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Few songs onTaylor Swifts tenth album,Midnights, were met with more anticipation than Karma.
Its one of her more playful moments on the album.
But could there be something more to it?
Now I sound like a Swiftie, but this is poetic, she joked.
You wrote to me that Taylor Swift has definitely been thinking about what karma really means.
Theres an economy of words here.
Its repeated and its beautiful and catchy, and she has a lovely voice.
I like the expression Its coming back around.
And there are different ways she says that.
After that lyric, she says, I keep my side of the street clean.
And that also makes sense if you pair it with the other lyric, Karmas a relaxing thought.
Thats one of the lines I want to talk about.
My interpretation of this song is Taylor is talking to some of the people who have wronged her.
And in Buddhism, it comes to mean intentional, ethical action.
She deserves this because shes put in her positive karma.
A Buddhist would maybe be a little worried about resting on your laurels there.
But karma is more about thinking about what oneself is doing.
So if a Buddhist monk were talking to Taylor Swift, he might ask, Do you exercise philanthropy?
What do you support?
And maybe she is; maybe thats why shes so sure that her side of the street is clean.
Who am I to judge?
There are a couple that I really like.
Can I tell you?
Yes, kindly.I like, Dont you know that cash aint the only price?
Thats a correct interpretation of karma.
Karmas often compared to credit that you owe.
Maybe the creditor didnt call you today, but they will find you.
Karmas on your scent like a bounty hunter / Karmas gonna track you down.
Thats also exactly right, according to a Buddhist frame, that it follows you.
Karmas often compared to a wind, a force that doesnt have an essence.
It goes with Karmas a relaxing thought.
So if I do something murderous, I might be killed.
For that to be like a cozy kitty cuddling in your lap, that makes you think.
And then is there some Swiftie inner meaning for Karma is a god?
I dont see any reading of this that goes along with the Taylor Swift lore.
I think its just her saying that karma is powerful.That may be the right way to read it.
And weve been in this process of cyclical rebirth since beginningless time.
So karma is in some ways the Buddhist equivalent to saying that Im here because God put me here.
Its saying, Im here because my karma led to my existence in this condition at this time.
She probably is saying what you said: Karma is powerful.
You dont pray to someone else to do that for you; you get up and do it.
Karma and justice, they are ideas that work well together.
I have a few smaller questions about the song as well.
A micro-narrative of this album has been thatTaylor Swift is cursing a lot more than she used to.
In some religions, that is a bad thing.
So if you are cursing so you can hurt someone, then thats negative karma.
But here, this thing about flexing like a goddamn acrobat, shes not actually cursing at someone directly.
Thats bordering on neutral to me.
And yesterday, in the beginning of class, I played the song for the whole lecture hall.
What did she get?
They were very judgmental, I think probably because they just had to memorize all these ideas about karma.
So they were sticklers with her; they didnt give her much leeway.
I was actually a little bit of a kinder grader: I think she got a B. Im not saying that its somehow profoundly Buddhist; I wouldnt go that far.
A B exceeds expectations, and thats what I think youve been saying that she did.Totally.
She exceeded my expectation.
I thought it was going to be crap when you asked me.
And then I listened to it and found myself humming it later.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
