Released: December 11, 2020

Songwriter: Aaron Dessner Taylor Swift

Producer: Aaron Dessner

[Verse 1]
If I wanted to know who you were hanging with
While I was gone, I would've asked you
It's the kind of cold, fogs up windshield glass
But I felt it when I passed you
There's an ache in you, put there by the ache in me
But if it's all the same to you
It's the same to me

[Chorus]
So we could call it even
You could call me "babe" for the weekend
​'Tis the damn season, write this down
I'm stayin' at my parents' house
And the road not taken looks real good now
And it always leads to you and my hometown

[Verse 2]
I parkеd my car right between the Methodist
And thе school that used to be ours
The holidays linger like bad perfume
You can run, but only so far
I escaped it too, remember how you watched me leave
But if it's okay with you, it's okay with me

[Chorus]
We could call it even
You could call me "babe" for the weekend
​'Tis the damn season, write this down
I'm stayin' at my parents' house
And the road not taken looks real good now
Time flies, messy as the mud on your truck tires
Now I'm missing your smile, hear me out
We could just ride around
And the road not taken looks real good now
And it always leads to you and my hometown

[Bridge]
Sleep in half the day just for old times' sake
I won't ask you to wait if you don't ask me to stay
So I'll go back to L.A. and the so-called friends
Who'll write books about me if I ever make it
And wonder about the only soul
Who can tell which smiles I'm fakin'
And the heart I know I'm breakin' is my own
To leave the warmest bed I've ever known
We could call it even
Even though I'm leaving
And I'll be yours for the weekend
​'Tis the damn season

[Chorus]
We could call it even
You could call me "babe" for the weekend
​'Tis the damn season, write this down
I'm stayin' at my parents' house
And the road not taken looks real good now
Time flies, messy as the mud on your truck tires
Now I'm missing your smile, hear me out
We could just ride around
And the road not taken looks real good now
And it always leads to you and my hometown

[Outro]
It always leads to you and my hometown

Taylor Swift

One of the defining artists of the 2010s, Taylor Alison Swift, born December 13th, 1989, is an American singer-songwriter and actress who has achieved success in both country and pop. Raised on a Christmas tree farm in Pennsylvania, Swift moved to Nashville, Tennessee at age fourteen to pursue a career in country music. Scott Borchetta signed Swift to his then-nonexistent label Big Machine Records after seeing her perform at the Bluebird Cafe in November 2004.

Swift debuted in June 2006 with “Tim McGraw,” an ode to a lover who would be leaving town. The song served as an introduction to her self-titled debut album, which touched upon topics like heartbreak and bullying Swift faced at school. Her honesty and relatability appealed to fans from all walks of life, and went on to become the longest-charting album of the 2000s, spending 227 weeks on the Billboard 200.

Swift’s sophomore effort, Fearless, came in November 2008 and cemented her status as a country superstar, while tracks like “Love Story” and “You Belong With Me” also garnered mainstream attention. Not only did the record become her first number one, but it also became the most-awarded country album of all time, winning accolades such as the Grammy award for Album of the Year. Until Billie Eilish’s 2020 win, then-20-year-old Swift was the youngest person to have ever received the honor.