“Fortnight” sees Taylor reminiscing on what could’ve been as she paints the picture of an “American town where the American Dream you thought would happen to you didn’t”. As the opener to Taylor’s eleventh album, many of the themes from “Fortnight” reppear on later tracks.

While the term fortnight, meaning a period of two weeks, is rarely used in America today, it is commonplace in many other English-speaking countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. In particular, it could be a reference to Taylor’s ex-boyfriend Joe Alwyn, an English actor. Some think it relates to rumors of a relationship between Joe and Emma Laird, which surfaced not quite a fortnight after the breakup was publicized.

“Fortnight” may also serve as a direct antithesis to Taylor’s song “Daylight,” beyond just the usual juxtaposition between day and night. Fortnight serves as both an internal rhyme of “Daylight,” and, with it also being collaborated upon by Post Malone, it acts as a stark contrast to the solo-performed “Daylight” that concluded the 2019 album.