Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last few months you should be well aware of the recently released Taylor Swift album, 1989. The former country singer declared that this would be her first pop album. The album dropped last Monday and was met with favorable reviews. Rolling Stone hailed it as, “Deeply weird, feverishly emotional, wildly enthusiastic, 1989 sounds exactly like Taylor Swift, even when it sounds like nothing she’s ever tried before.” The New York Times wrote, “Everyone else striving to sound like now will have to shift gears once the now sound changes. But not Ms. Swift, who’s waging, and winning, a new war, one she’d never admit to fighting.” With reviews like that and sitting at #1 on iTunes, what’s to stop Ms. Swift from claiming the title, “Queen of Pop?”
I do think it is only fair to have some transparency here. I am a huge Taylor Swift fan. Not in the sense that I like all her hits and sing along, more like I own every album she has made and know every word to every song that has ever been released (officially or unofficially). I know about her life like the fact that she was born right here in Pennsylvania, she named her cats after her favorite TV characters and her favorite color is white. That being said I have also had the great pleasure of watching her grow as an artist and as a person. As she has changed, her music has changed. Taylor is not a woman to do the same thing twice; she prides herself on this.
Now to truly evaluate if her pop career has a true future, it is essential to take a trip back to where she started. In 2008, she released her second studio album, Fearless. It was a huge success. The New York Times called her, “One of pop’s finest songwriters, country’s foremost pragmatist and more in touch with her inner life than most adults.” Fearless won two Grammys for Best Country Album and Album of the Year. Not so bad for her second try, huh? You probably also remember her hit “You Belong with Me” where she sings, “She wears high heels, I wear sneakers. She’s cheer captain and I’m on the bleachers.” It was her third single and contained many pop elements. The video won Swift Best Female Video at the MTV Video Music Awards.
Two years later in 2010 and right on schedule Swift released, Speak Now, her third studio album that was also met with acclaim. Even more impressive Swift wrote every song on the album. Not only proving herself as a talented singer, but a just as talented songwriter. In 2012, Swift released, Red. Red showed a glimpse of the new Taylor we are all seeing now on 1989. Hits like “I Knew You Were Trouble” and “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” debuted at number three and number one on US Billboard Hot 100. Both singles were co-written and co-produced with Swedish music producers, Max Martin and Shellback. The duo also worked with Swift on 1989 and have worked with a variety of singers including P!nk, Britney Spears, Katy Perry and Maroon 5. It was no surprise the songs rose to the top of the charts. While Red had pop songs, it also included ballads reminiscent of the Fearless era and was still nominated for country awards. It was only with 1989 that Taylor chose to make it uniformly pop.
In August of this year, Swift released her leading single, “Shake It Off.” The up-tempo song not only hit number one on U.S. Billboard Hot 100, but also provided a unique message. The song begins with, “I stay out too late, got nothing in my brain. That’s what people say.” The song is pretty much an ode to all the Taylor Swift haters. Because believe me there are a lot of them. Swift is mostly vilified for dating high-profile men and later writing songs about them revealing details about their relationship. She has been targeted by the media and critics and has simply said that she deals with it by “shaking it off.” This song was genius because Swift took what she is hated for and turned it upside down.
1989 unlike Red isn’t a break up album and focuses more on Taylor and her life. It is also less specific when it comes to “naming names.” Taylor has spoken out and said this is due to her personal growth and believing that she no longer needs to be in love to be happy. In the song, “Blank Space” she mocks the image of her in the media with lyrics like, “Oh my God, look at that face, you look like my next mistake. Love’s a game, want to play?” It is impossible to miss the fact that Taylor is growing more and more into herself. She wrote in her album foreword about how she has grown up in a lot of ways. “From the girl who said she would never cut her hair or move to New York or find happiness in a world where she is not in love…love Taylor.”
With 1989 Taylor Swift found a way to combine her honest songwriting abilities with smart producing choices to make an incredible pop album. Some of my favorite songs are “Blank Space,” “I Wish You Would” and “Bad Blood.” She is still Taylor though with the song “Style” so obviously about her ex, One Direction member, Harry Styles. A truth she would never admit. With the pop beats and heartbreaking lyrics 1989 will transport you to a better world. A freer and more imaginative world where new beginnings are always possible. If anyone has taught me that, it’s Taylor Swift.
Taylor wrote to her fans saying, “I hope you know that you’ve given me the courage to change. I hope you know that who you are is who you choose to be, and that whispers behind your back don’t define you. You are the only one who gets to decide what you will be remembered for.”
So will Taylor Swift take the crown as “Queen of Pop?” That’s still up for debate and honestly only time will tell. What I can promise you is she will never quit trying new things and constantly challenging herself and her fans. I think she described it best when she said, “I’ll never change, but I’ll never stay the same either.”
Taylor, I wouldn’t want it any other way.