The Venn diagram of people who closely analyze Taylor Swift lyrics and people who love The Great Gatsby feels like a circle. So it’s fitting that the song “happiness,” off of Swift’s latest album, evermore, contains several references to the F. Scott Fitzgerald classic. The song, co-written by Swift and The National’s Aaron Dessner, is one of the more heartbreaking on the record, despite its title. And just like Gatsby and Daisy’s ill-fated romance, “happiness” ruminates on the end of a rocky relationship.
“There’ll be happiness after you/But there was happiness because of you/Both of these things can be true/There is happiness,” Swift sings in reference to a breakup that happens after “seven years in Heaven.” While it’s not totally clear who or what inspired this solemn song, there are allusions to The Great Gatsby woven throughout it. “I hope she’ll be your beautiful fool/Who takes my spot next to you,” one lyric reads, referencing Daisy’s hope for her daughter that “she’ll be a fool—that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.”
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Then there’s the line, “All I want from me now is the green light of forgiveness,” which a reference to the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock in The Great Gatsby. The light represents Gatsby’s yearning for Daisy, a signal that’s always just out of reach. If one wants to read further into the lyrics (What else are we doing at home, anyways?), the line “In our history, across our great divide” could also connect to the novel’s setting of West and East Egg. And the lyric, “Tell me, when did your winning smile/Begin to look like a smirk?” may also be a reference to Gatsby’s “rare smile,” as described at length by the book’s narrator, Nick.
This isn’t Swift’s first time incorporating Gatsby into a song. In 2017’s “This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things,” she sings, “Feeling so Gatsby for that whole year.” Do you hear that? It’s the sound of high school sophomores everywhere writing AP English essays on Gatsby references in Taylor Swift tracks. You can read the full lyrics to “happiness,” below via Genius and watch the lyric video.
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Verse 1Honey, when I’m above the treesI see this for what it isBut now I’m right down in it, all the years I’ve givenIs just shit we’re dividin’ upShowed you all of my hiding spotsI was dancing when the music stoppedAnd in the disbelief, I can’t face reinventionI haven’t met the new me yetChorusThere’ll be happiness after youBut there was happiness because of youBoth of these things can be trueThere is happinessPost-ChorusPast the blood and bruisePast the curses and criesBeyond the terror in the nightfallHaunted by the look in my eyesThat would’ve loved you for a lifetimeLeave it all behindAnd there is happinessVerse 2Tell me, when did your winning smileBegin to look like a smirk?When did all our lessons start to look like weaponsPointed at my deepest hurt?I hope she’ll be your beautiful foolWho takes my spot next to youNo, I didn’t mean thatSorry, I can’t see facts through all of my furyYou haven’t met the new me yetChorusThere’ll be happiness after meBut there was happiness because of meBoth of these things, I believeThere is happinessPost-ChorusIn our history, across our great divideThere is a glorious sunriseDappled with the flickers of lightFrom the dress I wore at midnight, leave it all behindAnd there is happinessBridgeI can’t make it go away by making you a villainI guess it’s the price I paid for seven years in HeavenAnd I pulled your body into mineEvery goddamn night, now I get fake nicetiesNo one teaches you what to doWhen a good man hurts youAnd you know you hurt him, tooVerse 3Honey, when I’m above the treesI see it for what it isBut now my eyes leak acid rain on the pillow where you used to lay your headAfter giving you the best I hadTell me what to give after thatAll you want from me now is the green light of forgivenessYou haven’t met the new me yetAnd I think she’ll give you thatChorusThere’ll be happiness after youBut there was happiness because of you, tooBoth of these things can be trueThere is happinessPost-ChorusIn our history, across our great divideThere is a glorious sunriseDappled with the flickers of lightFrom the dress I wore at midnight, leave it all behindOh, leave it all behindLeave it all behindAnd there is happiness
Источник: www.elle.com
