1. (she/her) I am a self proclaimed Swiftie. I have one of the relationships with her music that
prompts unbridled joy, screaming in the car, and niche lyrical references in casual
conversations. Every album my mom and I have sat down and listened to together, fan girling
over Betty and Ines (but don’t believe a word she says). There are very few songs I don’t know
all the lyrics to. It is my personal opinion that her lyrics are like poetry, carrying emotion and
depth.
I am a song writer and I have been for about 5 years and if you do that math, it lines up with
2020 a year where all our “castles crumbled overnight.” That spring, I had a few mental health
issues that caused me to start writing songs to help voice the things that I had going on. I
started keeping a journal with all of the songs I wrote. All of this was prompted by a film I
watched call “Miss Americana,” an in depth analysis on Taylor discussing her lyrics, how her
“glittering prime” has affected her life and how she writes her songs. This documentary helped
me find an outlet to help cope with my mental health. In this moment, Swift’s music became an
integral part of my life far beyond the catchy tunes I had come to admire. I have analyzed her
work and the work of others, learning how to write in a way that tells a story creating “secret
gardens in my mind.”
I believe that Taylor has become a critical player and influence in the creation of the music
industry we know, but don’t always love. She is powerful, holding her own in a room where
those in power try to take her down. She is well spoken, showing eloquence and dignity
through how she handles the unique situations in her occupation. All of this to say (Fortnight
reference) I believe however that the trait of hers that I admire the most, is her ability to adapt.
Women in the music industry historically have had a harder time with keeping the good will of
the public eye. Taylor is constantly under scrutiny for all she does. Her weight, her clothes, her
genere changes, her lyrics; they are analyzed, drug through the mud and yet she remains
steadfast and persistent releasing music despite large amounts of push back. Though I try not
to, I often loose respect for people who don’t view her has an innovator of the industry. She has
paved a path for females artists to demand was they deserve.
I still am an avid songwriter, learning from The Dead, Merle Haggard, Elvis, and Swift. I have
been to 1989, Rep, and the Eras tours crying to songs as I recount “words like knifes” that
Taylor seems to know about. I now, and forever will wait for her album drops each time at 10
PM MT, 12 AM EST in my Eras Tour hoodie and a cup of coffee, with silenced notification, ready
to dive deep into the lyrical mastermind that is Taylor Allison Swift.
2. (she/her) My perception of Taylor Swift is somewhat tainted by a few early childhood
memories. I took the bus to and from school, and thus was subjected to the musical whims of
the driver. And every day, without fail, "Blank Space" would be played at least once, sometimes
approaching double digits, as my house was nearer the end of the route. This has given me a
moderate dislike of her music. Her music is something I can recognize as being good: there is
undeniable talent evident in her songs, but they are simply not my style. I can't say that I've
ever seen a Taylor Swift song pop up and been excited. I haven't ever thought of Taylor Swift
having a distinct style? Is that the style? Kinda generic pop love songs. I don't want to be mean
here, but... Gorillaz have style. The Ramones have style. Taylor Swift, as far as I can tell, does
not have style. Maybe it's a problem with pop music. Maybe it's a problem with me. Maybe I'm
hating for no reason. Her public image... bounced? She was quite popular around 10-15 years
ago? That would have been the date of the horrible bus rides, but she started to fall off after
that. However, she rebounded to become maybe the most popular music artist alive. I don't
know why. Other than her financial success, she also is facing small but consistent backlash
about her use of a private jet. It's understandable in part: no matter how much security you
have, you're always safe from mobs in the air. At the end of the day? A small drop in the bucket
compared to overall carbon emissions. Who cares? It's not like the U.S. is even in a climate
agreement anymore...
She's an incredibly successful musician who has maintained relevancy through adapting to
changes in the music industry. She was popular ten years ago, she's popular now. Barring some
sort of accident, she will likely be popular well into the future.
3. (she/her) The first time I was introduced to Taylor Swift was before I was even in elementary
school. It was when she was still making country music and had a small town reputation. I
remember driving to church with my family while “Our Song” from her first ever album, Taylor
Swift (so creative), played in the car. I wouldn't say I was a crazy “Swiftie” but I was a big fan of
her music. It was some of the only country music that was sung by a girl in my family's playlist.
By the time I was in kindergarten/elementary school I was listening to her song “Mean”, from
her album Speak Now, everyday during summer vacation. It actually had a really deep meaning
for me in relation to my own life. Kinda weird considering I was six years old. The next time I
remember her coming into my life was when her Red album came out when I was seven. My
mom had gotten tickets to her show in Kansas City. I was so excited that when we got to her
merch both I wanted everything related to her. Her perfume, her shampoo (yes they were
selling that), her Red CD, a blanket with her face on it. She was a true inspiration to me. A young
girl, from the Midwest, is a feminist, and sings what she wants. As I moved into middle school I
was moving away from Taylor and she became more of a guilty pleasure than an actual part of
my music taste. I still listened to a few songs from her Welcome to New York album but it was
only during long road trips. By the time I was in highschool Taylor Swift had become one of
those artists everybody likes and seemed to produce only radio hits. I had a very different music
taste then the one from my youth. I only listened to her songs out of curiosity and so I could
discuss it with my friends. By then people had started to discuss her flight record and how much
pollution it made. She had also started to Travis Kelce. Me being from Kansas, I let that cancel
out the pollution . So when topics of pollution arised, I stayed on the side of neutrality. My
opinion of her really changed when her album Tortured Poets Society came out last year. By
then I thought she was overhyped but also pitied her for how much hate she got. When I
listened to the album my first thought was “why did she make this for any other reason than
money?”. It wasn't up to my previous standards of her catchy tones or her sad poetry. Although,
as a person, I don't think she's all that bad, I do think she needs to make some better choices
eco wise. I will say when I saw the Eras Tour recording on Disney+ I cried a bit. It was nice to see
her success on screen. It made my child self happy.
4. (he/him) Personally, I am not the biggest fan of Taylor Swift. I will say that when I was
younger, I enjoyed her early works especially her first album "Taylor Swift" and her following
album "Fearless." However, this was mainly because they were a lot more country sounding. I
grew up listening to country music, so this music type appealed to me. I feel that as she grew in
her career, lots of her music became focused on guy problems or how the world was out to get
her. Her music almost became redundant in my point of view, and it all started to sound the
same. While I understand that people enjoy her style, it is not majorly appealing to me.
As for what she has done for the music industry, I do respect her work. I think that she has done
wonderful things by bringing more fame to female artists as well as showcasing her own
songwriting abilities. Along with this, her two yearlong Era's Tour significantly boosted the
world economy. Specifically looking at the US, roughly $10 billion was spent in travel expenses,
hotels, merchandise, and tickets. Her tour was the highest sold concert in history and
inadvertently brought attention to monopolies like Ticketmaster when millions of people
crashed the site trying to buy tickets.
I respect what she has done for the music industry, and I like her early country music. Although,
I am not particularly keen on her fans. The so called "Swifties" in my experience can be
annoying and over the top. They almost exclusively listen to her music as well as force people
into following her. I once told a "Swiftie" that I was not a fan of Taylor Swift's current music,
and I proceeded to get an "education" on her works for the entire 2.5-hour drive home from
the mountains. I think that her fans push her music onto people that have different tastes, and
it seems as if you are judged harshly for not liking her music. There is a stigma that if you do not
like Taylor's music, then you are misogynistic and hate women and what Taylor has done for
the industry. I feel as if I am an example of this being inaccurate. I do not particularly like her
music; however, I respect what she has done for the music industry, and I am not misogynistic.
5. (he/him) My earliest interaction with Taylor Swift's work was hearing her most popular songs
at social gatherings when I was a child. My parents are not into music in general, and thus my
childhood wasn't all that full of songs. However, I have fond memories of "Shake It Off" playing
during pool parties, brightening everyone's mood. The next time a song of Swift's had an impact
in my life was when I was in middle school and "You Need To Calm Down" came out shortly
after I had started my journey into discovering my sexuality. I was very afraid of my own
identity, and having such a popular artist release a song in support of my community at that
time meant a lot to me, even if I didn't follow her work.
I started properly developing my own music taste during quarantine, when I was 13, and her
music never really made its way into that. I prefer more energetic songs than what she typically
produces, so I find a large portion of her songs uninteresting to listen to. I do have some slower
songs that I love, but a large part of that is most likely me finding the instrumentals of those
songs more interesting. In addition to that, I have a lot of trouble processing speech in general,
but especially in songs. Thus, if the enjoyment of a song is dependent on the lyrics, the voice
needs to be very clear to me. Swift's voice is so soft that it tends to blend into the instrumental,
so I can't easily catch her lyrics, and I don't feel a tie to the songs.
In the past few years, the main way that she's been brought up to me at all has been because
my partner is a huge fan of hers. Although I never really related to their excitement, I supported
their interest, fondly listening to the excited rambles about new and old music of hers.
