You were Romeo, I was a Scarlet Letter. This week we’re covering an oldie but goodie–Taylor Swift’s “Love Story”, from Fearless (Taylor’s Version). In this very narrative-driven song, we get a chance to explore who the protagonists are and what they’re trying to say about their love “story.  We explore why Taylor Swift references high school favorites “Romeo and Juliet” and “Scarlet Letter,” and what those metaphors may mean. The “Scarlet Letter” reference makes us look at this song from a whole new lens, forcing us to look at pronouns, verb tenses, and points of view–we promise you’ll never hear this song the same way again. 

Mentioned in this episode: 

Love Story, Fearless (Taylor’s Version) 

Romeo and Juliet

Titanic

The Notebook 

Tarzan of the Apes

Tim McGraw

Enchanted

Pride and Prejudice 

Cinderella

How I Met Your Mother

Scarlet Letter

Easy A

I Did Something Bad

Jane Eyre

Emma

& Juliet 

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead

Don’t Matter, Akon

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Episode Highlights: 

[1:30] How we do a deep dive

[08:19] “You’ll be the prince and I’ll be the princess” The fairytale references

[14:50] “I was a Scarlet Letter” What this reference may mean

[20:32] “All that’s left to do is run” Where it all takes a turn

[28:42] “When I met you on the outside of town” We approach the bridge

[41:11] What we think the purpose of “Love Story” really is

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This podcast is neither related to nor endorsed by Taylor Swift, her companies, or record labels. All opinions are our own. Intro music produced by Scott Zadig aka Scotty Z.