From Taylor Swift to Bob Marley: Exploring Babylon as Music's Ultimate Metaphor

The protagonist in Taylor Swift's Babylon spends most of the track longing for something different, viewing a small town as a cage, envying a neighbour's lawn, and wishing for store-bought clothes instead of hand-me-downs. Eventually achieving financial success, expensive watches, and professional advancement only leaves this character emotionally drained. Swift employs Babylon to encapsulate both the constructed lifestyle and a state of mind where true fulfilment remains perpetually out of reach, singing, “You never knew that it was Babylon / 'Til it was gone.”

Released on Friday as part of the expanded edition of The Life of a Showgirl, the song introduces a fresh interpretation to a name that has shouldered various meanings throughout western music history. For centuries, the ancient Mesopotamian city has served composers and songwriters as a versatile metaphor representing imperial arrogance, exile, oppression, decadence, ambition, and collapse. While other ancient cities in arts and literature carry fixed associations—such as Rome for political power or Athens for philosophy and democracy—Babylon has always remained more nebulous, evoking mystery or serving as a concise lyrical placeholder for danger and longing.

Located roughly 85km south of Baghdad in modern Iraq, Babylon grew into a major ancient Mesopotamian centre famed for its grand temples and monumental architecture. Ancient Greek writers amplified its reputation for massive wealth, while biblical texts portrayed the city more darkly, inspiring generations of artists from the Renaissance to the 19th century. The Tower of Genesis created an enduring western symbol for overreach, a theme explored by the German-born British composer George Frideric Handel in his 1745 oratorio Belshazzar to capture imperial power on the brink of ruin.

This biblical imagery later inspired the Jamaican reggae group The Melodians in their 1970 hit Rivers of Babylon, transforming the city into a site of exile and homesickness. Bob Marley subsequently recast Babylon in political terms during his 1979 track Babylon System, using it to denounce colonial oppression and economic exploitation. Conversely, Lady Gaga utilized the name differently to close her 2020 party album Chromatica with Babylon, playing on the phrase “babble on” to address public gossip. British singer-songwriter David Gray also tied the name to a Saturday night in modern London in his hit Babylon, capturing crowds, loneliness, and romantic regret.

Swift's track mirrors some of Gray's emotional themes regarding luxury and professional drive, yet her protagonist remains uncertain about what constitutes a fulfilled life—a condition she terms “the self-harm of never being where you are.” Interestingly, newly reconstructed cuneiform manuscripts from the library of Sippar published in 2025 reveal that the ancient Hymn to Babylon celebrated the city's creature comforts and green pastures, proving that home has always been where the heart is.