Taylor Swift - The Man

Written By: Joel Little & Taylor Swift

Produced By: Joel Little & Taylor Swift

Here’s an anthem for anyone who’s felt blocked by sexist double standards. Swift knows a thing or two about being treated differently in the music industry. As a woman in the public eye, she’s repeatedly stood up for herself against mistreatment by men, whether in the courtroom or through her music. In “The Man,” written with her frequent collaborator Joel Little, Swift reimagines that history in the form of a bombastic, empowering bop. “I’m so sick of running as fast as I can, wondering if I’d get there quicker if I was a man,” she complains. “Cause if I was a man, then I’d be the man.”

“The Man” was confirmed as an official Lover track in Taylor’s Vogue interview from August 8, 2019. In the song, Taylor “plays with the idea of perception.” According to Vogue, "she has often wondered how she would be written and spoken about if she were a man.”

Taylor explains: "It’s a thought experiment of sorts: ‘If I had made all the same choices, all the same mistakes, all the same accomplishments, how would it read?’"

On January 27, 2020, the song was confirmed by Billboard’s Senior Director of Charts, Gary Trust, as the fourth official single off of Lover after it was sent to both pop and adult pop radio.

[Verse 1]

I would be complex, I would be cool

They'd say I played the field before I found someone to commit to

And that would be okay for me to do

Every conquest I had made would make me more of a boss to you

[Pre-Chorus]

I’d be a fearless leader, I'd be an alpha type

When everyone believes ya, what's that like?

[Chorus]

I’m so sick of running as fast as I can

Wonderin' if I'd get there quicker if I was a man

And I'm so sick of them comin' at me again

'Cause if I was a man, then I'd be the man

I'd be the man (Man)

I’d be the man (Man)

[Verse 2]

They’d say I hustled, put in the work

They wouldn't shake their heads and question how much of this I deserve

What I was wearing, if I was rude

Could all be separated from my good ideas and power moves

[Pre-Chorus]

And they would toast to me, oh (Ayy), let the players play

I’d be just like Leo in Saint-Tropez

[Chorus]

I'm so sick of running as fast as I can

Wonderin' if I'd get there quicker if I was a man

And I’m so sick of them comin' at me again

'Cause if I was a man, then I'd be the man

I'd be the man (Man)

[Bridge]

What's it like to brag about raking in dollars

And getting bitches and models?

And it's all good if you're bad

And it's okay if you're mad

If I was out flashin' my dollars

I'd be a bitch, not a baller

They'd paint me out to be bad

So it's okay that I'm mad

[Chorus]

I'm so sick of running as fast as I can

Wonderin' if I'd get there quicker if I was a man (You know that)

And I'm so sick of them comin' at me again (Comin' at me again)

'Cause if I was a man (If I was a man), then I'd be the man (Then I'd be the man)

I'm so sick of running as fast as I can (As fast as I can)

Wonderin' if I'd get there quicker if I was a man (Hey)

And I'm so sick of them comin' at me again (Comin' at me again)

'Cause if I was a man (If I was a man), then I'd be the man

I'd be the man (Man)

I'd be the man (Man, oh)

I'd be the man (Man, yeah)

I'd be the man (Man, I'd be the man)

[Outro]

If I was a man

Then I'd be the man

Taylor Swift on Sexism, Scrutiny, and Standing Up for Herself

The identity of “The Man”, by Taylor Swift: an analysisThe analysis of Taylor Swift’s composition, The Man, will be based on Stuart Hall’s theory of representation and identity, also considering Foucault’s conception of power. The song’s lyrics are…

Taylor Swift Discusses ‘The Man’ & ‘It’s Nice To Have a Friend’ In Cover Story OuttakesIn two moments from Taylor Swift’s recent cover interview that did not make the final cut, Billboard’s Woman of the Decade touched upon two of the more interesting songs in her discography: “…

Taylor spoke to Billboard Magazine about “The Man” during her interview for Woman of the Decade:

It was a song that I wrote from my personal experience, but also from a general experience that I’ve heard from women in all parts of our industry. And I think that, the more we can talk about it in a song like that, the better off we’ll be in a place to call it out when it’s happening. So many of these things are ingrained in even women, these perceptions, and it’s really about re-training your own brain to be less critical of women when we are not criticizing men for the same things. So many things that men do, you know, can be phoned-in that cannot be phoned-in for us. We have to really — God, we have to curate and cater everything, but we have to make it look like an accident. Because if we make a mistake, that’s our fault, but if we strategize so that we won’t make a mistake, we’re calculating.

There is a bit of a damned-if-we-do, damned-if-we-don’t thing happening in music, and that’s why when I can, like, sit and talk and be like ‘Yeah, this sucks for me too,’ that feels good. When I go online and hear the stories of my fans talking about their experience in the working world, or even at school — the more we talk about it, the better off we’ll be. And I wanted to make it catchy for a reason — so that it would get stuck in people’s heads, so they would end up with a song about gender inequality stuck in their heads. And for me, that’s a good day.

This is a song that I have wanted to write for a very long time, but never knew exactly how to. I often think about what my career would have been like, and what my headlines about my career would have been like if I had been a man instead of a woman. Not what would I do differently or anything, but if I had had the same accomplishments, the same mistakes, the same dating history, the same statements — what would have been different? This is a song called ‘The Man,’ and it’s just about how the world would be if I had been a dude in my approximations of it.

— Via the iHeartRadio Lover Album Release Party and Secret Session

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