Taylor Swift & Hayley Williams’ “Castles Crumbling” Lyrics Are Just As Emo As You Hoped

Taylor Swift and Paramore fans’ entire lives have been leading up to this. On July 7, the Grammy winner’s long-awaited collaboration with Paramore’s Hayley Williams, “Castles Crumbling,” finally arrived as one of the new “From the Vault” tracks on Speak Now (Taylor’s Version). The song, written solely by Swift herself like all of Speak Now, is a slightly emo and very cathartic anthem, as fans hoped from the joint forces of Swift and Williams. But some Swifties pointed out a much darker connection to a Speak Now fan favorite.

“Castles Crumbling” sees the singer’s legacy completely falling apart, imagining a world where she’s no longer trusted by fans. “They used to cheer when they saw my face,” Swift sings. “Now, I fear I have fallen from grace.” Williams’ verse shares a similar fate, illustrating how simple mishaps and unfair hardships can affect entire careers. “Once, I was the great hope for a dynasty, crowds would hang on my words and they trusted me,” she sings. The common thread in their narrative is the belief that their own mistakes caused their downfall. “Power went to my head and I couldn't stop,” they sing on the pre-chorus. “Ones I loved tried to help, so I ran them off.”

In a July 5 interview with Coup de Main, Williams said she was “thankful” to have become friends with Swift as their careers soared and explained how she related to “Castles Crumbling.” “I heard the song and was super impressed by the storytelling in it, which is no surprise because it’s a Taylor Swift song,” she said. “It’s about an experience that both of us have shared growing up in the public eye, and I just felt very honored to get to sing about that feeling. And yeah, I just really love it.”

Many fans have noted the contrast between “Castles Crumbling” and Speak Now’s finale, “Long Live,” even calling it the song’s “dark sister.” Whereas “Long Live” sees Swift honoring her fans, singing about “fighting dragons” with them and promising “we will be remembered,” “Castles Crumbling” focuses on her fears and anxiety of the world deserting her, even her biggest fans. Eagle-eyed Swifties have linked it back to the “Bejeweled” video from October 2022, in which an orchestral version of “Long Live” plays as her new castle crumbles underneath her, indicating that it was an Easter egg about the new song all along.

Read the full “Castles Crumbling” lyrics below.

[Intro: Taylor Swift]

(Once, I had an empire)

(Once, I had an empire)

(Once, I had an empire)

[Verse 1: Taylor Swift]

Once, I had an empire in a golden age

I was held up so high, I used to be great

They used to cheer when they saw my face

Now, I fear I have fallen from grace

[Chorus: Taylor Swift & Hayley Williams]

And I feel like my castle's crumbling down

And I watch all my bridges burn to the ground

And you don't want to know me, I will just let you down

You don't wanna know me now

[Verse 2: Hayley Williams]

Once, I was the great hope for a dynasty

Crowds would hang on my words and they trusted me

Their faith was strong, but I pushed it too far

I held that grudge 'til it tore me apart

[Pre-Chorus: Taylor Swift & Hayley Williams]

Power went to my head and I couldn't stop

Ones I loved tried to help, so I ran them off

And here I sit alone behind walls of regret

Falling down like promises that I never kept

[Chorus: Taylor Swift & Hayley Williams]

And I feel like my castle's crumbling down

And I watch all my bridges burn to the ground

And you don't want to know me, I will just let you down

You don't wanna know me now

[Bridge: Taylor Swift]

My foes and friends watch my reign end

I don't know how it could've ended this way

Smoke billows from my ships in the harbor

People look at me like I'm a monster

Now they're screamin' at the palace's front gates

Used to chant my name

Now they're screaming that they hate me

Never wanted you to hate me

[Chorus: Taylor Swift & Hayley Williams]

My castle's crumbling down

And I watch all my bridges burn to the ground

And you don't want to know me, I will just let you down (Just let you down)

My castle's crumbling down

You don't wanna know me now, now

[Outro: Taylor Swift]

(Once, I had an empire)

(Once, I had an empire)

(Once, I had an empire)