Learn Taylor Swift and Her Musical Life through her Songs in Two Minutes.
Pavani Mantripragada
January 22, 2023. 1 minute Read
Until a few years ago, Taylor Swift had a reputation as the Queen of Breakup songs. Sure, she does have a long list of songs about her exes, but that isn’t all she wrote. Taylor Swift is a great songwriter. Her songs are catchy, ear-pleasing, and sure to win at least two awards.
Taylor Swift started her music journey early at the age of 13. She used to sing a lot of country music. I had picked up well. The songs she wrote by herself were relatable for all the Millenials. Even today, her song “Love Story” plays on Valentine’s Day every year. All the youngsters would imagine themselves as the main character and feel all the lyrics.
Although Taylor Swift has a reputation for her breakup songs, what you need to know is that she is an excellent lyricist. That’s her most crucial aspect: and that is Songwriting. Taylor Swift was always known for writing her lyrics and not having a writer to write songs for her.
Her second album ‘Fearless’ had stayed on the Billboards Top 100 for almost a year, a rare occurrence back then. In those days, new songs would release every week; hence, people had new music to catch on to often. It was also when many other big-shot singers were catching up. Some of them are Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato, Miley Cyrus, and many others. Her official journey into music was in 2005 when she signed up with Big Machine music company. Her albums Fearless, Red, and 1989 were some of the Big Machine. But later, she quit the company, and joined Republic Records, and recorded ‘Lover’ in 2018.
The Process of Songwriting
She once said, “If you do something bad to me, I will write about you. I’m that kind of person.”
The singer-songwriter stated that her “wacky” composing mode would see her categorize songs into three genres: “Quill Lyrics,” “Fountain Pen Lyrics,” and “Glitter Gel Pen Lyrics.” “I created these categories based on the writing tool I imagined having in my hand when I scribbled it figuratively. I don’t even have a quill. Anymore. “I broke it once when I was angry,” Swift admitted.
In her own words,
"
Cause there we are again in the middle of the night
We’re dancing around the kitchen in the refrigerator light
Down the stairs, I was there
I remember it all too well
And there we are again when nobody had to know
You kept me like a secret, but I kept you like an oath
Sacred prayer, and we’d swear to remember it all too well.”
The third category is called Glitter Gel Pen, which lives up to its name in every way. Frivolous, carefree, bouncy, syncopated perfectly to the beat. Glitter Gel Pen lyrics are like; don’t care if you don’t take them seriously because they don’t take themselves seriously. These Glitter Gel Pen lyrics are more about the drunk girl at the party who tells you that you look like an Angel in the bathroom. It’s what we need every once in a while in these fraught times in which we live.
Example:
“My ex-man brought his new girlfriend; she’s like, ‘oh my god’ but I’m just gonna shake And to the fella over there with the hella good hair, won’t you come on over baby we can shake, shake, shake.”
In Talor Swift’s words, “Why did I make these categories, you ask? Because I love doing this thing, we are fortunate enough to call it a job. Writing songs is my life’s work, my hobby, and my never-ending thrill. I am moved beyond words that you, my peers, decided to honor me in this way for work I’d still be doing if I had never been recognized for it.”
Taylor Swift does co-writes some of her songs. Her co-writers are Jack Antonoff, Aaron Dessner, Justin Vernon, William Bowery, Max Marten, Shellback, and Ali Payami.
Besides that, she even co-wrote “Better Man for Little Big Town; You’ll Always Find Your Way Back Home” for Hannah Montana: The Movie, “Babe for Sugarland,” and “Calvin Harris, This Is What You Came For.”
According to Taylor Swift, The Genre Should Never Be Constant
Taylor was never the one to keep herself restricted to one genre. She first started writing Country music. Her first two songs, ‘Love Story’ and ‘You Belong With Me,’ were generally into Country Music but stayed at the top in all genres. Her subsequent two albums, Fearless (2008) and Speak Now (2010), transitioned from country music to pop songs.
Later, her album ‘Red,’ extremely popular among the millennials back then, moved her from country pop to pop music. Her song ‘We are never getting back together’ stayed in billboard’s top 10 for 11 weeks straight. In those days, what people loved was a singer in Pyjamas complaining about her ex-boyfriend was the most exciting part of the video. It followed with her album 1989. Her songs ‘Shake It Off,’ ‘Blank Space,’ and ‘Bad Blood’ were quite the rage among everyone. Her controversial album Reputation followed the same genre.
She quit Big Machine, joined Republic Records in 2018, and made her album Lover.
While Re-recording her old albums, she transitioned from Pop to Folk music with ‘Folklore’ and ‘Evermore.’ She moved into alternative folk with her latest album ‘Midnights.’
Taylor Swift had a Lyrical Magic
Some of Taylor Swift’s lyrics are just magical. She spins the words in a way that would catch your attention while making them sound almost like a Shakespearean. Some of her lyrics are so meaningful and attractive that they are hard to forget. Some of the portions of the song are so poetic you can Instagram them as your caption.
Taylor Swift is known for decoding emotions through her songs. That may be the reason why her breakup songs are so famous. She captures them very well within her lyrics in the music. Some of them are:
“The old widow goes to the stone every day/ But I don’t. I just sit here and wait/ grieve for the living” from Ivy.
“Never be so kind you forget to be clever / Never be so clever you forget to be kind” from Majorie
“You tell me about your past thinking your future was me.” from All Too Well.
“I’m so sick of running as fast as I can, wondering if I can get there faster if I was a man” from The Man.
Final Thoughts
Taylor Swift has always lived a life that has always been very high profile. Controversies, heartbreaks, and Love, she has everything in that. If she has strong haters, she has fans who can dance to her tune in a full-packed stadium.
Love or hate her; you cannot deny that she is one of the greatest lyricists as well as a singer of our generation. She has great talent. and is an inspiration for many.
