Songwriting Teacher Reacts: I Know Places (Taylor Swift)

Added: 2026-05-06

[00:00:00]Well, we could talk about soil microbes, but let's talk song. Before we start, let me quickly thank more than 50 paying members of this enterprise here on YouTube plus the ones on Patreon. Thank you very much. Thanks especially to the songists here and to the song talkers over on Patreon called Andrew Morgan, QMSE, My Unfinished Ideas, Jonathan Ribeiro, JC Prince of Wales, Amy May, Jennifer Grinder, Lina, and Bloody Mary 26. If the rest of you also want to chip in, please check the links in description. Today, I'm going to analyze I Know Places requested by songist member QMSE, songer member Paulo Freitas, Patreon member Jennifer Grinder, and regular viewers Kem Calix, Crazy Cool Cashvi, and Anna Dreamer. I really want to learn more about Taylor Swift's amazing songwriting. So, without further ado, let's get going.

[00:00:53]>> [music] >> Interesting.

[00:00:58]I believe it's something like a tonal center.

[00:01:10]Relatively confusing. Um maybe we find the melody notes that we hear and try and find our way to the key from there.

[00:01:27]Okay.

[00:01:30]So, we might actually be in the key of A minor. We don't really know yet. But, um it's interesting.

[00:01:40]>> [music] >> That's special. I like that. Um melody, maybe this uh tells us more.

[00:01:53]>> [music] >> Not really, because we have got A and uh E. We certainly always go back to the A, so the A seems to have some kind of tonal center function.

[00:02:05]Okay. And the the melodic line repeats.

[00:02:09]>> [music] >> Cool. It doesn't sound like a Taylor Swift song. It's super interesting. You stand with your hand on my waistline.

[00:02:21]Super cool first line, because we not only establish the first rhyme that we then follow through with, but also include that beautiful internal rhyme with stand and hand, right? You stand with your hand on my waistline.

[00:02:36]It's a scene, and we're out here in plain sight.

[00:02:40]I can hear them whisper as we pass by.

[00:02:43]Beautiful alliteration with whisper and we. It's a bad sign, bad sign. Really, really cool.

[00:02:52]>> [music and singing] >> Okay, new melody in that second verse half. The melodies all start after the downbeat so far.

[00:03:08]And this might actually be the definite proof that we are in A minor, because it's the five notes that form the base of the scale.

[00:03:20]>> [music] >> Repeat that motive.

[00:03:28]>> [music] >> Wow, very, very cool. Um something happens when everybody finds out. See the vultures circling dark clouds.

[00:03:39]Love's a fragile little flame, it could burn out. It could burn out. So, always repeating that last line and making it very, very powerful. I'm really curious to find out what's next.

[00:03:52]>> [music] >> Okay, we've always got this maybe with the following chords.

[00:04:01]>> [music] >> Maybe with E major as the dominant chord, right? It could also be minor, but I think it's that harmonic minor dominant feel that we have there, right?

[00:04:17]A minor F, D minor, and E. Really, really cool.

[00:04:26]New melody.

[00:04:33]On the downbeat with a tiny pickup even with cause, cuz they got and guns.

[00:04:42]>> [music] >> Wow, beautiful. I believe that this is the pre-chorus, right? With cuz they got the cages, they got the boxes, and guns.

[00:04:55]They are the hunters, we are the foxes, and we run. Six lines or two groups of three creating an imbalance and really wanting us to move to a hopefully very powerful chorus.

[00:05:12]>> [music] >> And then they move to a super cheesy axis of awesome chord that of course also is Taylor Swift's signature. Um combining that experimental verse and the powerful refrain or chorus, I should say, beautifully.

[00:05:31]A bit confused with the third chord.

[00:05:42]>> [music] >> So, it's not the axis of awesome, but it's a C G D minor, right? With one five [music] two minor four as the progression. So, tiny reharm choice in the third chord, where we don't have the A minor we would expect in the axis of awesome.

[00:06:02]Um beautiful melody as well.

[00:06:07]>> [music] >> I know places we won't won't won't be.

[00:06:25]>> [music] >> With a fifth leap down. Very, very characteristic of Taylor Swift.

[00:06:38]So, baby.

[00:06:42]Interesting that it's two half notes forming the beginning of the chorus melody.

[00:06:49]Powerful and long.

[00:06:56]And then it's repeated, right?

[00:07:03]Okay. Baby, I know places we won't be found and they'll be chasing their tails trying to track us down cuz >> [music] >> Okay, beautiful hook in that second chorus half with >> [music] >> I think it's that, right?

[00:07:34]Really, really beautiful.

[00:07:39]>> [music] >> That leap is just insane, right? It's a tenth leap, an octave plus a third.

[00:07:53]>> [screaming] >> Beautiful, beautiful.

[00:08:00]Right? And the the I Know Places idea they repeat, but don't uh add this we can hide.

