Down Bad… For Your Twin?

Taylor Swift, Muni Long, and Twins!

It’s April 19th, 2024, and, like most Swifties, I’m at a listening party for “The Tortured Poets Department.” I’m reading the lyrics to the fourth track, “Down Bad,” as they come up on screen, vibing along in an imaginary gym until… Wait, what was that line?

Taylor Swift uses the simile to express the depth of her grief over breaking up with her partner, presumably Joe Alwyn. Referring to someone who you aren’t related to as your “Twin” isn’t a new idea, of course. You may remember a few million TikToks from early January of Muni Long’s stunning song “Made for Me” where people poured their hearts out to the lyrics to celebrate their closeness with their best friend, spouse, parent, and every other relation imaginable. The specific lines of that song are:

In a video on the creation of “Made for Me,” Long states that the “Twin” line is one of her favorites of the song. She goes on to explain that Twin is “something you say when you really connect with somebody” and how the song came at the perfect time when this concept as well as twin flames¹ were trending.  

I decided to examine these songs together in order to explore why this concept of finding your Twin is so popular, what impact it has on defining twinship, and how this alternative definition relates to being a biological twin. The most glaring problem I recognized is that both of these songs are romantic love songs, where the singer casts their lover into the Twin role. This risks conflating the love one feels for their Twin with romantic love. Incestuous relations especially between male and female fraternal twins is a persisting trope in media that fetishizes twins – just think of Luke and Leia from Star Wars – and, in a way, these songs also perpetuate that. The biological relation is removed in order to excuse desire. They covet the intimacy of twinship in a romantic context, crafting these idealized, one-of-a-kind relationships. Of course that’s something that’s attractive to anyone seeking love.

Additionally, Swift is directly relating a breakup to the grief of losing a twin. Though I do think it expresses the raging delusion and hopelessness of heartbreak that “Down Bad” is trying to capture, I can see how it would be offensive to anyone who has unfortunately lost their twin. Meanwhile, Long’s song is titled “Made for Me” which, when paired with the lover being addressed as Twin, reduces the lover’s/Twin’s individualism to be dependent on the speaker. 

Chances are you weren’t thinking about any of these things when you listened to either of these songs and, yeah, you shouldn’t be. Overwhelmingly, the message of these songs in relation to twins is positive. 

This idea of the twin being a social connection as opposed to a biological one lends itself to the concept of found family. It evokes a deep intimacy that’s beyond romantic. To me, a big part of what it means to be a twin is shared experience and prolonged proximity. In a sense, it creates this kind of shared knowledge base and emotional fluency with your twin. This isn’t entirely different from what it is to be in a relationship – platonic or romantic. Finding someone that you feel incredibly close to and who shares your history and interests is rare and should be viewed as precious. “Made for Me” is used as a tool to treasure that twinship whereas “Down Bad” disparages its loss.²

I think using the term twin out of the traditional context is a good thing, but not great for encouraging authentic twin representation. It moves being a twin out of an othering niche and into a sphere that a lot of people understand, but it’s also an immense simplification. “Twin” cannot capture complexities of twinship like identicality and being raised alongside each other. However, the concept does foster individualism and connection which I believe should always be encouraged.

So, whether you have a biological twin or not, go forth and find your Twin! Sing “Made for Me” at the top of your lungs when you reunite, pick out something matching to wear, and when you part ways, that’s what “Down Bad” is for. Platonically or romantically, cherish who you love.

1. Really Big Side Note: A twin flame, as Tanaaz Chubb describes it, is “when our own ‘energetic cloth’ grows so big with love that our energy splits into two” (Forever Conscious). Tying it back to Taylor Swift (because it always comes back to her), in “All Too Well (Ten Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version),” Swift mourns, “And did the twin flame bruise paint you blue? / Just between us, did the love affair maim you too?” She frames this “split” as a painful experience, the pair having lost parts of themselves to make this twin flame. Intriguingly, this makes “Down Bad” the second time she’s used “twin” in relation to heartbreak.

2. Losing your Twin would definitely make you say fuck at least seventeen times.