In my opinion, two of the most perfect albums to ever exist are Rumours – by Fleetwood Mac and 1989 – by Taylor Swift. Not to steal the thunder of any of Taylor’s previous albums, but 1989 was such a revolutionary album for Taylor, because this album catapulted her into the worldwide pop phenomenon she is today. Following the release of this album, Taylor gave an intimate performance of her songs at the Grammy Museum where she explained the conception of the idea for the album. She said that she was devastated by the loss of the coveted “Album of the Year” award at the Grammys, so, she did what anyone would do when something didn’t go the way they planned even after working so hard for it – she went to her favorite fast food place. With an In-N-Out burger in one hand and a milkshake in the other, Taylor started reflecting on why she lost. She realized that to the Grammy committees, Red’s tracklist of records in multiple genres showed a “lack of cohesion” in her work (however, I completely disagree because I believe the album is the perfect representation of a heartbroken person – someone who is “happy, free, confused, and lonely at the same time” to quote the song “22” from Red). So this time, she decided to dive in head first into a completely different genre and stick with it to create a sonically cohesive album. She chose to title the album “1989” after her birth year to represent the symbolic rebirth of her artistry. 

     To ensure a smooth transition into the pop music genre, Taylor collaborated with big names in the field such as Martin Shellback, Max Martin, and the legend himself, Jack Antonoff. Some of my favorite songs in this album are: Blank Space, Style, Out of the Woods, You Are In Love, All You Had to Do Was Stay, Bad Blood, Wildest Dreams, Clean, Wonderland, and of course, Shake It Off. Similar to my last post, I will be talking about the first three songs in detail, and give a few remarks on some of the other songs. 

     In the years between 2012 and 2014, Taylor received a lot of backlash for dating a normal number of people that one would date in their 20s. In Blank Space, Taylor employs satire to expose the ridiculousness of the media’s portrayal of her as a sort of “serial dater”. In the music video, Taylor plays the part of a crazed, overly jealous, and clingy woman who continually suspects her lover’s infidelity. The lyrics in the chorus “Got a long list of ex-lovers/ They’ll tell you I’m insane/ But I’ve got a blank space, baby/ And I’ll write your name,” are a direct nod to Taylor being linked to a string of men and the media scrutinizing her for it. Many people might think that creating an entire song as a response to media scrutiny might be a little extra; however, Taylor realized that the media was undermining her integrity and respectability as a songwriter by portraying her as a vengeful woman that only dates guys to get back at her exes or get more songwriting material, because many people were starting to believe this false narrative. This song also gave us the iconic “darling I’m a nightmare dressed like a daydream” line – which if you take away the overuse of the phrase over the past few years, is actually such a thought-provoking line. Not only does it trigger the imagery of something terrifying being wrapped underneath something so temptingly beautiful, but it also furthers Taylor’s satirical purpose by making fun of the media labeling her as a manipulative woman. Blank Space showed the public that just because the media tells you part of the story, does not mean you know the whole thing. 

     Style is pop-perfection. Like all of the songs on this album, Style emulates 1980s pop by employing heavy synths, electric keyboard sounds, and vocal reverbs. There is just something about the song that makes your head turn immediately when it starts playing. This song talks about timeless fashion and entertainment industry icons. The chorus goes “You got that James Dean daydream look in your eye/ And I got that red lip classic thing that you like/ And when we go crashing down, we come back every time/ ‘Cause we never go out of style”. I think it is really interesting how Taylor talks about the endless cycle that she seems to be stuck in through referencing things that never go “out of style” For example, a red lip is a fashion statement that has quite literally never gone out of style and has been around for centuries. I also think that the use of the phrase “we never go out of style” also shows that Taylor doesn’t mind that she seems to be stuck in a romance that never really finishes. 

