What Song Lyrics Do You Consider Literature? - Felix

“It's with her pen that Swift executes her battle plans [...] She renders this view so intensely that it goes beyond confession and becomes a form of writing that can't be disputed” (Powers). Taylor Swift, many love her, many hate her, there’s nothing she can do to change that. Swift keeps writing music and the public reacts accordingly. Taylor Swift is, in my opinion, a lyrical mastermind. So much so that her music can sound like literature. As a dedicated Taylor Swift fan, I have listened to many of her songs, and I believe that certain albums are lyrically impressive so much so that the lyrics can sound like literature. From themes of betrayal and self loathing to muses and phantoms, all of the songs mentioned lyrically represent literature in some way in my opinion. Key albums include, but are not limited to, folklore, Midnights, and The Tortured Poets Department in terms of lyrics that resemble literature.

Starting with her eighth studio album folklore, Swift explored the musical genre of indie. Before this album, she had always been more country and pop focused, so this album had a completely different sound compared to her other albums. One of the most distinct aspects of this album, however, was her storytelling and the lyricism that came with it. In Swift’s song “my tears ricochet” she writes, “Cause when I'd fight, you used to tell me I was brave / And if I'm dead to you, why are you at the wake?” (lines 19-20) and “And you can aim for my heart, go for blood / But you would still miss me in your bones” (lines 25-26). Both lyrics encapsulate the feelings of betrayal from a good friend but the slight skepticism that they truly despise her. These kinds of dynamics such as betrayal of a friend and false hatred are present in many works of literature. In another song titled “the lakes,” Swift references literature with lyrics such as “Those Windermere peaks look like a perfect place to cry / I'm setting off, but not without my muse” (lines 6-7) and “Is it romantic how all my elegies eulogize me?”(line 1). Many poets are known to have resided near the Windermere peaks such as William Wordsworth (“Famous Lake District Writers”). This song’s utilization of the poetic location adds to the characterization of these lyrics as literature. Most of her lyricism in this song I consider literature because of the poetic language she utilizes and the frequent references to her poetic muse, who she is dedicating the song to.


Taylor Swift’s tenth studio album Midnights is as lyrically complex as folklore yet, instead of an indie sound, this album has a more synth-pop sound (Moreland). Moreland elaborates, “On 2020’s Folklore and Evermore, Swift stepped away from autobiographical songwriting and found new depths of feeling in fictional narratives [...] With Midnights, she returns to a diaristic style, addressing the central conflict of Taylor Swift, the individual and the persona” (Moreland). In Swift’s song “Anti-Hero,” she mentions her insecurities and the all too relatable feeling of inferiority. Swift sings, “I'm a monster on the hill / Too big to hang out, slowly lurching toward your favorite city / Pierced through the heart, but never killed” (lines 17-19) and “I'll stare directly at the sun but never in the mirror” (line 14). In the first lyric, she calls back the idea of getting targeted at her heart similar to the symbolism from “my tears ricochet” and the literary idea of a monster attacking a city. When thinking about a main conflict in fairy tales, there is usually some kind of creature that the hero must defeat. This idea of a monster on the hill is reflected in the title of anti-hero. In the second lyric, Swift mentions how she would rather damage her eyes than look at herself. Mirrors are common symbolism in literature and the concept of reflections looking altered than what they really are, possibly why Swift felt the urge to stare at the sun rather than see herself.


