Twenty-Seven: Taylor Swift's "1989"

The first time I ever heard a Taylor Swift song was during the Fall of 2008. I was riding in the car with several of my girlfriends--we were all sophomores in college--on our way to see a movie. My friend Jenn Berry suddenly hushed everyone, cranked up the volume on the speakers and said, "GIRLS. You have to listen to this song." 

As the sweet sounds of "Love Story" filled the car, I was immediately hooked. I'd never heard anything quite like it before. It was clearly guilty pleasure music, and part of me was skeptical. Was it really okay to belt along with a song that was so obviously girlish and naive? Would people judge me for liking the music of this glammed-up teenager? And, mostly, why was the song so addicting?

Since Fearless came out, Taylor Swift has released three subsequent albums, the latest of which is 1989. Speak Now, released in 2010, was similar to Fearless in the content, and how it was marketed. Red, released in 2012, began a shift in Swift's image and music, with some of the songs forsaking Swift's country background and blurring the line into the realm of straight pop. She straightened her hair and put on hipster clothes, which marked a big change from the frothy princess gowns she'd worn on all of her previous album covers.

In 1989, Swift has made the transformation complete, stating publicly that this album is not country, but straight pop. And just as Swift has made transitions throughout her career, so have her fans. When she first appeared on the scene, her fans were overwhelmingly teens and pre-teens, with college girls like me forming a loyal but somewhat apologetic fan base. It was not okay to like Taylor Swift if you were a straight man or a person with any kind of discerning taste in music. Even I, who consider myself someone with fairly relaxed standards (hey, I watched ten seasons of Smallville) didn't always admit to liking Swift. Or if I did, I said her music was guilty pleasure music.

I think, at first, it was because Swift's music marked such a contrast to the music that was popular in the mid-2000s. While we were all listening to Damien Rice, the Juno soundtrack, and other, as my dad puts it, "whiney" songwriters, here was Taylor Swift, wearing sparkly dresses and singing about love stories. It was kind of embarrassing, the honesty she had. In one of my particular favorite Swift songs, "Enchanted," these are the closing lyrics:

Please don't be in love with someone else
Please don't have somebody waiting on you
Please don't be in love with someone else
Please don't have somebody waiting on you

Not only has Swift's music always been hopelessly romantic, but she puts into words the thoughts we all have inside our heads, and would die of embarrassment if anyone knew we were thinking them. Take, for instance, her songs "Mean" and "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together." The title of the latter speaks for itself, I think, but here are some of the lyrics from "Mean:"

All you are is mean
And a liar
And pathetic
And alone in life
And mean
And mean
And mean

(I want to pause and take this moment to acknowledge that all of the lyrics I have quoted thus far did NOT need to be looked up. I have written them down from memory. Which is pertinent.)

Swift's career has been a constant rejection of the pressure to diminish her hopeless romanticism in favor of the cynicism my generation favors. But there are several interesting things that have evolved through the years. The first is the way the pressure has affected Swift, and what it's done to her music, and the second is the fact that somehow, it has become uncool not to like Swift.

First, her music. I've been fascinated for some time by Swift's response to her critics, because she has not completely caved to the pressure, but she has certainly responded. Her image did a 180 with the advent of the red lipstick and hipster dresses featured in Red, which I imagine was due in part to the critics, and in part to getting older, living in a variety of cities, and having endless fashion opportunity. Her music, despite the new label of straight pop, has stayed pretty much the same. While some of the content is a bit edgier (the final song on 1989 is about getting clean) Swift's common themes of love, heartbreak, being misunderstood, and rising above adversity are all intact. The packaging may have changed a little, but the heart is still there.

What has become more clear is Swift's understanding of her role, and how she is perceived. On both Red and 1989, Swift sings about being judged. In her song "22," she sings:

It seems like one of those nights
This place is too crowded, too many cool kids, uh-huh
"Who's Taylor Swift anyway? Ew."

And in the song that is currently sweeping radios across the country, "Shake It Off," Swift speaks directly into her harshest criticism (who's Taylor dating now??):

I go on too many dates
But I can't make 'em stay
At least that's what people say

Her response to the criticism has not been to change her message, however, but to bolster it with a positive, don't-let-them-get-you-down message. In "Shake It Off," she goes on to say that she's going to ignore the critics and, oh hey, shake it off. (Gotta love pop.) Swift also seems to be fully embracing the reason so many people love her, which is that she says those things we either don't have words for, or would be too embarrassed to say. In a note in the digital booklet (or album jacket, if you're old school) she writes, "These songs were once about my life. They are now about yours." Quite a statement. But absolutely true. I can't even count the number of times that I've felt Swift's lyrics closely fit my experience, or provide a balm to my achy heart. 

Perhaps that is Swift's true genius--knowing how to not only write a catchy tune, but one that encapsulates an entire generation's feelings. In the first song on 1989, "Welcome to New York," Swift writes about her move to NYC. Now, my experience of moving to Queens as a poor grad student and Swift's experience of moving to Tribeca as a multi-millionaire are, I'm sure, night and day. But when she sings "the Village is aglow," and talks about a "kaleidoscope of loud heartbeats," I'm right there with her. She has correctly conveyed my experience of moving to NYC, just as she has my experience in love, heartbreak, being angry, missing my family, and everything else.

Perhaps it's this that has finally won my generation over, or perhaps it's a shift in popular opinion. It's more important now to be accepting than exclusive, to have your guilty pleasures and proudly admit to what you like, and perhaps, in true hipster fashion, to like pop "ironically." And just the fact that Swift has been on the scene for six years now, has paid her dues (including being harassed by Kanye West), has been wildly successful, and continues to crank out good music has probably served to soften the criticism. Plus, when people like Lena Dunham--the ultimate trendy gal pal--talk about being besties with Swift, it suddenly makes it okay, and even cool, to like her music.

To be honest, on 1989 I missed the country edge Swift's music has always had. In my opinion, Red struck exactly the right balance, with songs that blurred the lines and kept that warm, starry-eyed feel. But the heart and soul of Swift's music is still very present in 1989, and as we all warm up to her new sound, we can take comfort in the fact that Taylor is still helping us process--and feel united around--our experiences with love.

~Ruthie

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