5 Taylor Swift Lyrics We Can All Relate To
Taylor Swift gets a bad rep; she is the butt of many a pop culture joke. Maybe some of it is deserved, she does like to play the victim in much of her music and that seems to turn the masses off. She also can’t seem to sing about anything other than falling in and out of love; it’s almost like that’s all Ms. Swift does, all day, every day. The truth is despite all the Taylor-swift shamming that has become as popular as colored pants in the Spring, I have a soft spot for Taylor. In a world that is telling her to change, to grow up, to be this or that, she has seemingly maintained a certain innocence; perhaps it’s a naive innocence, but it’s an innocence all the same. I think it’s an innocence that even if we don’t envy, we can learn to appreciate. So after an hour-long T. Swift session, I’ve come up with five Taylor Swift lyrics we can all relate to, albeit the contradictions.
1. “In your life, you’ll do things greater than dating the boy on the football team.” – Fifteen
The boy on the football team represents the person that you wanted so badly and maybe you dated or maybe you didn’t, but you wanted them more than anything else. You made a fool out of yourself trying to get their attention — your thoughts, your schedules, and your every wish revolved around this person. But then you grow up and realize that the boy on the football team was not in fact, the most important thing you would aspire to or hope for. You have realized that life is much bigger than those moments in time when you think that someone’s affection is the most important thing to have.
2. “And if you ask me if I’d love him, I’d lie.” – I’d lie
Whether it’s a friend that you secretly want to be more than friends with or the eternal crush that you’ve had on someone, you know full well that you want to fall for this person. More importantly, you want this person to fall for you. But you’re shy and secretive about it and you don’t want to let other people know because you’re worried that you could be crushed. So you keep it hidden, and you don’t tell them, and when people ask you, you lie about it or at least you avoid it. After all, if you keep it a secret, you believe that somehow there will always be a little bit of hope; that maybe, just maybe, they’ll finally get it.
3. “It’s a revolution, the time will come for us to finally win.” – Change
We’ve all been down on our luck, we’ve all wondered when things are going to change when life isn’t going well. Whether it’s in a job or career, in friendships, in relationships, in life, we just wanted to be free of whatever was holding us down. Somehow, whether it’s from being inspired by someone else or finding it within ourselves, we get the courage to make a change and get out of our slump. It’s almost like an epiphany — we feel that the tide has turned and that we have the power. We’ve found our spirit, so we get up and fight, and we’re ready to win.
4. “I don’t know what I want so don’t ask me ‘cause I’m still trying to figure it out.” – A Place In This World
Knowing exactly what you want is really difficult, especially when you’re young. But people always seem to demand that we know — that we know our 5-year plans and 10-year visions; that we figure out who we are, and who we want to be with for the rest of our lives, as soon as possible. But is this realistic? We all know it’s not because there have been times we’ve wished people would just stop asking us because we have no idea. And even if we do, we’re not sure about many of the details. We’re still searching, and we might be searching for a while.
5. “I knew you were trouble when you walked in.” – I Knew You Were Trouble
Trouble always looks so tempting, doesn’t it? While trouble can come in the form of a seemingly perfect human specimen that we believe was made for us but is bad for us, it’s not always that obvious. For example, do you know what time I’m writing this post? 3:45 AM. You know why? Because I made the decision to stay out late with friends. I know I’m going to be exhausted when I have to get up in 3.5 hours. And I knew exactly what I was getting into; I saw this trouble from a mile away and I did it anyway, so shame on me. But whether it’s a broken heart from loving the wrong person or a decision to stay out late on a Wednesday, you should know better because you know the potential consequences and the joke always ends up being on you.