Long Story Short- Taylor Swift

by Amira Salem and Ryana Sarcar

The year is 2006. A 16-year old Pennsylvania native named Taylor has just burst onto the country scene in Nashville, Tennessee. Tim McGraw and subsequent additions to her debut album revived a love for country music in teenagers all over the US, pushing her into the lower ranks of Billboard Hot Country Songs. Her future as a singer/songwriter held some promise but was largely expected to remain within the subgenre of modern American country music.

Flash-forward to 2021. The whole world knows the name Taylor Swift. Her eponymous debut album was only a preface to an incredible career as a global musical sensation, philanthropist, and outspoken advocate for women. It is practically impossible for someone to claim that Swift’s music isn’t “their type”, because no matter what genre you prefer, she has covered it all. Her sophomore effort Fearless continues to explore the intersection of country and pop, with elements of rock added to the mix in Speak Now. Swift’s fourth album Red marks the start of her rise as one of the greatest pop artists of all time. It would be exceptionally hard to find someone who hasn’t heard “Trouble” or “We are Never Ever Getting Back Together”. 1989, Reputation, and Lover only continue to prove that neither Taylor Swift nor pop music can be defined by a single label. And just when we thought that Swift’s venture from her country roots into pop would remain unparalleled, she took the world by storm with sister albums Folklore and Evermore, released mere months apart from each other. Her daring leap into alternative and indie-pop quickly became the soundtrack to our pandemic-induced isolation, letting us escape into the imaginary worlds she sings into existence, if only for a brief moment. At the 63rd Grammy Awards this year, Swift became one of only four (and the first woman) to win Album of the Year three times: for Fearless, 1989, and now Folklore.

Greatness comes at a cost though, and for Swift, it was harsh criticism and ridicule deeply rooted in sexism. All of us have at some point felt that it was “uncool” to like Taylor Swift’s music. People roll their eyes at the fact that so many of her songs are about her romance, heartbreak, and her ex-boyfriends (many of these people will also listen to Dear John and All Too Well on repeat for weeks on end). When asked in an interview about why she writes so many songs about her love life, Swift deftly responded that “no one says that about Ed Sheeran. No one says that about Bruno Mars. They're all writing songs about their exes, their current girlfriends, their love life, and no one raises the red flag there." A self-described “national lightning rod for slut-shaming”, Swift’s comebacks to sexist comments not only shut down her haters but also allow women, her primary audience, to recognize the misogyny that they have internalized. Thanks to Swift, so many of us were able to abandon the false notion that a woman’s worth lies in her relationships with men (especially if that man is John Mayer, 19 was too young John). Why compare ourselves based on meaningless factors when we can be grateful to have a shoulder to lean on? “I’m so sick of running as fast as I can, wondering if I’d get there quicker if I was a man”, sings Swift on “The Man” from her 2019 album Lover.

Swift is no stranger to speaking up for herself and women everywhere. In 2013, she was groped by a radio personality before a concert. After reporting him to his radio station and getting him fired, he filed a defamation lawsuit against her. She then filed a countersuit for a symbolic $1 (which she won) for the sexual assault. She chose this amount because she didn’t want him to go broke, but still wanted to send a message. Swift originally didn’t want to go to the police because she didn’t want this event to define her whole life, but she decided to bring it to court and use her privilege to show other women to not accept this treatment.

Swift is known to hide “Easter eggs” about upcoming releases everywhere. Whether it’s song lyrics in the caption of an Instagram post, the number of characters in a caption, the emojis in her tweets, or anything having to do with the number 13, “Swifties” are always on the hunt to figure out what’s coming next. At the moment fans are impatiently waiting for the release of Fearless (Taylor’s Version) on April 9th. Swift recently announced that she will be re-recording many of her albums to regain financial control from her former recording label Big Machine Records, who greatly restricted Taylor’s artistic freedom while profiting off of her work.

Swift is known to be very generous and real with her fans. You can’t just buy tickets to attend her meet and greets; she has people from her team (sometimes even her mom) scoping out the crowd at concerts. She connects with fans through Twitter and Tumblr and has often surprised fans with gifts or exclusive listening parties. She also donates money to fans who are in need. Just recently she and her mom, Andrea, donated $50,000 to the GoFundMe page of a mother of 5 who just lost her husband due to COVID-19. The universal appeal of Swift’s music is only compounded by the beautiful personality of the songwriter behind it. “No matter what happens in life”, says Swift, “be good to people. Being good to people is a wonderful legacy to leave behind.”