Much like Swift’s August 2019 track “Afterglow,” “this is me trying” sees her accepting fault for relationship issues and making an effort to repair them. Fear, alcohol, and a sense of failure and isolation complicate the healing process, but she takes the first step by having the humility to admit things are difficult and uncertain.

October 2014’s “I Wish You Would,” another collaboration with Jack Antonoff, offers a similar narrative with parallels in imagery and language (driving cars, flashbacks, anger, and regrets), but here she is more proactively taking risks and putting herself out there, even though she still doesn’t have the perfect solution.