Posted by Among the bonus tracks included in Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), the album reissued by Taylor Swift in 2023, I Can See You is definitely one of the most fascinating songs. Again a song about pure love, as in When Emma Falls In Love, but this time a more adult form of attraction, taking place in Taylor’s daily life. In this article, we will explore the song’s meaning, and you’ll also find the complete lyrics at the end.
You can listen to Taylor Swift’s I Can See You below.
I Can See You: the song lyrics & meaning
In the lyrics of I Can See You, Taylor Swift describes a secret attraction she feels for a man belonging to her daily life. Apparently, this man doesn’t know (yet) about what the singer feels for him. For this reason, Taylor Swift enjoys this special, secret moment, fantasizing about what she could do while the man is unaware of her attention.
At the song’s beginning, we picture Taylor Swift seeing this man walking next to her. He doesn’t imagine how her attention is pointed at him. And the singer stages a virtual conversation with him, where she confesses how she always had eyes for him and what she would do if nobody saw them.
You brush past me in the hallway
And you don’t think I, I, I can see ya, do ya?
I’ve been watchin’ you for ages
But what would you do if I went to touch you now?
What would you do if they never found us out?
What would you do if we never made a sound?
That’s why the lyrics repeat “I Can See You”: while he’s minding his own business, Taylor Swift is completely projected on him. She observes him, secretly enjoying the effects of her attraction. Until, at some point, she starts imagining physical contact, right there, in the public places where they both are.
’Cause I can see you waitin’ down the hall from me
And I could see you up against the wall with me
And what would you do? Baby, if you only knew
That I can see you
Who’s the man in the lyrics of Taylor Swift’s I Can See You? We know that after six years together, Taylor Swift broke up with Joe Alwyn in April 2023. Besides the usual rumors (including the speculations about her dating Fernando Alonso), nothing officially has emerged since then, confirming Taylor’s attention to keep her private life out of the spotlight. However, if the man mentioned in I Can See You refers to a real person she’s attracted to now, we can imply from the song that he belongs to her business context. Here are the lines that reveal it.
And we kept everything professional
But something’s changed, it’s somethin’ I, I like
They keep watchful eyes on us
So it’s best that we move fast and keep quiet
You won’t believe half the things I see inside my head
Wait ’til you see half the things that haven’t happened yet
In the lines above, Taylor Swift seems attracted to this man for a long time. And she’s already looking forward to the following steps, while he’s totally unaware of it. According to the lyrics, he keeps “everything professional,” but “something changed” at some point. This could imply that he’s someone Taylor Swift works with frequently and that the feelings were born only recently.
We don’t know who this person could be, and it’s not excluded that it’s just one of the many fictional characters Taylor Swift often involves in her songs. Surely, fans didn’t miss the poetry of the lyrics in I Can See You: a song about a secret love that is going to explode soon, explained in a moment when he doesn’t know what’s happening yet.
Read other popular song lyrics and their meaning on Auralcrave
The complete lyrics
You brush past me in the hallway
And you don’t think I, I, I can see ya, do ya?
I’ve been watchin’ you for ages
And I spend my time tryin’ not to feel it
But what would you do if I went to touch you now?
What would you do if they never found us out?
What would you do if we never made a sound?
’Cause I can see you waitin’ down the hall from me
And I could see you up against the wall with me
And what would you do? Baby, if you only knew
That I can see you
And we kept everything professional
But something’s changed, it’s somethin’ I, I like
They keep watchful eyes on us
So it’s best that we move fast and keep quiet
You won’t believe half the things I see inside my head
Wait ’til you see half the things that haven’t happened yet
But what would you do if I went to touch you now?
What would you do if they never found us out?
What would you do if we never made a sound?
’Cause I can see you waitin’ down the hall from me
And I could see you up against the wall with me
And what would you do? Baby, if you only knew, oh, oh, oh
That I could see you throw your jacket on the floor
I could see you, make me want you even more
What would you do? Baby, if you only knew
That I can see you
I can see you in your suit and your necktie
Passed me a note saying, “Meet me tonight”
Then we kissed and you know I won’t ever tell, yeah
And I could see you being my addiction
You can see me as a secret mission
Hide away and I will start behaving myself
I can see you waitin’ down the hall from me
And I could see you up against the wall with me
And what would you do? Baby, if you only knew, oh
That I could see you throw your jacket on the floor
I could see you, make me want you even more
What would you do? Baby, if you only knew
That I can see you, oh, I can see you
Oh, I see you, I see you, baby
I see you
(Uh-uh, uh, uh) I see you, I see you, baby
Oh, baby
