One of the most interesting techniques of "Cardigan" is the contrast between what you are seeing and what you are hearing. The opening lines suggest a glamorous memory — "vintage tee, brand new phone, high heels on cobblestones," and "sequined smile, black lipstick, sensual politics," but these words are juxtaposed against imagery of a dirty and broken piano — with a broken B note, Lauren Taylor TV notes — that Taylor is playing in a dingy room, with un-manicured fingernails. With so many of us watching this video from our own isolated rooms, this longing for younger, more carefree days, is all the more relatable.

Similarly, the refrain, "When you are young, they assume you know nothing," is repeated throughout the song, but the footage, particularly of the cottage or attic in which much of the video is set, is not only old, it's practically decrepit. The paintings also evoke another era, the old-fashioned clocks speak to a pre-digital time, and there is a sepia photo on the wall that shows a gentleman dressed in Civil War-era attire. Is this contrast a deliberate technique, suggesting that Taylor and her former lover are old souls?