[00:08:08]Landing on the E.

[00:08:11]And repeating the I Know Places.

[00:08:14]>> [music] >> We are clearly in the verse, right? So, lights flash and we run for the fences.

[00:08:25]Let them say what they want, we won't hear hear it.

[00:08:30]Um she likes the word fences.

[00:08:34]This was clearly a mirroring of you stand with your hand on my waistline and so on.

[00:08:42]Again with that internal idea, loose lips sink ships all the damn time.

[00:08:46]>> [music] >> And repeat the last line.

[00:08:52]>> [music] >> We cut to the chase. We shorten the verse so that we get to the pre-chorus quicker.

[00:08:58]The pre-chorus is still that bit.

[00:09:04]Right? The pre-chorus is the thing that we know, different lyrics though.

[00:09:08]>> [music] >> Cool, cool, cool. A half of it is the same lyrics, half of it is the different is a different lyrics. Just grab my hand and don't ever drop it, my love is certainly different. And then we go back to something familiar. They are the hunters, we are the foxes, and we run with that uh brilliant shout.

[00:09:31]>> [music] [music] >> And going into a primary bridge, where we combine elements from the chorus and the pre-chorus.

[00:09:54]>> [music] >> So we have got the progression from the chorus. We have got the 1 5 2 minor 4.

[00:10:09]We also have got they are the hunters we are the foxes and we run from the pre-chorus I believe with another melody though.

[00:10:17]>> [music] >> No, it's the same melody.

[00:10:27]And then we go into a broken down chorus that will explode. I can promise you that.

[00:10:37]>> [music] >> I know places we can And of course they repeat that hook, right? The because they know it's the strongest suit of the song.

[00:10:53]>> [music] >> Um ad-libs uh lyrics and melody take their shots but we're bulletproof.

[00:11:05]Right? Take their shots but we're bulletproof.

[00:11:19]Going back down.

[00:11:23]>> [music] >> And then going back up.

[00:11:31]>> [music] >> And they don't go back to the A.

[00:11:37]Song written by Ryan Tedder and Taylor Swift. Now I Now I understand this powerful pop appeal. Ryan Tedder, amazing songwriter and lead singer of that band.

[00:11:51]One Republic.

[00:11:52]Let's look at the lyrics of that ad-libby or it's not ad-lib lyrics.

[00:11:57]Let's look at the lyrics of that outro idea. They take their shots but we're bulletproof and you know for me it's always you and then they turn it around in the second half. In the dead of night your eyes so green and I know for you it's always me, right? And this is how the song ends. This was Taylor Swift's I Know Places and I'm sure we can take away very valuable songwriting learnings. Songwriting learning number one is about motive establishment in the verses and changing it before it gets boring. This time we have got three lines that are basically the same at the beginning followed by a fourth line that breaks the pattern a little bit. You stand with your hand on my waistline.

[00:12:36]It's a scene and we're out here in plain sight. I can hear them whispers as we pass by. Always the same melody, always the same rhyming pattern and we keep the rhyming pattern but change the melody and the rhythm. It's a bad sign. It's a bad sign is the fourth line. So it's a very good idea to establish a pattern and motive in the verses but be careful and change it maybe in the third line, maybe in the fourth line to avoid boredom. Songwriting learning number two, a chorus can consist of more than one hook. The chorus starts with that beautiful hook that then gets repeated and then they have got this strong thing that will form the most powerful hook of the song which is that beautiful beautiful beautiful. So you can't overdo hooks in choruses. Make sure to include at least a strong one, maybe two, maybe three, maybe 400. And songwriting learning number three, sometimes your primary bridge can just be a combination of your chorus chord progression and your pre-chorus melody.

[00:13:50]Remember that we start the progression with they are the hunters we are the foxes that we know from the pre-chorus on the chords of the chorus.

[00:14:02]>> [music] >> Right? Building tension and making it really really powerful as a primary bridge.

[00:14:11]They are the hunters we are the foxes and we run is also lyrically a very tense thing, right? That really wants us to go to that explosion in the last chorus that works well because this primary bridge builds toward it.

[00:14:24]And this was my life reaction and on the fly analysis of I Know Places by Taylor Swift. If you like this, please make sure to give me the thumbs up, to subscribe to the Let's Talk Song channel and to leave friendly comments maybe also suggesting other songs you would like me to analyze.

[00:14:38]Thank you to all the people who suggested this song here and thanks especially to the songists and song talkers Andrew Morgan, Hume MSE, Myon Finished Ideas, Jonathan Ribeiro, JC Prince of Wales, Amy May, Jennifer Grandad, Lena and Bloody Mary 26. If the rest of you also want to contribute financially, please check the links in descriptions. I guess we've talked song.

[00:15:00]You can talk about soil microbes now.

[00:15:02]Bye-bye.

[00:15:08]>> [music] [music]