Taylor Swift has written songs about how she felt as a kid and how she grew up throughout her entire career. Her lyrics display a lot of her thoughts about being alone and her feelings of fear towards growing up. Taylor Swift’s debut album was released when she was 16, and she has grown in the industry and as a person for the past 16 years. Her day-one fans have been able to witness the growth she discusses in her songs and how she felt alone in the past versus how she feels now.
‘A Place In this World’ – Debut (2006)
This song conveys how Taylor doesn’t know what she is doing or where she belongs, but she is trying to “find a place in this world.” She strives for a sense of belonging and understanding of where she is going, but she is currently okay with whatever path she may take. In the song, she says:
I’m alone, on my own
And that’s all I know,
I’ll be strong, I’ll be wrong
Oh, but life goes on
Oh, I’m just a girl
Trying to find a place in this world
The lyrics show that she feels alone and by herself, but that’s alright because “life goes on,” and she will learn where she belongs, and whatever will happen will happen. ‘A Place in this World’ is a bittersweet lens into how Taylor felt as a kid and how she wants to have a sense of belonging but does not know where she will find it or how she will get there.
‘fifteen’ – fearless (2008)
The lyrics of ‘Fifteen’ explain how important and urgent everything feels when you’re a teenager, but when you grow up, you realize how the things you thought would be defining aspects of your life (like a high school love interest or having your first date or first kiss) are not as big as they feel at the time, and that there are many significantly bigger things you’ll experience later in life. Taylor explains this through her lyrics:
But in your life you’ll do things
Greater than dating the boy on the football team
But I didn’t know it at fifteen
At fifteen, or at a young age in general, you may think that everything you’re going through is so important, but as life goes on, there will be many more important things to look forward to and bigger concerns than those you experienced in high school. Taylor finishes the song by saying:
I’ve found time can heal most anything
And you just might find who you’re supposed to be
I didn’t know who I was supposed to be
At fifteen
La la la la la
Your very first day
Take a deep breath girl
And take a deep breath as you walk through the doors
These ending lyrics show how she learned that all of the big issues she had at fifteen have been healed and that she is learning who she is, which is not the same person she was at fifteen. By saying, “Take a deep breath”, she is reminding her listeners that being fifteen should not be as stressful as it feels and that young people should enjoy the new experiences that will be presented to them without letting the stress of everything being placed upon their shoulders weigh them down.
‘never grow up’ – speak now (2010)
This song shows how childhood is bittersweet, but to not grow up so quickly, no matter how much you want to. She tells the listener and her younger self to remember the little things that come with growing up because they can be gone so quickly. Taylor writes:
Take pictures in your mind of your childhood room
Memorize what it sounded like when your dad gets home
Remember the footsteps, remember the words said
And all your little brother’s favorite songs
I just realized everything I have is someday gonna be gone
So here I am in my new apartment
In a big city, they just dropped me off
It’s so much colder than I thought it would be
So I tuck myself in and turn my nightlight on
The first part of these lyrics is to remember all of the small sweet things that come with your childhood and that there is going to be a point when you are on your own and have to take care of yourself. Taylor says ‘I just realized everything I have is someday gonna be gone.” This aspect of the song is Taylor realizing that her life has changed dramatically and that all the things she believed would be permanent throughout her childhood have and will continue to change in her adult life. Taylor is essentially warning her listeners not to grow up too fast because she has lost so much through becoming an adult and is scared of the unknown because she does not know where she is going and has to face it alone. She writes:
Oh, I don’t wanna grow up
Wish I’d never grown up
Could still be little
Oh, I don’t wanna grow up
Wish I’d never grown up
It could still be simple
The simplicity of childhood is gone when you grow up. The feeling of the safety blanket your parents give you is no longer present. Growing up forces you to be on your own, and there is not as much simplicity as there is in childhood. Taylor shows in this song that she wishes she were still young, without the stress of being in the adult world. Overall, Taylor writes about how leaving her childhood also left the feeling of happiness and simplicity that comes before the hurt of adult life.
‘You’re on your own, kid’ – midnights (2022)
In ‘You’re On Your Own, Kid’, Taylor shows the lonely feeling she felt throughout her childhood, how she felt like she was by herself, and that her relationships were temporary and not built to last. She writes about learning that different aspects of her life were not going to work out, and she felt like she was by herself in learning that her ‘dreams aren’t rare.’ Swift goes on about how she desired to be something and how much pain and loneliness it took her to reach a point of contentment in her childhood. However, the narrative towards the end of the song changes from the sad perspective of being lonely to a hopeful outward look that you will learn and grow no matter how bad it gets. In her bridge and last chorus, Taylor said:
So, make the friendship bracelets, take the moment and taste it
You’ve got no reason to be afraid
You’re on your own, kid
Yeah, you can face this
You’re on your own, kid
You always have been
In these lines, Taylor is reminding her audience, as well as herself, that life is fleeting and that there are so many good moments to experience, and even if they do not last they are still happy memories. It is a reminder that you have been on your own, but you are amazing and deserving of the opportunities that life presents.
Taylor Swift has displayed her youth in numerous ways throughout her career but consistently establishes that she felt alone and misses the simplicity of childhood while simultaneously being excited about what is to come. These are very relatable feelings for many when it comes to growing up and not knowing what to expect in the future. Taylor wants her audience to enjoy the simplicity of youth while enjoying the opportunities that growing up presents. Overall, Taylor Swift exposes the raw emotions that come with growing up and becoming your own person that everyone can relate to.