Books as Taylor Swift Songs

Because why not combine two great things?

Obviously, I have been listening to the Tortured Poets Department on repeat for the past week. And it got me thinking (shocking, I know) about how many of my favorite books I can relate to Taylor Swift's songs. So here is one song from each album and which book/character/couple it makes me think of. Enjoy!

Debut: I’m Only Me When I’m With You = Red White and Royal Blue

Now there are a lot of songs that remind me of Alex and Henry, but ultimately, this one takes the cake. Because Henry can literally only be himself when he is with Alex. To everyone else, he needs to be the proper Prince always putting the Royal Family first. But with Alex, he doesn’t have to be anyone other than himself. It’s such a sweet love story (with a phenomenal movie adaptation) and has all of the cutesy young-love vibes of debut.

Here are some specific lyrics that remind me of their international love story:

Well, you drive me crazy half the time/The other half I'm only trying/To let you know that what I feel is true/And I'm only me when I'm with you

And I don't try to hide my tears/My secrets or my deepest fears/Through it all nobody gets me like you do

When I'm with anybody else/It's so hard to be myself/And only you can tell

Fearless: Magnolia Parks? Obviously, it’s The Way I Loved You

First, let me preface by saying that I have only read Magnolia Parks and Daisy Haites. Despite not having read the entire series, I can clearly see that Jessa Hastings took inspiration from our lord and savior Taylor Swift to write Magnolia and BJ’s love story. Their relationship is toxic and tumultuous (to put it nicely), but no matter how hard they both try to move on (enter Tom England), they simply cannot feel nearly as deeply for anyone else. It’s simultaneously swoon-worthy and heartbreaking.

Want to hear their relationship summed up? Check out these lyrics:

But I miss screaming and fighting and kissing in the rain/And it's 2 a.m. and I'm cursing your name/So in love that you act insane/And that's the way I loved you

He can't see the smile I'm faking/And my heart's not breaking/'Cause I'm not feeling anything at all

It's a roller coaster kind of rush/And I never knew I could feel that much/And that's the way I loved you

Speak Now: I Can See You is 100% Hothouse Flower

This song is so Ryke and Daisy coded it’s insane. The song is all about forbidden love. And what’s more forbidden than an age-gap romance with your brother’s girlfriend’s little sister? I was not a #Raisy stan before this book but afterward? They may just be my favorite Addicted/Calloway couple (although my heart will never be able to fully put them above Lily and Lo). This book and romance had such great build-up throughout the series that when it finally happened, it was just perfect. And who doesn’t love a secret love affair?

Here are some lyrics from the song completely written for Raisy:

But what would you do if I went to touch you now?/What would you do if they never found us out?/What would you do if we never made a sound?

And we kept everything professional/But something's changed, it's somethin' I, I like/They keep watchful eyes on us/So it's best that we move fast and keep quiet

I could see you in your suit and your necktie/Passed me a note saying, "Meet me tonight"/Then we kiss, and you know I won't ever tell, yeah

Red: Begin Again is The Right Move

This song is all about finding love again after a devastating heartbreak, and how simple that can be. And that’s exactly what Indy finds in Ryan Shay (who is the standard for all book boyfriends). After going through a terrible heartbreak, she begins to believe in the simply happy kind of love again because of Ryan, and that’s what makes this romance one of my favorites. It’s simple. It’s sweet. It’s completely Begin Again.

Notable lyrics:

I've been spending the last eight months/Thinking all love ever does/Is break and burn, and end/But on a Wednesday in a cafe/I watched it begin again

And you throw your head back laughing/Like a little kid/I think it's strange that you think I'm funny, 'cause/He never did

And for the first time/What's past is past

1989: Say Don’t Go was written for Karen and Graham

A few months ago, I saw an Instagram edit to this song of Karen and Graham and it has not left my mind since. This song is all about the ending of a relationship that would never last. The end of Karen Sirko and Graham Dunne is so heartbreaking and abrupt that if they existed in this universe, I know he would be crying in his car screaming the lyrics to this song. In my heart of hearts, I know that Karen ended things for a good reason, but it still brings an itty bitty tear to my eye every time I think too hard about their demise.

Lyrics that would send Graham into a coma:

Why'd you have to (why'd you have to)/Make me love you (make me love you)?/I said, "I love you" (I said, "I love you")/You say nothin' back

Why'd you have to lead me on?/Why'd you have to twist the knife?/Walk away and leave me bleedin', bleedin'?/Why'd you whisper in the dark?/Just to leave me in the night?/Now your silence has me screamin', screamin'

I've known it from the very start/We're a shot in the darkest dark

Reputation: Dress is for Evelyn Hugo and Celia St. James

Oh, yet another amazing song about a secret romance. And oh, what a secret romance Evelyn and Celia were. For this one, I’m not going to describe the connection much; I’m just going to let the lyrics speak for themselves.

