Tattoo
The tattoo as an image of permanent marking on the body - something inscribed that cannot be removed, representing the indelible mark a relationship leaves on the speaker. In Taylor's writing the tattoo stands for permanence the speaker did not choose: the mark was received, and now it cannot be undone.
Permanent, indelible marking - the relationship inscribed on the body in a way that resists removal. The tattoo kiss combines the intimacy of a kiss with the permanence of ink, making the lover's mark both tender and impossible to erase.
Appears in 2 songs
“I knew you'd linger like a tattoo kiss”
The tattoo kiss as figure for the indelible mark the relationship has left on Betty, chosen at the time, now impossible to remove. The image combines the intimacy of a kiss with the permanence of ink, capturing both sides at once, a mark received willingly that now cannot be erased. The tattoo kiss sits in the bridge alongside the bloodstain and the four-fold ghost imagery as evidence the relationship has marked the speaker permanently.
“Made your mark on me, a golden tattoo”
The lover's effect figured as a tattoo, a mark made on the speaker's body that stays. 'Made your mark on me' makes the marking deliberate and mutual rather than something simply received, and the gold gives it warmth and worth. The mark is wanted, and still permanent.