A lyrical analysis of '1989': Why Taylor Swift is rooting for the Royals

My colleague Mr. Bertha wrote Monday that the release of Taylor Swift's 1989 bodes well for a Giants World Series victory. I'm here to tell you why, despite historical trends, that is incorrect. 1989 is very much a pro-Royals album. You might even say 1989 is a concept album about the Royals' 2014 postseason run. 

Even if we ignore the fact that Swift is BFFs with pro-Royals pop star numero uno Lorde, and thus likely to be rooting for the boys from Kansas City, the lyrics on 1989 show a clear allegiance to the Royals. If we didn't know better, we'd say Swift wrote the album while KC made its postseason run this year.

Let me present the evidence:

Swift closes her fifth album by describing the Royals' up-and-down regular season: "It was months and months of back and forth," she sings on "Clean." But the Royals pulled off one of the great late-season streaks in baseball, and made the postseason for the first time in nearly 30 years. "The drought was the very worst," Swift sings. But it was all over.

"It's been a while since I have even heard from you," Swift sings on "Style," the third track on 1989, as if she were postseason baseball and her long-absent suitor were the Royals.

And what happened when the Royals returned to the postseason after 29 years? They trailed early against the A's in their first game, only to roar back in spectacular fashion and win in extra innings. "When we go crashing down, we come back every time" -- just like Swift says on "Style." Indeed the Royals do, Taylor. Indeed they do.

The Royals then proceeded to sweep their way through the American League in that late-inning, skin-of-their-teeth fashion, breaking records along the way. "This love is alive, back from the dead," Swift sings on "This Love," and she might as well be describing America's infatuation with the streaking Royals.

The team hadn't lost in the postseason, and it seemed like they never would: "We pretended it could last forever," from bonus-track "Wonderland." Swift even gets at the nearly unbelievable way the Royals were winning: "Looking at it now, it seems so simple," she sings on "Out of the Woods." Don't try to explain it; they simply won games.

Ned Yost, the Royals manager not without his share of doubters, was suddenly the toast of baseball. Does anyone embody the spirit of "Shake It Off" quite like Yost? Here's the manager in a postgame interview after the Royals completed their sweep of the O's: "I don't need vindication. I'm real you know, I'm comfortable with who I am … I don't feel like I need vindication. I'm not looking for it, don't care for it."

Translation: "'Cause the players gonna play, play, play, play, play, and the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, baby, I'm just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, I shake it off, I shake it off."

But it wasn't all rosy. We come to Game 1 of the World Series against the Giants, when the Royals "Tossing, turning, struggle through the night with someone new" -- that someone being Madison Bumgarner. But the Royals regrouped, made some lineup changes -- "I've got a blank space, baby, and I'll write your name" -- and took Games 2 and 3. "They take their shots but we're bulletproof," Swift sings on "I Know Places."

And now, with the Royals one game away from losing the series, it's all or nothing. "So it's gonna be forever, or it's gonna go down in flames," as Swift sings on "Blank Space." If they do come up short, they'll have to ask themselves, "If the pain was worth the high." But either way, "It'll leave you breathless." The Royals don't know how to play any other kind of postseason ball.

As you can see, the lyrics on 1989 are airtight evidence that Swift is pulling for the Royals this postseason. Why else would she write an album that so exquisitely details the Royals' run through October?

And if you wonder whether Swift even likes baseball, I'll let her answer that: "You know I love the players and you love the game."