One of the most iconic lines from the novel Slaughterhouse-5 by Kurt Vonnegut is “so it goes”. This saying is repeated over 100 times in the book and is used whenever someone dies or is going to die in the novel. Pretty gruesome. It is a custom that Billy Pilgrim (the protagonist in the book) picked up from the Tralfamadorians (a civilization of aliens) who believe that death is something that happens in one timeline and they are alive in
another. They also allow for Billy to time travel. They believe that no one is dead because they are simply alive in another moment in time and there is no reason to be sad about it because there is nothing you can do about it. Additionally, the words so it goes plays into the idea of helplessness and the illusion of choices that is present in Slaughterhouse-5.
“So it goes” – Taylor Swift
This saying is mostly used as either a comic relief from the grotesque details or a transition in the novel to move from one narrative to another (This Similar to Kurt Vonnegut, Taylor Swift uses the song So It Goes on her transition album where she clearly states in Look What You Made Me Do; “sorry the old Taylor can’t come to the phone right now… why?… oh… cause she is dead”. Clearly making the point that she is switching up her style or the current narrative, just like Vonnegut). It is also interpreted as being another way to say “that’s life, stuff happens, you can’t change it”.
“”I’m sorry, the old Taylor can’t come to the phone right now” (Ooh, look what you made me do)
“Why?” (Look what you made me do)
“Oh, ’cause she’s dead!” (oh!)”
Now me, being the die-hard Swiftie I have always been, could only ever think of the song “So It Goes” by Taylor Swift when reading this book. This song appears on Taylor Swift’s most recent album Reputation where she transitions from her original country/pop style to complete pop/rap style.
“And our pieces fall
Right into place
Get caught up in the moments
Lipstick on your face
So it goes”
In this song, Swift talks about her tragic love life (I know so unpredictable!) and there is nothing she can do about it, that’s just life. This seems to be a reoccurring theme in Swift’s music as it appears in her 1989 album in songs Style and You Are In Love. Swift uses this phrase just like Vonnegut to describe the helplessness of a situation.
Why did I write a blog post about this? Well, I feel that it is a comment on how much Vonnegut wanted the customs of the Tralfamdorians to be prevalent in the 21st century. This Tralfamadore phrase of So It Goes is used multiple times in Taylor Swift’s music, and she is one of the most influential female artists of the 21st century. But, I feel like, by Swift implementing the words, she is embracing the things Vonnegut wanted us to not take into our lives/in the future. He stresses the idea of helplessness in his novel so we can take action in our lives to change the things we think are unchangeable. Meanwhile, Swift does the complete opposite by having an external locus of control when another one of her many boyfriends breaks up with her.
But then again, it’s just a song, right? It can’t have that much influence.
External Locus of Control: general belief that successes or failures result from external factors beyond control, such as luck, fate, circumstance, injustice, bias, or people who are unfair, prejudiced, or unskilled (via edglossary)
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