6 books referenced in Taylor Swift songs Rolling Stone

Taylor Swift She is one of the greatest composers of our time. Active since the release of her first album in 2006, the singer has a series of songs whose lyrics touch everyone’s hearts.

But after all, where does so much inspiration come from for your lyrics that are always full of references and easter eggs? If you want to know a little more about Swift’s creative process, we’ve selected 6 literary works that inspired the singer to compose her greatest hits.

Check it out:

Romeo and Juliet

William Shakespeare’s classic novel has already been referenced in one of Taylor’s most famous songs. Love Story fhi released as a single from the album fearless (2008) and became one of the biggest hits of his career. Throughout the lyrics, Swift makes several references to the fictional couple by citing their names in the pre-chorus, chorus and bridge of the song.

That you were Romeo, you were throwing pebbles
And my daddy said: Stay away from Juliet

Well is what ends well

But if you’re wrong if you think that Romeo and Juliet was the only Shakespeare book that inspired Taylor in his songs. The work “Bem Está O Que Bem Acaba”, which in English is “All’s Well That Ends Well”, was referenced not only in one song, but in two of the singer. The first time was in music lover from the 2019 self-titled album. Two years later, when the Red album re-recording released, Taylor updated the song All Too Well with a 10-minute version, where the book’s title phrase was also added to the song.

They say all’s well that ends well, but I’m in a new hell
Every time you double-cross my mind

Peter Pan

JM Barrie’s children’s book was not left out of Swift’s references. The singer briefly quotes Peter Pan and Wendy in a chorus of the song cardigan, which is a single from the album folklore (2020).

Tried to change the ending
Peter losing Wendy

The big Gatsby

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel has been referenced in two songs on Swift’s most recent albums. The first was in 2017, with the album reputation in the song This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things, where the lyrics read “Feeling so Gatsby all year long”. The book was once again referenced in music hapiness from the album evermore (2020), where the lyrics bring several references to passages from the work.

Feeling so Gatsby for that whole year

Alice in Wonderland

Taylor also referenced Lewis Carroll’s work in two of her songs. The first happened on the album 1989 2014, where the music wonderlandis named after and inspired by Wonderland. The singer once again referenced Alice in the song long story short from the album evermore (2020), where the lyrics contain the reference to the Rabbit and the hole that takes Alice to Wonderland.

Right down the rabbit hole

The Road Not Taken

This time Taylor was inspired by a poem written by Robert Frost in two songs from the sister albums folklore and evermore (2020). In illicit affairs, Taylor sings “The road less traveled”, which brings one of the lines of the poem. The title of the poem appears in the song ‘tis the damn season on the line “And the untaken track looks very good now”.

And the road not taken looks real good now