Much of Taylor Swift’s popular new album, Midnights, isn’t family fare. But one song struck a chord with mothers grieving miscarriages.
The bonus track, “Bigger Than the Whole Sky,” is a song about grief and missing someone who is gone too soon. Many moms found that it seems to describe the exact feeling of pregnancy loss. The lyrics say,
While Swift has not openly said what the song is about, there is widespread speculation that the song was inspired by her close friend Claire Winter Kislinger, who experienced a devastating pregnancy loss in early 2022.
Kislinger’s story is sadly a very common one. An estimated 10-15% of pregnancies end in miscarriage, leaving millions of mothers grieving the lives of their babies.
Many of these women found solidarity in their grief thanks to the song. “Bigger Than the Whole Sky” led to an outpouring on social media of women sharing their stories and experiences about miscarriage. The song inspired a wave of solidarity as women realized so many others understood the grief they felt after pregnancy loss.
Swift’s song is incredibly moving, and it shows how real the grief of pregnancy loss is. Grieving a child lost to miscarriage is no different than grieving a child lost at any age.
“Bigger Than the Whole Sky” seems to be a beautiful gift to women grieving pregnancy loss, a reminder that others know how they feel and they are not alone in this sorrow.