Disclaimer: if you are a booklover who hasn’t heard Taylor, this list is for you; if you are a Swiftie who doesn't read much, this list is for you; if you are a booklover and a Swiftie, this is definitely for you.
I. Illicit Affairs
A lot of the album Reputation had the theme of secrecy, doing things behind closed doors, either with the intention to stab on the back or to stay away from speculations and give time to what one values. Nothing about illicit affairs ever comes to be any good until you finally open the doors. Otherwise, “it dies, and it dies, and it dies/ A million little times.”
1. Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde — …Ready for it?
There are three things to consider here: Dorian Gray is a narcissist, a misogynist, and a murder. When he tied his fate with the picture, he made the compromise to live a jailed life—touch me and you'll never be alone...no one has to know. He traded his soul for youth. I see this song as being sung/warned by the portrait of Dorian Gray.
Knew he was a killer first time that I saw him
Wonder how many girls he had loved and left haunted
But if he's a ghost, then I can be a phantom
Holdin' him for ransom
Some, some boys are tryin' too hard
He don't try at all, though
Younger than my exes but he act like such a man, so
I see nothing better, I keep him forever
Like a vendetta-ta
-
2. Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin — Dancing With Our Hands Tied
In the book, David, when meets Giovanni, goes on to live a secret life in the tiny one bedroom of Giovanni's. David always knew that it was not going to last, but he didn't pull himself away from the situation either. The song details a relationship in anxiety being ripped apart by speculations of other people.
And darling, you had turned my bed into a sacred oasis
People started talking, putting us through our paces
I knew there was no one in the world who could take it
I had a bad feeling
-
3. Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston — Gorgeous
Now on a more lighter note and much more closer to how Taylor's life actually came around after meeting her London Boy. Several times the character of Henry, the Royal Prince, has been contemplated as being gorgeous by Alex, the son of America's President. So it was only fitting that I give this song to their secret love.
You should take it as a compliment
That I'm talking to everyone here but you (but you, but you)
And you should think about the consequence
Of you touching my hand in the darkened room (dark room, dark room)
If you've got a girlfriend, I'm jealous of her
But if you're single that's honestly worse
'Cause you're so gorgeous it actually hurts
(Honey, it hurts)
Ocean blue eyes looking in mine
I feel like I might sink and drown and die
-
II. Gothic
It is not often mentioned, but Taylor's albums have always had a slight gothic element to them. Gothic is the term used to describe pleasurable terror—not far from how Taylor was often portrayed by the media.
4. The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman — I did something bad
In the book the woman had no agency while in this song Taylor is taking control. It is the bridge of the song that bridges these two works, the underlying notion of patriarchy and its dystopian nature. The final scene of the book also screams to be saying 'They say, I did something bad, then why's it feel so good?'
They're burning all the witches, even if you aren't one
They got their pitchforks and proof
Their receipts and reasons
They're burning all the witches, even if you aren't one
So light me up (light me up), light me up (light me up)
-
5. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë — mad woman
I had two issues with this book (spoiler): first, that the fact the wife was locked up in the attic wasn't discussed nor had much consequence in the book, and second, that Jane went back to a person who had his wife locked up like that for years. This song I take as giving voice to the wife, the mad woman.
And there's nothin' like a mad woman
What a shame she went mad
No one likes a mad woman
You made her like that
And you'll poke that bear 'til her claws come out
And you find something to wrap your noose around
-
6. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë — Haunted
Lots of miscommunication and mistreatment leads to all the gothic elements in this book which then haunts the characters throughout their lives. The song captures the passion and desperation of the characters.
You and I walk a fragile line
I have known it all this time
But I never thought I'd live to see it break
It's getting dark and it's all too quiet
And I can't trust anything now
And it's coming over you like it's all a big mistake
Oh, I'm holding my breath
Won't lose you again
Something's made your eyes go cold
-
III. Resilience
Lastly, we are slowing it down and contemplating chances, loss, happiness, grief and the act of trying. To the quieter moments when we have to just sit with our emotions and thoughts.
7. The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri — evermore
I remember reading this at seventeen and being deeply affected how a story could hurt so much. The book details a family of broken relationships failing to hold on to love and hope. The song has several elements that fits perfectly for the characters in this, if you've read it you'll know.
And I was catching my breath
Staring out an open window
Catching my death
And I couldn't be sure
I had a feeling so peculiar
That this pain would be for
Evermore
-
8. The English Teacher by R. K. Narayan — ivy
The story is simple, yet there are depths to it that you can reach only by contemplating. There is something similar about ivy which makes me ruminate on relationships, longing, life and death, and all the while people trying to love better.
Oh, goddamn
My pain fits in the palm of your freezing hand
Taking mine, but it's been promised to another
Oh, I can't
Stop you putting roots in my dreamland
My house of stone, your ivy grows
And now I'm covered in you
-
9. Aristotle and Dante discover the secrets of the universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz — State of Grace
Finding a friend, finding someone to explore the world with, to someone there is no need to explain but only to share with, that's the story of Ari and Dante, a worthwhile fight.
So you were never a saint
And I've loved in shades of wrong
We learn to live with the pain
Mosaic broken hearts
But this love is brave and wild
-
10. God of small things by Arundhati Roy — Safe and Sound
This song, each and every line, to me is what the sister, who recounts their childhood, wants to tell her twin brother when she returns home at the beginning of the book to meet him. The brother is the one who has been mentally handicapped by the tragedies of their childhood, while the sister went on to become independent.
When all those shadows almost killed your light
I remember you said don't leave me here alone
But all that's dead and gone and passed tonight
-
11. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath — champagne problems
Both have luxurious settings which then goes on to talk about mental health ruining the 'perfect' opportunities they are presented with. But because the setting is so glamorous, their issues are treated as 'champagne problems'.
Dom Pérignon, you brought it
No crowd of friends applauded
Your hometown skeptics called it
Champagne problems
-
12. Persuasion by Jane Austen — Back to December
In this Austen novel, the heroine already knows her man from eight years ago when she was betrothed to him but had precipitously broken off the engagement then, a decision that had caused her long lasting regret. We all know which song of Taylor fits with this one.
Maybe this is wishful thinkin'
Probably mindless dreamin'
But if we loved again, I swear I'd love you right
I'd go back in time and change it, but I can't
So if the chain is on your door, I understand
But this is me swallowin' my pride
Standin' in front of you sayin' I'm sorry for that night
And I go back to December
-
13. The Waves by Virginia Woolf — the lakes
When I first heard the line 'take me to the lake where all the poets went to die', it immediately reminded me of Virginia Woolf drowning herself in the River Ouse at Lewes. But the whole of Folklore and Evermore seems like a ghost of Woolf, sitting in the green grass in a white frock under the sun. The book tells the story of six friends via soliloquy, who lament on desires, needs, perceptions and perspective.
I want auroras and sad prose
I want to watch wisteria grow right over my bare feet
'Cause I haven't moved in years
And I want you right here
A red rose grew up out of ice frozen ground
With no one around to tweet it
While I bathe in cliffside pools
With my calamitous love and insurmountable grief
Take me to the lakes where all the poets went to die
I don't belong, and my beloved, neither do you
Those Windermere peaks look like a perfect place to cry
I'm setting off, but not without my muse
No, not without you
-
Some honorable mentions :
Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell - illicit affairs
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen - Dear John
Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson - Don't Blame Me
Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri - exile
Small Ceremonies by Carol Shields- New Year's Day
A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote - Christmas Tree Farm
If you enjoyed this, do like and share, subscribe if you haven't and comment down your thoughts, I'd love to know!
Until next time,
Keep consuming and sharing art.