Dress

**Dress** is the 12th track on reputation. Though there have been many rumors about who the steamy ballad was written about, including model Karlie Kloss, Ed Sheeran, Drake, Tom Hiddleston, and Joe Alwyn, Taylor Swift did tell fans at a Reputation Secret Session that *all* positive songs on the album are about Joe Alywn.

## Lyrics

[Verse 1]

Our secret moments in a crowded room

They got no idea about me and you

There is an indentation in the shape of you

Made your mark on me, a golden tattoo

[Pre-Chorus]

All of this silence and patience, pining and anticipation

My hands are shaking from holding back from you

Ha, ah, ah

All of this silence and patience, pining and desperately waiting

My hands are shaking from all this

Ah, ha, ha, ha-ah

[Chorus]

Say my name and everything just stops

I don't want you like a best friend

Only bought this dress so you could take it off

Take it off, ha, ha, ha-ah

Carve your name into my bedpost

'Cause I don't want you like a best friend

Only bought this dress so you could take it off

Take it off, ha, ha, ha-ah

[Verse 2]

Inescapable, I'm not even gonna try

And if I get burned, at least we were electrified

I'm spilling wine in the bathtub

You kiss my face and we're both drunk

Everyone thinks that they know us

But they know nothin' about

[Pre-Chorus]

All of this silence and patience, pining and anticipation

My hands are shaking from holding back from you

Ha, ah, ah

All of this silence and patience, pining and desperately waiting

My hands are shaking from all this

Ah, ha, ha, ha-ah

[Chorus]

Say my name and everything just stops

I don't want you like a best friend

Only bought this dress so you could take it off

Take it off, ha, ha, ha-ah

Carve your name into my bedpost

'Cause I don't want you like a best friend

Only bought this dress so you could take it off

Take it off, ha, ha

[Post-Chorus]

Ha-ah-ah, ha-ah-ah, ha-ah-ah-ah

Only bought this dress so you could take it off

Ha-ah-ah, ha-ah-ah, ha-ah-ah-ah

Only bought this dress so you could take it off

[Bridge]

Flashback when you met me, your buzzcut and my hair bleached

Even in my worst times, you could see the best in me

Flashback to my mistakes, my rebounds, my earthquakes

Even in my worst lies, you saw the truth in me

And I woke up just in time, now I wake up by your side

My one and only, my lifeline

I woke up just in time, now I wake up by your side

My hands shake, I can't explain this

Ah, ha, ha, ha-ah

[Chorus]

Say my name and everything just stops

I don't want you like a best friend

Only bought this dress so you could take it off

Take it off, ha, ha, ha-ah

Carve your name into my bedpost

'Cause I don't want you like a best friend

Only bought this dress so you could take it off

Take it off, ha, ha, ha-ah

[Outro]

There is an indentation in the shape of you

Only bought this dress so you could take it off

You made your mark on me, golden tattoo

Only bought this dress so you could take it off

## Commentary

* "This song was one of those things where almost every line is something that I came up with like a year before, and then when I was writing the song, I just cherry picked, and I was like, ‘Like that, like that, like that, like that.’ And I was really proud of the hook of this because it sounds like a pickup line, and yet it is a love song about deep and tender feelings." —Taylor Swift, via iHeartRadio

## References

1. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20171111152137/https://961kiss.iheart.com/content/2017-11-10-taylor-swifts-iheartradio-reputation-release-party-everything-we-learned/