Finally, on Taylor Swift’s eleventh studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, she combines the intricate lyricism from folklore and the synth-pop sound from Midnights (Moreland). Differing from folklore’s lyricism, Swift returned to writing about her personal experiences. As Ann Powers states, “For years, Swift has been pop's leading writer of autofiction, her work exploring new dimensions of confessional songwriting, making it the foundation of a highly mediated public-private life.” In the song “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me,” within the first few verses, Swift sings, “… So I leap from the gallows and I levitate down your street / Crash the party like a record scratch as I scream / ‘Who's afraid of little old me?’ / You should be” (lines 6-9). This lyric references literature when Swift mentions levitating as in the supernatural. The way Swift used the word levitating to create an image of floating down a street shows her talent in imagery within lyrics. In Swift’s song “loml” the lyric, “Dancing phantoms on the terrace / Are they second-hand embarrassed / That I can't get out of bed / 'Cause something counterfeit's dead?” (lines 41-43). Similar to the verses from “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me,” these lyrics reference the supernatural aspect of phantoms. In this song’s case, the phantoms are used as a metaphor to call back the idea of dance. In the first verse of “loml,” Swift writes, “Who's gonna stop us from waltzing back into rekindled flames / If we know the steps anyway?” (line 1). The lyric mentioning the second hand embarrassment of the phantoms likely refers to how Swift felt so terrible after this suggested break up that even the phantoms of her past relationship pity her. Taylor Swift is, in my opinion, a lyrical mastermind. So much so that her music can sound like literature.

Works Cited

"Famous Lake District Writers." Lake District National Park, www.lakedistrict.gov.uk/learning/ archaeologyhistory/famouswriters. Accessed 25 Sept. 2025.

Moreland, Quinn. "Taylor Swift: Midnights Album Review." Pitchfork, Condé Nast, 24 Oct. 2022, pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/taylor-swift-midnights/. Accessed 25 Sept. 2025.

Powers, Ann. "Taylor Swift's 'Tortured Poets' Is Written in Blood." NPR, 19 Apr. 2024, www.npr.org/2024/04/19/1245630721/taylor-swift-tortured-poets-department-review. Accessed 25 Sept. 2025.

Swift, Taylor. “Anti-Hero.” Midnights, Republic Records, 2022. Genius, https://genius.com/Taylor-swift-anti-hero-lyrics. Accessed 25 Sept. 2025.

Swift, Taylor. “loml.” The Tortured Poets Department, Republic Records, 2024. Genius, https://genius.com/Taylor-swift-loml-lyrics. Accessed 25 Sept. 2025.

Swift, Taylor. “my tears ricochet.” folklore, Republic Records, 2020. Genius, https://genius.com/Taylor-swift-my-tears-ricochet-lyrics. Accessed 25 Sept. 2025.

Swift, Taylor. “the lakes.” folklore, Republic Records, 2020. Genius, https://genius.com/Taylor-swift-the-lakes-lyrics. Accessed 25 Sept. 2025.

Swift, Taylor. “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?” The Tortured Poets Department, Republic Records, 2024. Genius, https://genius.com/Taylor-swift-whos-afraid-of-little-old-me-lyrics. Accessed 25 Sept. 2025.

My Thoughts on Celebrity Philanthropy

My Thoughts on Celebrity Philanthropy

By Max 

   Billionaire philanthropy has been a common phenomena in recent decades as more people accumulate wealth due to an uneven distribution of the economy. Oftentimes, it is used to increase the popularity of the individual, or to appease sway popular public opinion. However, sometimes the reason behind the wealthiest “charitable” acts is genuine. In this blog, I’ll be reviewing some rare occurrences of this, while also providing my judgment on some popular celebrities. Mr. Beast uploads videos which feature people competing for a sum of money, much like a gameshow. On the other hand, Chuck Feeney gave the majority of his billions out while he was still alive to see their impact. In today's chapter, I will be going over these two examples, and what other people think of them.

In February, 2012, a new video was uploaded to Youtube, a fairly new streaming platform at the time. The tag was MrBeast6000. Today, Mr. Beast is a world wide phenomena who rakes in billions of dollars from his companies and does “philanthropy” by hosting events that are eerily similar to the gameshows of the 60s. His most famous videos include: “$456,000 Squid Game In Real Life!”,”Last To Leave Circle Wins $500,000”, and last but not least “$1 vs. $1,000,000 Hotel Room!” (the most recent). All of these videos (except the last one) feature contestants fighting over prizes in exchange for their suffering being recorded, and uploaded to hundreds of millions of viewers. In the video “MrBeast's Epic 100 Million Celebration” Chandler recalls how he “had nightmares for over a year” and that “‘this will haunt you for the rest of your life.’”(Chandler). Based on Chandler’s confessions, it is safe to assume that he probably isn’t the only victim. Mr. Beast uses other people suffering for his own gain, while disguising it as "philanthropy" to gain mainstream popularity and attention. That is why I believe that Mr. Beast’s videos showcase cruelty, and that  he leaves behind more broken hearts than cash.

