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In this episode of The Swiftie and The Scholar, Uncle Jerry and Angela dissect the poetic lyrics of the fifth track from Taylor Swift's 2024 album, The Tortured Poets Department.

They find tons of literary devices and references, and Uncle Jerry even makes another correct prediction on the song's intro.

Stay until the end to hear Uncle Jerry's grade for the song as a whole.

Works Cited:

Life of Johnson – James Boswell – Affiliate Link

Perrine’s Sound and Sense: An Introduction to Poetry – Aff Link

The Bells — Edgar Allan Poe

Ignis fatuus

Will-o’-the-wisp – Irish Folklore

Odd Man Out – 1947 film

The Bluest Eye – Toni Morrison – Aff Link

Lyric Video

Eras Tour Performance

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In this episode of The Swiftie and The Scholar, Angela and Uncle Jerry are taking it waaayyy back to 2006 with Taylor Swift’s first ever track 5, Cold As You. It might seem like a weird choice, but Angela wanted to present Uncle Jerry with some of Taylor’s earliest work so he could gain context around her growth as an artist over her entire career. 

Uncle Jerry finds a few redeeming qualities in the song, and together they explore other break-up poetry from the greats. 

Works Cited:

Percy Bysshe Shelley

Modern Love: I – George Meredith Sonnet

It’s Not You, It’s Me – Jerry Williams – Affiliate Link

The Research Society for Victorian Periodicals

Rosemary VanArsdel Prize

Her Kind – Ann Sexton

Heavy – Mary Oliver

A Broken Appointment – Thomas Hardy 

The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson – Aff Link

Heart! We will forget him! – Emily Dickinson

I held a Jewel in my fingers – Emily Dickinson

Eras Tour Surprise Song — Houston

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In this episode of The Swiftie and The Scholar, Uncle Jerry and Angela analyze Death By A Thousand Cuts from Taylor Swift's 2019 album, Lover.

Uncle Jerry finds literary devices aplenty in the lyrics, and discusses how she uses those devices to deftly handle the storytelling in the poem via indirect characterization.

They also discuss the roundabout inspiration of this song and the Swiftie tradition of friendship bracelets.

Works Cited:

A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Shakespeare – Affiliate Link

Lingchi

Death By A Thousand Cuts – Timothy Brook, Jérôme Bourgon, Gregory Blue – Aff Link

Mandarin Squares

Great Expectations — Charles Dickens – Aff Link

Kyn You Believe It — IDK Traffic Light

Anaphora 

Indirect Characterization

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In this bonus episode, Uncle Jerry and Angela discuss the excitement of the last week, including the cryptic Taylor Nation and New Heights posts, the countdowns, the new album announcement, and the two hour podcast episode heard 'round the world.

Uncle Jerry teaches us a little bit about Ophelia and Hamlet to give some context around the album's opening track title, The Fate of Ophelia, and they discuss how Uncle Jerry got just a lilllll excited about the news.

In this episode of The Swiftie and The Scholar, Angela asks Uncle Jerry about his favorite music before they dive into cowboy like me from Taylor Swift’s 2020 album evermore.

Uncle Jerry teaches us about the dramatic monologue and how Taylor uses this device in the song. They also talk about the use of cliches, indeterminate endings, and they discuss whether they think the couple in the song ends up together or not. 

Works Cited:

Blondie 

Stardust — Hoagy Carmichael 

Georgia on my Mind — Hoagy Carmichael

Cantigas de Santa Maria

Cantiga 

Medieval Babes

Pomplamoose

Pokey LaFarge

Gilbert and Sullivan

La Boheme

Tosca 

Yeoman of the Guard

Pirates of Penzance 

HMS Pinafore

In Medias Res

The Odyssey – Homer

Dramatic Monologue

My Last Duchess – Robert Browning

Porphyria's Lover – Robert Browning

The Most Dangerous Game – Richard Connell

In this episode of The Swiftie and The Scholar, Uncle Jerry and Angela dissect Would’ve Could’ve Should’ve from Taylor Swift’s 2022 album Midnights. They briefly discuss their own church connections, explore the various religious imagery and references used throughout the song, and come to understand that they relate to the song in similar but different ways. 

Uncle Jerry grades the song and brings in some poetry by Elizabeth Barrett Browning to round out his thoughts on the sadness of the track.

Works Cited:

Rhetorical Theory and Practice

Immortal Technique – Dance with the Devil

Love Story (1970 film)

Sonnets from the Portuguese – Elizabeth Barrett Browning – Affiliate Link

Les Miserables – Victor Hugo, Christine Donogher – Aff Link

The Legend of Rose Latulipe

Uncle Jerry and Angela tackle Taylor Swift’s ‘Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?’ in the second episode of The Swiftie and The Scholar. Uncle Jerry talks about his journey from hate to appreciation of this track, he introduces the concept of Monstrous Femininity, and they talk about the cultural image of the witch throughout history. 

Angela gives a (not so) brief look into her role as a Swiftie, and they watch and discuss both the lyric video and the Eras Tour performance of this TTPD track.

Works Cited:

Allen Ginsberg – Howl

Thomas Chatterton

Chatterton – Painting by Henry Wallis

Dylan Thomas – Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night

Bohemian Coffee

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

Snoweylily – Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?

To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee – Affiliate Link

The Monstrous-Feminine – Barbara Creed – Affiliate Link

Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me? – Official Lyric Video

WAOLOM Performance – Eras Tour – 5/9/2024

Sounds Like a Cult – The Cult of Taylor Swift

In the debut episode of The Swiftie and The Scholar, Angela McDow, the Swiftie, and her uncle Dr. Jerry Coats, the Scholar, dig into My Tears Ricochet, the fifth track from Taylor Swift's Folklore album.

They discuss the different folklore elements that Taylor uses in the song, the prevailing fan theory on the song's inspiration, and Uncle Jerry watches his first Eras Tour performance.

Works Cited:

The White Lady in Folklore

Morphology of the Folktale – V. Propp – Affiliate Link

Motif-Index of Folk-Literature; Volume 6.1 Index (A-K) – Stith Thompson – Aff Link

Motif-Index of Folk-Literature; Volume 6.1 Index (L-Z) - Stith Thompson – Aff Link

From the Beast to The Blonde – Marina Wariner

The Uses of Enchantment – Bruno Bettelheim – Aff Link

Yvonne Jocks - Goodreads

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