A lyrical journey through Taylor Swift’s poetic genius, this book unravels the rich tapestry of her songwriting with a scholar’s precision and a fan’s reverence. In this review, Kritika celebrates McCausland’s thoughtful annotations, illuminating the subversive storytelling, literary devices, and emotional depth behind the lyrics. A must-read for Swifties and literature enthusiasts alike, it bridges the worlds of pop and poetry with grace and wonder.
Thanks to NetGalley, the author and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the Advanced Reader Copy (ARC)
Andrews McMeel Publishing does it again: they are always ahead of the curve when it comes to the publishing industry's edge. From Dr Elly McCausland, the creator of the English Literature (Taylor's Version) course at Ghent University aka professor of Swifterature, comes the collection of annotated poetry of Taylor Swift. Very timely, seeing as the pop star is constantly in the news, sweeping awards, and breaking records…the cultural (and economic) impact of The Eras Tour alone is explanation enough. I flew from India to Ireland for the concert, and I know fans who’ve attended the concert multiple times (whatever your guess is for the number of times, rest assured its an exponent of that). All of this happened for the experience, yes, but it also happened because the fans have often felt heard and seen in the singer-songwriter’s poetic lyricism. So it's no wonder, then, that the phenomenon that is Taylor Swift has also spawned an academic field deciphering the poetics behind her lyrics; conferences have been organised, literary magazines and journals have been inspired, and now we have “Stars Around My Scars” doing a closer reading of the songwriting. Even the dedication of the book is laced with that Taylor magic! I am a fan for multiple reasons, but most of all because of Taylor's lyricism, and this book is a sheer delight for other Swifties like me. Taylor employs a rich array of poetic & literary devices in her writing – unpacking that is a soothing exercise if not downright healing. Its subversive storytelling is only made obvious briefly through folklore-style world-creation. Fans have, therefore, revelled in the fun parts - decoding easter eggs, Now, coming over to the book: McCausland remains utmost respectful of the songwriter as she embarks on the decoding adventure — she is clear she isn’t going to play muse-whodunit here. And the result is a collection of songs, annotated with a plethora of poetic devices employed by Taylor. In short, this is any literature student’s dream. (For me, personally, this was a door to the many poetry-related world-building concepts, and for that I am thankful) The book offers cohesive as well aa standalone insights into the words: that Swift likens relationships to an ongoing story (manuscript, the story of us and so on) in a metaphor that surpasses eras. That she writes about her life — fame is explored in a biting way, for she is thankful for what’s happened, yet the downsides of fame don’t elude her. In some places, I felt that the interpretations were inconsistent — not aligned with Taylor's ideas and interviews, but I can overlook that because the poetry is still a separate entity from the songwriter. McCausland herself uses a beautiful prose to describe songs, “The ink bleeds so she doesn’t have to.” or “We are the sum of our trials & tribulations.” I highly recommend that Swifties read it and write their own poetry if that’s their jam! I know I will.
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The Storygraph: Kritika Narula
