My favorite song on the reputation album is by far Getaway Car. Not only is the song catchy ( of course it’s by Taylor Swift), but the song is a metaphor for one of Taylors’ romantic endeavors where she cheats in a romantic relationship to be with someone else, only to realize the next relationship she enters also has the same fate.
Saying at the end of the chorus
“Should’ve known I’d be the first to leave
Think about the place where you first met me”
Whenever she says “Think about the place where you first met me”, she is alluding that her lover had met her in a relationship, similar to Gatsby pursuing Daisy again post war knowing she was married. Taylor is making the point that if she cheated on her previous lover with someone else, how can they trust her to be loyal to them?
Gatsby sees Daisy with rose-colored glasses, even though her actions throughout the novel show her true colors. She married Tom for money and told Gatsby she never loved him. Continuing to cheat on Tom with Gatsby, she obviously only looks out for herself. Taylor has the same role as Daisy, Gatsby should have known she would be the “first to leave”, and betray him.
The bridge of the song describes whenever taylor finally fully betrayed her lover stating,
“We were jet-set, Bonnie and Clyde (oh-oh)
Until I switched to the other side, to the other side
It’s no surprise I turned you in (oh-oh)
‘Cause us traitors never win”
The reference to Bonnie and Clyde paints the picture that both she and her lover are in the wrong. She had cheated and he was fully aware of the infidelity, just as Gatsby and Daisy were. The lyric “until I switched to the other side”, means she once again did something to only look out for herself. “Us traitors never win.” Also parallels the novel because Gatsby and Daisy both undergo consequences of their actions. Though Tom is also not loyal to Daisy, they end up moving away and not attending Gatsby’s funeral. The undergoing theme of the song is that everyone is always looking out for themselves, if you cause someone to leave their partner for you, whos to say they wont turn around and leave you for someone else.
Gatsby rose rose-colored glasses he had on for Daisy led him to lose all morale. Whenever the fact that Daisy was only out for herself was right in front of him. Taylor’s song perfectly parallels this relationship through her lyrics, and I will forever think of TGG when I hear the song now.