Come walk through the door with us, cause the air is getting cooooold. Our 10th episode is here, and we were hoping you had 10 minutes to spare for this one.

We are digging deep into the All Too Well universe, and Uncle Jerry compares both the original version and the 10 minute version, what he thinks about the lyrics that were redacted for the edited version, and Taylor Swift’s masterful use of metaphor and other literary devices in every line of this song.

Works Cited:

The Prelude – William Wordsworth – Affiliate Link

Orality and Literacy – Walter J. Ong – Aff Link

Birches – Robert Frost

Mending Wall – Robert Frost

Metaphors We Live By – George Lakoff and Mark Johnson – Aff Link

In Just – Spring – e.e. Cummings

Poetry – Nikki Giovanni

Let me not to the marriage of true minds (Sonnet 116) – William Shakespeare

A Rose for Emily – William Faulkner

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Dom Perignon, did you bring it?

Today we’re toasting to Champagne Problems from Taylor Swift’s 2020 album, evermore. Uncle Jerry discusses the different meter used throughout the lyrics, and also wonders if there’s a deeper meaning with society’s expectations and the narrator’s autonomy throughout the story.

Angela brings up the Swiftie discussion about which word they’ll never say again, and they also tell the story of Uncle Jerry officiating Angela’s wedding.

Works Cited:

Night Train – Jimmy Forrest

Take the A Train – Duke Ellington

In Medias Res

Heart of Glass – Blondie

Iambic Pentameter

Trochee

Dactyl

Anapest Disnarration and the Unmentioned in Fact and Fiction – Marina Lambrou – Affiliate Link

Sociological Criticism

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Today we’re putting the money in the bag and stealing the keys, and discussing Taylor Swift’s Getaway Car from 2017. This cult Swiftie fave is our first track from Reputation, and Angela chose it because she knew Uncle Jerry would love the Dickens reference in the first line.

Watch as the duo dissects each line, and Uncle Jerry picks up on the self-reflection Taylor wrote into the song.

Works Cited:

A Tale of Two Cities – Charles Dickens – Affiliate Link

Shades of Gray – Carolyn Reeder – Aff Link

Nicholas Nickleby – Charles Dickens – Aff Link

Lexical Ambiguity

Getaway Car Shirt – Girl Tribe Co.

Writing BTS with Jack

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Let's talk through So Long, London!

In this episode of The Swiftie and The Scholar, Uncle Jerry and Angela dissect the poetic lyrics of the fifth track from Taylor Swift's 2024 album, The Tortured Poets Department.

They find tons of literary devices and references, and Uncle Jerry even makes another correct prediction on the song's intro.

Stay until the end to hear Uncle Jerry's grade for the song as a whole.

Works Cited:

Life of Johnson – James Boswell – Affiliate Link

Perrine’s Sound and Sense: An Introduction to Poetry – Aff Link

The Bells — Edgar Allan Poe

Ignis fatuus

Will-o’-the-wisp – Irish Folklore

Odd Man Out – 1947 film

The Bluest Eye – Toni Morrison – Aff Link

Lyric Video

Eras Tour Performance

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In this episode of The Swiftie and The Scholar, Angela and Uncle Jerry are taking it waaayyy back to 2006 with Taylor Swift’s first ever track 5, Cold As You. It might seem like a weird choice, but Angela wanted to present Uncle Jerry with some of Taylor’s earliest work so he could gain context around her growth as an artist over her entire career.

Uncle Jerry finds a few redeeming qualities in the song, and together they explore other break-up poetry from the greats.

Works Cited:

Percy Bysshe Shelley

Modern Love: I – George Meredith Sonnet

It’s Not You, It’s Me – Jerry Williams – Affiliate Link

The Research Society for Victorian Periodicals

Rosemary VanArsdel Prize

Her Kind – Ann Sexton

Heavy – Mary Oliver

A Broken Appointment – Thomas Hardy

The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson – Aff Link

Heart! We will forget him! – Emily Dickinson

I held a Jewel in my fingers – Emily Dickinson

Eras Tour Surprise Song — Houston

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In this episode of The Swiftie and The Scholar, Uncle Jerry and Angela analyze Death By A Thousand Cuts from Taylor Swift's 2019 album, Lover.

Uncle Jerry finds literary devices aplenty in the lyrics, and discusses how she uses those devices to deftly handle the storytelling in the poem via indirect characterization.

They also discuss the roundabout inspiration of this song and the Swiftie tradition of friendship bracelets.

Works Cited:

A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Shakespeare – Affiliate Link

Lingchi

Death By A Thousand Cuts – Timothy Brook, Jérôme Bourgon, Gregory Blue – Aff Link

Mandarin Squares

Great Expectations — Charles Dickens – Aff Link

Kyn You Believe It — IDK Traffic Light

Anaphora

Indirect Characterization

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In this bonus episode, Uncle Jerry and Angela discuss the excitement of the last week, including the cryptic Taylor Nation and New Heights posts, the countdowns, the new album announcement, and the two hour podcast episode heard 'round the world.

Uncle Jerry teaches us a little bit about Ophelia and Hamlet to give some context around the album's opening track title, The Fate of Ophelia, and they discuss how Uncle Jerry got just a lilllll excited about the news.

In this episode of The Swiftie and The Scholar, Angela asks Uncle Jerry about his favorite music before they dive into cowboy like me from Taylor Swift’s 2020 album evermore.

Uncle Jerry teaches us about the dramatic monologue and how Taylor uses this device in the song. They also talk about the use of cliches, indeterminate endings, and they discuss whether they think the couple in the song ends up together or not.

Works Cited:

Blondie

Stardust — Hoagy Carmichael

Georgia on my Mind — Hoagy Carmichael

Cantigas de Santa Maria

Cantiga

Medieval Babes

Pomplamoose

Pokey LaFarge

Gilbert and Sullivan

La Boheme

Tosca

Yeoman of the Guard

Pirates of Penzance

HMS Pinafore

In Medias Res

The Odyssey – Homer

Dramatic Monologue

My Last Duchess – Robert Browning

Porphyria's Lover – Robert Browning

The Most Dangerous Game – Richard Connell