Swifties and literature, it’s a love story.

• Homer, Iliad – The Great War “There’s no morning glory, it was war, it wasn’t fair”

War. Glory. Ego Swinging. Death and Destruction. This story is indeed all about The Great War.

• Enheduanna, “The Exaltation of Inana” – Hoax “My best laid plan/Your sleight of hand/My barren land/I am ash from your fire”

It’s the poetic vibes. This story was truly the priestess’ best laid plan, and the devoted tone of the song reflects the priestess’ praise of Inana. I can imagine them starring in the hoax music video (if it existed).

• Enuma Elish – Mad Woman “But no one likes a mad woman/What a shame she went mad/You made her like that”

As a Tia-mat defender, I cannot think of a better song that encompasses her power, the text’s villainization of her character and her (rightful) outburst of rage. 

• Genesis  – Ivy “Or dare to sit and watch what we’ll become”

This one is more about the vibes and the grandiose lyrics. Genesis is all about creation and mankind. It is peace/purity (Garden of Eden) turned to the mess that is humanity (literally every character/plot in Genesis). Ivy gives green natural scenery about a love that was once peaceful but is then filled with turmoil and conflict. I am not reaching trust.

• Homer, Odyssey – Long Story Short “Cause I fell from the pedestal/Right down the rabbit hole/Long story short, it was a bad time”

10 years of travel and obstacles after a glorious win in the Trojan War, long story short he (Odysseus) survived. And in the end, his waves do meet the shore of his evermore (Ithaca).

• Sappho, If Not, Winter – Seven “Love you to the moon and to Saturn/Passed down like folk songs/The love lasts so long”

I was considering Wildest Dreams because of the sound and powerfully sensual vibes that remind me of Sappho and the environment she depicts, but that song is too obviously about a man that it messes with the vibes. Seven reminds me of the themes of immortal love and youth in Sappho’s poetry. And the lyric of folk songs screams lyrical poetry to me, and reminds me of my favorite fragment “Someone will remember us/I say/even in another time.”

• Song of Songs – Dress “All of this silence and patience, pining in anticipation”

At face value, need I explain myself? 

• Job – Evermore “I replay my footsteps on each stepping stone/Trying to find the one where I went wrong”

The progression of the song reminds me of Job’s progression, going from feeling the pain and not knowing why, thinking it will last forever and at one point wanting to give up. But at the end he stays devoted to his love (for God in his case) and reaches the light at the end of such a torturous tunnel. 

• Aeschylus, Oresteia – I Did Something Bad “They’re burning all the witches, even if you aren’t one/They got their pitchforks and proof/Their receipts and reasons”

Is the story about the justice system being better than revenge and violence? Yes, but I am also a Clytemnestra defender so this one is for her….

• Plato, Symposium – This love “This love is good/This love is bad/This love is alive back from the dead”

To be honest, I’m not a Plato fan, so I’m not looking deeply into this. This book is about a bunch of men in a room talking about love, and this song is also about love :) 

• Virgil, Aeneid – Long Live “Long live the walls we crashed through/How the kingdom lights shined just for me and you”

This is what I think Aeneas and his crew listened to once they founded Rome.

• Luke/John – Untouchable “Untouchable, burning brighter than the sun”

These are religious texts about divinity, and Untouchable has that divine theme to it. There is a connection!

• Apuleius, The Golden Ass – Anti Hero. “I should not be left to my own devices/They come with prices and vices/I end up in crisis (tale as old as time)”

I just really think Lucius is the problem.

• Augustine, Confessions- Daylight “I’ve been sleeping so long in a 20-year dark night/And now I see daylight, I only see daylight”

Just pretend the song is about Augustine finding God.

• Marie de France, The Lais of Marie de France – Love Story “You’ll be the prince and I’ll be the princess/It’s a love story”

The Lais are all about a world of chivalry, love and knights. When I think of them all I can think about is the Love Story music video.

• Dante, Inferno – Out Of The Woods “Are we out of the woods yet? Are we out of the woods yet?”

This is just a musical connection. The anxiety in the song is what I would think is playing while Dante walks through hell, as he wonders “Are we out of hell yet?”

• Montaigne, Essays – Dear Reader “Dear reader/You don’t have to answer, just ’cause they asked you”

In honor of “To the reader” and the breaking of the fourth wall.

• Shakespeare, Othello – The Archer/Mastermind/Sad Beautiful Tragic

I found a couple songs for this one and I couldn’t decide which one was best. So here are three different perspectives; Othello and his insecurities (HEAVY on all of my enemies started out friends), Iago and his trickery and Desdemona as the victim of this tragedy.

Othello – The Archer: “All the king’s horses, all the king’s men/Couldn’t put me together again/’Cause all of my enemies started out friends”

Iago – Mastermind: “I laid the groundwork and then, just like clockwork/The dominoes cascaded in a line/What if I told you I’m a mastermind?”

Desdemona – Sad Beautiful Tragic: “And you’ve got your demons/And darlin’ they all look like me”

• Cervantes, Don Quixote – Foolish One “And I will block out these voices of reason in my head”

I was going to pick Today Was A Fairytale for the vibes, but Foolish one is for the delusional, and who’s a better delusional icon than Don Quixote? Wonderland is also about the relationship between DQ and Sancho and you can’t convince me otherwise.

• Austen, Pride and Prejudice – Gold Rush “At dinner parties/I call you out on your contrarian shit”

I actually am not a P&P fan, specifically because of the romance (or lack thereof). It is not as good as everyone makes it out to be in my opinion. But this song gives me Elizabeth judging Mr. Darcy vibes (and because there are way too many Tik Tok edits with this song). I think in terms of the story Everything Has Changed is also a good option (for when Elizabeth suddenly likes Darcy back).

• Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment – No Body, No Crime “I think he did it but I just can’t prove it (he did it)“

I mean…don’t worry about the details, just look at the titles :)

• Kafka, Metamorphosis (W. W. Norton, tr. Bernofsky) – It’s Time To Go “That old familiar body ache/The snaps from the same little breaks in your soul”

This is the only song I could find that can relate to the consuming feeling of having obligations in a capitalistic machine (I mean it’s Billionaire Taylor Swift so I’m not surprised by the lack of representation).

• Woolf, To the Lighthouse –  Marjorie “You’d always go past where our feet could touch”

I love this book and I love Mrs. Ramsay. This song is for her because she always knew best.

Taylor Swift via Bwog Archives