In 1984, a man came into a building to sign a check. The check was worth 8 billion dollars, or 24 billion today. The man was Chuck Feeney, a self made billionaire who donated all of his money to charity. He was known for his generous acts of philanthropy, and strongly believed that “you should use your wealth to help people” (Feeny). I believe that this is true philanthropy, without any hinges on popularity. I think that this is becoming increasingly rare, as the media provides an opportunity that is too great for most to resist. However, for this example, I believe that Chuck Feeney was a true philanthropist, putting others' needs over his own greed.

I recently just interviewed two close friends of mine, Derek Kim and Leo Roche. When asked what they thought about celebrity philanthropy, they stated that they both believed that celebrity philanthropy was rarely due to genuine generosity. They agreed with many of the opinions that I have put forth. Using this relatively small sample size, I think that celebrity philanthropy is widely believed to be false, but the content it produces for content creators like Mr. Beast is just too exhilarating to watch. Overall, the general consensus was that Mr. Beast gains more from giving than what he gives. On the other hand, the interviewees agreed that Chuck Feeney was an example of true philanthropy.

Works Cited

Persaud, Christine. "10 most popular MrBeast YouTube videos, ranked by views."

     digitaltrends, 27 Dec. 2023, www.digitaltrends.com/movies/

     10-most-popular-mr-beast-youtube-videos-ranked-by-views/. Accessed 25 Sept.

     2025

"Giving While Living - The Atlantic Philanthropies." The Atlantic

     Philanthropies, www.atlanticphilanthropies.org/    giving-while-living#:~:text=%E2%80%9CIt%27s%20a%20lot%20more%20fun,Tech%20and%20around%20the%20world. Accessed 25 Sept. 2025.

"Inflation Calculator | Federal Reserve of Minneapolis." Federal Reserve of

     Minneapolis, www.minneapolisfed.org/about-us/monetary-policy/

     inflation-calculator. Accessed 25 Sept. 2025.

Kim, Derek, Personal Interview, September 23 2025

Roche, Leo, Personal Interview, September 23 2025

"100 People Fight For A Private Island." Youtube, 4 Aug. 2022, www.youtube.com/

     watch?v=2isYuQZMbdU. Accessed 25 Sept. 2025.

Should Technology be Used in Soccer?

Technology in soccer has always been a topic of debate, and there are lots of ways we could use or limit it. Most types of technology bring more accurate refereeing calls, such as Video Assistant Referee (VAR). VAR uses cameras to check footage from multiple angles to get the most accurate decision. However, whether VAR should be used has been debated a lot due to how much it slows the game down. Whether it is worth the time it takes to stop the game and review the play depends on personal opinion. I think VAR is worth using, because while one mistaken referee decision might not seem significant, it could be the difference between a win and a draw, which is enough to alter the winner of a season. In the 2024-25 Premier League season, 82 incorrect calls from the referee were overturned to either award or disallow a goal (Johnson). This statistic shows just how significant VAR is, and without it, the result of the season would be completely different. While it slows the game down, the importance of accurate refereeing decisions is enough to warrant the time loss, at least in my opinion.

However some systems that help referees make accurate calls don't slow the game down at all, such as goal-line technology. Goal-line technology is much less controversial than VAR, because it takes no time out of the game. It works by having cameras positioned above the lines of the field to track whether the ball fully crosses the boundary lines or not. The World Cup had 14 cameras for each stadium to provide many angles to be as accurate as possible (FIFA). Oftentimes, referees have watches which automatically get a signal if the ball crosses the line and goes out of play, making it easy for referees to make those decisions. I think goal-line technology should definitely be used, because it helps make accurate decisions while not taking time away from the game. Whether the ball crosses the line or not might seem like a small detail, but it actually matters a lot since the ball has to fully cross the goal line to be considered a goal. For example, in 2016, goalkeeper Hugo Lloris made a save against Bayer Leverkusen where the ball looked like it crossed the line but didn't, and Tottenham ended up winning that game 1-0, which really shows the impact goal-line technology can have.

