In light of Taylor Swift’s new sound and upcoming Reputation album releasing November 10th, it’s hard to forget the small-town Wyomissing, Pennsylvania girl with a big dream that turned into a very successful performing artist reality. The innocence, the happiness, and her endless belief in love is what made everyone fall for her fearless attitude in the first place. So, what is she trying to accomplish when she says the “old Taylor is dead?” As someone who personally knows her such as my childhood friend, Abby Wells, it took her awhile to understand why her new album will be so different from the rest. “An artist has to change their sound, so I am excited to see where she goes with it” says Abby. However, can people like Abby or even myself ever erase the memories we have of Taylor Swift growing up in the same town she was born and raised in? Only her new album will tell.
Abby Wells knew Taylor Swift on more personal level than myself. She first met Taylor when she auditioned for the Sound of Music in 2001 when she was 5 years old. Taylor was like her older sister throughout the production of the show. Abby says with the nature of the show, and both Taylor and her being Von Trap children, they grew to be like a family with the rest of the cast. The Swift family was very active in the Wyomissing community, and Taylor was known to start writing songs at a very young age. Her family, specifically her Dad, always told people that they would move to Nashville to support Taylor’s dreams. Abby always admired this.
The first time Abby really started to see Taylor separate from an older sister and as someone who the world would also know, was when she first saw Taylor model for a catalog for Abercrombie & Fitch. “That’s when I was like, woah, this is weird, I know her!” This is a feeling most people around Wyomissing hold close to their hearts when we see Taylor as successful as she is today; we are proud of her. Abby’s favorite memory of Taylor was when Taylor bought the entire Sound of Music cast arm slings when Abby broke her collarbone and was very embarrassed. Taylor also bought her a stuffed duck that she has to this day, because it reminds her how caring and loving Taylor is. These are some of the characteristics Taylor has shown through her music in her early albums as well.
Carrying these small-town memories in mind, there will never be forgotten feelings such as the week of when Taylor Swift’s “Love Story” music video was released. It seemed like for a month straight every Wyomissing junior high girl would sneak out their phones and re-watch it on repeat, over and over. I remember how the park leaves were changing for Fall, and how we would all steadily avoid the acorns in our cleats as we made our way down the hill to the Field Hockey field for our warm up. Coach would blow the whistle and tell us to “Run faster! Straight line!”
As we broke up into our groups for drills, we would all complain about the 90 degree Pennsylvania heat, but instead to make us all feel better, someone would flip over their Field Hockey stick, strike a pose, and burst out singing “Romeo save me! They’re trying to tell me how to feel!” Fast forward to game day and fighting our way in our dated plaid skirts to the back of the bus so we could scream, “You belong with me!” and not burst our Coach’s eardrums. Taylor made us stronger. She made us believe, she made us believe in happiness beyond our simple small-town life. In class, we were rewarded for good grades to watch her sing “Mamma Mia” in her 6th grade camp talent show. It didn’t matter if the quality of the old VCR video only showed a blurry outline of her frizzy blonde curly hair, and had crackly sounds of her mic, she was there. Taylor was there singing and dancing on the same stage we were on, standing with the teachers that were standing in front of us today.
I remember begging my father to let me attend the sleepover at my friend’s house where Taylor previously lived. I remember ringing the doorbell and stepping inside and taking in every detail trying to envision her mentality, where she practiced, trying to find the room where she dreamt of one day being at the top of the country and pop music charts. Even with her fame, Taylor never forgot us. She took pride in growing up in the peaceful, affluent town of Wyomissing, Pennsylvania. She would come back and perform at the Reading Sovereign Center and Reading Phillies Baseball games. My friends and I would race to the long line in the freezing cold as soon as she finished the National Anthem to excitedly meet her and get her picture. As usual I was the hyper, impatient one that ran to the front of the line just to get a look inside the room where she was standing. I couldn’t contain my excitement when I screamed, “Oh my gosh! It’s Taylor Swift!” As I embarrassedly, covered my face when everyone looked my way, guarding their spot in line, she turned looked directly at me and said, “Aw, thank you so much sweety!”
The feeling of shame quickly went away as I skipped back to line with Abby and the rest of my friends laughing and patiently waited my turn to give her a hug. As small as I was for my age, I looked up at her tall height, perfect hair, and gave her a hug as I finally met the fearless girl who followed her dreams. Abby’s childhood face beamed as she stepped forward in line, and Taylor remembered her despite her fast growing fame in the recent years. As I grew older, and the criticism around her lyrics and songs heightened, but I remained to have the respect of remembering where she started and how inspiring she was to young girls like myself. Taylor was and still is special to many people in the town of Wyomissing. Her impact on the community even shined when the tragic death of a young girl named Laney was suffering from pediatric cancer, Taylor heard our voices (tweets), about simply Facetiming Laney before she rested.
As a Wyomissing native girl like myself, I can only say I support Taylor Swift in her new efforts. Just as anyone else changes, so do people like Taylor Swift. The only thing I hope for, and I’m sure the rest of the community that admires her from what now is afar does, is that Taylor does not forget where and why she has started singing and performing. For many young people, she is an inspiration and role model. One takeaway that anyone can gain from her career journey, is if is small-town Taylor Swift can do it, so can you.