It has happened. My full blown Taylor Swift obsession has begun.
When I launched this newsletter, I promised I would avoid stating the bleeding obvious when it comes to recommendations. So this isn’t a straightforward, ‘Isn’t Taylor Swift good?’ post. Bear with me.
It happens slowly over a few months and then very quickly over 48 hours.
The kids ask you to play Shake It Off and the next thing you know, you’ve made a “TS Faves’ Spotify playlist which you listen to with increasing frequency.
You realise that you’re spending a disproportionate amount of your day thinking about Taylor Swift lyrics and her songs start playing on a loop in your head 24/7.
You occasionally ask yourself, is it normal for a 40 year-old woman to be spending this much time thinking about Taylor Swift? But you dismiss the thought and sooth your anxious mind by pressing play on Sweet Nothing.
An already Swift-literate friend patiently initiatives you in to the attendant mythology that you’ve only been vaguely aware of till now - the storied love life, the fan theories, the coded messages in her music, the folklore (wink). After that, your message thread becomes a de facto fan forum.
‘TS Faves’ goes from 45 minutes to 2 1/2 hours and Swift-centric content enters your regular rotation of internet reading.
Then, in one weekend, Taffy Brodesser-Akner enters the discourse and writes the definitive piece, you see The Eras Tour at the cinema and everything changes.
I strongly recommend that you read this masterful piece of writing, one of the best profiles I’ve read. It brilliantly captures the essence of Swift’s appeal, the complexities of her musical evolution, her uniquely devoted fan base and what it all says about the wider culture.
If I quote all the best bits I’d basically be reproducing the whole article but here are a few highlights -
On being at an Eras show:
The mood was solemn — spiritual, even. I have prayed at dawn at the Temple Mount. I have stood among quivering supplicants at the graves of biblical forefathers. I have walked in trembling silence as I entered farther and farther into the inner sanctums of the Vatican. This was like that, except for girls.
On high level fandom:
One can enter Swiftiedom at any level: avocation or vocation, background music or full-time job. Being a Swiftie at the highest level means access to an all-consuming, all-absorbing empire of evidence, where all the questions have answers, all the mysteries are solved, where you get to feel excited and smart and involved with something bigger than yourself without ever looking up from your phone.
On fan conspiracy theories:
A theory surfaced (one that I will continue to believe no matter what you tell me) that in a supplementary photo in the “Reputation” album, Taylor’s left eye had been replaced with Karlie Kloss’s left eye. What is “Reputation” but an album of coded regrets? What is revenge but exchanging an eye for an eye? I am worried I will be fired for even printing a draft of this theory, but I have examined this from all sides. The evidence is overwhelming!
On why she loves writing celebrity profiles:
To me, there’s no better way to understand the culture, and to understand the culture is to understand the world — to learn about ourselves by learning about the people we chose to celebrate, the people we voted to represent us in our own imaginations.
As well as being a deeply pleasurable reading experience, the piece was the perfect primer for seeing Eras at the cinema.
I bitterly resent interminable run times but with this film, 3 hours zipped by. The songs are brilliant, her patter is charming - knowing, goofy, earnest and funny all at the same time - and as a visual spectacle, the show is just unbridled energy and joy.
Whether you’re an avocation or vocation Swiftie, it’s impossible not to have a great time.
How about you? Have you watched Eras yet? Please join me in my maniacal fandom or question my sanity in the comments below.
Secondary material:
Read - an appropriately reverential piece about Swift’s musical genius: Why Taylor Swift’s 1989 is the album of the century
Watch - the 2020 documentary, Miss Americana on Netflix.
Listen - My favourite podcast, The Slate Culture Gabfest briefly discuss Swifties at the Movies
See you next time!
Hannah
I am 49 and have found myself wearing a lot of sturdy checks and shackets lately and, following the NYT mag piece, I realise this is because I am Folklore era. Had never thought much about TS other than a few grabby singles until the excitement around that album being released in lockdown, when I had time to give it a speculative listen and loved it. I watched the Netflix doc and, as a middle-aged person plagued with regret about my inertia, am astounded by her drive and how incredibly prolific she is. I’m slowly trying to discover the other albums but definitely need to make my own playlist! Why have I not done this before?(Also really want to book a karaoke room purely to sing All Too Well.)
I'm 46.
I knew of Taylor before 1989 and thought she seemed fine but not really me. Basically I dismissed her as another pop princess (with seemingly a lot of drama).
Then I started really liking Shake It Off and noticed how she laughed at herself in it & thought huh maybe I'd missed something...
Then I started listening to 1989 and realised i'd dismissed one of the greatest singer songwriters of all time and now I adore her completely and own everything on CDs in case streaming services fail or something.
I live in NZ so no concert here but am extremely excited about the movie:)
She is a goddess and I never tire of her music.