     Out of The Woods is such a cool song because Taylor perfectly portrays the feeling of anxiety she had in a relationship through different techniques in this record. If you haven’t heard this song, I highly recommend listening to it. The chorus consists of Taylor continually chanting the phrase “Are we out of the woods yet” followed by chants of “Are we in the clear yet”, and ending with a “good” at the end. The furious chanting of the “Are we out of the woods yet” can be equated to someone saying a mantra in their head to keep themselves calm during a fearful situation. Taylor also sings the entirety of each of the aforementioned portions in a single breath. This is what I think gives the song a sense of breathless urgency which really sets the anxious mood for the song. Finally, the chorus always ends with “Are we in the clear yet? in the clear yet? Good!” While listening to the song, you notice that Taylor basically yells the “Good!” at the end which almost feels like a breath of relief. The chorus comes up over three times in the song, and in the end Taylor repeats it over four times to finish off the song, which shows how she was constantly in a state of anxiety in this relationship. 

     Similar to Out of The Woods, You Are In Love is a song that Taylor wrote to track. This means that she listened to the track that Jack Antonoff sent to her and wrote lyrics to the track, which is something that she started doing for the first time with this album. What I love about this song is the juxtaposition that Taylor uses in her lyrics to try and put into words what true love looks, sounds, and feels like. She says “You can hear it in the silence, the silence/ You can feel it on the way home, way home/ You can see it with the lights out, lights out/ You are in love, true love”. I think it is interesting how Taylor describes the emotion of love as an intangible entity that you can see and feel no matter what condition you may be facing. I also think it is interesting how Taylor views true love in a similar way that one would hold faith or belief in a religion. 

     All You Had to Do Was Stay is the fifth track on this album. For those of you who have not read my last post explaining the significance of track fives in Taylor’s albums – these songs are emotion packed songs where Taylor lets all of guards down and shares her most vulnerable lyrics. The idea for All You Had to Do Was Stay came to Taylor in a dream where she opened the door to see her ex-lover standing in front of her. When she tried to open her mouth to speak, the only sound that would leave her mouth was a very (very) high-pitched “Stay” that can be heard throughout the song. 

     If you ask me what my favorite Taylor Swift music video is, I will tell you that it is the Bad Blood music video. I think this is one of Taylor’s most iconic music videos because we see a side of her that we had never seen before. For the music video, Taylor recruited help from her “squad” consisting of many powerful women to portray powerful characters. Using synths, programmed drums, and processed backing vocals, this song is a much more aggressive song than any other song Taylor has released before. I think the addition of the Kendrick Lamar feature on the single furthers the overall message of revenge and betrayal explored in the song as well. 

     To end the post off on a happy note, I want to talk a little bit about Shake It Off. Similar to how Taylor responded to the media through Blank Space, Taylor responds to her haters through Shake it off. As a woman in the music industry, Taylor Swift has had every single aspect of her life dissected publicly. People scrutinize her body, her style, her actions, and everything not related to her music to build an opinion of her as a musician. However, as Taylor explains through the song, which I am sure everyone is more than familiar with at this point, she realizes that she can either let this scrutiny tear her down, or just learn how to deal with it – Taylor chooses the latter by “shaking off” the haters. I know the overplaying of this song has led to many people thinking the song is annoying, and I completely understand that; however, whenever the song comes on the radio or while I am just listening to music, it always puts me in a good mood. I think it’s impossible to listen to the entirety of the song and not feel at least two percent better than how you felt before listening to the song. 

     As of right now, Taylor has not announced the release of 1989 (Taylor’s Version) yet, but she has released Wildest Dream (Taylor’s Version) as the lead single, prompting many Swifties (me included) to think that she might be planning to surprise release the Taylor’s Version album very soon (it would not be the first time she dropped an album or two out of nowhere with no warning). Overall, I believe 1989 is a perfect album because it stays true to Taylor’s vision of the album being “pure-pop” with influences from the 80s. Taylor shows a range of different sounds while still being sonically cohesive.