I'm fine with my spite and my tears, and my BEARDS... That was a Lie [Opalite 5]

 

Back to what Andrea is saying in Opalite:

Sleepless in the onyx night

But now the sky is opalite

Oh oh oh oh, oh my Lord

Never met no one like you before

You had to make your own sunshine

Taylor has to repeatedly spell it out for us (spelling is fun!) so here is sunshine, and daylight, and You Need to Calm Down again.

Sunshine is also in Peace. Taylor feels hopeless that because of her celebrity status, devoted fanbase, and brand money-making machine, she can never live a peaceful life in her truth. Any partner will be negatively impacted.

Relationships are sacrificed for the career and brand

A clear Big Sur reference

[There is a musical change (key change?) here so I can’t decide if we go back to Taylor’s voice, or if this is still Andrea talking.]

But now the sky is opalite

Oh oh oh oh oh

This is just

A storm inside a teacup

Teacups are so Mad Hatter, like Wonderland. 

But also mentioned in Gold Rush.

Karlie was literally made out of dominoes:

So, anyway back to the song at hand:

[There is a musical change (key change?) here so I can’t decide if we go back to Taylor’s voice, or if this is still Andrea talking.]

But now the sky is opalite

Oh oh oh oh oh

This is just

A storm inside a teacup

[If it’s Andrea talking, it’s about a mother protecting her daughter-sweet. If it’s Taylor talking, she’s talking about sheltering a secret lover from the scrutiny.]

But shelter here with me, my love

Thunder like a drum

Drums have been mentioned twice in Taylor’s catalog, both times in anger and extreme sadness. 

Is it like a heartbeat drumming?

This life will beat you up, up, up, up

This is just a temporary speed bump

But failure brings you freedom

Failure brings you freedom seems like an important line. Failure to actually come out? Failure of originally getting her masters? Failure of a relationship ?

Lavender Haze [from Taylor implants (queer) clues into music videos]

 Could signal protector, and/or aspirations greater than dating the boy on the FB team:

https://www.astrorient.com/bow

It looks like Taylor had a bit of fun with this map:

Right off the bat, I see she marked locations for her exes:

The map isn’t super-specific, but here’s some fun approximations Taylor may have been alluding to:

Augusta, Forbes, Gaylord, Kaylor

 

She’s silly finding all the beaver:

And we know how special Big Sur is to Taylor.

Another Augustine and a name-check.

Seriously, I scoured that area of NY and this is the only plausible option I came up with:

Long Pond, her Christmas tree farm, and kitties.

And Stonewall.

Look at the color scheme:

Delphiniums in her safe place…

Beyond the walls of the safe space, is the fish bowl:

Next we have a calming, lavender bath:

Owning the lavender part of herself is scary, back to the protection of the delphinium in the safe space:

People are around for this party:

BIG difference in relationship dynamic in front of people and cameras:

from:

She is really emphasizing that beard:

The nature of their relationship is very hazy, indeed

It’s giving:

The fishbowl outside:

It’s a set. Everything is fabricated. Nothing is as it seemed.

We see the cloud of lavender haze, even after Taylor’s safe space has been knocked down, and she’s visible in the fish bowl. 

This speaks to her being able to come out.

But she still wants the lavender haze (protective bearding) to lend her image and romantic life ambiguity so she can feel safe.

Out of the closet, into the fish bowl.

But she pulls the lavender haze cloud over the top of her, obscuring view.

She’s no longer trapped inside, but Taylor is still somewhat hidden from prying eyes.