"Cardigan" by Taylor Swift takes us on a musical journey through nostalgia, reminding us that sometimes your past and first love sticks in your heart forever. With its meaningful lyrics, the song shows the bittersweet emotions that come with remembering about lost love, cherished memories, and why it still matters now.

In this world there are many worries with people thinking artists can't release anything anymore because of lockdown, but Taylor proved people's worries wrong. As COVID was long and everyone was locked in their homes, Taylor surprised her fans with a new album "Folklore". With this album came 16 beautifully written songs that are about characters she created to show what happened to her previous relationships. In this song's music video, the setting, different backgrounds, and props has been described as a cottage core aesthetic, featuring Swift in three different settings: a cozy cabin in the woods, a moss-covered forest, and a dark stormy sea, which represents the concept of the different phases in relationships. This song turned out so good and everyone seemed to love it. It received nominations for Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards. "Cardigan" reached the top at the global Spotify songs chart with over 7.742 million streams, which was, at that time, the biggest opening day for a song on the platform in 2020. With the song at the number-one spot of the Billboard Hot 100 as well, Swift scored the sixth U.S. number-one single of her career. Along with Folklore at the top of the Billboard 200 the same week, she became the first artist ever to reach the Hot 100 and Billboard 200.

We begin with the album’s lead single, which comes first on the track list but seems to be occurring last on the timeline. “Cardigan” is narrated by a woman named Betty who is in a love triangle with her boyfriend, James, looking back on her previous relationship from when she was younger. Betty remembers being lost and insecure, and she says her ex, James, made her feel secure and safe: “When I felt like I was an old cardigan under someone’s bed, you put me on and said I was your favorite.” In her difficult story, they had a warming and loving romance that ended when James cheated on her. “Chase two girls, lose the one. When you are young, they assume you know nothing.” At the end of the song, she writes how James shows up at her doorstep unannounced... But we don't know what happens later because the song ends with the lyrics "I knew you'd come back to me."

In all of the songs in this album, she continues to sing about this love triangle in many different ways. But talking about Cardigan, this song shows importance still now because when she calls out the truth about men and their "love" decisions like to cheat on the women that love them the most or to just leave the woman that's right for them, she is warning us to pick the right man and if you won't, he could leave you with no hesitation. This is such an eye-opening song because you can never be sure about the men you're with. It's a powerful song with her calling out the men with the lyrics "Leaving like a father, running like water", "I knew you'd come back to me", "Chase two girls, lose the one", "You drew stars around my scars, but now I'm bleeding". Her message to this song being women should be careful with choosing their men because you never know them truly until they break your heart. She put all of her heart and emotions to this song so that people that lost their young love could be able to relate to it. Swift writes about how young love stays in your heart permanently and that matters so people could be careful with picking their first love, as they stay in your heart forever.

"Cardigan" in many ways shows us how your first and young love stays in your heart forever and why it still matters now in the world. Her lyrics are beyond meaningful, and we are left with the appreciation for the song because of how she really writes down her feelings and makes it beautiful and relatable. This enchanting song reminds us that our past experiences shape who we are and the memories that stick in our hearts forever. Olivia Rodrigo looks up to Swift and writes in the same format as her in her songs, such as "Driver’s License", "The Grudge", "Traitor", and many more. There is definitely more songs Taylor has made that has the same topic as this song, but I think this song is much more clear and more emotional to the listeners. Taylor Swift has created a piece that is relatable to listeners, creating emotions that are both familiar and personal.