When I share about things other than books, I always find a way to connect them to books, which is the main theme of this blog. However, in the last year, I have opened up more and more about other things, whether it is my interest in art, Fiona, data analysis, or most recently my love for Taylor Swift through the BookstaSwiftiesfolklore bookstagram.
I don’t remember which grade I was in when I first heard Love Story on MTV. I was not yet in Grade 9 for sure because in my mind I clearly remember living in a different house. In this post, I will share about some of my favorite albums, the important milestones when I heard them, and the reasons I go back to some songs. Taylor Swift’s music has been an integral part of my life and I feel like somehow the timing works out – I find her songs exactly when I need them. Today is moving day for me and I am thinking of her songs on this milestone.
I won’t go through every album here. Honorary mention to Red which came out during my first undergraduate degree and it offered backdrop for many of my stories. I loved including songs from there within many of my chapters. They were just spot on for teenage years and what I then imagined early twenties life.
1989, Taylor Swift – 2014
When 1989 came out in 2014, I had just moved to Canada a few months back. This was probably the first album whose videos I binged. I loved the visual storytelling that went with the songs. Did I imagine them the same way in my head? I don’t know but once I saw the videos, that’s how the songs went in my mind.
- Welcome to New York was about experiencing a whole new world which is so much more than the glamour. It’s an opportunity to reinvent and discover oneself.
- I came back to New Romantics when I faced challenges and needed to feel powerful. Fun fact there is also a book called The Last Romantics (Goodreads) which I love pairing with this one. 😀
- Blank Space, Out of the woods, All you had to do was stay helped me change stories of some of my break ups and see them in a new light or take strength and move on.
- Style, Wonderland, I Wish You Would, How You Get the Girl made me hopeful of new romances and heartbreaks – I was finally in the West where all these songs were based so this all must happen – meeting guys late at night and going on a drive with them? Honestly, I was on a strict curfew so that did not turn out to be true and thankfully Clinton is a good driver, keeping his eyes on the road.
- Bad Blood and its commentary on friendships was lovely and spoke to some of my friend conflicts around the time I was preparing to move to Canada.
- Dancing and singing Shake it Off with my brother has its own sweet memories.
- This Love was hands down my favorite for a long time. I think of Papa and our relationship when we lived oceans apart. He always gave me courage and strength. “Your kiss, my cheek, I watched you leave, Your smile, my ghost, I fell to my knees, When you’re young, you just run, But you come back to what you need” was at once an annual scene of watching him leave and knowing he will be back.
- Clean is one I go back to. It is about the tug of war in love, wanting to let go completely but the inability to, and finally knowing the relief of being free. If you do not know the significance of this song in Taylor’s life, watch Miss Americana. She explains it really well there!
The bonus song for this album was You Are in Love. I listened to it a few months after meeting Clinton (about 1.5 years since the album) and this song is what I imagined us to be. And are. The song is about falling in love and little things that say a lot, the changes that happen with living together.
I only hang out on YouTube for Taylor Swift. This mashup of Blank Space and Style is my favorite.
2017 Reputation
Reputation was so many things at the same time. In some ways, it was about proving myself, more than what anyone had imagined. That was the year I was doing things I loved. I had finished a MEd within a year and then enrolled in a teaching degree. I was constantly reevaluating what would make me happy and breaking free of old thought patterns. It was also about the freedom that comes with love.
2020 Folklore
Folklore came when I desperately needed new music, and over the course of the bad news of the following months, I listened to it all the time. We were in the middle of the pandemic and I needed a different kind of storytelling. This is probably one of those albums that I am obsessed to find a comprehensive picture in.
- Exile and This is me trying broke my heart. When I learned that I was losing my job, I had them on repeat. Exile is about letting go something we knew inside out. It portrayed the pain of being homeless almost and cut off from our roots. It is about recognizing discontent and how it was there for a long time before the last straw. This is me trying is about the many ways in which our actions show that we are trying, even if we don’t verbalize it. It is about burnt bridges, regrets and doing our best.
