How Taylor Swift’s Music Has Stayed Influential and Relatable
Since the release of her first album in October 2006, Taylor Swift has given countless brutally heart-wrenching and relatable songs. So many of today’s teenagers have grown up with Swift, hearing about her experiences and heartbreaks through her musical stories. She has also managed to completely dominate two different genres in the music industry — both country and pop music.
Swift has also been one of the most publicly criticized celebrities over the last decade, with debates ranging from who she's dating, to what she's wearing to her weight. Swift even disappeared from the public eye after the #TaylorSwiftIsOverParty trend became the number one tag on Twitter as a result of her public dispute with Kim Kardashian and Kanye West. Following that year of isolation, she released her album “Reputation,” which was notably different from her other albums due to its rawness and sharp lyrics. The album explores her thoughts and feelings about how the media turned on her as well as her then-growing relationship with actor Joe Alwyn.
Swift’s musical career has grown alongside her personal life. Beginning with songs about teenage regret and heartbreak such as “Back to December” and “Should’ve Said No” to songs about isolation and addiction such as “this is me trying,” Swift has explored a wide variety of topics in her songs. She has made people relate to her music because of the humanity, honesty, and emotion in her music. Music is something people can widely interpret and relate to their own lives regardless of the song’s intended theme or subject, and Swift has made music for the imagination of her audience while still writing from her heart.
Taylor has also broken her silence on politics and sexual assault. Her experience with her court case in Colorado was spoken about in her Netflix documentary “Miss Americana” saying she was angry that even with credible evidence and multiple witnesses, it was still difficult to win the case. Since the case she has been an even more active advocate for women's rights. During the 2020 midterm elections, she encouraged people to vote and to be aware of their options for people in any sort of governmental office, which prompted the media to go into a controversial frenzy on her every move leading up to the elections. Even though she knew she would get negative media attention, she encouraged people to vote because Taylor Swift is an artist who cares about the well being of her fans in any and all situations.
Despite everything her haters and the media have put her through, Taylor Swift has overcome all of her challenges to write beautiful and creative music.
