Taylor Swift And Fall Out Boy Both Have Said "you Are What You Love", And It's Such A Strange Lyric To

Taylor Swift and Fall Out Boy both have said "you are what you love", and it's such a strange lyric to me.

Taylor Swift said it in "Daylight", where she sings

I wanna be defined by the things that I love

Not the things I hate

Not the things that I'm afraid of, I'm afraid of

Not the things that haunt me in the middle of the night

I, I just think that

You are what you love

Fall Out Boy has it in the middle of their song "Save Rock at Roll"

You are what you love

Not who loves you

In a world full of the word 'yes'

I'm here to scream

I think this lyric is so wierd. I didn't understand it the first time I heard it (on the FOB song, circa 2014). I'd defined so much of my existence around being loved by other people. I thought that was what normal people wanted. Why wouldn't they? Being loved by others is a fulfilling high. An emotional rush or endorphins. The ultimate goal. Right?

But these songs both reject that attitude. They both touch the story of someone who "trouble seems to follow". This is a person who has been in the dark and has now found the light. For FOB, I think the "light" comes from music, hence the chorus and title "Save Rock and Roll". But for Swift, the "light" comes from loving someone whose love for her is "golden".

That seems like character growth for both, but not completely. FOB went on hiatus for a number of reasons, but musical differences were a part of it. They nearly broke up because of the music, but they got back together because of it too. Swift was hurt by who she loved in the past, and became jaded as a result. But this new "golden" love could prove to be just as flawed over time.

So we are what we love. Swift is a romantic. FOB are musicians. Despite how those things have hurt them in the past, they can't help it. It's who they are. It doesn't matter if those things fade away for a time, they'll always find their way back. It took me 7 years to figure that out.

You are what you love, too. So what are you?