Taylor Swift’s music has swept the world, becoming more popular than ever in the last few years. As an English major and Taylor Swift fan, my interests seem to overlap more often than people might think. Many seem to dismiss Swift’s artistry simply as break-up songs and her fans as emotional teenage girls and I challenge these people to a duel at sunset upon the hill I will die on. Swift is a lyrical genius. Her songs come off as poetry more often than not. She references specific books and stories, as well as the world of English in general throughout her discography. She also tells stories of her own, fiction and nonfiction.

Many of her songs read like poetry, especially those from the albums of folklore, evermore, and The Tortured Poets Department. Some simply don’t like Swift’s music, which is completely fine! Still, I would urge any lover of words to read the lyrics as they would a poem, as there is still a lot of value even without the instrumentals. 

While I recommend any songs from the previously mentioned albums for this exercise, I would offer some specific recommendations. “You All Over Me,” “Dear John,” and “Last Kiss” are good starts and songs from a few of her earlier albums such as “Slut! (Taylor’s Version),” “New Year’s Day,” and “Soon You’ll Get Better” are also beautifully written. 

As I said previously, the albums folklore and evermore are two of her more poetic albums. Specific examples from them could be “my tears ricochet,” “this is me trying,” “hoax,” “tolerate it,” “cowboy like me,” and “marjorie.” From her album, Midnights, the songs “You’re on Your Own, Kid” and “Bigger Than the Whole Sky” are wonderful specimens to dissect. In her latest album, The Tortured Poets Department, “So Long, London,” “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived,” “How Did It End?” and “The Prophecy” all show off the much-beloved magic in words.

Swift often features references to literature within her lyrics. “Love Story” and “The Albatross” both pull from Romeo and Juliet. “Wonderland (Taylor’s Version)” and “long story short” utilize the story of Alice in Wonderland. “Peter” nods to Peter Pan (and arguably The Chronicles of Narnia), while “loml” nods to The Wizard of Oz. “I Hate It Here” mentions The Secret Garden, while “This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things” mentions The Great Gatsby. “Safe & Sound” was made for The Hunger Games film and debatably “The Great War” is about the series as well.

Taylor Swift also often references Greek mythology. For example, “thanK you aIMee,” alludes to the story of Sisyphus (“I pushed each boulder up the hill”), “champagne problems” references the story of King Midas (“Your Midas touch on the Chevy door”), and “Cassandra” compares Swift’s life with the story of Cassandra, a woman with prophetic powers who is cursed to never be believed.

Swift especially tells stories of her own, featuring both fiction and nonfiction. The songs “betty,” “cardigan,” and “august,” tell the story of a fictional teenage love triangle, each told from a different person’s perspective. Swift’s song “no body, no crime” tells the story of a woman who gets revenge on her friend’s husband after he murders her. As for nonfiction, “the last great american dynasty” tells the story of a woman who owned Swift’s house in the past and “All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version)” tells the vivid story of Swift remembering a past relationship. 

One of my favorite songs, “the lakes,” which I love most ardently, is truly poetic and seems to reference the world of English with the lyric, “Take me to the lakes where all the poets went to die.” Other examples of the English world being acknowledged in her songs can be found in “Dear Reader,” “The Story of Us (Taylor’s Version),” “Sweet Nothing,” and “The Manuscript.”

With her storytelling ability, poetic style, and references to stories and the world of English, Taylor Swift’s songs are enchantingly rich in value, especially to the English major. As a lover of literature, I gladly dive into Taylor Swift’s discography head first with no life jacket. I would encourage anyone to at least try and dip their toes!

Taylor Swift Vocab

• Altruism– n.- the belief in or practice of disinterested and selfless concern for the well-being of others. “Anti-Hero”
• Calamitous– adj.- involving calamity; catastrophic or disastrous. “the lakes”
• Esoteric– adj.- intended for or likely to be understood by only a small number of people with specialized knowledge or interest. “The Black Dog”
• Gauche– adj.- lacking ease or grace; unsophisticated and socially awkward. “the last great american dynasty”
• Ingénue– n.- an innocent or unsophisticated young woman, especially in a play or film. “Nothing New (Taylor’s Version)”
• Machiavellian– adj.- cunning, scheming, and unscrupulous, especially in politics. “Mastermind”
• Persona Non-Grata– n.- an unacceptable or unwelcome person. “The Albatross”
• Petulance– n.- the quality of being childishly sulky or bad-tempered. “Down Bad”
• Precocious– adj.- (of a child) having developed certain abilities or proclivities at an earlier age than usual. “I Hate It Here”