The literary genius that is Taylor Swift

We all know Taylor has an incredible voice and is known for her inventive lyrics, but did you know some of these lyrics are over-flowing with references to classic literature?

*Contains spoilers for novels mentioned*

It feels as though you are being transported into a Renaissance painting when watching Taylor Swift in her Apple Music Awards 2020 interview with Zane Lowe. Her garnet red lipstick matches the seat and cushions which is decorated beautifully in front of an old painting. Could this already be a nudge to her lyric referencing the novel Rebecca by Daphne De Maurier, “use your best colours for my portrait,” perhaps?

Apple Music Awards 2020 declared Taylor Swift as songwriter of the year and she couldn’t be more deserving. She is the gift that keeps on giving by bringing us two magnificent albums in 2020. The surprise release of Evermore felt like a warm hug from an old friend, which is something in high demand right now.

“After releasing Folklore, Aaron Dessner and I were still bouncing ideas back and forth-” Taylor tells Zane, “-when I put out Folklore, I remember feeling so proud but still like foot on the gas, let’s keep going.”

Evermore has been described as a sister album to Folklore that continues with a similar narrative. Taylor shares that her “world opened up creatively,” and that these albums were broadening her artistic horizons. Her expressive hand gestures and delighted smile tells all when she says, “if I can do this thing where I get to create characters in this mythological, American town or wherever I imagined them and I can reflect my own emotions onto what I think they might be feeling – that feels really good for my creativity.”

Aside from adoring the aesthetics of the two albums, many fans have picked up on the expertly placed literary references, which seems fitting due to the creative characters Taylor explores. As hinted at before, in this interview Taylor tells Zane that she took inspiration from the novel, Rebecca. She says, “when I was reading Rebecca I was thinking ‘wow, her husband just tolerates her while she’s trying to impress him’ – at some point in my life I felt that way, so I wrote Tolerate It and that’s about trying to love someone that’s ambivalent.”

The lyric, “use your best colours for my portrait,” from Tolerate It arguably links to the novel scene where Maxim’s new wife dresses in the same colours as a portrait of his ex-wife, Rebecca. Fans took this one a step further and have pointed out that Rebecca’s murder in the novel resembles the murder in No Body, No Crime. Furthermore, the lyric “I think he did it, but I just can’t prove it,” resonates with how Maxim got away with Rebecca’s murder for so long.

Zane, upon considering the melancholic themes in the albums says that it must “require some real character analysis” and asks Taylor if she learnt anything about herself during the writing process. You can feel the enthusiasm and urgency behind her response of, “absolutely – when there’s a character you identify with, you mostly do because they’re targeting something in you that feels like you’ve been there.” This response definitely tempts the thought that she has indeed drawn inspiration from fictional characters.

A likely literature pairing that fans have pinpointed is Charlotte Brontë’s, Jane Eyre. The theme of the ‘mad woman in the attic’ reflected in Jane Eyre, which relates to a time when people were quick to stamp women as ‘mad’ or ‘hysterical,' forms a bond with the song Mad Woman. Mad Woman addresses this discredit women received with lyrics such as, “every time you call me crazy, I get more crazy,” and “no one likes a mad woman – you made her like that.”

Taylor has publicly experienced being shamed as such with events like the 2009 MTV Awards when Kanye West humiliated a 19-year-old Taylor just because he didn’t like that she won the award for Best Female Video. Taylor has previously been referred to as ‘a snake’ and ‘crazy’ by the media which she talks about in detail in her Netflix documentary, Miss Americana. This treatment she has received is very akin to the ‘mad woman in the attic’ trope.

An important motif throughout the albums is that of the ‘invisible string,’ which can also be found in Jane Eyre. When Rochester declares his love for Jane for the first time he says: “I have a strange feeling with regard to you. As if I had a string somewhere under my left ribs, tightly knotted to a similar string in you.”

The song Cardigan writes: “isn’t it just so pretty to think, all along there was some invisible string tying you to me?”

The ‘invisible string’ can also be found in several music videos along with the song titled Invisible String, which happens to come before Mad Woman. Some say coincidence, some say clever. We could debate these references for days and as Taylor puts it herself, “if you are the creator – you’re the only one who knows the ins and outs of it.”

The eloquence Taylor conveys in this interview makes it easy to believe that these literary references are true and that there are many more scattered throughout her writing. Regarding the albums she says, “it felt magical and mysterious which is what I wanted people to feel going into an album that was a collection of these stories,” and it is safe to say that is exactly how it feels.

Folklore and Evermore are both available now on Spotify and Apple Music.