The Screaming Colorful World of Taylor Swift
Part I: Dragging us head first, Fearless
I remember riding shotgun (with my hair undone), heading to one of my hockey games in the front seat of my Mom’s car. The year was 2007 and I was 14 years old. We were listening to a new catchy tune buzzing through the radio by a breakout American singer. It was ‘Our Song’ by Taylor Swift, and it was the slam of screen doors, sneaking out late, tapping on your window — or at least that’s how it felt.
At first listen, I was hooked. Already in 2006 with the release of her debut album at the early age of 16, Taylor had a knack for creating vivid imagery and using rich storytelling through her songs that would literally transport you to the teen-next-door scene that she was painting with her masterful lyrics.
Despite not being a big country fan, her songs undeniably had a gravitational pull to them. A magnetic force of a music industry mogul in the making. Through her first 4 albums (Taylor Swift (debut), Fearless, Speak Now, and Red), I watched her from a short distance steamroll through her initial eras of bouncy blonde curls and pickup trucks, golden fearless frills, fireworks shining over sad empty towns, and burning Red breakup anthems. All momentous in their own unique way.
With each album chapter, evolving and growing into an emboldened force of an artist (not to be confused with a mess of a dreamer), and remaining true to her relatable roots — doing it all with no shortage of gratitude towards her fan base that uplifted her throughout the often turbulent years of her meteoric celebrity rise.
My ‘Must 3’ Hits Albums 2–4: The Other Side of the Door (Fearless), Long Live (Speak Now), All Too Well (RED) (Also, probably her best song of all time)
Part II: The Monsters turned out to be just Trees
It wasn’t until 1989 that I truly jumped, then fell HARD for Taylor Swift, and never looked back. A newfound synth-pop shift was fully embraced after increasingly experimenting with new sounds in her *technically* country but mostly pop album predecessor, Red. 1989 Taylor transported us into a whimsical wonderland of brightly lit cityscapes, elegant castles with large courtyards, and sweeping fleeting affairs — she helped us all collectively come out of the heartbreaks of the early 2010s with a renewed zeal for an adventure-filled life, new faces and new places, ready to shake off any bad blood that we may have had with our ex lovers and friends.
I vividly remember purchasing the 1989 album my senior year of college in the Fall of 2014, at the nearest Target to my University of Minnesota apartment. The album felt like a golden artifact that I immediately cherished deeply. I proceeded to endlessly play it on loop in my ‘05 Buick Lacrosse throughout the remainder of my college escapades. I would continue to do the same for all of her albums onward.
The many stand out hits of 1989 include: Blank Space — where Taylor reclaimed and refuted the toxic misogynistic media narrative about her dating life. Out of the woods — where she confronted the anxiety of emotional rollercoaster relationships that can’t seem to ever fully hit their stride. Shake it Off — where she resolves to keep doing her thing and move forward despite the naysayers via this unshakable Bop. And I remember thinking, how F*cking iconic is this? The answer was: beyond.
Other ‘Must’ Hits from 1989: New Romantics, Wildest Dreams, and Style — but let’s be real, nearly all of Taylor’s tracks on this album dazzle and shine.
Part III: The Best of Times, the worst of Crimes
Perhaps an arguably even more iconic moment from a comeback standpoint (and my personal favorite TS album) was Reputation in 2017— which followed a 3 year hiatus post-1989. Through this album, Taylor dispelled the haters like never before. I won’t get into the weeds of the peak timeframe of the anti-Taylor Swift movement, but this album was a response and ultimately a cathartic moment of healing — rising above the negativity, and moving towards love.
Taylor met her long time love during what’s often seen as the darkest period of her career, which is why the album oscillates between venomous bite-back tracks like Look What You Made Me Do to more hopeful and heartfelt songs such as Call it What you Want. “Starry eyes sparkin’ up my darkest night.” — CIWYW. The entire album is a testament to finding hope and seeing the light, in spite of the darkness surrounding.
My ‘Must 3’ Reputation Hits include (but are not limited to): Delicate, Getaway Car, and Dancing with Our Hands Tied.
Part IV: Swear to be Overdramatic and True
Taylor’s 7th studio album Lover was released mid-2019, and she truly glowed through her music. As a longtime fan, it was impossible not to feel warmth and happiness for her reaching a higher place, and applauding all that she had overcame both personally and professionally during the latter days of the 2010s. Through Lover, she also started increasingly speaking out about societal and political issues via tracks like You Need to Calm Down — through which she advocates for equality across LGBTQIA+ communities along with The Man — a gut punching feminist ballad.
Lover speaks to Love in it’s many different forms, phases and stages. She touches on more mature themes within longer term relationships through songs like Afterglow — “fighting with a true love is like boxing with no gloves, chemistry until it blows up.”. Although it was the most short-lived TS ‘era’ given the onset of Covid in early 2020 — Lover was Golden, like Daylight slicing through a new sunrise.
My ‘Must 3ish’ Lover Hits: Cornelia Street, Cruel Summer, The Archer as well as obviously the title track— Lover.