Lyrics in question:

Our secret moments in your crowded room/They got no idea about me and you

I don't want you like a best friend/Only bought this dress so you could take it off

Everyone thinks that they know us/But they know nothing about/All of this silence and patience, pining in anticipation

Lover: Carrie Soto is The Man, obviously

This book and song pairing was what originally inspired me to make this post. Carrie Soto is everything society wanted a woman not to be: brash, abrasive, and successful. And because of that, she was so completely and unfairly criticized. If she were a man, her “arrogance” would be “confidence,” her “brashness” would be “honesty,” and her success would be warranted. Carrie Soto is the man, which obviously makes her The Man on this list.

Lyrics that prove The Man is totally about Carrie Soto

I'm so sick of running as fast as I can/Wondering if I'd get there quicker/If I was a man/And I'm so sick of them coming at me again/'Cause if I was a man/Then I'd be the man

They'd say I hustled/Put in the work/They wouldn't shake their heads and question how much of this I deserve

If I was out flashing my dollars/I'd be a b*tch, not a baller/They paint me out to be bad/So it's okay that I'm mad

Folklore: Normal People is totally Illicit Affairs

Now I know that Marianne and Connell were not in a secret relationship (or illicit affair) for the entirety of the story, but their hidden high school romance follows the lyrics of this song to a T. Their “clandestine meetings” set the scene for the long and tumultuous relationship that would haunt them for the rest of their lives.

Here are some relevant lyrics to the early stages of their on-and-off relationship

Make sure nobody sees you leave/Hood over your head, keep your eyes down/Tell your friends you're out for a run/You'll be flushed when you return

Leave the perfume on the shelf/That you picked out just for him/So you leave no trace behind/Like you don't even exist

And that's the thing about illicit affairs/And clandestine meetings and stolen stares/They show their truth one single time/But they lie, and they lie, and they lie/A million little times

Evermore: Happiness is everyone’s least favorite Throne of Glass couple - Celeana and Chaol

Okay, I might get some backlash for this, but I did not hate Chaol and Celeana’s relationship. Like, at all. I honestly think that in the moment, they were exactly what the other needed. Of course, certain things occurred that irreversibly changed that fact, but I still have love in my heart for the fleeting relationship. Happiness is all about having grace and forgiveness after a difficult breakup. And what breakup was more complicated and messy than theirs? I think they (I mean mostly her but still both of them) navigated the aftermath of their demise as gracefully as they could.

Here are the devastating lyrics that remind me of the two:

There'll be happiness after you/But there was happiness because of you/Both of these things can be true/There is happiness

There is happiness/In our history/Across our great divide/There is a glorious sunrise/Dappled with the flickers of light/From the dress I wore at midnight

No one teaches you what to do/When a good man hurts you/And you know you hurt him too

Midnights: Aelin Ashryver Galathynius is (a) Mastermind

There is no bigger mastermind in the entire fictional universe than Aelin. She is fully an insane genius and I love every second of it. Although she does not mastermind her way into relationships like the song suggests, she masterminds pretty much everything else in her entire life. All of her plans are incredibly mindblowing and revealed at the perfect moments to demonstrate her sheer genius.

You know the drill by now, here are some lyrics that are very much Aelin-coded:

What if I told you none of it was accidental/And the first night that you saw me, nothing was gonna stop me?/I laid the groundwork and then, just like clockwork/The dominoes cascaded in a line

It was all my design/'Cause I'm a mastermind

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail/Strategy sets the scene for the tale/I'm the wind in our free-flowing sails/And the liquor in our cocktails

The Tortured Poets Department: Who’s Afraid Of Little Old Me? Is. Literally. Everybody.

I am convinced that this song was written for the book girlies and the book girlies alone. I mean, someone who was born all sweet and innocent until the harsh realities of life hardened them into a “montser”? That’s basically every fantasy or dystopian character ever written. I could go on and on for days about all the characters this song might represent, but here is my top list with one lyric for each proving why:

Lucy Gray Baird (The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes): “I was tame, I was gentle 'til the circus life made me mean”

Juliet Ferrars (Shatter Me): “You wouldn't last an hour in the asylum where they raised me” (I mean, come on!!!)

Kaz Brekker (Six of Crows): “Who's afraid of little old me? Well, you should be”

Celeana Sardothien (Throne of Glass): "Don't you worry, folks, we took out all her teeth"

Nesta Archeron (A Court of Silver Flames): “That I'm fearsome and I'm wretched and I'm wrong”

That’s all for now, folks! Hope you enjoyed :)