- Lyrics and rhythm of Mirrorball, Seven and August have stayed with me for long days with some random moving to the imaginary music.
- The love triangle depicted in Betty, Cardigan and August feels like living a whole other life.
- My latest theory is that Illicit Affairs is the other side of Mad Woman. Both are about forbidden love and the hurt that these secret relationships cause and the sadness and anger that exist on both sides.
- Epiphany’s noble intentions and melody are a tribute to human strength in harsh times, unspoken trauma, camaraderie, and living with the horrors that we have seen. The longing for a clear moment is also expressed nicely in the lyrics.
While unlike earlier albums, I did not see myself in every song, I still enjoyed every single one of them. Meeting Clinton changed a lot for me. Since he is a drummer, it grew my personal interest in music and when I listen to songs, I pay particular attention to drums. I enjoyed the music a lot in this album and more often than not, tried to listen to the situation she was portraying and just enjoy the music for what it was in the present.
2021 Fearless (Taylor’s Version)
I own all of Taylor’s albums. However, I am not the kind of fan who buys the new album right away. I don’t research the songs and see people’s interpretations. I don’t keep on top of news or anything. I just keep an eye out for new music to eventually listen to when I am ready for it. Fearless re-released at the beginning of April and I was 10 days late to the party. It’s been a long time since I heard those songs and relistening to them in context of the 13 years since their first release, made me think of how much she has grown and so have we all. The generations that listened to her first music and continue to listen to every current release.
It is one thing to listen to a song on repeat and another to play it as it’s original version. There are definitely subtle differences in the instrumentation like in The way I loved you. Taylor redoes the energy of these songs, and maybe her more experienced voice, adds a maturity to it that wasn’t there before. Or maybe the difference is also that I am not 15 anymore and can look back at these records with a more experienced lens.
Love Story, Hey Stephen, You belong with me had emphasis on different words sometimes and I loved these subtle changes. As a teenager, White Horse was one heart wrenching song and this version hits home even more. The way she sang ‘disappearing now’ makes me think of how I feel when I am trying to not cry because I know if I let it go, I will burst into tears and it will be an ugly cry. 😀
The longer pulls in Breathe, Come in the rain were some of my favorites too. The Best Day is a song about the relationship with parents and it made me reminisce about my childhood. I’m in my late twenties now and the more adulting I have to do, the more I recognize how much my mom did for me growing up and the ways that my dad supported me through the years. I had the best childhood I could have with them.
(From the Vault) Tracks
Six new songs are part of the album with the From the Vault tag. Listening to new country music by Taylor is bittersweet. Her last few albums have had a different flair, and the songs continue to grow on me. Mr Perfectly Fine reminds me of Lover, an album I wanted to write about but didn’t get to. Just the other day I was humming That’s When, the duet with Keith Urban. I love the guitar in this song.
Final Thoughts on Taylor Swift
So in short, Taylor Swift is one of my favorite music artists. I have grown up with her music and I always grow to love her music. It takes me a few times of relistening to accept the song fully so you can probably guess that I haven’t heard Evermore and Lover (though I have heard that album tons) enough times yet to write about them. Maybe there is a minimum number of hours that I need to put into my music before I have integrated into it? Evermore has a long way to go.
The past few months have been rough with changing jobs and the stresses of buying a house. The future looks fruitful and filled with joy but there will be times of stress with being a new home owner. These music albums got me through the last week. I didn’t read. Every evening, I sat with my laptop with my headphones on, listened to each of the albums, one by one, and sang the songs and reflected on them as I wrote. Sometimes, I pondered the strength of music. How it is easy to be taken up by the emotions of the song even if we aren’t in the situation it depicts. Other times, I marveled at how I am able to write words while listening and singing along to other words.
Is there an artist you follow with certain reverence? What do you love about them?
Learn more about Taylor Swift on her website.
Cover Photo by Bryan Minear on Unsplash
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