Part V: Is it cool that I said all that?
When I was navigating the trials and tribulations of dating in my early to mid 20s, I was always able to go back and find solace in Taylor’s music no matter what I was going through. I found that her current album eras often mirrored my emotional states. During 1989, I was graduating college and entering the ‘real world’ for the first time. This included breaking up with my college boyfriend, who despite caring for deeply, I knew he wasn’t the 1. I also started my first full time job in the summer of 2015 — welcome to Corporate America, it had been waiting for Me!
Then came Reputation, where I was swept away by an emotionally manipulative narcissist. It was fun and amazing, until I quickly became a crumpled up piece of paper lying there in the lows, remembering the good time highs all too well. It felt like an addictive rebellious stage, and my friends all agreed I was doing something bad. But then why‘d it feel so good? All I can say is don’t blame me, love made me crazy. And if it doesn’t? You’re not doing it right. OR, you might be caught in a toxic relationship with someone that isn’t worth your energy, and you know when it’s time to go.
Lover ushered in a break from the darkness as I embraced a more self-care and inner peace filled period at the age of 26. After spending some quality time alone, hanging out with my friends, doing what I loved, I felt more secure in my own skin than ever. Interestingly, the self-work helped enable me to be more open to meeting my current long term partner in 2020, and finally experience an enriching love that I had been searching for.
Part VI: Drawing Stars Around Our Scars
The turn of 2019 to 2020 officially marked the end of the decade, but the start of an age, of easily the best song writing and storytelling of Taylor’s career (if that was even possible). I’ve asked the traffic lights if any album drop will ever match the earth-shattering magnitude of the release of Folklore in July 2020, they say ‘I don’t know’. I stayed up until 1am the night of its day-of-announcement release, guzzling numerous glasses of wine with my best friend on my twinkle lit patio, in celebration and anxious anticipation.
In the midst of the unprecedented Global pandemic, Taylor sent us straight into a woodland folksong fantasy realm, and we were utterly enchanted to meet her there.
Graduating from the mostly auto-biographical template that was followed in the 2010s, Taylor introduced new characters, plot lines and wove together storylines like intricate stunning tapestries. Nothing exemplified this craft more than the fictional Love triangle song trio — Cardigan, August and Betty. All while still keeping it personal on songs like Invisible String about her long time love Joe Alwyn, and Mad Woman alluding to her ongoing masters battle with long time foe, Scooter Braun.
My ‘Must 3’ Folklore Hits: The Last Great American Dynasty, Mirrorball, My Tears Ricochet BONUS: Epiphany
To make matters more unbearably astonishing, she did the same thing to us last December with Folkore’s more spunky experimental sister’s surprise album release on — Evermore. Collaborating again with long time friend and co-writer/producer Jack Antonoff (better known as lead singer of the BEST band — Bleachers), Aaron Dessner (The National, Big Red Machine) Justin Vernon (Bon Iver, Big Red Machine). Along with more musical friends that hopped aboard the FolkMore train for round 2.
My ‘Must 3’ Evermore Hits: Tis the Damn Season, Long Story Short, Tolerate It BONUS: Ivy
Taylor is already one of the most decorated artists of all time at 31, and by clinching the Album of the Year Grammy Award for the 3rd time with Folklore this year (following Fearless in ’09 and 1989 in ’15), she was the first woman to ever do so. With the re-records of her first 6 albums well underway, and assuredly many more tricks up her cream colored cable-knit Cardigan’s sleeve, it’s a fun time to watch Taylor continually solidify her GOAT status.
Part VII: Long Story Short…
If you’ve made it this far down the T-Swift rabbit hole, I’ll give closure with 3 of the many ways Taylor inspires me today:
- Her Growth and Evolution— embodying that it’s never too late to stand up for what you believe in or change your course of action when presented with new facts. She’s increasingly uplifting and advocating on fellow artists behalf across the music industry. As well as voicing her political opinions, encouraging young voters to engage in elections and speaking out against inequality facing women, LGBTQIA+ communities, etc. — I am excited to see how she continues to elevate her platform for good.
- Her Storytelling— as an aspiring writer, it’s impossible to not admire Taylor for how effortlessly she’s able to captivate her audiences.
- Her Resilience and Strength — She has an undeniable resolve to ‘just keep making music’. Despite multiple periods of personal set-backs, media scrutiny, and negative publicity, Taylor has never let the fear of striking out keep her from playing the game, and ultimately has hit a musical grand slam time and time again.
Whether you’re more or less familiar with Taylor’s discography — I hope this was a fun and engaging fan ramble, with a personal twist. In true Swift fashion, I layered lots of lyrical Easter Eggs throughout this Lover fest. In my defense, I have none.
Taylor Swift is more rare than a glimmer of a comet in the sky, she’s a once in a lifetime artist. Myself along with so many across the world have gained so much from her innovation and imagination, and I hope we are lucky enough to experience it for many years yet to come. Thank you Taylor for inspiring us all to follow our dreams evermore, despite whatever set backs we encounter along the way. Because at the end of the day honey, life is just a classroom.