17 Shakespeare Plays Summed Up by a Single Taylor Swift Lyric
Shakespeare is everywhere. I mean probably 99% of the idioms that leave your mouth on any give day were coined by a dude who wore a frilly collar and wrote with a quill pen. Seriously. Laughing stock, one fell swoop, wild-goose chase, full circle, mind’s eye, be-all end-all, goodness’ sake—Shakespeare, Shakespeare, Shakespeare, Shakespeare, Shakespeare, Shakespeare, Shakespeare. And that is just the tip of a seriously large iceberg. Think Titanic-sinking proportions, here. Shakespeare is everywhere, so it’s no surprise that I was able to find him and his plays scattered across the lyrics of Tay-Tay’s oeuvre. Enjoy these brief summaries at your leisure:
I stay up too late, got nothing in my brain / That’s what people say mmm, that’s what people say mmm – Hamlet
Magic, madness, heaven, sin – Macbeth
Bad blood – Titus Andronicus
See the lights / See the party, the ball gowns / I see you make your way through the crowd / You say “hello,” little did I know / That you were Romeo – Romeo and Juliet
Love’s a game, want to play? – As You Like It
It feels like a perfect night for breakfast at midnight / To fall in love with strangers / Yeah, we’re happy, free, confused, and lonely at the same time – A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Everybody here was someone else before / And you can want who you want / Boys and boys and girls and girls – Twelfth Night
Down and out about the liars and dirty, dirty cheats in the world – Richard II
Your saddest fear comes creeping in / That you never loved me or her or anyone or anything – King Lear
I get drunk on jealousy – Othello
Still got scars on my back from your knife – Julius Caesar
Now we got problems / And I don’t think we can solve them – The Merchant of Venice
The sky turned black like a perfect storm – The Tempest
You can tell me when it’s over / If the high was worth the pain – Henry V
I threw my phone across the room at you / I was expecting some dramatic turn-away / But you stayed – The Taming of the Shrew
Could end in burning flames or paradise – Antony and Cleopatra
Today was a fairytale – All’s Well that Ends Well
Did you know Will & Tay had so much in common?
