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Thematic echo

Sonnet 116

Appears in 2 songs

Associated with William Shakespeare

All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (TV)
Red (Taylor's Version) · 2021

You said if we had been closer in age, maybe it would've been fine And that made me want to die

Uncle Jerry quotes Shakespeare's Sonnet 116 ('Let me not to the marriage of true minds') when discussing the lyric about the age difference. He argues that if the age gap is an impediment to love, it's something she can't fix, and invokes Shakespeare's definition that true love should not be altered by circumstances. He explicitly says 'I'm quoting Shakespeare, impediment, love, no impediment to love, love is not love that alters when it alteration finds.' The implication is that Jake Gyllenhaal's excuse fails Shakespeare's definition of love.

StructuralThematic echoInferred
Podcast analysis
Dear Reader
Midnights · 2022

You should find another guiding light Guiding light But I shine so bright

Angela & Uncle Jerry connect the 'guiding light' imagery in the outro to Shakespeare's Sonnet 116, where love is described as 'the ever-fixed mark', a star that sailors navigate by. Uncle Jerry recites the sonnet from memory and connects the North Star / guiding light imagery to the song's outro, where Taylor positions herself as a guiding light that listeners should find alternatives to, despite her brightness.

IncidentalThematic echoInferred
Podcast analysis