At the time, Swift temporarily disavowed dating to instead celebrate the power of female friendship and flaunt her celebrity “girl squad” with extravagant 4th of July parties and a different guest appearance every night of her tour. Where liner notes of previous albums offered hyper-specific hints about each song’s subject, these tell the story of a generic on-again off-again romance. fights and dancing in refrigerator light are replaced with glossy odes to big cities and weekend flings. The album, named after the year she was born, treats heartbreak as if observing a painting on a wall, rather than a feeling she desperately needs to articulate. She has said that she would work in marketing if she didn’t work in music but, really, she has already been doing both simultaneously and spectacularly.įor those who might openly cry while listening to Red, the first listen of 1989 stings of indifference. On the album, Swift loses her naïveté, dons a sense of unfazed nonchalance, and learns to navigate a world that underappreciated her lyricism and shamed her for dating too many men. 1989 is in part Swift’s response to the negative, often sexist, press she’d received. The media surrounding that album critiqued Swift as clingy, boy-obsessed, and vindictive. Its predecessor, Red, was the pinnacle of diaristic specificity, an album that blew up the tiny intimate details of her romances into public eulogies. As it turns out, we’re not so different after all.That changed with 1989.
I spent a surprising amount of 1989 rooting for its protagonist and sharing in her triumph. Taylor Swift may not be challenging societal norms in the same way as Beyoncé, Lady Gaga and my own band CHRIST ALIVE are, but she’s relatable and that counts for a lot.
This is something anyone can relate to, whether they've made a string of poor romantic choices or 'done a whitey' on the weekend gone by. Best of all is 'Style', which celebrates Swift's fling with 1D's Harry Styles (geddit?) as though being young and reckless is all a part of growing up. There's that same 'stay positive' philosophy, and a fair few shouty bits. The proud defiance of 'Welcome To New York' and 'Bad Blood' remind me of several iconic hardcore bands you've probably never heard of. What's really more significant is her enduring positivity in the face of adulthood. Much has been made of the ‘Fearless’ singer's switch from country to pop by buddying up with producers like Max Martin a.k.a. I'll stick my neck out here and say her arrogance is entirely justified. Even in the Lana Del Rey-inspired 'Wildest Dreams', where brooding synths and doomy fatalism collide, the emphasis is on Taylor moving onto better things. Yet it's a rare occasion when Swift plays the victim. Much like my soon to be published journal, the album is littered with not so subtle references to former friends and ex-lovers. " I can make the bad guys good for a weekend." " Grab your passport and my hand," commands Taylor in 'Blank Space'. It's the work of someone who finds success in misadventure, instead of wallowing in it. Were I not destined for eventual greatness, 1989 might make make me feel unimportant and a failure. Now I have nothing against strong, independent women with the world at their feet. Swift’s self-empowerment is so irrepressible that you can actually hear her kiss off the haters with the help of a brass backing section. Like ‘We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together’, ‘Shake It Off’ is more than a song - it’s a mantra. When Taylor makes light of her 24/7 party lifestyle and inability to keep a man, she’s rewarded with her second US Number 1 single.
When I publicly celebrate my inadequacies with booze and ex-girlfriends, this usually leads to a ‘final warning’ email. An all-American girl with the songwriting flair to write every millennial's favourite 'Love Story' at 17 years old, she’s cultivated an aura where even her flaws are a source of enduring popularity. If there's one thing you should know about Taylor Swift, it's that she's perfect. Assuming it doesn’t, I’ll simply assume that life is fundamentally unfair and my mother is the only person who’ll ever appreciate me. Where did it all go wrong for me? Why are our lives so different? Will someone ever write a list about 10 Times I Left The Gym Looking Flawless? Perhaps the Pennsylvania-born idol’s fifth album will provide some answers.
I, Rob Leedham, was also born on 13 December 1989, have 1,209 Twitter followers and am writing this review as water drips from the ceiling of my crap South London flat. Taylor Swift was born on 13 December 1989 is the world’s biggest pop star and has an estimated worth of $64 million.
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