Songfacts®:

• "Long Story Short" is Taylor Swift's reflections on her personal redemption following the events of 2016 when her reputation took a battering. In July of that year the Pop Princess was humiliated after a video was posted showing a phone call between her and Kanye West. The clip appeared to show the songstress giving her tacit approval to Yeezy's references to her in his "Famous" cut; Swift had previously denied approving his lyrics, and denounced the track as having a "strong misogynistic message." Here, Swift references the public criticism she garnered following the incident.
  
  And I fell from the pedestal
  Right down the rabbit hole
  Long story short, it was a bad time
  
  Around the same time, Swift broke up with her boyfriend, the Scottish DJ and record producer Calvin Harris. She dove into a fling with English actor Tom Hiddleston, which acted as a release from the emotional stress she was enduring at the time.
  
  Pushed from the precipice
  Clung to the nearest lips
  Long story short, it was the wrong guy
  
  That relationship didn't last long, and the series of breakups further hindered Swift's public reputation. Then she fell in love with the English actor Joe Alwyn; this time, Swift found a safe place and genuine comfort where she could restore her emotional health.
  
  No more keepin' score
  Now I just keep you warm
  
  Swift concludes the song by looking back on the public flogging she took and shrugging:
  
  Long story short, it was a bad time
  Long story short, I survived
• During the bridge, Swift namechecks the album title.
  
  And my waves meet your shore
  Ever and evermore
  
  This is the only time apart from the title track that the word "evermore" features on the album.
• Swift wrote "Long Story Short" with Evermore's primary producer, The National's Aaron Dessner. The percussive rock song is probably the track (along with "Coney Island") that sounds closest to the material Dessner's band produces.