The One and Only Taylor Swift

Unless you have lived under a rock for the past fifteen years, you know that Taylor Swift has become a household name among friends, family, students, teachers, and everyday people. She has influenced millions all over the world with her music and is continuing to break world-renowned records to this day. Mia Aguilar and Casen Ripple, students at GHS, were interviewed about their opinions on how Swift is perceived as a person, singer, and songwriter.

Many have viewed Swift as nothing more than a famous artist making pop music you hear every once in a while, however, interviewing two people with an authentic fondness for her has shown how deep Swift has connected with her audience. Augilar states, “I like how even though she is in the media, she is honest and genuine,” showing how Swift makes significant impressions on and off the internet. When asking about the uniqueness of Swift, Ripple says, “...when you take a minute to listen to Taylor’s lyrics, you realize she has gone through the same types of love and loss as anyone.” Being able to relate to your audience and make meaningful lyrics about real life situations has made Swift stand out among other artists, humanizing her, and making her a healthy role model for her fans.

One of the most recent records is unofficial, yet not unheard of. Gaining enough eager fans to buy tickets to Swift’s newly-announced concert, dubbed the ‘Eras Tour’, her fan base has broken the internet— or, at least, an entire website. You may have heard of this website, by the name of Ticketmaster. Unfortunately, the Ticketmaster sales were not-so-masterful after all. According to The Ringer, “In November, the first round of ticketing for her upcoming Eras Tour was a Swiftie train wreck, in which Ticketmaster’s system was underprepared and overloaded, leading to fan complaints of brutal queues and failed checkouts.” Swift herself was extremely frustrated with the process, and “described the experience of getting tickets as akin to surviving multiple ‘bear attacks’- and this was just the presale.” NPR reported that the entire website ended up crashing, leaving fans outraged. Despite this, Swift managed to break yet another record, selling over 2 million tickets on November 15—the most tickets ever sold for an artist in a single day. Congratulations to those who managed to acquire a ticket!

Not only is Swift arguably one of the best musicians in the past century, she is also a prominent individual outside of her music. Swift has written and performed songs about LGBTQ+ rights, made public announcements in support of the LGBTQ+ community, and donated significant sums of money to GLAAD - the world’s largest LGBTQ+ media advocacy organization, as well as over $100,000 to a Tennessee LGBTQ+ rights advocacy group called Tennessee Equality Project (TEP). Along with supporting the queer community, Swift has been a huge upstander for the Black Lives Matter movement as well as women’s rights throughout the past decade. Often scorned for her many boyfriends and songs dedicated towards her history with her exes, Swift has stood her ground with the backlash that comes with it. She subtly argues throughout her songs that men such as Leonardo DiCaprio have dated more than her without negative reciprocation for misogynistic reasons. When faced with sexist interviews, Swift shuts down questions. For example, when asked when she would settle down and have kids now that she’s over 30 years old, Swift responds, “I really do not think men are asked that question when they turn 30, so I’m not going to answer that now.”

Another such example comes from “Elle Australia,” explaining how “After being named the Billboard Women Of The Year, Swift spoke with the music media juggernaut in December 2014, once again addressing critics who continued to perpetuate the rumours that she didn’t write her own music.” Swift has constantly been accused of not writing her own songs, and in response she replied, “If someone has studied my catalog and still doesn’t think I’m behind it, there’s nothing I can do for that person. They may have to deal with their own sexist issues, because if I were a guy and you were to look at my catalog and my lyrics, you would not wonder if I was the person behind it.” She also briefly mentioned two other singer-songwriters, stating that, “It’s a little discouraging that females have to work so much harder to prove that they do their own things. I see Nicki Minaj and Iggy Azalea having to prove that they write their own raps or their own lyrics, and it makes me sad, because they shouldn’t have to justify it.” Swift has had to struggle through accusations and hasn’t been taken seriously for the majority of her songwriting career. Yet still, she has managed to get her messages across to her fans, shamelessly continuing her occupation with sincere admiration from many.

On a more recent note, Swift released her newest album on October 21, 2022, called “Midnights.” According to Swift herself, “‘Midnights,” the stories of 13 sleepless nights scattered throughout my life, will be out October 21, 2022. Meet me at midnight.” The album pulls 13 nights from Swift’s life and manifests them into 13 all-new songs. “Midnights” became the first ever album to hold the top 10 spots in the Billboard Top 100, with the single “Anti-Hero” topping the Billboard Top 100 for eight weeks straight. During those eight weeks, Swift set yet another record. According to Discover Music, “In just eight weeks, “Midnights” has achieved over 6 million album equivalent units worldwide, 3 million in the U.S. alone, and cements her in music history as the only artist ever to have five albums with over 1 million units during release week. The blockbuster release moved almost 1.6 million during its debut week.” Not only this, but Swift broke 73 records in her first week of releasing “Midnights” as reported by consequence.net. Furthermore, EuroNews reported that “Now, it has been reported that “Midnights” has sold so many copies on vinyl that the format has outsold CDs for the first time since the 80s.”

Taylor Swift’s success also comes from the level of interaction she maintains with her fanbase. Swift holds popular events with her fans called “Secret Sessions’’ where her number one fans are invited into her house while Swift plays her albums live before they are released to the public. Sending out personalized gifts are also a fan favorite, some getting backstage tickets to concerts or meetings with the one and only Taylor Swift. From Moda Chicago, “As a result of these interactions, Swift has been able to maintain a unique and incredibly personal relationship with her fanbase over the years.”

One more Swift fact is her infamous cleverness when writing songs and creating music videos, known as her subtle Easter eggs, or hidden gems. Many music videos hint at future song or album releases, relationships, friends, or satire political issues. A popular Easter egg of hers is the triad of songs in her album Folklore: betty, cardigan, and august are not only referencing Swift’s good friends Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds’ daughters, James, Betty, and Inez throughout the songs, but they in turn speak to fantasy relationship between the three fictional characters of which the songs are titled after. The song “Look What You Made Me Do” from Swift’s album “Reputation” also contains many hints pointing towards Swift and Kanye West’s rocky relationship over the years. In her song and music video “The Man,” Swift calls out double standards, the patriarchy, male superiority, and much more.

Taylor Swift has become an icon throughout the past 15 years with 10 albums, 2 re-recorded albums (so far), 11 Grammys, over 220 songs, and many broken records. While having a heavy influence on music during the 2010s, many Gen Zers have grown up with her in more ways than one whether that’s jamming out to her music, crying to it, or simply keeping up to date on all the amazing accomplishments she has achieved over the years.