Karma is....what?
Who is flexing: The cat? Karma? or Taylor? Plus, our deep dive into "Karma" from the Midnights album is available now!
Me and karma vibe like that. This week, we got to dive into this fan favorite song. From the laundry list of things that karma is to how Taylor views herself in relation to karma, we loved getting into these lyrics!
🎧 Listen above and ⬇️ scroll below to read a special credit from Jenn, Jodi, AND Maansi all about who is actually “flexing” in this song.
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📜 This Week’s Extra Credit by All of Us!
In this week’s episode, we spent a lot of time unpacking all of the metaphors Taylor uses to describe karma: a god, the breeze in her hair, a cat purring on her lap, etc. (I, Jenn, am writing this as I sit in a deeply uncomfortable position to because of a purring cat, so that line is giving me mixed feeling at the moment). However, one metaphor turned out to be a bigger mystery than expected — “flexing like a goddamn acrobat.” Ok, so we understand that acrobats are strong and can show off incredible skills. That we get. But…. who is doing the flexing? Each of us had a different answer, so for this week’s extra credit, we will each present our arguments. Before we dive in, though, let’s just quickly revisit the whole section so we have the full context of the lyrics.
Sweet like honey, karma is a cat
Purring in my lap 'cause it loves me
Flexing like a goddamn acrobat
Me and karma vibe like that
Taylor is Flexing — Jenn
Ok, so “flexing” can have two different meanings. The more literal one is flexing a muscle to display the size of it, but it also has the more colloquial meaning of “oh that’s a flex.” In other words, a “flex” can be just generally showing off something, whether it be a skill, a life situation, etc. Here’s an example that carries on the overall cat theme as well. My cat, Hades, lets me pick him up. He doesn’t love it, but he will allow it. My husband’s cat, Peggy, doesn’t let ANYONE pick her up. She’s deeply bonded to my husband, but she’s just a hard no on the picking up situation. So sometimes, because of who I am as a person, I’ll pick up Hades and walk into a room with Chris in it and be like “Hades, let’s show your dad what it looks like for someone to pick up a cat.” In that moment, I am flexing. It’s not about muscles, but the fact that I can do something with my cat that Chris can’t do with his cat is “a flex.”
Context matters, because I always interpreted the flexing here to be more the colloquial definition. I also believed that it was modifying the following line. So “flexing like a goddamn acrobat” is referring to the fact that “me and karma vibe like that.” So with this interpretation, Taylor is “flexing” that she vibes so strongly with karma.
The Cat is Flexing — Jodi
It literally never occurred to me that it WASN’T the cat flexing. I always saw these three lines as the three things the cat is/does:
Karma is a cat
Said cat is purring in my lap because it loves me
Said cat in my lap flexes like a goddamn acrobat. How cute!
What does it mean to “flex” like a goddamn acrobat? In this moment, I always see an acrobat leaping from one trapeze to the other, arms outstretched, reaching as it flies fearlessly through the air. Do you know who else often stretches out their body, reaching for something, either in midair or out of the need for a deep stretch? CATS! So my image of a cat flexing doesn’t exactly look like one showing off its biceps (no disrespect to Jenn’s fabulous Canva image above).
The term “flexing” to me is not as important as is the full phrase “flexing like a goddamn acrobat” which I always took to mean one of the poses above, which could very easily be mistaken for an acrobat.
Therefore, Karma is a cat that purrs in my lap and stretches out its little body because it loves me and feels safe with me, and THAT is how me and Karma vibe.
Do I have a cat? No, I am the one co-host without a cat. Will I defend a cat’s ability to flex like a goddamn acrobat? ABSOLUTELY!
Karma is Flexing — Maansi
The lyrics are:
karma is a cat
Purring in my lap 'cause it loves me
Flexing like a goddamn acrobat
Me and karma vibe like that
Your Honor, I am here to argue that “Flexing like a goddamn acrobat” is modifying Karma itself. Because the whole chorus is about Karma. Karma is my boyfriend, karma is the cat, karma’s flexing, Me and karma vibe like that. If Karma is the subject of the chorus, it is the one that is flexing.
How or why is karma flexing you may be wondering? I’m so glad you asked. I reference Jenn’s earlier definitions of “flexing.” The fact that the cat purring in her lap is “a flex.” But whereas Jenn attributes this flex to Taylor (the object to whom the cat is purring), I attribute it to the object of the whole chorus. If karma is a cat, karma’s actions of purring in her lap is the flex. Karma flexes by purring in the speaker’s lap. It’s showing off, rubbing its very karma-ness in everyone’s face. Imagine karma saying, “Hi, I’m a cat. I’m not just cute, I’m cuddly, and I’m going to prove my existence by crawling into this very deserving human’s lap, and being extra cute, cuddly, and purry.” Karma isn’t just real, it isn’t just present, it’s showing off. It’s glorious and it’s flexing like a god damn acrobat. Karma isn’t just there. It’s showing up, going out of its way, jumping through hoops and doing the most for the speaker. Because “me and karma vibe like that.”
So…. Who’s Flexing?
What do you all think? Leave a comment to let us know! We need this debate settled!