However, more recently, my partner has been becoming more disillusioned with her. The
reason for this is because a large part of her public image is built on politics, specifically
feminism, but she rarely talks about politics when it puts her at risk. An especially major
concern my partner has brought up to me about her is the fact that she has remained
completely silent on the Palestinian Genocide. This is in spite of the fact that she has little to
lose due to her big loyal following and could create a large amount of awareness on the topic.
The genocide is something my partner is very passionate about, and thus lack of comment on it
is enough to cause them to stop following her work as much. As my partner is my main tie to
her work, Swift has become distant from my life as well.
6. (she/her) In my life I have had a distant, but constant relationship with Taylor Swift and her
music, but would not go as far to consider myself a Swiftie. As a younger child I was more
involved with her music than I am now. I can remember some of my favorite songs being
"Shake It Off" and "You Belong With Me", but as I grew older I strayed away from her music
listening to more country artists as she leaned more towards the pop genre. Many of my
friends listened to her all the time and were big fans of hers but I never felt that sort of
connection to her music like many others do. During COVID I do remember listening to her
"Folklore" album and to this day I consider "Exile" to be one of my favorite songs of hers.
While I am still not Taylor Swifts biggest, most loyal fan I have a lot of respect for her and the
name that she has made for herself. I see how she has become a role model for many young
girls and I respect the fact that she is not afraid to share her beliefs and fight for social change. I
feel many times, when artists get famous they let it get to their heads but I think she is one of
the few that does not let the fame get to her and is really humble and grateful for her fans and
what she has. It is impressive to me that she has been able to build her career from being a
young girl in Tennessee, to a pop-star known around the world. While I did not attend the Era's
Tour it was hard to ignore how impressive of a show she put on. While the tour was taking
place often times when I scrolled on TikTok or other social media platforms I would get clips of
the show including the surprise song that she would play at each show. In my mind the Era's
Tour has to be one of the most impressive musical artists tours that has been done and I have
to respect all that she has done as a person and artist.
7. (she/her) Growing up I have always listened to Taylor Swift and have been to a good amount
of her shows. I do enjoy her music and how she really pays attention to every detail. Her older
songs are nostalgic and feel good. When the weather turns nice in the spring I love to drive with
the windows down blasting her order albums like speck now, red, 1989, and Fearless. The
serotonin I feel when I have the wind through my hair and up beat song playing is
unmatched. Her concerts are to this day unmatched because of how she is able to preform and
really involve the crowds. They are something I always shared with my mom and I treasure
those memories. She surprised me with a trip to Tampa to see Taylor Swifts Era's tour and that
trip meant so much to me. Taylor has been able to create bounds between mothers and
daughters all over the globe and I think that it is so important and impressive. The world
teaches girls to compete with each other and Taylor has created a place and community of girls
supporting one another. The power and influence that Taylor has is incredible. She can travel to
a city and the effect she brings with it is amazing. She helped so many city economies because
of her Eras tour.
My only issue with Taylor Swift is the fans. I think that people become too obsessed with what
she is doing and become stalker like. I feel that some people base their whole life off of Taylor
and what she is doing. I also have an issue with her boyfriend. He is arrogant and on the Chiefs
which is all I need to say about that. I think that the NFL has made her their whole personality
and is using her for views. I really don't think that she needs to be the main topic on a game
day. But besides the obsessive fans and her douchebag of a boyfriend, I do enjoy her. I like to
think that she is one the few celebrities that still holds on to the values she had before she
became famous and that is something I admire about her. Taylor Swift's music is good and I do
like her as an artist.
8. (she/her) Growing up, I definitely listened to quite a bit of Taylor Swift. I started listening to
her when I was young and my parents played her for me. At this time, she was still releasing
country music which was primarily the type of music my parents played for me as a kid. As I
grew up, my music taste began to develop and I started listening to music that I discovered
myself. This still consisted of Taylor Swift, but it became her more current albums that sparked
my interest. In a way, I think I grew up with her music, and I think it impacted my current music
taste. I am still a fan of Taylor Swift (maybe not as invested as when I was a kid) and love
listening to her music and even seeing her in concert. I respect her song writing and performing
ability, as well as her overall energy that draws hundreds of millions of fans.
She has been in the public eye since she was very young, and it is very impressive that she has
been able to handle a career in the music industry for so long. She has been criticized as well as
praised, but has been able to maintain a positive and productive attitude while
producing/writing an unimaginable amount of music. I appreciate how she stands up for causes
she believes in, and donates money to charitable causes. Of course, she is a billionaire, which
comes with excessive and unnecessary expenses, but for the most part, she seems to put her
money and time into good causes.
Taylor Swift has had a pretty impressive career, and will likely go down as one of the most
successful artists in history. She has mastered evolution within artistic production, and that skill
has been critical to her success. He willingness to stand up for herself is also admirable and her
overall impact has changed the music industry. Even though I may not be as big of a fan today, I
think she is still a very talented musician and has had a huge impact on the music industry as a
whole.
9. (she/her) When I was younger, I would listen to a lot of Taylor Swift in the car, like Fearless
or 1989. They were always so fun to listen to on the way to school. They were so upbeat and
catchy, and I loved them, even though I didn't understand the meaning of any of the songs. My
mom took me to her concert for her albums 1989 and Reputation, and I loved both. Once I got
into 7th or 8th grade, I stopped listening to her music. I didn't understand what "Taylor's
Version" meant, or any of her new albums. I just stopped listening, and listened to other artists.
During sophomore/junior year, I heard Folklore and Evermore were great albums, so I decided to
give them a try. At first I thought they were slow and boring, but then I really started to like
them. They are both very similar albums and it was hard for me to tell which song was which,
but now I can tell the difference between the two. Now that I'm older, I understand her songs and
what they mean. I think she's a great writer and portrays so many fun stories in Folklore and
Evermore. Those two are definitely my favorites of all her albums. Sometimes I'll listen to her
old songs for nostalgia, but I really just stick to Folklore and Evermore. When she comes out
with new albums, I always give them a listen, but I haven't totally loved them, besides a few
songs. I think overall she's a great writer and makes good songs, but there are still some I'm not a
fan of. I understand why she is so famous and has the public image she does. She can truly relate
to so many age groups and so many kinds of women.
10. (she/her) If I were to be as in depth and as specific as possible, I'd have to say that I have no
connection, knowledge, nor relationship towards Taylor Swift as an artist. Growing up, I never
really was introduced to that type of music as a first generation Mexican-American woman
growing up with parents who listened to different genres Spanish music, American rock, hiphop, rap, some pop (never from her), R&B, and some Hispanic-American music from the 2000s
to 2010s, but I had never been too interested to learn who she was nor her impact as a woman
in the music industry. I experienced music in America growing up in predominantly white
environments; and of course I recognized her name and her voice as I grew up being the first
musician in my family, but I never took any particular interest in her music as I wasn't really into
it. I wanted to continue to stay connected to my culture as I experienced what it felt to be the
only child of color in a classroom, and music was honestly a way for me to do so. Honestly so, I
didn't really want to familiarize myself with that type of music because I felt already so isolated
from my own culture growing up. I'm sure she's a good person and yes I know she's dating
Travis Kelce, but other than than that I know nothing about her and never felt any inclination to
learn anything about her. I know what she looks like sure, I've seen clips of her songs and know
bad blood and shake it off since these songs became super popular in the early 2010s (sorry for
the swifties but thats it) and how she started with country music I think, but other than that I
know nothing about her.
11. (she/her) Taylor Swift to me is a very talented women and artist. She is an artist that I
definitely enjoy listening to and which begun at a young age. My first memory of Taylor Swift in
general is either listening to her on the radio while I was in the car or riding up the chairlift and
singing her songs with my ski friends. What I like about Taylor Swift is that has some versatility
to the type of music that she creates. It ranges from country, to pop, to indie folk. Also, I am so
impressed by the 14 Grammy Awards and many many other nomination and awards that she
has received throughout her career. I remember as a young girl, I would listen to her most
popular songs that played on the radio, like "Shake It Off," "Blank Space," "Style," and "Bad
Blood." I wasn't a huge fan of Taylor Swift to call myself a 'swiftie,' and I don't ever think I will
ever be Taylor Swifts biggest fan. Don't get me wrong, I do love a lot of her songs, but there are
other artist out there producing other songs that I enjoy more.
When I think of Taylor Swift, I always think of two things: my best friend and the Era's Tour. My
best friend is the biggest swiftie that I know. She knows every song, every lyric, and everything
about Taylor Swift. She can name a song of hers by just playing the first couple of seconds of a
song. Every time I got into my friends car, she was playing Taylor Swift. I bring her up because
she is someone who got me back into listening to Taylor Swift. I began to enjoy her new music
and started to play her on my own time because of her. The Era's Tour is another thing that I
think about when I hear or think about Taylor Swift. I didn't have the chance to actually attend
a concert of hers, but my friends and I did drive to one and stood outside the arena amongst
thousands of other people to just listen to her sing live. Even though I wasn't in the arena, it
was one of the best times of my life.
