Like I had mentioned in my previous post, I think Taylor Swift’s “Reputation” album and the “Rep” Tour is one big Gatsby reference in itself. Now I’m not saying this solely based on her references in the songs, but also because of the album’s motive and the setting she creates for viewers of her music videos and tours. For this post I am going to be providing some background information about the album and also analyzing a couple pictures from her tour.
As you all may have noticed, most of the songs I have analyzed are from the Reputation album. I relate this album the most to the novel because of the reasoning behind its creation. Taylor wrote this album as a way to reinvent herself after a relationship and her feud with the Kardashian-West Family. We can see these reasons in her songs as some of them are about love/ heartbreak and some are about revenge. Also there is some conspiracy that she is going to rerelease this album as Reputation: Taylor’s Version and potentially release new vault tracks that have more Gatsby references! Swifties keep your fingers crossed!
This picture is from the end scene of the Reputation tour and it shows a mansion backdrop with a fountain; representing the infamous Gatsby parties. Ironically one of the songs sung with this backdrop was “This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things.” And if you remember this is one of the first songs I ever analyzed on this blog in which she makes a direct reference to The Great Gatsby. The line went “Feeling so Gatsby for that whole year,” and in my opinion this background perfectly encapsulates that “Gatsby” party setting.
This picture from the Reputation tour was taken during her “Shake it Off” performance. I am including this, not because of the song reference, but because of the outfit comparison. The pop of color and the fringe reminds me of the color themes and the time period represented in the novel. This color theme is represented throughout the whole concert, not just this one song, as Taylor, much like Fitzgerald did, used color symbolism in their work. In the movies, the flapper fashion is a recurring outfit for the women in The Great Gatsby, and I think Taylor was trying to recreate that theme for her tour with this outfit especially.
There are many more Gatsby themes and music throughout the tour which can be watched in its entirety on Netflix if you would like to see more references. The name of the movie is “Taylor Swift Reputation Stadium Tour.” I am also linking the Reputation album because there are more references I have not had to chance to analyze yet!
Comments by Kynli Jones