Less than a year ago, I was watching social media posts from my friends in Georgia and Florida on how they and/or their daughters were attending the Taylor Swift concerts taking place in February, and in March. I laughed at the TikTok videos, showing Swifties storming Marta trains after one of her concerts. I also laughed at dads being grateful for not having family members in the middle of those concerts.
As I was reading the posts about the concerts, I couldn’t help but think that I had seen this before. Sure enough, 3 1/2 decades earlier I recalled similar scenes when I was in eighth grade when there was a boy band by the name of New Kids on the Block. Many of my female classmates swooned over the members of that group and bragged about how they attended the concerts at the Omni in Atlanta or at Georgia Tech. And yes, they all bought the band T-shirts. For the record, I hated New Kids… Yes, I was jealous of that band.
What I didn’t realize then was that they had something in common with the Swifties of today. Now, for the record, I don’t consider myself a Swiftie. However, I can truly appreciate what a special talent and what a special person Taylor Swift is. But, what New Kids and Taylor have in common isn’t just restricted to those two entities. In fact, you could say they have something in common with a lot of successful musicians who have had a lot of female fans… Frank Sinatra, Elvis, The Beatles, The Jacksons, Prince, Madonna, New Kids, Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC, Britney Spears, Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, and Taylor Swift… At one time or another, all these musicians have brought joy to the hearts of young women of their day in their unique musical storytelling ways. The difference is what these musicians are telling their female audience in their storytelling. While “the boys” are trying to win the hearts of their fans through beautiful ballads, “the girls” speak to their audience about their experiences, struggles, loves, heartbreaks, etc. From my perspective, Taylor appears to be the most complete musical storyteller out there talking about the overall experiences of young ladies… & she can tell these stories in ways that use elements of showmanship of those who have come before her. One minute, she can mimic Madonna or Katy Perry, the next you see her playing like Billy Joel or Elton John on the piano, the next, she is like the Beatles on her guitar, and so on.
To be fair, Taylor has been honing her craft for two decades. She began her music career in Nashville performing country music. She would make the jump from country to pop music very early in her career. She has been a successful artist, both financially and critically. Her albums and concerts have made her a billionaire and she is one of 4 artists to have won 3 Album of the Year Grammys. (She could actually break that tie this weekend as her latest album, Midnights, is up for Album of the Year honors at the Grammys.) It is safe to say that Taylor is the most popular musician in the World at this moment. It is a major reason why Time magazine named her Person of the Year in 2023.
On top of that, Taylor is dating one of the top tight ends in the National Football League. Now Taylor’s romantic life has been the basis for a number of her songs. But this relationship appears to be different. Both Taylor and her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, have been very supportive of each other. He has gone to her concert in Brazil, and she has watched many of Travis’s games this season… including the playoffs.
So with everything seemingly going Taylor’s way and her ability to spread joy to the hearts of young women, you would think that people would be happy for her… but that is not totally the case. Like my jealousy of New Kids over 35 years ago, many are jealous of Taylor. Much of that jealousy is from men who perceive Taylor as a threat. She has power… power to use her legion of fans in ways that could be detrimental to their beliefs. As a result, many commentators (predominantly right-wing commentators) have criticized Taylor for being spotlighted at NFL games… the irony being that these people critical of Taylor are the same people supposed to be boycotting the NFL over players kneeling during the anthem, and other “transgressions”. It’s kind of sad to see these commentators pander to a crowd that hates & can never find joy.
We have just gone through a very traumatic time in the history of the world… and many people are yearning for joy again. Through her music, Taylor has brought that joy to a large segment of people like several of her musical contemporaries who came before her. She is a positive role model for a lot of young girls and women. There are a lot of Taylor-haters out there in the world, but I don’t count myself as one of them. I’ve learned my lessons from the past. No longer am I jealous of those who bring joy… In fact, I seek joy whenever I can. Seek the joy. Be the joy. Joy is an emotion that helps heal, and we could all use some healing right now. And Taylor is a healer. Picking a fight with Taylor? Well, you’re just asking for trouble. Take it from someone who knows.
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