Scarlet Letter Song!

Alrighty everyone! Here goes- my first real creative attempt to mash some modern media. This is a nice little mix of songs held together by one overarching detail: each is titled Scarlet Letter (or a slight variation of that). There is one notable exception, but I think you will pick up on it. They vary widely in genre and style, and each take different creative liberties with the symbol in lyrics and theme. I was going to write out the lyrics for you, but instead spent an hour trying to untangle the formatting mess that initially kept me from uploading the song. Apologies. The following is a list of the songs, in chronological order:

Scarlet Letters- I Anthem

The Scarlet Letter- Jag Panzer

The Scarlet Letter- John Barry

Scarlet Letter- Adestria ft. Scott Barnes

Love Story- Taylor Swift

The Scarlet Letter- Katrina Lenk, from the rock opera shAme

Scarlet Letter- Core Effect

Scarlet Letters- I Anthem

Listening to all these different songs and observing their interpretations of this well-known symbol, I really gained some insight on modern perceptions of the Scarlet Letter. One, particularly the I Anthem song, was fairly close to the text in themes of judgment, sin, weakness, redemption, etc. Core Effect also referenced those general themes, adding isolation and romantic separation to the mix. Others, like Jag Panzer, have exploded the Hester figure into some sort of demonic feminine archetype. Huh. Then the Adestria song... to be honest, I barely understand what the heck they're even saying. I just put it in because of the title. Taylor, on the other hand, uses the letter quite lightly, almost naively, suggesting an oversimplification of the scarlet A. As for Lenk and the "rock opera", I'm not a huge fan of it. The others at least use the symbol without pretense of actually representing the text, but this song comes from an opera dedicated to The Scarlet Letter, and it felt neither culturally authentic or textually accurate. I suppose it has its own thematic merit. Anyhow, the combination provided me with some great cultural insights into how our society today views the concept of "scarlet letter."