Today, Taylor Swift to me is an artist that I will occasionally put on when listening to music. Her
songs are in some of my playlists or I'll play a whole album. I think the reason why I am not a
huge swiftie is because my mom really does not like her. She thinks her voice is annoying to
listen to and she will skip any of her songs that play. I also only have brothers, so their music
choice never involves her and is more rap or country. I am excited for her future albums to
come out because when she does drop new albums and songs, I always listen to them. Maybe I
can attend one of her concerts in the future as well, I hope.
12. (she/her) My thoughts on Taylor Swift are very conflicted, growing up I did enjoy her music
a lot now not so much I don't willingly listen to her music biggest reason being is that she isn't
my preferred music type. I do remember LOVING the you belong with me music video I
watched it way to many time and I also loved love story but I never been a hardcore Swiftie and
cared for her beyond her music. Now not to get political or 'controversial' but I guess that is just
what I often think about and that is just a part of my thought process. I do love to see how
successful she is as a women because for a long time the music industry has and continues
to be a male dominated field. So, considering that I just love to see a women thriving but
lets not forget she is a white women and I can't help but think that she goes more praise
and recognition in comparison to women of color like SZA and Kali Uchis who I believe are
just as good and while they are still very known and popular they given nearly enough
credit as Taylor Swift and I can't help but think that I might have to do with her privilege as
a white women in comparison to SZA being a black women and Kali Uchis being Colombian
women. Or maybe it has nothing to do with that and I just don't have the musical ear that
hears how truly amazing Taylor Swift and I don't notice how and in what ways she is better
than other musicians. I am not doubting that she has good music because I listened to in the
past was good music but I don't see why people hold her to such an incredibly high
pedestal.
13. (he/him)To say it short my relationship with Taylor Swift was non-existent, until the
Professor played that one song in class that might've been one of the only songs I’ve actually
sat down and listened to in my whole life. I of course know about Taylor Swift and most
noteworthy things that she is known for including all her successes, but growing up I was never
around this genre of Music. Growing up actually in general there was never english music that
was played in my house, but mainly consisting of Spanish. With this I kind of had to look for my
“music journey” if you want to call it that, still heavily having Spanish in my rotation but still
enjoying English music; rap, hip hop, or indie. But for someone like me Taylor Swift was still a
humongous name in the music industry and still is. I am a football enthusiast as well so seeing
Taylor with Travis Kelce is something that opened my eyes a little bit more to her public image
in general. I am able to say that from a business perspective her hustle is respectable and
admirable, having a lot of traction world wide with what it seems like a “cult-like” fanbasemight bet a lot of hate for this so sorry I offended anyone. Recently in a business
communications course I took I was able to learn a lot about someone’s personal brand and
what it meant to represent yourself.
In a Forbes article it was said that “Taylor Swift's personal brand is a testament to her
authenticity—a genuine commitment to keeping it real, maintaining a fierce work ethic, taking
a stand, creating caring and compassionate communities, and feeding her continual curiosity
about what's behind that next door” (ArrudaLinks to an external site., 2024). Showing that
Taylor Swift is someone that could be looked up to and even though I called her fan base “cultlike” it would make sense why people on social media would vouch so much for her music
aside, which is a representation of an amazing personal brand. A motto that I heard from
someone else that I really liked was the motto of being a “Citizen of the world,” which I want to
live up to.
Some of the main things that I take with me is being able to be someone who is open-minded,
genuine, respectful and friendly. With things like listening to different sorts of art I would
always be open to listening and enjoying any kinds of arts because behind the arts i know there
is someone putting endless time working on a certain project which is respectable.
14. (she/her) My relationship with Taylor Swift is very complicated. As for her music, growing
up I really enjoyed listening to her music, but she was never my favorite. I enjoyed how her
music was often fun and upbeat as well as easy to sing along to. I grew up dancing and would
often learn fun combos to her songs which I also enjoyed. When the Eras tour came to town, I
was not planning on going since while I enjoyed her music, I was not a super big fan and did not
want to spend the money. Fortunately, the day before the concert my friend Addison's mom
called my mom and explained that the girl they were going to take began posting badly about
Addison, so they were no longer taking her and wanted to know if I wanted to go for free. I said
yes and really enjoyed the concert as well as realized how much of her music I had never heard.
After this concert I have begun listening to more Taylor Swift and not just the popular songs you
hear on the radio. I believe Taylor Swift's style depends on the album. One of the things she did
during the Eras Tour was give each of her 11 albums a color. These colors truly embraced the
style she had during the creation of each album. It was neat to see how each of these styles were
then taken to another level by fans who decided to dress up as their favorite album allowing
everyone to see the many styles of Taylor Swift. I think Taylor Swift's public image is very
interesting. Taylor herself is viewed as a celebrity, but she often uses the money she makes to
donate to different charities. Specifically, during the Eras Tour, she donated some of the profits
made to different food banks and other charities in the different states she visited. While I have
never met Taylor, she has the reputation of being a very nice person, often stopping to meet fans
when out in different locations. I also really enjoy how during the Eras Tour she created a sense
of belonging amongst her fans through the use of friendship bracelet sharing. It made everyone
feel special both during and after her concert when wearing and trading these bracelets. Overall,
I believe everything Taylor does, music, marketing, or charity work are designed to promote a
positive brand image as well as positively bring people together.
15. (she/her) When I was young, I listened to a lot of Taylor Swift and went to several concerts
with my sisters and aunt! I have some great memories of singing songs from the Fearless and
Speak Now albums with my friends! My music taste has changed a lot in the last several years,
and I usually prefer to listen to other artists, but still appreciate listening and singing along to
her old songs.
Taylor Swift is possibly one of the most famous people out there. Mostly, I feel sorry for her
because I would personally hate to have that much publicity and fame. A lot of what she does
and how she acts gets criticized by people (however, some I believe is warranted, such as flying
private planes on extremely short trips, emitting stupid amounts of emissions.) I also believe
she has done a lot of good, such as donating large amounts of money to organizations. The
amount of fame she has causes her to be constantly watched and because of the internet it is
really easy for people to comment good or bad on just about everything she does, which I have
to give her some respect for because those are some hard shoes to walk in I would imagine.
I don’t have a very strong relationship to Taylor Swift because I don’t listen to much of her
music anymore, but I am happy for all the “Swifties” out there because I feel like Taylor Swift
has built a community in some ways. It’s not for me but happy for those people who are really
into that. Taylor Swift certainly has an amazing voice and writes pretty good lyrics. I prefer to
listen to other genres of music and personally find other artist to have a better voice and lyrics
that I find more interesting than her music.
16. (he/him) I understand why people love Taylor Swift so much. She is able to craft catchy
lyrics that also have some depth. She can channel emotion into her writing and vocals very well.
Her ability to create top hits is incredible. What I don't understand however, is why fans limit
themselves to just her music. Now this isn't all fans, but her really extreme fans won't really try
any other artist. I feel like this is the only time I have seen this. My younger sister Sophia, for
example, refuses any other music. She grew up listen to a wide variety, but as she became
more and more of a "Swifty", her listening habits converged to just Taylor's Discography. I have
a theory this is caused by her extensive discography that is constantly getting updated. Every
year she realizes a new album as well as a "Taylors Version" aka a re-release of an old album.
Her work is very consistent as well. Most of her projects sound a lot the same, which is to be
expected, but she doesn't really have any "misses" or failed albums. I personally am not a fan of
Taylor Swift, but I'm not a hater. I think she is just as good as any big high streaming artist and
should be respected as much. I did like a lot of her earlier, more country influenced work. I
think from a stylistic aspect, she is to monotone and boring for my tastes. From a musician
aspect, she doesn't really do anything super creative, but I'm not sure she is handling any work
on the songs she sings over. I think she should be remembered as one of the greats from our
generation, just from her influence alone. If you look at her past tour, "the Eras tour", it was the
highest sold concert ever, and it doesn't just bring her money either. In just the US, the Eras
tour boosted local GDP by 4.3 Billion dollars. There is a great article you can read about how
governments in South East Asia fought over where she would perform., because it would boost
local economies by that much. In conclusion, I think her fans need to calm down a bit, but so
does the hate.
17. (he/him) Not going to lie, I have never been a fan of Taylor Swift. Straight up, I do not think
she makes good music, nor is it anywhere near the kind of music I normally listen to. She has a
longstanding relevance, sure. I can respect that. But her run in the music industry is far from as
monumental or impactful as her die-hard fans make it seem. To me, Taylor Swift hasn't
changed the music scene in ways that other "legends" have across all different genres, whose
influences can be heard in more than just their own music and by similar artists. I understand
the personal narratives and depth to some of her albums, but I still feel those messages and
topics of far more importance are discussed by better lyricists and even directed to a better
audience.
To delve deeper into the audience, a majority if not all of Taylor Swift's "swifties" are definitely
not my people. The majority of them are young and chip plenty of nails madly defending their
idol online. No matter the form of criticism, it could just be a neutral comment about Taylor; it
does not even have to be negative. Her fan base will defend her with a ferocity that is
unexpected from her listeners' demographic. On top of that, just because I am engrossed in the
music scene as a whole, I have heard of plenty of instances where her fans go after her past
romantic partners, other celebrities, and people within the industry because of something
Taylor said or implied in a song.
