The opinions expressed in this article are the writer’s own and do not reflect the views of The University of Scranton.
Who else was left speechless at the latest teaser trailer for Amazon Prime’s series The Summer I Turned Pretty? After two years of waiting, the third and final season is finally coming this summer, and I can’t wait. To hype up what’s to come, Amazon Prime released a minute-long teaser showing us what to look forward to in the new season. Even better, they included two Taylor Swift songs (continuing the series’ close relationship to the pop artist), one song per love interest.
A normal person might simply enjoy the fun songs (“Daylight” and “Red (Taylor’s Version)”), but an overly obsessed Swiftie like myself picks up what they are putting down. I’m going to break down the meaning of each song and explain to you how they purposely hint at the series’ finale.
The majority of the teaser trailer is of Belly and Jeremiah happily together and in love, dancing, kissing, and running around holding hands. During these scenes, we hear the song “Daylight” which is from Swift’s album Lover. While I was at first truly icked out by the song in relation to Jeremiah (can you tell that I’m team Conrad?), I used my Swiftie detective skills to find an underlying meaning.
“Daylight” is all about how, although the speaker has experienced love before, they had never experienced true love until the present moment, and that true love feels like golden daylight. The lyrics read: “I don’t wanna look at anything else now that I saw you / I don’t want to think of anything else now that I thought of you / Been sleeping so long in a twenty-year dark night / Now I see daylight.” It is clear that Jeremiah is daylight to Belly, who has struggled with love and grief for years. The song is a truly happy and timeless representation of loving a person.
It’s important to take Swift’s entire discography into account when explicating her lyrics because she is known to reference previous works in her music. “Daylight” was written for Joe Alwyn, a past boyfriend of Swift’s that she dated for seven years, which largely influences both personal and public perception about the song. When it came out, it was quite clear that Swift was telling the world, “Forgot about the other songs, this is true love. I have found it. I have found him.” But sadly, their love did not last, as they broke up in 2023. Taylor later released The Tortured Poets Departmentdetailing a complicated, grief-ridden separation that left them both heartbroken.
Therefore, while “Daylight” alone might initially represent true love, it better symbolizes the concept of thinking you’ve found the one only to learn later it could have never been him. This perfectly fits Jeremiah who, although he loves Belly and treats her exactly how she deserves, is simply not the one for her. For the time that they’re together, Jeremiah feels perfect on paper, but deep down, Belly never feels truly satisfied with him, aligning with the context of the Swift song.
Additionally, “Daylight” references past comparisons of love in Swift’s music, like black, white, and red imagery. Swift writes, “And I can still see it all in my mind / all of you, all of me, intertwined / I used to think love would be black and white / but it’s golden,” and “And I can still see it all in my head / back and forth from New York, sneaking in your bed / I once believed love would be burning red / but it’s golden.” Strangely, the song cuts off in the teaser just as Swift finishes singing the first, “I once believed love would be burning red…” without finishing “but it’s golden.” Guess who gets the song called “Red?”
When it comes to Conrad and “Red (Taylor’s Version),” it may at first seem like he is being called the crazy and wild love affair that Belly looks back at and thinks, “I knew you were trouble,” but hear me out! This song is about how the speaker reflects on a relationship but can only see blinding red, overcome with all the passion, anger, confusion, and freedom that overcame her when with him. This very connection is referenced in “Daylight,” but is originally pushed aside for the purer daylight color. The teaser cuts off the final assertion that true love is “golden,” implying that she once believed love was burning red…and maybe it actually is? That’s when we finally get to see Connie Baby!
There he stands with a candy cane in his mouth, looking all dreamy for the three seconds of his screen time. This is when we hear “Red (Taylor’s Version)” echoing in the background as the scene fades to a title screen, “But loving him was red / red / red,” finishing the “Daylight” lyric with a new assertion that perhaps her version of true love is red.
While I can’t guarantee the ending of the television series (even if I know the ending of the book series), I can provide my reading of why certain songs were used in the teaser. It’s important to remember that Taylor Swift songs have been consistently used throughout the series to symbolize relationships, so reading this far into the creative team’s song choices aligns with what the creators want us to do.
I hope that this theory is helpful for all of you Conrad fans out there who are hanging on by a thread after such a Jeremiah-heavy teaser trailer. Hold onto hope and do not forget where we started! Just like Taylor Swift, The Summer I Turned Pretty has always used music and pop culture to drop little easter eggs for fans. I can’t wait to see what happens this summer!