Month: September 2023

An Interpretation of “Innocent” by Taylor Swift

It’s 2009, Taylor Swift wins Best Female Video at MTV’s Music Video Awards, but instead of being able to accept her award, Kanye West barges forward, taking the microphone, and starts speaking on how Beyonce’s video was really the best. This event sparked Taylor Swift to write a song (of course) where she addresses this event that changed her entire image.

Taylor starts addressing Kanye’s insanity at that moment by saying, “Lost your mind tryin’ get it back” (Swift 4). Here she directly calls him out for doing something no one could have ever expected. Who really runs up on stage at an award show to interrupt someone who just won? When you think about it, it really does seem like he lost his mind when he did that, and I think everyone who watched him storm the stage was in just as much shock as Taylor.

She continues to address his immaturity when she writes, “32 and still growin’ up now” (Swift 28). Here she is calling him out for being a whole 32-year-old grown man when he went and decided to bombard what should’ve been Taylor receiving her hard-earned award. This is especially important because at this time Taylor was only 22 years old, meaning she is calling Kanye out for being immature as a woman who is 10 years younger than him. It’s quite embarrassing for him honestly how he could make such a rash decision that was plain disrespectful at 32 years old and take away from a 22-year-old’s big moment. Unsurprisingly, Taylor had years of maturity on him even though he was 10 years older.

After calling Kanye out for his immaturity, Taylor takes a step toward maturity, and decides to be the bigger person by saying “Your string of lights is still bright to me. Oh, Who you are is not where you’ve been. You’re still an innocent” (Swift 10-12). Here she is claiming that she still supports Kanye as an artist and that his actions were just a mistake and don’t define who he is as a person. This is one of the most important lines because it shows that even when people make mistakes, we shouldn’t let them define who they are because forgiveness is an important aspect of life. Taylor was able to forgive Kanye and he humiliated her at an important moment of her life that she worked so hard to get to, while also being in front of thousands of people. So, what I get out of this is that if she can forgive him on that large scale, we should be able to do the same in our everyday lives. Her forgiveness sends a message to anyone listening to the lyrics and allows us to think about how she was able to be the bigger person so we can too. This message is important to all of the young girls who grew up with her music in 2010 when this was released and although it might seem silly, the messages learned from her truly are something I will carry with me forever.

 

An interpretation of “The Man” by Taylor Swift

You may listen to this song because you love Taylor Swift, because it’s fun to dance to, or just because you heard it on the radio. Or you can be like me and listen to this song because the meaning behind the lyrics is an exquisite representation of gender inequality today in America. Taylor starts the song with “I would be complex, I would be cool”(Swift 1-2), where she refers to how if she were a man, she could do things like, date a number of people without getting the hate that she does. If a man were to date a bunch of women, it would make him cool, and people would excuse his behavior because it’s considered socially acceptable for a man to do. They’d say “Boys will be Boys”, a phrase commonly used to excuse boys/men of inexcusable actions that have become commonplace for the male population. In the case of a woman, she’d be called profanities and disrespected because there is a double standard.

She also mentions how when men are successful, they aren’t questioned on whether they deserve success. In the case of a woman being successful, like Taylor, people tend to question how she got there. Did she use her looks to gain success? How was she dressed? Questions like these don’t come to mind when it comes to men, rather people say: Wow he put in so much hard work to get to where he is now.

Another one of Taylor Swift’s lyrics, “I’m so sick of running as fast as I can. Wonderin’ if I’d get there quicker if I was a man”(Swift 11-12), refers to the sad truth that if a man and woman were to put in the same amount of work toward the same goal, in this society a man is going to get there first. The reason he will be able to achieve his goal faster and easier is because men are naturally aided in society more than women are. Our country is set up in a way that supports men in their goals and prohibits women from reaching theirs. 

Taylor also writes, “If I was out flashing my dollars. I’d be a bitch, not a baller”(Swift 42-43). In these lines she mentions yet another double standard. She writes how if she, as a woman, were to show off her money it would not be seen as cool or impressive. Rather she’d be seen as a bitch rubbing her success in people’s faces. On the other hand, when men do the same, they’re ‘ballers’ and considered cool and impressive. 

Overall, Taylor employs songwriting to send strong messages to her audience. In this song, she sends an important message of feminism as she challenges the clear inequalities in society when it comes to how men are perceived versus women. I believe it is important to look deeper into her lyrics because as seen in “The Man” she may be addressing serious issues that need to be brought to light immediately.