Besides the music side of things, I am tired of hearing about her and seeing her on the screen
every Sunday or prime time game during the NFL season. There is not a single other NFL player
whose private relationship is this thrust into the spotlight during a PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL
BROADCAST. Players like JJ Watt, who is married to the USA Women's National team's Kealia
Watt; or Bears player Jonathan Owens who is married to Simone Biles, an Olympic gold
medalist in gymnastics; or even in the 2000s when Reggie Bush has a thing with Kim
Kardashian. None of those relationships were mentioned on a broadcast as much as Travis
Kelce and Taylor Swift were this past season, and it genuinely took away from quality football.
18. (she/her) My relationship with Taylor Swift is complicated. My first time hearing a Taylor
Swift song was on the radio, as my parents were not really fans. The first Taylor Swift song I had
ever heard was "Tim McGraw" and I absolutely hated it, and I still hate it to this day. In
hindsight this was probably not the best introduction into Swifts music but I digress. As I grew
up and was given autonomy in my own musical opinion, Taylor Swift was not at the top of my
playlist. Obviously I would hear her hit songs throughout the years but I never really loved her
like some of my friends did.
However, my opinion did slightly change when Midnights came out. I had grown from almost
hating all of her music to actually being able to listen to some of it. My favorite song off of
Midnights was Maroon. There was something likable in the simplicity of the songs, I even still
liked it when I found out the Jack Antonoff produced it ( I dislike him a lot). Even with this slight
improvement of my opinion of Swifts music she still was not an active artist on my playlist.
One thing I absolutely hate about Taylor Swift is her style. I find it to be very cringey and dated.
I have yet to see a Taylor Swift look that I actually like. It all seems very boring and most of the
time playing it safe at events. I understand that she is not a fashion icon but sometimes I wish I
could see more from her or at least something different. As for her public image, I think some
of her life is too publicized. Obviously since she is a massive public figure she is going to be
criticized more harshly but most of the time I think the media is just being misogynistic. Swift
has been extremely open about her struggles with an ED which I think is very admirable.
However, I think her relationship with Travis Kelce is very annoying. Overall, I have no real
problems with Taylor Swift other than the fact that I do not like her music.
19. (she/her) For as long as I can remember I’ve always been a fan of Taylor and her music. In
middle school, Fearless and Speak Now were two albums I consistently went back to no matter
what was going on in my life. Especially when dealing with my first romantic relationship and
all of the raw, pre-pubescent emotions that went along with it. In fact one of the first times I
listened to a song so much I got sick of it was white horse, I’m pretty sure I listened every single
day of 6th grade. That song is all about how this girl realizes that she doesn’t need a man to keep
her happy, and in fact she may be better off on her own. Around the age of 15, I started to
experience bad anxiety at night and found it difficult to fall asleep. One night I rediscovered
Taylor and her newest album “evermore.” I had heard that she took a break from the pop, “shake
it off” world, and when I put on the album, I was happily surprised to hear a new mature sound
out of her. It was still the same dreamy lyrical style as before, but a layer deeper. Her complete
honesty and sometimes ridiculousness in her words was very validating to the ups and downs I
was going through at the time, with my favorite off the album being either champagne problems
or cowboy like me. As a woman who’s had to overcome too much public scrutiny and overall
misogyny from practically every corner of the world, she serves as a strong model for me to
persevere. Further I think she still stands as an example of how you can do everything right as a
woman in this world and still be the villain, so why not just be yourself at the very least? I think
that’s a very important example to have out there.
20. (she/her) I have never been a big fan of Taylor Swift. I appreciate how much music she has
made, and I do think that she has a pleasant voice. However, all of her songs seem very similar
to me. She always sings about the same themes, and every song I have heard her sing sounds
generic and basic. Nothing about her music stands out to me. The only thing I will admit that
Taylor Swift is above average at is her lyrics. She has some clever sequences; however, I’m still
unsure how true they are to herself. I once saw a TikTok about all the relationships Taylor Swift
has been in; almost all have been three months or less. Ironically, nearly all her songs are about
breakups. All of her songs are about how hurt she is; it almost feels like she is profiting from
nothing.
For these reasons, she is way too overhyped and talked about. I would have more respect for
her if I saw less of her. Her fans, “Swifties,” are crazy. I have never understood how she has
gained so many fans and why the fans are so rude to other artists. Whenever Taylor Swift
doesn’t win an award, they tear down the other artists who won instead. This behavior is filled
with insecurity and jealousy. Again, this is ironic because Taylor Swift has made her brand about
kindness and friendship. The Swifties have all the friendship bracelets, yet they can still be so
evil to others. I understand that this can be typical behavior of fan groups of popular artists.
However, the Swifties are the most like a cult, taking their actions the furthest.
Finally, I think Taylor Swift needs to do better things with the influence and following she has.
She needs to spread more awareness about issues and speak more about politics than she
currently has. I think she understands that she can make a massive impact on our country;
however, I think she doesn’t speak out as much because she is scared of losing fans. She thinks
about herself more than the well-being of others. She has also made so much money by making
so many songs and going on the world's longest tour ever. She uses that money to fly around in
her private jet everywhere she goes and harms our environment. She should set a better
example. I don’t know much about Taylor Swift, so forgive me if some of what I said isn’t true.
21. (he/him) I don't have any relationship with Taylor Swift, her music, her style, her image, or
her career as I know little to nothing about her. I remember growing up how songs like "Bad
Blood", "Blank Space", and "Shake it Off" would be on the radio all the time, but honestly it
took me forever to even realize it was Taylor Swift singing. The only other things I know about
her is the huge tour she had, Travis Kelce, and her absurd use of her private jet. The only
opinion I have on her is me being a Raiders fan and absolutely hating Kelce and the Chiefs, so I
am one to complain pretty heavily as they continuously show her during the games. I know that
her music from what I've heard is decent and she is very involved with charities which
resonates with me. Stylistically her music is just not the type that I really enjoy listening to as I
primarily listen to rap and soul music which she does not make. Her "stans" have also turned
me away from doing any research or looking into about her and her music as it gets annoying
hearing, she can do no wrong and she is better than everybody else mindset is definitely
something that undermines somebody's talents and abilities for me which is why I haven't
given Taylor or other artists a fair shot. Based off the first day in this course it might be subject
to change as Taylor Swift is unavoidable while talking about today's music as she as big as it
gets, so for better or for worse I will be facing new exposure to her. She is definitely a polarizing
figure and is the "white girl" of today like Brittany Spears or Christina Aguilera were of the
2000's and I know that she is a good sport because Kanye did her dirty.
22. (he/him) I don't really have much, if any, relationship with Taylor Swift. The only songs
from her that I could say that I know of are Cardigan and Love Story, but besides those two, I
don't know any of her songs. When it comes to Cardigan, I only know it because I used to hear it
a lot while watching TikTok. In regards to Love Story, I know it because I consider it to be a
good song and because it plays a lot while I am going on car trips with my friends because it is
one of the songs that are considered "White Girl Music" so it is in almost every "white girl
music" playlists on Spotify. Although I do believe she makes good songs, such as Love Story, I
don't feel any particular way towards Taylor Swift and her music, and I have never been an avid
listener to any of her songs, and I have also never really paid much attention to her career. I
believe the most I have ever paid attention to her and/or her career was when she started dating
Travis Kelce. There were a lot of posts online about their relationship when they first started
dating, which made me quite curious and made me pay some attention to her and her relationship
with Travis Kelce. However, outside of that, I have never really paid close attention to her and
her career, so I don't feel any particular way towards her and since I have never really listened to
any of her songs (besides Love Story and Cardigan), I can't say anything about her style of music
because I am not really sure what her style even is.
23. (she/her) My relationship to Taylor Swift didn't last long and had very little impact on the
overall trajectory of my life. It took me a long time to actually listen to her songs of my own will
while she was at her peak around 3 years ago. It felt like a daunting task to tackle because she
had so much lore behind each song. My friends were discussing which ex-boyfriend of hers was
the focal point of each song on her albums. I was flooded with information about how each
"era" aka album of hers I was most like and other things I didn't care to understand. When I
started dating my ex, I was then introduced to Taylor Swift properly. My ex loved Taylor Swift
and caught me up on the lore without me having to do any research myself. I really enjoyed the
Folklore album because the lyrics of some of the songs were relatable to my life and since it
was sad, it let me wallow in my sadness like the gloomy 17-year-old I was. However, once we
broke up after a year, I stopped listening to Taylor Swift in search of my own musical
independence. I still appreciate some of her older music - the classics from Enchanted and
Fearless - but otherwise I didn't enjoy her more recent albums at all. Now, her music feels more
like making music that isn't about passion or coming from a place of emotion, but more for
moneymaking. She sells out every tour within seconds, and the revenue she makes by putting
out new music fuels that jet of hers she uses so religiously. There's so much music of hers that it
feels inauthentic after so many albums. I can't deny her success, and I think she's doing things
in the music industry that haven't been seen in a long time, but I personally am not a fan of how
she's using that power. She could be more politically active and inflict real change, but instead
she just flies around in that jet and her feminism feels pretty white-centered. That could just be
because of my lack of research, but that's the idea she gives off.
