That Taylor Swift Narrative

There’s this young woman who just can’t seem to keep a man. Either that or the men she’s attracting just aren’t good enough for her. She’s really great at most everything else in her life, but this one problem seems to keep rearing its ugly head, and I just have to wonder when she’ll find that one man who will be good to her, who she can rely on, and who will understand that all the love songs she writes will be about him from now on. Because she deserves all good things.

And as I thought about her the other day, I realized that she has written many songs about heartbreak, but she has also set forth a blueprint of what not to do for the guy who will eventually win her heart for good. He just needs to listen and take notes. You know, not like a stalker, but like a man determined to win the girl. Okay, so that still sounds like a stalker, but you get my point. Now, on to the lyrics…

“Did you have to ruin what was shining? Now it’s all rusted. Did you have to hit me where I’m weak? Baby, I couldn’t breathe.” ~Bad Blood

“No apologies. He’ll never see you cry. Pretend he doesn’t know that he’s the reason why you’re drowning, you’re drowning, you’re drowning.” ~I Knew You Were Trouble

“All that I know is I don’t know how to be something you missed. Never thought we’d have a last kiss. Never imagined we’d end like this. Your name, forever the name on my lips.” ~Last Kiss

“I’m not a princess, this ain’t a fairy tale, I’m not the one you’ll sweep off her feet, lead her up the stairwell. This ain’t Hollywood, this is a small town, I was a dreamer before you went and let me down. Now it’s too late for you, and your white horse, to come around.” ~White Horse

“So it’s gonna be forever, or it’s gonna go down in flames. You can tell me when it’s over if the high was worth the pain. Got a long list of ex-lovers, they’ll tell you I’m insane. ‘Cause you know I love the players, and you love the game.” ~Blank Space

“Loving him is like driving a new Maserati down a dead-end street, faster than the wind, passionate as sin, ending so suddenly. Loving him is like trying to change your mind once you’re already flying through the free fall, like the colors in autumn, so bright just before they lose it all.” ~Red

“Well maybe it’s me and my blind optimism to blame. Maybe it’s you and your sick need to give love, then take it away. And you’ll add my name to your long list of traitors who don’t understand, and I’ll look back and regret how I ignored when they said ‘run as fast as you can’.” ~Dear John

And I can’t help but think that beneath all of that scar tissue still lies a tender soul waiting for a love and an acceptance that has been a long time in coming. Maybe it’s all because of the celebrity factor, because being a female in a demanding business where it’s difficult to tell who’s for real and who’s not means having a thicker skin, or at least appearing so. Or perhaps it’s simply that she’s young, and she gets caught up in the whirlwind just like the rest of us did at that age. Regardless, the way she pens the sadness and pain onto paper could be a catharsis of sorts.

Which is the same reason why I think she’s so successful, because we can understand those emotions. They run deeper than anything else could possibly run. Because we’ve all dealt with heartbreak and the difficulties of relationships, while they’re happening and their aftermath. So while the Taylor Swift narrative is one of trying to get past the past, and forge a new future with Mr. Right, maybe it’s even more about understanding what she wants, and more importantly, what she doesn’t want.

And that second list keeps getting longer, but I hear she’s got a blank space just waiting to be filled in.

Sam