Everyone knows Taylor Swift.
As one of the biggest pop stars, possibly ever, Taylor is constantly in the public radar, and her music the subject of many levels of scrutiny. Since her first album, Taylor Swift, was released in 2006, Swift has gone through a musical and personal translation. Songs from Fearless like “Love Story” and “You Belong With Me” were among the more popular songs of hers back when I was in 6th grade. When she released 1989 in 2014, her style had completely transformed from country to pop. It didn’t come as a surprise as her music had been changing gradually with each new album, but it brought about a new Taylor.
I don’t tend to follow celebrity lives at all, but reading an interview for Rolling Stone from just before the release of 1989, it seems like Taylor started to live independently. Swift was criticized a lot for all of her songs about unnamed boys and the fact that none of her music seemed to be about anything else, but 1989 departed from this with music about somewhat more complex topics. The music isn’t novel but it is good, at least in my opinion. I don’t tend to listen to a lot of pop, but I gave 1989 a lot of listens during 11th grade.
Taylor Swift, from what I can tell, has a bubbling and almost erratic personality. She can jump from idea to idea and her success is doubtlessly because of how quickly she is moving. Being famous is something Taylor realizes she chose on her own accord, but she is somewhat tired of the constant eyes on her and unending attention she has to put up with. Having to constantly be alert for people attempting to steal music or steal glimpses takes its toll, but Swift does her best to respond gracefully.
Along with a change in music styles, you can see a change in Swift over her decade long career in the way she presents herself to the public. People used to be crazy about her long curly hair, until she cut it short and let it lay straight or wavy. Her style is adorable, in my opinion, and she seems to always be smiling.
My favorite song off of 1989 would have to be “Wildest Dreams” which reminds me of Lana Del Rey but is still very clearly sung by Taylor Swift. Pure pop it is, and there isn’t any country left in the music. This was intentional, as Swift thought that it was hard to do both pop and country well at the same time, and instead decided to focus on just one, growing as a musician in the process.
Recently, Taylor Swift has been taking a break from social media, apparently while recording her new album. I’m excited to see if she continues to take her music in a new direction and starts to make some riskier musical choices, helping to move the genre of pop forward as such an influential artist.