24. (she/her) Although I have never considered myself a fan of Taylor Swift’s music, I can
appreciate her commitment to her craft and the cultural impact she has made over her artistic
career. Swift has been producing music since the late 2000’s, influencing the childhoods and
musical tastes of many over her career. Members of generation Z especially, including myself,
likely have childhood memories of hearing Swift’s newest album on the radio, being shown her
music videos by friends, or performing one of her songs. This unifying experience of growing up
with Swift’s music is a special one, regardless of one’s stance on her music. The fact that Swift
has been able to remain in the public consciousness for so long and maintain her public persona
is a further testament to the nostalgia and familiarity of her music to many. The worldwide
success of the Eras Tour further highlights the unifying force Swift’s music is to many across the
globe.
Swift’s willingness to experiment and try new styles of music is a trait I find admirable. For
many artists, sticking to popular genres and similar styles to their hits is an easy method to
please their audience and maintain success. Though Swift’s tendency to compose songs
primarily in the pop genre does not align with my personal tastes, her ability to produce songs
in other genres such as alternative and country is an impressive display of her musical talents.
The word choice and lyrics of Swift’s music also demonstrate high levels of thought and
intelligent thinking. Although the majority of her writing does not thematically resonate with
me, I can appreciate that she puts genuine thought and care into her lyricism.
Regarding her overall career, I believe that she is deserving of the success and following she has
gained. Though I as an individual do not listen to her music or agree with the negative
environmental impacts she has made over the course of her performances, her ongoing efforts
and dedication is undeniable. Swift has put much time and effort into her music and her growth
as an artist is apparent. As someone with a younger sister and cousin, I have been exposed to
many of Swift’s newer releases and re-recordings. Comparing the older recordings of her songs
to her newest ones demonstrates both the vocal and lyrical growth Swift has gained over the
course of her career. Regardless of my general neutrality towards Swift as a person and her
music, seeing another woman gain such positive reception to her art and foster a community
predominantly composed of women is incredible to see. Does said fanbase have the tendency
to be hostile towards non-“Swifties”? Absolutely. However, as a woman, it is empowering to
see Taylor Swift reach the level of fame and success that she has.
25. (she/her) Growing up, I was never an avid listener of Taylor Swift's music. However, I did
enjoy a few of her earlier albums and currently listen to some of her music when she comes out
with new releases. When I was younger, I enjoyed her country-pop music style, and I
appreciated the way she told stories with her lyrics. Especially in her earlier songs, she truly
showed raw emotions through her descriptive language and stories. My favorite songs of hers
were “You Belong with Me”, “Love Story”, and “Wildest Dreams”—those being her classic hit
songs. Her recent albums have become more pop than country, which is the genre she started
in. I do enjoy some pop songs, so I enjoy her newer songs, but I prefer her older music because I
feel like I can better connect with it. Generally, I do enjoy her music, but I am not up to date
with all of her albums or songs that she has been creating.
Despite not being a consistent listener, Taylor Swift has made quite the name for herself, so I
often hear her name come up a lot. Whether it is about her new songs, her relationship with
Travis Kelce, or the controversies about her fuel usage, she always manages to be prevalent
today. Some positive aspects of her career are that she is one of the most successful musicians,
she is loyal to her fans, and she takes matters into her own hands when it comes to her songs.
She has re-recorded her albums and created them into “Taylor’s Version” to reclaim her songs.
However, one of the biggest issues I have with her is her large contribution to carbon emissions.
I view her private jet use as unnecessary and excessive. Since she is an inspiration to many
people, I believe that she should be more mindful of how her actions impact both the
environment and young people’s minds. While she does have some poor habits, I still believe
that she has positively impacted many people, which is powerful.
26. (she/her) Personally, I am a pretty big Taylor Swift fan, I like most of her music apart from a
few select songs. I think that her albums Folklore and Evermore are probably the ones I relate to
the most due to the lyrics. Not everyone has to love her music but to me, I think that the impact
she has had one young girls is a lot more important. Taylor Swift gets a lot of hate due to the
fact that she is considered "basic" and because she only writes about relationships, but don't
most modern musicians also do that? Of course a lot of her songs are about breakups but she
also has numerous songs that are about her personal life, connections to her family and friends,
etc.. Being a part of her fanbase, we definitely do have a bad rep, and that is not to say that
there are not Taylor fans that aren't a little crazy, however, there are a lot of us who simply
enjoy her music. Taylor Swift gets a lot of criticism for the amount of times she flies per year,
and to that I say Travis Scott produced the most jet emissions in 2023 followed by Kim
Kardashian, Elon Musk, and Beyonce. With that being said, I still recognize that Taylor does
produce massive carbon emissions, but she also purchases what are called "carbon credits"
which is essentially when a person funds different organizations that help clear CO2 from the
atmosphere. Of course this does not completely solve the issue and there should definitely be
conversations on how to further reduce carbon emissions, it does show that Taylor Swift is
trying to be as careful as possible. I think for someone who is such a massive figure and who
receives so much hate and many death threats it is not possible for her to exist in what we
could call "normal society" and fly commercially. Not only would it cause such a massive
commotion at airports not only from people who seek to hurt her but also from her fans, it
would simply be endangering her and I personally don't believe that anyone should have their
safety endangered for any reasons. But I mostly am a Taylor Swift fan due to the memories I
have made through her songs, I was able to go to The Era's Tour with my friends and I love
being able to reminisce on that moment joy it provided me.
27. (he/him) I would have to say Taylor Swift is pretty okay. I am not a consistent listener of
hers, but I check out her music when she releases it to find something that catches my
attention and fits my musical taste when possible, but unfortunately, most of her music never
appeals to me. She's not really my style when it comes to my music of choice of which is R&B
and soul, which isn't exactly her style. I can say that she has talent in songwriting, but I would
have to disagree when those say she is the best out of all artists. All artists produce music in
their prominent genre, and even though Taylor Swift covers many genres with her songs, when
I think of any genre, her songs fail to compete with any others. Girls like Christina Agulerra,
Madonna, Shania Twain, Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, Britney Spears, Adele and Beyoncé simply
outclass her which is just through my personal preference and taste.
I can't deny that all of these girls, including Taylor Swift, are killing it in the music industry,
and I can tell that her albums and some of her music can tell a story and she has talent in her
craft, but I have seen some Swifties compare her to people like Adele and Beyoncé. Socially, it
can be said that she is on the same plane as them because she's popular and she sells and is a
perceived icon, but her stage presence and vocal ability are not on the same level as some
other artists, which is important to me in artist likeability. She proves to be an icon to many,
and a lot of people like her and I'm not trying to yuck on their yum, but she just doesn't appeal
to me and what I like, while other artists and their craft resonate with me much more. I can
recognize that she can be a good artist, but to say that she is the greatest is a bit much.
28. (she/her) For as long as I can remember I have always loved Taylor Swift. Growing up I
remember having her CD’s that I would play while doing art or while my mom’s were cooking
dinner. Memory of mine is when a family member made me a pink jewelry box with Taylor
Swift's debut album cover on it, when I was 4. My mom said that she was a good role model for
a young girl because her music was relatively pg, she spoke of life lessons, overcoming
heartbreak, and overcoming an eating disorder and so on. When listening to Taylor Swift it
brings me back to my childhood, it gives me a sense of childlike wonder. Her music is so lyrically
deep that you need to listen to her songs multiple times to feel the heaviness of her lyrics. She
is in my opinion one of the greatest songwriters. She uses metaphors, picturesque language
and storylike flow to truly connect with her audience.
When it comes to the negative aspects of Taylor Swift she has a very high carbon footprint. She
uses her private jet for unnecessary travel. “Taylor Swift's private jet usage in 2022 resulted in
an estimated 8,293.54 tonnes of carbon emissions.” This saddens me as someone who deeply
loves her music. Another negative for me was the price of the Eras Tour tickets. I’m unsure if
she made the prices or if the ticket companies did but I feel that they were far too expensive
and that many of her fans got the opportunity to see her taken away due to price. I also believe
that she should be more politically active. Her following is so huge that if she were to speak up
more about politics, social issues, and environmental issues I think she could create more
positive change in the world.
Another pro in my opinion is the success that she has made for herself. To have one of the
biggest names in the world be a woman is in my opinion very powerful and very moving. People
are always putting women down, but most specifically the hate I see regarding Taylor Swift is
women putting her down. I think that her fame and success sometimes feels like a threat to
others and they would rather put her down than learn more about her and see what she is
actually doing.
29. (she/her) I do not like Taylor Swift's music that much. Most of her songs are very basic in
terms of structure and writing, and I do not get a sense of raw emotion from them. They seem
very plain and boring to me. The most important thing to me in music is how the artist conveys
what they are feeling to the listener, and I personally do not feel anything when listening to her
songs. I also say this as someone who has listened to most of her discography because I never
hate someone's music without thoroughly knowing it; it simply comes off as emotionless to me
and very generic.
