Week 10: Blog Post

Photo Credit: Mary Ellen Matthews for Variety

Taylor Swift is a very successful artist as many of us know. But why is she so successful?

Taylor Swift is not only a great musician and songwriter, but she is also a storyteller.

Taylor Swift started off as a country pop artist, she had released her debut album Taylor Swift in 2006 and quickly saw success. Then in 2008 with the release of her second album Fearless, she started to become a household name.  

Her album Fearless gave us hits like Love Story and You Belong With Me. You Belong With Me is said to be “one of the best selling singles worldwide.” Taylor Swift was successful at the start of her career because her songs were always honest and relatable.

Her song You Belong With Me, is a story that I think many people can relate to. It’s a story about liking someone and believing that, that person should be with you and not who they are currently with. Here are some lyrics from the song that describe this, She wears high heels / I wear sneakers / She’s Cheer Captain, and I’m on the bleachers /Dreaming about the day when you wake up and find/That what you’re looking for has been here the whole time.

Skipping ahead to her album Speak Now which was released in 2010, it continued to follow the country pop sound but what made it successful was the stories she told throughout these songs. Taylor also has this very soft and whimsical voice that helps listeners feel the emotion in her songs. Taylor Swift has a light-lyric Soprano voice type. Her album Speak Now also had successful hits like Mean, and Sparks Fly. However, my personal favorite is Dear John.

This song is about the relationship she had with John Mayer. Dear John is a honest and vulnerable song, and this song demonstrates that Taylor Swift is not afraid to sing about the truth even when it’s sad and ugly. I think this is why listeners enjoy her music.

Here are some descriptive lyrics from the song where Taylor discusses this toxic relationship she was in, You are an expert at sorry /And keeping the lines blurry /Never impressed by me acing your tests /All the girls that you’ve run dry /Have tired, lifeless eyes / Cause you burned them out /But I took your matches before fire could catch me, /So don’t look now, I’m shining like fireworks over your sad, empty town.

Next is her album Red which was released in 2012. Taylor Swift slowly starts to move away from country to more pop music. Her sound changes, as her songs switch over to an allegro tempo (fast) and are more upbeat. Her voice also gets rough in this album. Songs like I Knew You Were Trouble and Red, were hits. With Red, I especially liked how she added colors to certain emotions, as this creates imagery in the listener’s mind.

Then came her album 1989 in 2014. This was a pop album which was accompanied “by heavy synthesizers, programmed drums and process backing vocals.” She had number one singles like Shake It Off, Blank Space and Bad Blood. This refreshing new pop sound and her story telling skills, grasped people emotionally.

Her next album was Reputation which came out in 2017. She changed her sound and style in this album but still continued to produce stories in her songs. Songs like Look What You Made Me Do, Delicate and Endgame, felt like storylines to movies. Then came her album Lover in 2019, which was the complete opposite of Reputation.

Her most current album releases were Folklore and Evermore which were both released in 2020. Folklore is an amazing album lyrically. Her soft voice and slower tempos return. Her song My Tears Ricochet demonstrated that Taylor is a talented songwriter and storyteller. The lyrics, You wear the same jewels that I gave you / As you bury me, are assumed to be referring to her songs (jewels) that her previous record label still owns and she discusses this pain. This is great song writing because she is able to disguise these problems in stories and tell them through songs. Songs like The 1, Cardigan, Illicit Affairs, Exile, Hoax, This Is Me Trying and Mad Woman, are all great songs lyrically. Her album Evermore is similar to Folklore and songs like Tolerate It and No Body, No Crime are also great songs lyrically. The song No Body, No Crime feels like a murder mystery movie. Taylor Swift is a successful artist and as discussed through this progression I think she continues to be successful because she is a talented song-writer, and each album I discussed was a progression from the last lyrically.