Welcome back to another episode of The Gospel According to, where we dissect all the beautiful creations this world has to offer, then turn them on their head to see things in a different way. This week, we have an exquisite Taylor Swift song called “Daylight.” Whether you’re a casual fan or completely in love with T-Swizzle, you’ll be encouraged by what this song has to offer. Enjoy!
Fandom: Taylor Swift “Daylight”
Verses: Psalm 27:4, Isaiah 60:1, 1 Thessalonians 5:4-6, 8, 1 Peter 2:9, Romans 12:2, 21
Nugget: When we are fully focused on understanding and knowing God, there’s no sense in looking anywhere but at Him. Stepping into the Daylight of a relationship with Christ brings renewal and the power to let go of the past.
The Horizontal View: The “New-Love” Glow
Let’s start off by examining the lyrics of “Daylight” by Taylor Swift from a human-to-human or horizontal perspective. From what I can tell, this song is telling the story of Taylor’s new love, and compares it to the beginning of a new day after twenty years of night. She speaks of her previous, mistaken beliefs about love (I once believed love would be black and white) and how she lived before she met her person.
After meeting them, Taylor’s world has completely changed. She speaks of deceitfulness turned to honesty, of darkness turned to light, and of new hope and joy and peace.
This song is lovely on its own, but what happens when we look at it from a different angle?
The Vertical View: Children of the Day
“I don’t wanna look at anything else now that I saw you; I don’t wanna think of anything else now that I thought of you.” -Taylor Swift “Daylight”
You’ll hear this said all the time, and I believe it to be true: that the heart of everything that is good and pure and noble and trustworthy in this world points us to God, and that He is the only thing worth living for. King David agrees with this: “One thing have I asked of the LORD, that I will seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple.” Psalm 27:4 ESV
The Hebrew word translated as “the beauty of the LORD” is no’am Yehovah. It means “kindness, pleasantness, delightfulness, beauty, favor; agreableness, splendor or grace.” I can’t help but compare this to the beloved person Taylor speaks of in her song, who is surely a kind, agreable, delightful person to look at and spend time with (otherwise why would she sing about never wanting to look at or think about anything other than him?). But it also reminds me of the grace, kindness, favor, and delightfulness of God. When we are truly focused on knowing and understanding God, there is no sense in looking at or thinking about anything that doesn’t point back to Him.
I’ve been sleeping so long, in a 20-year dark night, but now I see Daylight, I only see Daylight.” – Taylor Swift “Daylight”
You know that feeling when you’ve just met the person whom you’re pretty sure is the love of your life, or something at work or school went super well, or a whole list of little things has gone right today and there hasn’t been anything negative to throw it off yet? When the lights and the colors and the scents and tastes of the world start to feel a little brighter, a little sweeter, a little more precious because you’re just that happy to be alive? That’s what walking with Jesus is like. “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.” Isaiah 60:1 ESV That is what the people of Israel felt when their coming salvation was announced, and that is how believers feel when we are reminded of the joy of our salvation in Christ.
Want more odes to the wonder of true love? Check out these posts!
- Wild Cub Thunder Clatter: The Gospel According to Electropop
- Imagine Dragons: Next To Me
- The Gospel According to Etta James: At Last…
And it doesn’t stop there: “For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. So then let us not sleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober… Since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.” 1 Thessalonians 5:4-6, 8 ESV In these verses, the word “sleep” refers to apathy, the exact opposite of the feeling I just described. But because our hearts have been transformed by Christ, we are fully awake to the way the world is and how we should live in it. It’s a feeling not of fear, but of relief and joy — because this world is broken, but our God is great and His grace is beautiful.
“You gotta step into the Daylight, and let it go…” – Taylor Swift “Daylight”
Stepping into and walking in the light of the Lord means leaving the darkness behind. When you have Jesus walking beside you, the most kind, most gracious, most suitable and perfect and wonderful of all, you don’t need the shame or the guilt or the momentary cares of this life anymore. “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” 1 Peter 2:9 ESV Jesus called me out of my darkness into His light, and it is my joy to tell the world all about it.
“I once believed love would be black and white, but it’s golden… Like Daylight.” – Taylor Swift “Daylight”
The last part of this song speaks of Taylor’s misconceptions of love before she met her Person, and how glad she was to be wrong. From the dull simplicity of black and white, to the angry passion of red, to this soft, bright, solid gold of a new day and a new life. This description kind of mirrors the character (and the album covers) of her previous albums and the content of the songs therein. Many of Taylor’s older songs are full of hurt, anger, and sadness, but this one feels dreamy and content.
In the same way, when we turn and look upward and outward to Jesus and the beautiful world He’s placed us in instead of inward and downward to ourselves and our own dust and shadows, our entire perspective on life, the universe, and everything is radically changed. “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:2 ESV The same qualities that we examined from Psalm 27 are still true today, and the longer I spend walking with Jesus, the more convinced I am of the goodness and grace and perfection of Him. True love is real, friends. True love is real, and it is powerful: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Romans 12:21 ESV💖
I hope you were inspired by this dissection of “Daylight” by Taylor Swift. If you were, please feel free to save and share wherever and however you might see fit. And let me know what you think below!
Happy fangirling!
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