One of the main things that throws me off from listening to her is her fanbase. A big part of her
fanbase has a weird and intense parasocial relationship with her and often attacks people who
critique her, which is very strange considering that they do not know her. Of course, not every
fan is weird in their love for Taylor Swift, but because it is very well-known how Taylor Swift
fans can be, it very quickly deterred me from her music.
She also has many controversies in terms of contributing to global climate problems and
associating with very controversial people, such as Blake Lively and Matty Healy. I don't hate or
like Taylor Swift, as she doesn't matter to me, and I do not care for her, so she doesn't occupy
my mind in any way. However, it does rub me the wrong way when she tries to act like an
activist when her actions say otherwise; it seems very hypocritical. For the most part, though, I
have no strong opinions about her. I would rather not listen to her music or hear about her in
media, so I avoid it in any way.
30. (she/her) Taylor and I have an okay relationship with one another. I've never been a loyal
listener of hers, but I always knew of her whether it was because of her newest album release
or her newest relationship, fashion statement, or announcement of some sort. It seems to me
that she is always brought up in day-to-day conversation, and I think that's because she's such
an iconic piece of pop culture history. Everyone knows who she is. It doesn't matter how old
you are, where you come from, how you grew up; everyone knows who she is in one way or
another. I would say that's rather impressive.
When I was younger, I was obsessed with "You Belong With Me", "Enchanted", Wildest
Dreams", and (due to my One Direction infatuation) "Style". But those were the only songs I
knew of hers because I wasn't all that interested in her other music in general. I always thought
her styles was too "girly" for me because I was one of those kids who was a hard core "tomboy"
and I wanted to be different and hate on the things that everyone else was obsessed with
(more specifically Taylor Swift and Justin Beiber). But into her music specifically, I like her
lyricism, her storytelling abilities, and her talent of being so versatile and having such
universally relatable songs.
My only "warm take" on her is that she doesn't do anything all that impactful with her public
image when it matters. Her fanbase is very fascinating and complex because they can be so
intense that it gets violent and incredibly hostile. Her fans are notorious for being "crazy" and
"too protective," and it almost seems like if one were to say that Taylor wore a shirt that this
person didn't like, that same person would be bullied and scrutinized on the internet. When it
comes to her politics and activism, she has been more vocal in the past, but more recent, years
her statement do tend to feel more calculated instead of genuine and she often doesn't say
anything until it's too late or her, herself, is getting backlash from it and seems like damage
control.
31. (he/him) I've never really had a strong connection to Taylor Swift or her music. I get that
she's a big personality with an enormous impact around the world but I personally think she is
way too overhyped, especially for how one-dimensional her music stream is. Sure, her
songwriting can have some clever moments but most of her songs use the most basic of music
chords and only talk of 1-3 themes over and over.
Something else that kind of rubs me the wrong way is how heavily she uses private jets to go
between the states. It's hard to get behind her social stances when she contradicts herself by
dumping so many pollutants by taking a 20-minute jet over an hour-long commercial flight.
Lastly, her fan base is terrible. Like other big artists, she has a very loyal fan base, but these
"Swifties" can be very intense online sometimes. There have been reports of people getting
doxxed, threatened, or hurt by these people for giving any sort of critique against Taylor. It
makes it hard to approach her work with a nuanced perspective when the 'nuance' isn't
allowed.
All that said, she is still one of the biggest names in the planet. She knew how to capitalize on
her fame and used her talent to launch her to become a household name and that, can't be
argued.
32. (she/her) Taylor swift has been a consistent figure in my life since I was a kid. Despite rarely
seeking out her music, I have always heard it in public and online. Because of this, I feel
connected to her as someone who has provided my family and peers joy. I Have heard of Taylor
Swift’s accomplishments over the years through the news, so I feel familiar with her. When I
was younger, I always viewed her as the epitome of basic female music, but I have now grown
to appreciate her impact on women and how her songs resonate with people. I have since
recognized that a lot of the hate towards her is male-driven and rooted in misogyny. I have
recently listened to a podcast reporting on all of her financial and career decisions from early
on, and now recognize her as a legitimate artist, who deserves recognition. Do you mean thing I
was impressed by is her ability to adapt and overcome when someone bought the rights to her
music and she decided to simply re-record all of her songs. This was such a wonderful decision
and give her back her power. I have also recently noticed her new commitment to being more
progressive in her public image and songs, when before she would stick to the basics that
appeal to everyone and pleased the record labels, now she is speaking out against hate and
bigotry. Her song you need to calm down was an incredible new thing for me to see with the
iconic, queer eye fab five being featured. After this, she went on to do the eras tour, which is
Ričardas him as the concert of a lifetime. I know my little sister and mom attended one of her
shows, and they said even just being surrounded by fans was incredible because people adore
Taylor so much and resonate with her music so heavily. This was a change from the typical
discourse. I had seen online about Taylor Swift versus Kanye. She is an incredibly talented and
hard-working performer, and should not be undermined by men. I hope to continue to
appreciate Taylor Swift, and defend her from any misogynist, trying to label her as shallow due
to her being a successful woman.
33. (she/her) For me, Taylor Swift is very nostalgic. Her name conjures memories of my sister
and I dancing and singing in the living room to one of her CDs. Perhaps the biggest reason I feel
this way is that I enjoy her earlier music far more than her newest releases. Which, with my
background, makes a lot of sense. I grew up playing country and folk music. Taylor's early music
aligned more with these genres, whereas now she has begun to align more with the
characteristics of pop music. I remember this transition being very controversial. Coming from a
family that played and enjoyed country music, I heard much of this disapproval of Taylors
switch to pop. I remember that, at this time, I still really enjoyed her music and did not
understand their disapproval. But reflecting on Taylor Swift and many other musicians who
switched genres and how outraged fans were with them, I realized how incredibly hard it is to
be in the public eye as an artist. It isn't easy to be artful when thousands of eyes are on you. It's
a struggle to stay genuine. But the kind of art people can appreciate and understand the most
must come from a genuine place. Something I really appreciate about Taylor is how authentic
she is in her music. Despite the disapproval of many of her old fans, she did not try to hold back
to please them, and she did not let them put her in a box. Which I think is what makes her so
controversial. A talented, well-spoken woman who completely defies what is expected of her
but still manages to gain such widespread popularity is likely to ruffle some feathers. So, while
quite honestly, I do not like her new music very much, I think she is an inspiring and talented
person.
34. (he/him) From screaming bad blood at the top of my lungs with my friends, to listening to
reputation during workouts, Taylor has worked her way into my life. While never being my
favorite or most listened to artist, my white girl music taste mandates a large contribution from
T-Swift. I distinctly remember singing bad blood with my friend after her break up with her long
time boyfriend, at the top of our lungs. Singing the entirety of 1989 on the way to baseball
practice with the boys. Having her bangers pop up on the radio and mandating a singing break
for everyone in the car. My personal favorite albums are the tortured poet's department and
1989(Of course). I can think of many moments when she touched my life, even in a somewhat
small way.
Her public image is a puzzle to me, for the longest time she was ubiquitous in the heart of every
teenage girl. She was loved by everyone in the media, the mainstream, and frankly every
person in the entire world. But slowly she has become a strangely polarizing figure in the
mainstream. She both "ruined football" and was a "key part of the chiefs script." All while
destroying the environment with her 1200 tons of CO2 emissions yearly. I can't pretend to
understand this issue, but why is it such a big deal when every pop star does the same thing? It
seems like the public is sick of her being unanimously popular for decades, and is trying to tear
down her spotless image in some way or another. Memes of her fans constantly pop up on my
reels and for you page, whether it is the happy little crackers meme or the fans tearing their
hair out for her, there is now a large counter culture aimed toward her and her fans.
Her multi genre style shows real musical talent, despite the auto tuned pop hits. Her more
singer songwriterish albums like midnights, the tortured poet's department, and evermore
show some serious musical and vocal artistry. All told, I like Taylor, I enjoy her music, but I am
not a die hard swifty.
35. (he/him) Personally, I do not really listen to or interact with Taylor Swift music, and never
really found it to my taste, but I have a great respect for how she has created a massive global
following and has made herself one of if not the most famous artist today. It is always
incredible to see an artist have such an influence and following with a widespread group of
people. I remember when it was announced that she was touring somewhat near where I lived,
people were talking about tickets, going, and how special it was going to be. Once the concert
actually happened people talked about it for weeks, talking about which day they went, and
what it was like. One thing that captured my attention from peoples stories was how they
talked about her performing in the rain. This is one thing that also makes me respect her
dedication to her fans and to her art, that no matter what, she kept performing for thousands
of fans who paid a lot to see her. Some artists might have not done that and just made fans
accept a refund. On the other hand, I think she could for sure work on making her tours more
affordable, as listening to stories of people who spent hundreds, if not thousands of dollars to
see her seems extortionate, especially considering how much she is worth. The last thing I want
to talk about is her private jet usage. A lot of the dislike that Taylor Swift gets is from what
some people consider excessive use of flying around on her jet. One widely publicized usage
was her flying from Tokyo to Vegas for the Super Bowl 2 years ago. While some people
criticized it for having a high carbon footprint, if you were in her shoes and had the ability to do
this, would you not. In my opinion much of the public dislike comes from jealousy instead of
legitimate reasons. Overall, I respect Taylor Swift and her Craft, and believe she is a very
talented artist with a great following, and has been very successful as an artist.