Semi-automated offsides is another technology that helps referees. Offsides is one of the most common reasons for a goal to be disallowed, and it happens a lot in games. This means we need to be able to do quick, accurate offside checks, which is where semi-automated offside technology comes in. It speeds up offsides checks by drawing offside lines for the referee to check, making the whole process a lot quicker and easier. This technology, similar to goal-line technology, doesn't have much of a downside. The only real con is that it requires many high-quality cameras, which are expensive, but since top soccer leagues have plenty of spending money, it's not a problem.

While refereeing technology in soccer can have some downsides, such as more stops in play and higher cost due to cameras, the increased accuracy of refereeing decisions makes it worth it in my opinion. The difference that seemingly small decisions can make is undeniable, and even a decision of whether the ball crossed the line or not can cost a team a crucial goal. Because of the importance of accurate decisions and the impact of every small detail in a soccer game, I think technology should be used in soccer.

Works Cited

"Goal-line Technology." FIFA, 8 Nov. 2022, inside.fifa.com/innovation/ world-cup-2022/goal-line-technology. Accessed 24 Sept. 2025.

Johnson, Dale. "How VAR Decisions Affect Each Premier League Club in 2024-25."

     ESPN, 25 May 2025, www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/40894476/

     how-var-decisions-affect-premier-league-club-2024-25. Accessed 24 Sept.

     2025.

Why Your Playlist Might Be Your Friend Group’s Greatest Hits

    At the end of a successful choir practice on a Thursday evening, one of my friends had just offered me an earbud, the global sign for “girl, you have to hear this”. I didn’t recognize the song, as I usually don’t, but I nodded to the beat anyway. It was catchy enough, and had the kind of chorus that felt familiar, even though I didn’t know the singer and hadn’t heard the lyrics before. Maybe it was the way my friend closed her eyes and smiled when she played it. Maybe it was the way I went home, gave it a listen, and was singing the melody by the next week. That moment stuck with me because of how it made me feel like I belonged.

    According to researchers Greasley and Lamont, musical taste isn’t just about personal preference. It's shaped by our social environment, especially our peer groups (Greasley & Lamont). When we surround ourselves with people who listen to a certain genre, we’re more likely to appreciate it. And if we link that music to sweet moments, memories, or friendships, it sticks.

    I used to think my taste in music was totally unique with artists and genres spiraling all over my playlist. In closer speculation, I saw traces of my best friend’s love for Taylor Swift, my cousin’s obsession with trending music on social media, and even my brother's love for John Williams. It was about the people in the end, not the songs. A study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that while personality traits do influence musical preferences, social factors like peer influence play a major role across cultures (Greenberg et al.). This is proof that our playlist is usually a summary of the people we hang out with.

    However, that doesn’t mean we’re copying each other. Even with assistance from friends, music is unique, and we filter it through our own experiences. I might love a song my friend introduced me to, but I’ll connect with it individually. Maybe the lyrics remind me of a moment they never knew about, or the beat matches my mood on a Monday evening.

    Now, when I scroll through my playlist, I see so many friendships. Each song is a memory, a conversation, a laugh, a tear. And while I still have personal favorites I’ve grown up with, I know that my taste has been shaped by the people I care about, and that’s not a bad thing. It’s a reminder that music connects us, teaches us, and helps us grow.

Sources:

- Greasley, A., & Lamont, A. (2016). Musical preferences. In S. Hallam, I. Cross, & M. Thaut (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Music Psychology (2nd ed., pp. 263–281). Oxford University Press.

- Greenberg, D. M., Wride, S. J., Snowden, D. A., Spathis, D., Potter, J., & Rentfrow, P. J. (2022). Universals and variations in musical preferences: A study of preferential reactions to Western music in 53 countries. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 122(2), 286–309.