Gatsby references in reputation
So we’ve been talking about the Great Gatsby and symbolism in my English class, and I can’t stop seeing Gatsby references in rep in addition to the really obvious ones, so here are some my swiftie friends and I came up with:
- I once was poison ivy but now I’m your daisy
Gatsby’s house is described as having new ivy to symbolize new money
Daisy is the woman Gatsby has devoted his whole life to; everything he does is in hopes of her remembering him and finding him
- I, I loved you in secret
No one knew Gatsby’s motives for all of his grand parties
When Daisy and Gatsby reunited, their relationship was a secret from everyone but Nick
- Dive bar on the East Side where you at?
- Third floor on the West Side me and you
The contrast of East Side and West Side is likely referring to East Egg (old money), where Daisy and Tom lived, and West Egg (new money), where Nick and Gatsby lived
- deep blue but you painted me golden
Blue in the Great Gatsby represents hope and Gatsby’s lawn is described as blue; he is full of hope that Daisy will love him again and that he will be able to join her social circles; he has new money and she has old money so this is nearly impossible
Daisy is described as golden and having to do with light throughout the novel
- you said there was nothing in the world that could stop it, I had a bad feeling
While Gatsby is full of hope that Daisy still loves him as much as he loves her and their love is unstoppable, there is a lot of foreshadowing to the events at the end of the story and the unhappy and tragic ending
- it was so nice throwing big parties
Gatsby threw hundreds of elaborate parties in the hope that one day Daisy might wander in
- jump into the pool from the balcony
Throughout the novel, Gatsby mentions going swimming in the pool since he hasn’t used it all summer, and at the end of the novel he finally does go swimming
- everyone swimming in a champagne sea
The idea of drunkenness is a theme in both the Great Gatsby and Reputation
Water is one of the big themes in the novel; it divides Daisy and Gatsby and symbolizes Daisy’s wishy-washiness, and foreshadows the ending
- feeling so gatsby for that whole year
This is the only obvious reference to Gatsby in the album, but I noticed a lot of other ones after hearing this
- I’m shaking my head, and locking the gates
When Gatsby’s reputation is worse than it ever has been and he’s already had his chance to reconnect with Daisy, he retreats back into his mansion and locks the gates, stopping the wild parties because they only happened for Daisy
When Taylor experienced a similar situation, she went on a break from being in the public eye, and metaphorically locked the gates to the media and the people who criticize her and support her false reputation
I may be really reaching with these, but it was fun to find these possible references, and me and my swiftie friends have been really excited about it. If anyone else notices something, feel free to add it, it’s really interesting!