36. (she/her) Taylor Swift was the first singer I remember being a really big fan of. "Shake it off"
was the first and only song I ever bought on Apple Music. When I was little, and Taylor Swift
was still mainly a country artist, my best friend and I would make up dance routines and sing
along to all of her songs. When the album "1989" came out, my parents and all of my friends'
parents bought us tickets to go see her in concert at Gillette Stadium as a Christmas present.
There was a huge group of my friends and I and all of our moms. We all dressed in clothes that
we thought were edgy and were even allowed to wear bright lipstick to fit the style that we
perceived Taylor Swift to have. I don't remember much of the concert since I was so young, but
I remember being completely obsessed with Taylor's performance. My older brother always
teased me for listening to her because her songs were girly and emotional, but that never
changed my love for her music.
Since then, I stopped listening to Taylor Swift's songs because my taste in music changed.
Among my peers in recent years, she was considered basic and it wasn't super cool to be a
Swiftie. So many people my age would express how much they disliked her, and for really no
good reason. Being a Taylor Swift hater was definitely a trend for some people. However, I think
that the trend was very sexist and unjustified.
Once I was able to see past the trend of disliking Taylor Swift, I realized how hard-working,
independent, creative, and unique she is. Even though I never started listening to her music
again, I began to view her as a role model. I think that her influence on the world of music is
incredibly impressive, and her songwriting talent is undeniable. I also think that she is just a
really good person in general, by being very genuine with her fans, advocating for important
social issues, and promoting individuality and self-love. So while I don't consider myself a
Swiftie and I haven't listened to her music since "1989", I now have a lot of respect for Taylor
Swift and even look up to her.
37. (she/her) Taylor Swift is a big part of my childhood, and while I wouldn't call myself a
swiftie, she has had a huge impact on so many aspects of my life. Taylor Swift's songs really
enable that sense of connection when I am listening with other people. Mostly because
basically everyone knows the lyrics to her songs, so we can all sing together! A lot of my
childhood friends loved Taylor Swift so we would always listen to her songs on the way up to
the mountains or driving to and from soccer practice. Due to this, I think Taylor Swift's songs
often give me a sense of nostalgia, remining me of days where I am just having fun with my
friends while we belt out the lyrics of "Blank Space"! My mom also really loves Taylor Swift so
it's always a fun connection between each other, and her songs are fantastic to play when we
are baking together.
Additionally, I do really look up to Taylor in terms of how to be a successful working woman
while still being able to embrace my own femininity. Her career is absolutely amazing, and I
really admire how despite all the hate she can get, she stays true to herself. How she holds
herself as a public figure really inspires me to be my truest self, and encourages me to go after
what I want unapologetically. Furthermore, it was completely awe-inspiring and empowering to
see her "take back" her music in a way, and I am a big fan of her rereleasing her music as
"Taylor's Versions".
Personally, I think she has, and continues to have, huge impacts on pop culture. Whether for
the good or bad. I love that she writes about love and heartbreak, because its a very relatable
topic to so many. I know a lot of people who have gone though a breakup or a difficult time and
often use that type of music to better process their own feelings though music. Taylor Swift's
songs almost give a sense of validation, understanding and empathy because it shows that
everyone goes though something even if you are a popular musician. However, there are some
negatives that I feel I must mention as well. While I overall think that her "Eras Tour" was a
brilliant idea i also think that the marketing was very predatory in a sense. Between the idea of
only playing "special songs" for each concert and the astronomical ticket prices. I think the
whole tour gave rise to a sort of "You vs. Us" mentality, which is honestly kind of harmful. I
understand that this is not really Taylor herself, its still her image and concert that is
perpetrating these ideas and creating that rift.
Overall I really do enjoy her songs and I am always up to blast some Taylor and sing my heart
out. I personally like most of her older albums like "Speak Now" and "1989" but I enjoy her new
music as well!
38. (she/her) Taylor Swift has been around since I was born, when I was in 5th grade I
remember blasting bad blood and the music video on replay. She is a very artistic woman when
it comes to her talented voice. Nowadays, I do not listen to her nor am I interested in the songs
she makes. I feel like the old music and her old albums will forever be her top hits. Of course I
am speaking from my 5th year old self when I loved her 1989 album. I am not sure what she is
up to but I know she is still a hit for many people. In fact, fans of Taylor Swift refer to
themselves as “swifties” which I find cute. I do not know much about her but I know she has
changed many lives for the better. In fact, Swift grew up with a lot of mental health issues and
eating disorders. I think this is why she stood out to others because although she had problems,
she was still able to “Shake it Off” as one of her songs state. She is the true resemblance of
women empowerment because in her music she tells us to not let men treat us with disrespect.
Swift has many young people's attention because she makes us realize that she is a normal
person, someone with the same struggles we face when coming of age. She makes us feel like
we can relate to an artist because of how true she sings into her music. Not only that, but I love
the beats she has in her music, almost like euphoric and good vibes only. Swift is still not done
with her career and I am pumped up to see the many more things she accomplishes, go all the
swifties!
39. (he/him) Growing up with two sisters, I naturally listened to a lot of Taylor Swift when I was
younger. I was never a big enough fan to ask to put on her music, but I always found her songs
enjoyable and catchy when they would come on the radio. In more recent years, as I have
become more independent, I have moved away from her music and honestly don't really enjoy
many of her new songs, but I still respect her and acknowledge how huge of an impact she has
had in today's world.
It is honestly very impressive how Taylor Swift has not only maintained her popularity for so
long, but increased it, consistently producing extremely popular songs and selling out venue
after venue on her tours for years on end. There is no doubt in my mind that she is the most
popular and influential artist of our generation, and some might consider her the most
influential person in general.
As someone who thinks that her older music is much better than her newer music, I think that
her Eras Tour was absolutely genius. Each show has around 45 songs broken up into ten
sections; each is a different one of her albums from the past, which allows her to perform her
older songs as well as her new ones. This means that the concert will be enjoyable for pretty
much anyone who has ever listened to her music, even someone like me who only likes the
older stuff.
Taylor and all of her crew work extremely hard to produce these concerts, and I have a lot of
respect for what they do, especially considering how much her music has helped people in
these past few years. Her songs mean a lot to a lot of people and have helped people through a
lot of tough times. It is pretty cool to me how she can be an inspiration and role model to young
kids while also making music that adults and everyone else can relate to and find happiness
from.
40. (they/them) I have been listening to Taylor Swift for many years now. One of my favorite
claims to fame was seeing her as an opener in second grade when my parents took me to a
country concert. I grew up with her music and have listened to every album. I don’t know how
many times I would sing. You Belong with Me or even Teardrops on my Guitar while wearing
my pink scarf and sunglasses inside. Her music brings back countless childhood memories that
are priceless for me. That said, I have grown to be critical of her. As a musician, it cannot be
stressed enough that she has helped artists gain popularity through her ear’s tour, brought lots of
money into the cities the era’s tour stopped in, and even how she has constantly promoted a life
of love. Her music has reached millions of people. I cannot ignore this, but what I hate, despise,
and loathe about Taylor Swift is her marketing and environmental impacts.
Her marketing is fantastic and some of the best most have ever seen. However, it is highly
capitalistic and, therefore, consumerist, which are two things that go against my values. She also
puts out countless limited-edition vinyl and other products with every album she releases.
Having these many limited-edition products, which people will most likely buy and then let them
collect dust, creates numerous damaging environmental impacts, which I could write a six-page
paper about quickly. In addition, I do not believe in buying limited-edition objects simply
because you have them, especially if you can access them for free online. This is because I do
not think that buying objects can bring you joy. Yes, objects can have sentimental value, but
these objects come from family members and have been passed down to me.
41. (he/him) I grew up with Taylor Swift; she has always been a significant part of my life. My
family always listened to country music in the car, especially when I was younger, so her earlier
albums, Debut, Fearless, and Speak Now, were huge parts of my childhood. They would be on
the radio, or my parents would play them around the house for us. As I went through middle
school, I definitely had a phase where I thought it was dumb or embarrassing to listen to her.
