The connection between ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ and Taylor Swift
The connection between ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ and Taylor Swift
By Laurel Beach
Images by MyCanon and Raph_PH from Wikimedia

With the third season of ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ round the corner, it came as no shock when the trailer featured two Taylor Swift classics.

Since season 1, Jenny Han has used Swift’s songs as a way of conveying underlying messages, and Season 3 seems to be no exception.

The trailer starts with a cheerful montage showing Lola Tung’s character, Isabel “Belly” Conklin, and Gavin Casalegno’s Jeremiah Fisher enjoying their time as a couple together.

All of it unfolds to the sound of “Daylight,” the final track from Taylor Swift’s Lover album. This song explores self acceptance and lyrics symbolise a transition from living in darkness to seeing the light. It is a reflection of Swift’s changing perspective on love from her previous album Reputation and implies that she has gone through a journey of forgiveness and healing, ready for love again.

As the closing track of the album, it encapsulates the overarching theme of hope. This is exciting for Belly and Jeremiah fans as this choice of song suggests things are looking up for their relationship.

“I’ve been sleeping so long in a 20-year dark night and now I see daylight, I only see daylight” – Daylight

However just as the lyrics, “I once believed love would be burnin’ red but it’s golden” should play the third member of the love triangle, Conrad Fisher (Christopher Briney) appears at Belly’s door. The song then changes to the chorus of Swift’s standout song ‘Red’ implying that the relationship between Conrad and Belly is not over and the decision on which brother she will end up with is still up in the air.

“Forgetting him was like tryna know somebody you never met but loving him was red.” – Red

Jenny Han is clever in choice of song and we should not underestimate what the meaning of these songs could mean for this upcoming season.

Taylor swift songs used in The Summer I Turned Pretty so far:

Season 1

  • “Cruel Summer” from “Lover”
  • “Lover” from “Lover”
  • “False God” from “Lover”
  • “The Way I Loved You (Taylor’s Version)” from “Fearless (Taylor’s Version)”
  • “This Love (Taylor’s Version)” from “1989 (Taylor’s Version)

Season 2

  • “This Love (Taylor’s Version)” from “1989”
  • “Last Kiss (Taylor’s Version)” from “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)”
  • “Hey Stephen” by Taylor Swift (Steven’s ringtone) from “Fearless (Taylor’s Version)”
  • “Invisible String” from “folklore”
  • “Sweet Nothing” from “Midnights”
  • “Delicate (Taylor’s Version)” from “Reputation (Taylor’s Version)”
  • “Snow on the Beach” from “Midnights”
  • “Bigger Than the Whole Sky” from “Midnights”
  • “Exile” from “folklore”

Trailers

  • “August” from “folklore”
  • “Back to December (Taylor’s Version)” from “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)”

Season three is set to premiere on Prime Video July 16th 2025 and will have 11 episodes.

@primevideo

A love for all seasons. The final season of #TheSummerITurnedPretty begins July 16. #LolaTung #GavinCasalegno #ChristopherBriney #PrimeVideo #TheSummerITurnedPrettyPV

♬ original sound – Prime Video

Will Belly end up with Conrad or Jeremiah?

Check out our upcoming podcast episode to here the illuminated teams opinion by clicking here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0qMS3W9n1OFA7nNDkqmN9x?si=8361ddfb2e074419

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