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Diogenes the Dragon: Battling Cynicism in Long Live
We know from Swift’s later work that she was a noted scholar of Greek philosophy during this era of her life “You know how to ball / I know Aristotle” (So High School). It is thus worth digging into Swift name dropping a group of people who were deeply upset by her success – the world-denying philosophers known as the Cynics.


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?”
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Happy Ending or Tragedy Impending? Metafictional Reflection in Love Story
While appearing to celebrate a Love Story, postmodernist poet Taylor Swift uses metafiction to subtly critique the genre.


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...


Fear itself: Inaction in Fearless
Taylor Swift Scholar investigates whether Taylor Swift is actually fearless in the song fearless. Spoiler: she's not.


I Knew Everything When I Was Young: TS01 Full Analysis
Taylor Swift introduces herself to the world through a collection of songs that consider the nuances of what it means to know.


A Perfectly Good Heart: Heartbreak or Brainbreak?
Through A Perfectly Good Heart, Swift thus illustrates how the human body is altered at the end of a relationship.


See the Light : Love as Mutual Sight in Invisible
In Invisible Swift thus reemphasizes the point she made in I’m Only Me When I’m With You. Love, like friendship, is knowing and being known.


Better Together: Knowing and Being Known in I’m Only Me When I’m With You
In IOMWIWY, friendship is the cycle of one self reifying and being reified by another self through the effortful exchange of knowledge.


Swift's Theology of Noise Music in Our Song
In Our Song, noted music theorist Taylor Swift grapples with the question “What is Music?”


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.


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.


Missed Connections and Crossed Wires: Communication Breakdowns in Stay Beautiful
The Basics Like Tied Together with a Smile , Stay Beautiful is addressed to a young person who doesn’t know that they are beautiful. This...


A Penny for your Thoughts: Epistemology of the Self in Tied Together with a Smile
The Basics Taylor Swift addresses Tied Together with a Smile to a young woman who doesn’t know (oh-oh) that she’s beautiful. In the...


Two Roads Diverged in a TSwift Song: The Outside's Meta-Analysis of Robert Frost
The Basics On the surface, The Outside is the third in a trio of songs that use place as a device for exploring themes of loneliness....


The Cold Does Bother Her Anyway: Inaccessible Men in Cold as You
The Basics Cold as You is the fifth song on Taylor Swift’s debut album — a slot that Swift generally reserves for a particularly...


Taylor's Shift to Geospatial Analysis: A Place in this World
The Basics: The verses of A Place in this World depict a narrator who is seeking despite not knowing precisely what she hopes to find....


Look but don't See: Teardrops on my Guitar
The Basics: Taylor Swift is in love with Drew. Drew doesn’t know how Taylor Swift feels and tells her about his beautiful girlfriend....


Swift Vengeance Waits: Picture to Burn
Recap: Picture to Burn is Taylor Swift’s second song and first revenge anthem — the first foray into a genre that will become a Swiftian...
![Tim[e] McGraw: A Deconstruction of Music and Memory](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/GkD20ajVxnY/maxresdefault.jpg)
![Tim[e] McGraw: A Deconstruction of Music and Memory](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/GkD20ajVxnY/maxresdefault.jpg)
Tim[e] McGraw: A Deconstruction of Music and Memory
Swift’s first song, Tim McGraw, uses a complex structure to reflect on whether past relationships stay in the past or live on in memories.
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