People acted like she was only for girls, so I didn’t listen to her much and listened to more rock
or dabbled in rap. However, as I got into high school, I gained confidence in my musical taste
and realized it didn’t matter what other people thought of what I was listening to if I was
enjoying it. I remember one day I was hammocking at the creek by my house with my friends,
and the song “Our Song” off the debut album came on. My friend Jack and I both began to sing
along, not expecting either to know the words. We ended up bonding over this, and whenever
we would hang out or drive around together, we would listen to Taylor and dive into her
different albums. When the Eras Tour came around the summer after our junior year of high
school, we, after the most difficult ticket-buying process of my life, managed to get tickets and
went to the show together. It was seriously one of the best nights of my life. To this day, I still
listen to a ton of Taylor Swift, and I’ve managed to get many of my male friends into her. The
notion that men can’t like Taylor Swift is pretty corny. Having a younger sister definitely helped
me to get into Taylor, but everyone should be able to get behind a good pop song. Her career is
so impressive, as is the consistency of great music she has managed to release over the last 20
years. I think that her public image is sometimes hated, but that is lesser due to her music and
more the fact that she is so massive as a public figure that people become sick of hearing about
her. So, in conclusion, I am a major Taylor Swift fan.
42. (he/him) I have an interesting relationship with Taylor Swift. I wouldn’t say that I hate her.
But I also wouldn’t say that I’d call myself a swiftie. I have my occasional listen to some of her
most popular songs, such as "You Belong With Me” or "We Are Never Getting Back Together”,
but that's as far as my love for Taylor's music goes. I never listened to her albums all the way
through or went on her tours in hopes of hearing one of her unreleased songs. I never saw the
appeal. However, some of my favorite memories are blasting “Wildest Dreams” with my friends
in the car, as we drive with our windows down, screaming the lyrics like we’re the biggest
Taylor fans out there. Or even at my senior year prom, everyone was jumping on the dance
floor screaming "22". But again, I never moved past her most popular songs.
Even though I only listen to Taylor's music on occasion, one thing that she has impacted in my
life is my outlook on pop culture. Personally, I think that Taylor Swift has had one of the biggest
impacts on Pop culture all over the world, something that not many artists have done. I still
remember when I went to see a movie and I heard screams from the other theaters as people
watched her new Eras tour movie. I remember how crazy people got when she went “dark” on
social media and deleted all of her posts, just to come back with one of the craziest and biggest
tours that our generation has ever seen. I think that the evolution that Taylor Swift went
through, her transition from her sweet country girl to a cool pop star, was one of the most
unexpected moves from a musical artist. It showed that people can change not only the music
that they produce but also the perception that people have of them, which has been proven
very hard for a celebrity to do in the modern age.
So, even though I don’t have a strong relationship or connection to Taylor Swift, I still respect
her and all that she has done throughout her career. I think that everything she has done has
cemented her as one of the most prominent and well-known figures in the music industry.
Whether it's the hate she received or the love from her die hard fans, I think that Taylor Swift
has built a name for herself that no one will forget any time soon.
43. (he/him) My relationship with Taylor Swift is complicated. I am not friends with her I do
not know her but I respect her for who she is. Taylor swift has made good decisions for
musicians in the past which makes me respect her. In 2014 Taylor swift took all of her music off
of Spotify because she didn't like the way that Spotify didn't fairly compensate musicians. And
in 2015 Taylor called out Apple Music for not compensating musicians on their 3 month free
trial period which Taylor wrote them a letter saying how she does not approve of this and put it
into perspective for them while saying "we don't ask you for free iPhones." The next day apple
reversed the policy and apologized. These decisions made my Taylor to stand up against the 2
biggest companies in the music streaming industries makes me respect her and understand that
she cares about artists and who she represents when she speaks up. I also respect her for giving
big bonuses to her whole crew while on tour because she was doing so good, this shows she
cares about the people that aren't seen and just help support her and she can see that.
There are somethings I do not like about Taylor and one of those things is her carbon
footprint. There is a simulator online where you can see how much she flies jets around and it
honestly disgusts me seeing that because it slowly deteriorates our planet. There is an excuse for
her which is, She is one of the most famous people in the world and needs to get places fast, but
it is a bad look for her. People look up to Taylor and look up to the lifestyle she promotes, She
does not go on social media and flex all the time about her private plane use which is something
I like and respect, but when it is widely known she does this, I think she can be a bigger person
and make some changes.
44. (she/her) My relationship with Taylor Swift is sparse. She comes up in my life randomly,
usually when I'm going through it emotionally such as when I graduated high school. I listened
to one specific song called "The Great War" when I was approaching the end of high school.
Taylor Swift was very prominent in I feel like everyone's lives recently when she created the
genius idea of touring and having all of her old albums featured. The Era's Tour was definitely as
popular as it was because she killed it with her OG older music rather than her newer music.
She also became a more prominent figure when she started dating that football player and she
was on everyone's TV screen. As far as public image, style, and music goes she definitely
changed her theme quite a few times, starting from cute little country singer when she was like
18 years old to that weird reputation era where she wore all black and was kind of scary - I
wasn't a big fan of that point in her career. Like I said before the Eras tour exacerbated her
success in the music industry and overall career so I feel like everyone now knows who Taylor
Swift is because of her world known tour and her football NFL boyfriend. Overall I think Taylor
Swift does a good job at trying out different personas based off her albums and which one
appeals most to the general crowd, I think that skill on its own is why the Eras Tour even started
- she knew everyone liked the OG shit.
45. (she/her) I’ve never been one to recognize many things regarding pop culture and
celebrities, yet my mom has always had such an innate ability to recognize anyone who appears
on screen. Whether it be someone from the 1920s, or someone completely international like
Garret Dillahunt. Unfortunately, this skill is not genetic, but one celebrity I can certainly recall is
Taylor Swift.
For as long as I can remember, I have always had a best friend who calls themselves a Swifty. In
first grade, my best friend had a purple Taylor Swift poster next to her clock that I would stare
at as I waited for time to go by in the early mornings. As time passes friends change but one
thing has remained the same in that all of my best friends love Taylor Swift. Even if I do not
consider myself an active fan, she is familiar. For some reason, I am pulled towards people who
admire her. It’s a sort of secondhand admiration that I’ve attained over the years of loving the
people who love her.
This familiarity translates to her songs themselves. They tend to grow on me over time.
Growing up as a classical musician, I was inclined to be hypercritical of music structures. This
mindset makes it hard to enjoy a lot of pop music, and this need for complexity became
incredibly tiring. Why can’t we find enjoyment in simplicity? Additionally, many of Taylor Swift’s
songs can be as complex as you make them. Even if it follows a somewhat traditional chord
structure, it’s subjective. Perhaps the lyrics relate to a complex and difficult time in someone’s
life, or maybe it reminds someone of their childhood in the way that the song Ours, reminds me
of my own. Who are we to call these things simple?
Friends change, homes change, and styles change. While writing this assignment, I was
corrected for playing the old version of Ours instead of Taylors Version. This song in particular
has a very different style compared to some of her more recent music like Lavender Haze that
we are playing in my dorm as we speak. I admire Taylor Swift in the sense that she is not afraid
of change. If it weren't for change, I would not have met my friend who so graciously corrected
me for not playing Taylors Version.
46. (she/her) Taylor Swift has had a huge impact on my life. On my first ever iPod, in second
grade, 1989 was the first album I ever bought and willingly listened to all the way through. I
loved that her songs were catchy and upbeat. Of course, as a second grader, I wasn't paying
attention to her lyrics, but her music made me happy. Later, the summer before seventh grade,
my mom surprised me with tickets to her Reputation Tour. At some point between second
grade and seventh grade, I had lost some interest in Taylor Swift. Before the concert, I wasn't
the biggest fan, but my world changed after seeing her perform. She lit up the stage with
intricate set design, dazzling choreography, stunning costume changes, and even intense
pyrotechnics that you could physically feel burning your face. No matter your opinions about
Taylor Swift or her music, it is undeniable that she is an incredible performer and can put on an
incredible show.
Since that concert, I was hooked, throwing myself fully into her music and the stories behind
her songs and albums. Her perseverance and strength throughout 2016 and 2017, when it
seemed like the whole world was against her, were inspiring. When Swift then released her
album Lover, and the song The Man, I was in eighth grade and fully enthralled by the feminist
movement. Hearing her speak about the power of women in interviews and behind-the-scenes
media, Taylor Swift quickly became one of my role models.
Looking back on Taylor Swift's scandal with Kanye West and even the drama between sexist NFL
fans and Taylor Swift more recently, I've noticed that Taylor Swift's "controversy" would be
drastically decreased if she were a man. So much of Taylor Swift's success is criticized, and she
isn't given enough credit for the influence she has on people, especially young women. As a
patriarchal society, we do not recognize female success to the same degree as male success,
and yet Taylor Swift continues to release more music and push societal limits, breaking glass
ceilings. I admire Taylor Swift indescribably; she is powerful and brings people together, and
does it in heels. Her incredible lyricism, especially in her albums Folklore and Evermore, has
shaped the way I appreciate music, leading me to appreciate other artists like Radiohead, Jeff
Buckley, and Noah Kahan for their lyrics on top of just the beat or melodies of their songs.
While today I don't listen to as much of Taylor Swift's music as I used to, her power and
message have inspired me and shaped my music taste. I will forever look up to her and
appreciate her for what she has done for me and so many others.