ByDanielle Cohen,
senior news editor at the Cut. From 2021 to 2024, Danielle was a writer covering pop-culture news and entertainment for the Cut.
Photo: Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images
On Wednesday, Taylor Swift became a doctor, which is to say she received an honorary degree from New York University and delivered the class of 2022’s commencement speech during their graduation at Yankee Stadium. Because she is not a doctor by profession but a storyteller, Taylor worked many of her signature literary flourishes into the 23-minute speech, in which she talked about cringe, wine, and feeling embarrassed about that time she dressed like a 1950s housewife. And even though I would have accepted a Taylor Swift cover of “Graduation (Friends Forever),” it was nice to hear the sage, sisterly advice she offered the crowd of graduates.
It also sounded a little … familiar. Are these rejected Taylor Swift lyrics? I wondered as the words “learn to live alongside cringe” played on a loop in my head. Are they promotions for aspirational pillows Taylor is selling on Etsy? Maybe they’re fortune-cookie messages. Or are they? Let’s find out.
Is This a Line From Taylor Swift’s NYU Commencement Speech or a Fortune Cookie?
If you get it wrong, you will look back on your life and cringe retrospectively. — Taylor Swift
Correct. Taylor has a cat backpack, so I know she has experience trying to carry it all at once.
Nope. I can assure you this quote is a pointed reference to Taylor’s cat backpack, but I understand if you mistook it for something more symbolic.
Wrong. No fortune cookie has dated men as terrible as Taylor's exes, so what do they know about being discerning?
Correct. If Taylor could write her own destiny, she’d have that red scarf back by now.
Wrong. She is a good writer, but if she could write her own destiny, she’d have that red scarf back by now.
Correct! No one can convince me this isn’t a scrapped Folklore lyric.
Wrong. Have you heard Folklore?
Yep. Taylor Swift loves big journeys, especially when they are to her boyfriend's hometown of London, but we all know her preferred mode of travel is inside a suitcase.
No, but she did talk about pretending to fight with her mom on planes so they could keep the middle seat empty, which is pretty wise.
