Songfacts®:

• "Vigilante S-- t" is a revenge fantasy where Taylor Swift spits venom at those who have slighted both her and other women.
• Swift aims the first verse at a former boyfriend who did the dirty on her.
  
  Sometimes I wonder which one'll be your last lie
  They say looks can kill and I might try
  
  Later, Swift tells the cheating dude she's "dressing for revenge." The phrase calls back to the sexy attire worn by Diana, Princess of Wales, after her husband, Prince Charles, confessed to having an affair.
• In the second verse, Swift sides with a woman whose husband has wronged her. He addresses the man, telling him she gave his wife the proof that he cheated.
  
  She had the envelope, where you think she got it from?
  Now she gets the house, gets the kids, gets the pride
  Picture me thick as thieves with your ex-wife
  
  Swifties have speculated that this verse may be about her beef with Kanye West over the rapper's "Famous" lyrics and his divorce from Kim Kardashian. Though they agreed to joint custody of their four children, West has complained about not seeing them enough. She also kept their Hidden Hills mansion in California.
  
  An alternative theory has this section about Swift's feud with Scooter Braun after he gained control of her back catalog. The music industry megastar filed for divorce from ex-wife Yael Cohen in July 2021 in part because of his rumored infidelity. Swift comes into the equation as apparently Cohen tired of her husband's treatment of the pop superstar.
• In the third verse, Swift has an axe to grind with a business associate.
  
  While he was doin' lines and crossin' all of mine
  Someone told his white-collar crimes to the FBI
  
  This could be Scooter Braun again. In 2021, Braun's former associate, Peter Comisar, demanded $200 million in damages following false promises of fulfillment in a scuttled private equity fund. However, Braun is not known for having a cocaine habit.
• This vengeance declaration is the first time Swift has used profanity in one of her song titles, though she's been using parental advisory curse words since 2017's "I Did Something Bad" (On the Reputation track she spits, "If a man talks s--t then I owe him nothing").
  
  According to Upoxx, Midnights is by far the most sweary album the pop star has released. There are 29 expletives spread across the record (including seven uses of "f--k" and ten uses of "s--t,"). Previously, Evermore held the title with 18 swears.
• Swift is the only writer credited for the song. Jack Antonoff, who worked with the singer throughout Midnights, helped her produce the track.