Honey, when I’m above the trees
I see this for what it is
But now I’m right down in it
All the years I’ve given
Is just shit we’re dividing up
Showed you all of my hiding spots
I was dancing when the music stopped
And in the disbelief
I can’t face reinvention
I haven’t met the new me yetThere’ll be happiness after you
But there was happiness because of you
Both of these things can be true
There is happiness
Past the blood and bruise
Past the curses and cries
Beyond the terror in the nightfall
Haunted by the look in my eyes
That would’ve loved you for a lifetime
Leave it all behind
And there is happinessTell me, when did your winning smile
Begin to look like a smirk?
When did all our lessons start to look like weapons pointed at my deepest hurt?
I hope she’ll be a beautiful fool
Who takes my spot next to you
No, I didn’t mean that
Sorry, I can’t see facts through all of my fury
You haven’t met the new me yetThere’ll be happiness after me
But there was happiness because of me
Both of these things I believe
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
Leave it all behind
And there is happinessI can’t make it go away by making you a villain
I guess it’s the price I pay for seven years in heaven
And I pulled your body into mine every goddamn night now I get fake niceties
No one teaches you what to do
When a good man hurts you
And you know you hurt him tooHoney, when I’m above the trees
I see it for what it is
But now my eyes leak acid rain
On the pillow where you used to lay your head
After giving you the best I had
Tell me what to give after that
All you want from me now
Is the green light of forgiveness
You haven’t met the new me yet
And I think she’ll give you thatThere’ll be happiness after you
Happiness by Taylor Swift
But there was happiness because of you too
Both of these things can be true
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
Leave it all behind
Oh, leave it all behind
Leave it all behind
And there is happiness
I found another song referencing The Great Gatsby. This one was a complete coincidence. I was at a bookstore with my girlfriend and they were looking in the nonfiction section, so I was disinterestedly looking around. I noticed the owners of the store were big fans of Taylor Swift, as I had heard several of her songs play. Suddenly I heard the lyric “I hope she’ll be a beautiful little fool” and it shook me. This almost a direct quote of Daisy, paraphrased but keeping the same language. Out of curiosity, I looked up the song and its lyrics, and this song references The Great Gatsby a lot, and even seems to follow along with the plot of the novel, so I thought it’d be worth analyzing in the lens of Gatsby.
Honey, when I’m above the trees
I see this for what it is
But now I’m right down in it
Here, Swift sings that she understands what happened in her relationship if she looks at the bigger picture, but she isn’t looking at that bigger picture. This is similar to Gatsby, who is also unable to see that Daisy is not committed to reviving their relationship. However, it’s a defining flaw of Gatsby that he is never able to see this, unlike Swift. She is able to see reality for what it is when she is calm and collected, but Gatsby’s obsession prevents him from doing the same.
I was dancing when the music stopped
And in the disbelief
I can’t face reinvention
I haven’t met the new me yet
Looking at this through the lens of Gatsby, this fits the story. Gatsby was still completely in love when Daisy ended the relationship by marrying Tom. When he got the letter, he was unable to face the fact that he had to become a different person without Daisy. Instead, he chose to pursue “the new me” that would be able to attract Daisy again.
There’ll be happiness after you
But there was happiness because of you
Both of these things can be true
Swift realizes that life moves on after a relationship, that happiness continues to exist after it even if happiness came from the relationship. Gatsby is too obsessed to make this realization. He is not on the path to move on; he is still thinking of ways to revive the relationship. Gatsby does not believe both of the first two lines can be true at the same time.
Tell me, when did your winning smile
Begin to look like a smirk?
When did all our lessons start to look like weapons pointed at my deepest hurt?
I hope she’ll be a beautiful fool
Who takes my spot next to you
Swift sings that she noticed her partner’s smile became cruel and her partner became abusive in some sort. She hopes that a beautiful fool takes her place. This could be an interesting interpretation from Daisy’s point of view. Though Gatsby is the character associated with a special smile, I argue that in this interpretation, Tom is the one that could be mentioned. He won Daisy over with his charm and wealth, but soon after began to cheat on her. Daisy wishes she could leave him and a beautiful fool can take her place, unknowing of what Tom does behind her back. This could be either Daisy wishing to have stayed with Gatsby, or simply being unaware of Tom’s infidelity.
No, I didn’t mean that
Sorry, I can’t see facts through all of my fury
This seems to support my argument. Though Daisy claims to not have loved Tom when Gatsby prompts her, she is unable to keep this position and quickly crumbles to Tom’s pressure. She ends her affair with Gatsby, though he doesn’t notice, and returns meekly to Tom. Gatsby is a criminal and is now tied to the murder of Myrtle. The fact she sees is that it’ll be easier to stay with Tom, as her life with him is comfortable and safe.
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
Leave it all behind
And there is happiness
Here, Gatsby could be begging for Daisy to come back with him. There was happiness before they were separated, and there continues to be happiness even across a large span of time. He promises that there will be a new start to their lives together, a glorious sunrise. Gatsby asks Daisy to leave everything behind for happiness.
I can’t make it go away by making you a villain
I guess it’s the price I pay for seven years in heaven
And I pulled your body into mine every goddamn night now I get fake niceties
No one teaches you what to do
When a good man hurts you
And you know you hurt him too
Here, Swift laments that the pain of the relationship cannot be easily dissolved by blaming her partner. She had a great relationship but now she has a fake life of niceties. This fits Daisy’s side of the story completely. She cannot forget Gatsby easily, and she must live with the fact that she chose comfort over happiness. She lives with the pain that she hurt Gatsby by leaving him, though he left her for the war, leaving her alone and confused. She knows she’s picked a nice fake life of comfort over him.
After giving you the best I had
Tell me what to give after that
All you want from me now
Is the green light of forgiveness
Gatsby gave Daisy everything he had, which wasn’t much since he was poor. That wasn’t enough for her because she was used to wealth, so he needed to give more than what he had, becoming a new person entirely just to try to be enough for her expectations. Despite this, Daisy doesn’t want him back. She just wants him to forgive her and let her live her comfortable life of regret, seeing by how she was unable to take Gatsby’s offer of a life together. The green light here isn’t a sign of hope like it is for Gatsby; it’s a sign to Gatsby to continue his life, a “go” that pushes him to forgive her and move on.