Time | Taylor Swift Scholar

Saint Stephen I just wrote you a paean: Signifier and signified in Hey Stephen

Swift, a philosopher of language, explores the relationship between a name and what it signifies by fully exploring the meaning of 'Stephen'

Swift's Theology of Noise Music in Our Song

In Our Song, noted music theorist Taylor Swift grapples with the question “What is Music?”

Should've Said Know: Swift's Socratic Masterpiece

Swift, a Platonic philosopher, transforms a story of infidelity into a brilliant illustration of the Socratic idea that Virtue = Knowledge.

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“I’mma Let You Finish”: Time and Rehabilitation in Innocent

As in Never Grow Up, time in Innocent is a double-edged sword. Although growing up is terrible, it also provides healing and growth.

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The Lost Boys Chapter of Her Life: Fear of Aging in Never Grow Up

Our chronophobic prophetess Taylor Swift informs a baby that her life is only going to get worse from here.

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The Allegory of the Rose: Linear and Cyclical Time in Back to December

In Back To December, Taylor Swift explores decay over time.

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That's When[ever]: Blurring Time after a Reconciliation

Swift and Urban's time apart is not represented using discrete moments in linear time, but as a series of oppositions blurred together.

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Light’s Out: Astrothesia of the Self in We Were Happy

In We Were Happy, Swift reflects with sadness on what it means to play the role of a setting sun in someone else's life.

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Meet me at Midnight: Liminal Time in Untouchable

Untouchable is the first time that the words “middle of the night” or “midnight” appear in a Taylor Swift song.

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Ode on a VHS Tape: Ekphrasis in The Best Day

Swift’s use of ekphrasis to describe a home video elevates this domestic scene to the realm of high art.

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I Remember it All Too Well: Eyewitness Testimony in Forever & Always

In Forever & Always, Swift begins to explore a theme that she will perfect in her magnum opus All Too Well.

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Wisdom of the Elders: 18yo Swift recalls being Fifteen

The Basics In Fifteen, a wizened Taylor Swift addresses her fifteen-year-old self. Now eighteen, Swift has acquired the wisdom that comes...

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The Time Traveler's Wife: Visiting the Past in Mary's Song (Oh My My My)

Swift, a metaphysician, uses Mary’s narrative as an opportunity to revisit the theme from a universe where the relationship did not end.

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