Taylor Swift - Innocent (Taylor's Version)

Taylor penned “Innocent” after Kanye West stormed the stage at the 2009 Video Music Awards after Taylor won an award for her “You Belong With Me” music video and took her microphone. In the song, she forgives Kanye, talking about how the incident doesn’t define him. “Innocent” is about learning from one’s mistakes and becoming a better person, which Kanye sadly did not do. Taylor later performed this song at the 2010 VMAs.

Following the incident, Kanye went into solitude in Hawaii where he recorded his magnum opus “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy”, based off of the incident with Swift.

Written By: Taylor Swift

Produced By: Christopher Rowe & Taylor Swift

[Verse 1]

I guess you really did it this time

Left yourself in your war path

Lost your balance on a tightrope

Lost your mind tryin' to get it back

[Pre-Chorus]

Wasn't it easier in your lunchbox days?

Always a bigger bed to crawl into

Wasn't it beautiful when you believed in everything

And everybody believed in you?

[Chorus]

It's alright, just wait and see

Your string of lights are still bright to me, oh

Who you are is not where you've been

You're still an innocent

[Verse 2]

Did some things you can't speak of

But at night, you live it all again

You wouldn't be shattered on the floor now

If only you had seen what you know now then

[Pre-Chorus]

Wasn't it easier in your firefly-catching days?

When everything out of reach

Someone bigger brought down to you

Wasn't it beautiful running wild 'til you fell asleep

Before the monsters caught up to you?

[Chorus]

It's alright, just wait and see

Your string of lights are still bright to me, oh

Who you are is not where you've been

You're still an innocent

It's okay, life is a tough crowd

Thirty-two and still growing up now

Who you are is not what you did

You're still an innocent

[Bridge]

Time turns flames to embers

You'll have new Septembers

Every one of us has messed up, too, ooh

Minds change like the weather

I hope you remember

Today is never too late to be brand new

Oh, oh

[Chorus]

It's alright, just wait and see

Your string of lights is still bright to me, oh

Who you are is not where you've been

You're still an innocent

It's okay, life is a tough crowd

Thirty-two and still growing up now

Who you are is not what you did

You're still an innocent

[Outro]

Lost your balance on a tightrope, oh

It's never too late to get it back

Written By: Taylor Swift

Produced By: Nathan Chapman & Taylor Swift

[Intro]

Oh-oh, oh-oh

[Verse 1]

You were in college working part time waitin' tables

Left a small town, never looked back

I was a flight risk with a fear of falling

Wonderin' why we bother with love if it never lasts

[Pre-Chorus]

I say, "Can you believe it?"

As we're lyin' on the couch

The moment I could see it

Yes, yes, I can see it now

[Chorus]

Do you remember, we were sittin' there by the water?

You put your arm around me for the first time

You made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter

You are the best thing that's ever been mine

[Verse 2]

Flash forward and we're takin' on the world together

And there's a drawer of my things at your place

You learn my secrets and you figure out why I'm guarded

You say we'll never make my parents' mistakes

[Pre-Chorus]

But we got bills to pay

We got nothing figured out

When it was hard to take

Yes, yes, this is what I thought about

[Chorus]

Do you remember, we were sittin' there by the water?

You put your arm around me for the first time

You made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter

You are the best thing that's ever been mine

Do you remember all the city lights on the water?

You saw me start to believe for the first time

You made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter

You are the best thing that's ever been mine

[Post-Chorus]

Oh-oh, oh-oh

[Bridge]

And I remember that fight, 2:30AM

As everything was slipping right out of our hands

I ran out crying and you followed me out into the street

Braced myself for the goodbye

'Cause that's all I've ever known

Then you took me by surprise

You said, "I'll never leave you alone"

[Chorus]

You said, "I remember how we felt sitting by the water

And every time I look at you, it's like the first time

I fell in love with a careless man's careful daughter

She is the best thing that's ever been mine"

[Post-Chorus]

Hold on, make it last

Hold on, never turn back

(Hold on) You made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter (Make it last)

(Hold on) You are the best thing that's ever been mine (Hold on)

[Outro]

Yes, yes, do you believe it? (Hold on)

Yes, yes, we're gonna make it now (Hold on)

Yes, yes, I can see it

Yes, yes, I can see it now