The best of times, the worst of crimes
New episode: Deep Dive into "Getaway Car" out now!
In this week’s episode, we did a deep dive into the lyrics and the cultural context of “Getaway Car.” Not only is the song itself incredibly well-written (as if anyone of us could forget how iconic the song-writing process was), but it’s building upon the true story of Bonnie and Clyde, the crime-spree couple who changed the American perception of getaway cars forever. Check out our conversation now!
Have you been wanting to get your hands on some of the books and other media that we discuss in our episodes? Check out our Bookshop.org storefront where we have curated book and media lists for every topic that we have covered so far!
This week’s extra credit - brought to you by Jenn
I’ve said it probably 100 times already on the podcast, but I absolutely love discussing metaphors because they are ripe for my favorite question - “why?” Why this metaphor? Why choose this particular image to get across your message? Metaphors work because they take some sort of image or concept that you, the audience, already associates with emotions and ideas, and then uses those pre-existing associations to help you understand something new.
I remember when I was trying to explain to my husband how excited I was about going to the Eras Tour, I used a metaphor to help him grasp how I was feeling. I compared how I felt about the Eras Tour to how he would feel if he was able to see Purdue win the NCAA tournament. He will never personally feel as excited about the concert as I did, but by using a metaphor to explain it, he was able to step into that excitement with me and say “ohhhhhh ok! I get it.”
The Getaway Car Metaphor
Using a getaway car as a metaphor was honestly just such a fun choice. It conjures up images of bank robberies, high speed car chases, and illicit romance thanks to Bonnie and Clyde. All of those images and emotions are so powerful, but for this extra credit I wanted to go even more high level and talk about the overarching implication of crime in this song.
We get the idea that a crime was committed right away in this song - “It was the best of times, the worst of crimes.” We discussed that line briefly in this week’s episode, but since then I keep wondering what the “crime” even was that the speaker committed. To get into that, we first need to understand who is involved in the story.
In the narrative of this song we have three characters - I, you, and he. The implication is that there is some sort of love triangle where the speaker is leaving someone (“I wanted to leave him, I needed a reason”) and immediately partnering up with someone else (“You were drivin’ the getaway car”). So again, what is the crime happening here?
Looking at the opening line “it was the best of times, the worst of crimes,” we are trying to figure out what “it” is. The end of that section of lyrics is the line “I wanted to leave him, I needed a reason.” Based on the structure of the opening verse, it’s fairly logical to conclude that the “crime” here is leaving the “him” character. Which begs an additional question, why is that a crime? Also, why does the narrator need a reason? Wanting to leave someone is usually a good enough reason to leave them, so why is the narrator creating such a negative connotation around this action?
It’s Time for a Jail Break
Let’s briefly hit pause on those questions to dig in more into the mindset of the narrator to see what that exposes. The extended metaphor of a getaway car is in play throughout the song (of course), but I was particularly struck by the idea of a “prison break” in the line “It was the great escape, the prison break / The light of freedom on my face.”
In the standard getaway car narrative, the getaway car is waiting outside of a bank, jewelry store, etc. so that the one committing the crime can hop in with the goods and go. However, with the line above, this narrative is implying that the getaway car is waiting outside of a “prison.” So taking that idea and putting it in the context of the love triangle story, the idea then would be that the narrator is “trapped” or “imprisoned” in a relationship with the “him” character, and the narrator escapes that relationship and hops in the car with “you” to get away.
I think this image is worth pausing on because it is so powerful. As is now tradition, Jodi brought up the idea that this song isn’t necessarily about a romantic relationship during our conversation about this song. I think this “prison break” moment is where that is particularly true. It’s so easy to feel trapped in any sort of situation and feel like you can’t leave unless you are hopping into something better right away. Leaving a relationship, a job, a friendship, a city, etc. feels so much easier when you are going towards something new and not just leaving behind something that isn’t working for you anymore. Yet it does sometimes feel like a crime to simply say, “I am doing this because it is what I want to do.”
The Real Crime? A Woman Prioritizing Herself
Ok ok, I may be projecting a bit here (doesn’t good art always inspire a little bit of personal projection though?), but the more I thought about this song, the more I thought that the “crime” here was the narrator simply trying to find happiness. You could also argue the crime is the trail of hurt feelings the narrator is leaving behind, but my counter-argument to that is that it’s probably better to hurt some feelings and move on than it is to stay in a place where you don’t want to be long-term.
One of my favorite things about growing up with Taylor is seeing her music mature and develop as she starts to choose herself and her career in an uncompromising way. And I would argue that in “Getaway Car” we see that same conclusion to the story.
Let’s look at the bridge (it’s always the bridge):
We were jet-set, Bonnie and Clyde (oh-oh)
Until I switched to the other side, to the other side
It's no surprise I turned you in (oh-oh)
'Cause us traitors never winI'm in a getaway car
I left you in a motel bar
Put the money in a bag and I stole the keys
That was the last time you ever saw me (oh!)Drivin’ the getaway car
The way that the bridge transitions into the chorus implies that this time, the narrator is driving the getaway car. This entire section is where first see some total agency from the narrator. The original prison break leads to the narrator hopping into the getaway car and asking the new driver to “go, go, go.” It’s some freedom, but the narrator is still just going along for the ride. However, now in the bridge, the narrator is taking control. Turning in the partner, stealing the keys, and driving away to wherever she wants to go.
What I love about this is that we don’t know where the narrator is going. Is someone else in the car with her? Maybe. But the most important part of the bridge is that the narrator is choosing to leave. We open the song with “needed a reason,” and we wrap up with her saying she “stole the keys.” It’s a subtle growth, but I believe this song starts with a narrator who is trapped in this endless cycle, and while we don’t know if that cycle is completely resolved by the end, we see key changes that tell us the narrator is growing.
Ultimately, it’s kind of a messy song. There isn’t a clear distinction between good and bad (and in fact - it’s “us traitors” implying they are all not great). But I think it’s that messiness that makes it such a beloved song. Those moments in life where you aren’t sure you want to be where you are but you also aren’t sure where to go next are pretty messy too. I think this extended metaphor captures that feeling so well, and let’s be honest, it also doesn’t hurt that it’s a straight up bop.
To conclude, all I’ll say is Taylor, please give us a Getaway Car music video. Please? #justiceforgetawaycar