Daenerys’ increasing paranoia throughout the season, as people she thought she could trust, like Tyrion Lannister, start to waver. Even Jon Snow, although he said he had her back, was under a lot of pressure to flip.

Speaking of Jon, this line could be a reference to him:

"I’m taking my time, taking my timeCause you took everything from meWatching you climb, watching you climbOver people like meThe master of spin has a couple side flings"

Was Jon trying to “take everything” from Daenerys? I don’t think, but that’s how it felt in the moment. And the “master of spin” sounds like a twist on Varys, the “Master of Whisperers,” who tried to install Jon on the throne in place of Dany.

While everything so far has been pretty general, there are some lyrics that seem to reference more Game of Thrones-specific elements:

"Does a scorpion sting when fighting back?"

Puts me in the mind of the scorpions Cersei and Euron used to take down Dany’s dragons. And speaking of that…

"Now I breathe flames each time I talkMy cannons all firin’ at your yacht"

Obviously, “breathing flames” brings to mind dragons, and Dany did incinerate Euron Greyjoy’s fleet.

So yeah, I think this case is pretty convincing, and Twitter agrees with me:

Taylor Swift could not be reached for comment…we’re guessing. We didn’t actually try.

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h/t Cosmopolitan, Metro