Taylor Swift is a musical genius with one too many skills. Yet, her vision of excellence sets her apart from the rest of the constellation of stars. The ‘Cruel Summer’ singer joined the Billionaires Club ages ago, but the billion-dollar crumb she leaves in her sonic streaks still has her fans mastering a lifelong course of PhD in Easter eggs. However, anyone who closely analyzes Swift’s songs tends to get caught in The Great Gatsby paradox every single time. 

So, what is it with Swift and F. Scott Fitzgerald? Is The Great Gatsby an inspirational palette for her symphonic persona?

Taylor Swift’s music and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby stand worlds apart—be it in terms of the artistic medium, generational gap, or intended audience. However, some interesting connections exist, spanning her themes of love, loss, and nostalgia, her knack for symbolism and narrative storytelling, and her social commentary. Especially in ‘Reputation,’ Swift appears to be a hopeless romantic and a fan of The Great Gatsby, because of her fixation on staging opulent events to perpetuate her polished image and preoccupation with past glories.

On ‘This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things,’ Swift explicitly refers to Jay Gatsby, singing, “feeling so Gatsby for that whole year.” Many assume the reference goes back to the year before her infamous fallout with Ye, aka Kanye West, and Kim Kardashian. However, Swift wears both the caps of Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan at once, as on the track, ‘Don’t Blame Me,’ she seemingly changes role to “your Daisy,” possibly alluding to Joe Alwyn’s love for her.

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These, however, are not the only Gatsby-esque themes explored in her songs.

Taylor Swift is a bookworm. So, it makes sense that she borrows and lends from the vast libraries that exist. Speaking of her leveraging The Great Gatsby themes for her lyrics, it looks like Swift, like Gatsby, has an inescapable fascination with yesterday and remembering things, as seen in ‘All Too Well’ and ‘Call It What You Want.’ Tracks like ‘Blank Space,’ where she sings, “new money, suit, and tie,” also seem to draw from the Gatsby imagery.

Swift’s song ‘Happiness’ has a line, “I hope she'll be your beautiful fool.” There is a drawn-out assumption that it refers to Daisy’s hope for her daughter in The Great Gatsby. In fact, her lyrics, “All I want from me now is the green light of forgiveness,” appear like an allusion to the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock in the 11th-grade novel. While some critics feel the links go down to songs such as ‘Red’ and ‘Champagne Problems,’ given that The Great Gatsby comes under her top 5 literature picks, it should not be surprising.

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Do you think Taylor Swift's songs have the Gatsby-esque vibes? Let us know in the comments below!