Taylor Swift’s new album “Red,” has found a special place in the hearts of many
students of the Blue and Gold. Perhaps it’s because ASwift actually goes here or the fact that we know she owns ND gear (hello, 2010 ND vs. Purdue game),
but somehow us Domers feel a special connection with Ms. Swift.
So, it’s hard for me to ignore how applicable her songs are to Notre
Dame’s community. First of all she’s got the tricky gender relations down (please take
a moment of silence in remembrance of your Frosh-O experience). However, besides
our student body’s romantic endeavors, Ms. Swift has a real knack for describing life as a
Domer. So let’s take a track-by-track look at the Taylor edition of Irish times.
“State of Grace”
It has been two weeks since midterms consumed my soul and I’m just not ready to
forgive the guy. Thankfully, Taylor has our interests in mind as she’s provided us with a
song to get over midterms until finals tries to take us out a date. Such players.
“And I never saw you coming/ And I’ll never be the same/ You come around and the
armor falls/ Pierce the room like a cannon ball….this is a state of grace”
It’s pretty ironic how much two ten-page papers can really feel like a cannon
ball hitting you in the gut.
“This is the worthwhile fight/ Love is a ruthless game/ Unless you play it good and
right/ These are the hands of faith/ You’re my Achilles heel/ This is the golden age
of something right and real.”
I’ve never seen a more valiant effort from Notre Dame students than that
demonstrated in all-nighters in Club Hesburgh and LaFortune during midterms and
finals weeks. If only quarter dogs contained caffeine so our gluttony could at least
keep us awake to test how well osmosis actually works when studying for your
Philosophy test. However, we’re obviously doing something right according to U.S.
News and World Report, so I’d say we’ve won this fight.
“Treacherous”
If you’ve every tried to walk home from the library after a late night of
procrastinating – I mean studying, you know the pains of our enthusiastic sprinkler
system. No sidewalk is safe from the 10-foot drop of questionable South bend water
(living on North Quad and in close proximity to our aesthetically challenged power plant
has made me wary of just how harmless such water actually is). When I hear the hum of
the sprinklers as I emerge from the library and try to plan my route through the awkward
diagonal sidewalks of library quad, I can’t help but hear Taylor’s voice resonating in
harmony with the water’s hiss.
“This love is treacherous/ This path is reckless”
They say the fastest way anywhere is a straight line, but now my shortcut’s
under the siege of artificial rain and my only additional option is to trek
through the soggy, newly laid sod.
“Two headlights shine through the sleepless night”
My judgment from a total of 12 hours of sleep in 3 days is telling me to
follow the light hanging above my dorm’s main door, but that means I have
to change out of my soon to be soaked library uniform (yoga pants and
sweatshirt – don’t you have one too?) before diving into bed. I’m conflicted
and already losing valuable minutes of sleep trying to plan my next move.
“That nothing safe is worth the drive/ And I will follow you home.”
Finally, with the support of TSwift I can brave the 2 am sprinklers, as I follow
their movement until I can safely walk parallel with the spraying water and
finally get some sleep!
“Stay Stay Stay”
As I write this, our beloved Irish Football team is currently 7-0. And I know I can
speak for the entire student body when I say, we just want that “0” to stay where it is.
“I’m pretty sure we almost broke up last night/ I threw my phone across the room at you/ I
was expecting some dramatic turn away but you stayed”
Last weeks game against BYU was undoubtedly a nail biter. Taylor perfectly
captures our anxieties when BYU got an interception and we were trailing on
the scoreboard. For a second we were unsure if that simple, meaningful “0”
would continue to identify our number of losses, but thankfully our
uNDeafeated season survived that tricky Saturday.
“Then you came in wearing a football helmet/ And said okay let’s talk/ And I said…Stay
stay stay I’ve been loving you for quite some time/ You think it’s funny when I’m mad but I
think it’s best if we both stay ”
Besides the football prop Taylor includes in her verse (I got you girl, we loved
the shout out), I know next time we in the student section find ourselves
holding our breath through the uncertainty of the Irish’s fate, I plan on
starting a round of “Stay Stay Stay,” because being uNDeafeated is something
I’d “like to hang out with for” this whole season.
“Everything has Changed feat. Ed Sheerhan”
Disclaimer: This is one of my favorite tracks on the album and I don’t mean to
disgrace it, but I can’t help but ally it with the tragicomedy that is “Domerfest.”
In my opinion, this ballad perfectly sums up what your Frosh-O commissioners tell
you will happen at Domerfest: you’re going to meet the guy.
“All I knew this morning when I woke/ Is I know something now, know something now I
didn’t before/ And all I’ve seen since 18 hours ago is green eyes and freckles and your smile
in/ the back of my mind making me right/ I just want to know you better know you better”
Personally, as an elderly junior, my Domerfest experience is a blur but I do
know that prior to stepping into Stepan Center and into a crowd of 2,000 sweaty
college freshman (beautiful experience, right?) I had moderately high hopes for
the night. I definitely participated in the delusion that I’d meet a nice Notre Dame
boy, or even make some guy friends (yeah this whole all-girls’ high school transition
into living in an all-girls’ dorm really didn’t do much change for my life). However,
I was greeted by hundreds of socially awkward freshmen, myself included, trying to
navigate through the crowd while keeping up with my dorm friends and avoiding
touching every single person (What I learned at Domerfest: Even Notre Dame
students sweat, a lot, like too much).
Okay let’s take this back to a happier note, and away from my repeated
reference of body sweat (sorry I’m not sorry I am truly scarred). “Everything Has
Changed” surely speaks to the dream of what Domerfest could have been and what
many Dames (see what I did there) wish it had been. Your eyes would meet the
eye’s of one of Notre Dame’s own gentlemen across the dance floor and you’d meet
up at talk about your life aspirations and hometowns, and you’d wake up the next
morning hugging your cell phone because it is now blessed with his number. Oh,
freshman dreams of gender relations. If only we had it as good as Taylor (Okay well
when she’s got it good maybe 35% of the time).
22 marks the age many of us will be when we graduate from our dear university.
There’s something bittersweet about graduating from college that I’m afraid of
experiencing when I graduate from Notre Dame.
“Yeah we’re happy free, confused and lonely at the same time/It’s miserable and magical oh
year/ Tonight’s the night when we forget about the deadlines, it’s time”
However, if being 22 and breaking free of the Notre Dame bubble will feel as
good as Taylor makes it sound I think everything is going to be just fine.
“I don’t know about you but I’m feeling 22/ Everything will be alright if you keep me next
to you/ You don’t know about me but I bet you want too/ Everything will be alright if we
just keep dancing like we’re 22.”
I just hope that all my post-grad problems can be solved with Taylor’s dance
party method (The dorm room kind with your friends, not the dorm party
kind with creepy Zahm boys).