Introduction to Politics and Taylor Swift
Music as political activism is a very old concept. Franz Joseph Haydn composed the Farewell Symphony in 1772 as a staged musician’s strike. The musician Nina Simone (1933-2003) based her entire music career in politics and change. There are entire genres that have roots in creating political music, like Hip-Hop, Rap, and Punk. By 2020, Taylor Swift was no stranger to political messaging in music. On the album Lover that came out in 2019, there are two prevalent political songs: “The Man” and “You Need to Calm Down”. Earlier than this there is “Change” from Fearless and “Long Live” from Speak Now that are anthems of revolution. Additionally, while being born from a place of petty drama, reputation has its own moments of resistance.
In the 2020 documentary Miss Americana, Taylor Swift expressed the desire to encourage fans to become politically active. CNN recalls this moment as “the singer expressing regret […] for not speaking up about political issues sooner. […] Swift told her father […] that she felt the need ‘to be on the right side of history’” (Rosenbloom 2024). This scene and dialogue centered around a meeting where Taylor was asking her PR team to post on social media, reminding fans to vote. To accompany this film, Taylor released a very political song: “Only the Young”. The song discusses two topics. First, the feeling of loss and potentially fear when an abuser of power is elected to lead. Second, school shootings and the possibility of reducing gun violence through legislation. The rest of the song is motivational type rhetoric, which is a nice change from Doomism.
Being involved in politics or not being involved in politics is a choice. Many people who avoid politics may not be aware of the choice they are making, or the privilege associated with it. “Most people who are affected by bigotry and hatred can’t afford to look the other way […] In that sense, this notion of ‘being apolitical’ means looking away, at its core” (Dicere 2024). People with a visible difference don’t get to choose how they are perceived by others. Therefore, they are forced to exist within politics whether or not they want to. The CNN article about Taylor concludes with: “Regardless of whether she chooses to directly sing about politics or social causes, she now seems to know all too well how powerful her music can be” (Rosenbloom 2024).
During Miss Americana, Taylor made the choice to be more politically active. Through lyric analysis of songs produced after Lover (not including Taylor’s Version releases), I will introduce some political topics and discuss how Taylor addresses them. The question is: how well did Taylor deliver on her commitment? I would like to recognize my biased view in this discussion as I am a fan. Although I am a fan, I am always thinking critically about the music I choose to listen to.
Misogyny
Many of Taylor’s songs, pre-2019 and post, critique misogyny. Commonly, Taylor’s critique of misogyny is conflated with feminist activism. In the episode “We Ranked Every Taylor Swift Album! (Deluxe)” from Popcast by the New York Times, one of the speakers mentions “The Man” and its relation to feminism. The speaker notably asked: “what wave of feminism are we on?” (2024). How ironic is it that two men were criticizing this song and its feminist belongings? A quote from Performance Analysis: An Introductory Coursebook explains 3 strains of feminist thought that arose from the first waves of feminism.
“three broad tendencies: liberal or bourgeois feminism is generally the least thoroughgoing in its analysis, critiquing the status quo for its failure to offer women the same opportunities as men; radical feminism usually operates with essentialist assumptions, seeking those qualities it deems inherent to women and, in an inversion of traditional value-systems, valorizing them; socialist or materialist feminism addresses the feminine as entirely of social and historical construction, interrogating the terms and means of that construction in an effort to produce an empowering understanding of it” (Counsell and Wolf 57).
Since many of Taylor’s songs lie in the realm of revealing and critiquing misogyny, we can see she has a “liberal or bourgeois” approach to feminist thought. This is consistent in Taylor’s songs about misogyny before and after the Miss Americana documentary. Ironically a great example, the song “the last great american dynasty” is the story of a middle class turned bourgeois woman (Rebekah Harkness) told through the misogyny she experienced from neighbours. “there goes the last great american dynasty/ who knows if she never showed up what could have been?/ there goes the maddest woman this town has ever seen/ she had a marvelous time ruining everything” (Swift, “the last great american dynasty” 2020). Furthermore, perhaps Taylor herself only operates within liberal or bourgeois feminism, but by enjoying and being inspired by her music, perhaps the fans operate within radical feminism. Since consuming Taylor’s music is inherently feminine, and many fans are outwardly proud to be fans, this would fit in the definition of radical feminism above.
Political topics and related songs by Taylor. Please note there is lots of overlap between songs and for clarity songs are included once in the chart. Additionally, this chart is abbreviated; there exists a larger chart of more topics and more songs.
Marriage
“Lavender Haze” presents a case against marriage as a Social Institution: “No deal, the 1950s shit they want from me” (Swift, “Lavender Haze” 2022). A lot of people may have wondered when Taylor and the smallest man who ever lived would be getting married. People still expect dating to end in a marriage, and marriage to lead to kids. “The only kind of girl they see/ is a one-night or a wife” (Swift, “Lavender Haze” 2022). First, Taylor comes out with “champagne problems”, on Evermore, singing about rejecting a marriage proposal. This is followed up by “Lavender Haze” and “Midnight Rain”, on Midnights, which explain that Taylor is more interested in a career than the marriage-to-kids pipeline.
This suite of songs about marriage ties into the third strain of feminism (socialist or material feminism) mentioned in the Counsell and Wolf quote. Taylor has interrogated the terms of marriage and produced an empowering understanding of it. Now millions of people around the world have access to this empowered understanding of marriage. Also, we sing about it at the top of our lungs together.
Consent
“Did you wish you put up more of a fight? (Oh)/ when she said it was too much, did you wish you could still touch her?” (Swift, “Question…?” 2022). Now entering the new wave of feminism: discussions of consent! “Question…?” grapples with the complexities of real life. Men trying to perform grandiose proclamations of love (gender role), without thinking where consent (politics) fits in. “Caught in politics and gender roles/ and you’re not sure and I don’t know/ got swept away in the gray/ I just may like to have a conversation” (Swift, “Question…?” 2022).
Public proclamations of love are designed to force women to say yes out of social obligation. Despite this fact, they are ever present in the questionable list of experiences women are taught to desire. Most often we see these grandiose proclamations attached to marriage proposals, which can connect with Taylor’s criticisms on marriage as an institution. “Question…?” does not need to be pinned down to a specific event in Taylor’s life. We can simply use these lyrics as activism to challenge ourselves and others. Taylor literally wrote us a list of questions, let’s use them!
Capitalism
“You’re On Your Own, Kid” subtly exposes the competition culture embedded in Capitalism and especially the arts industry. The settings are full of people that are nice on the surface, but would probably tear others down for their own gain. This highlights the selfish mindset that arises as a by-product of Capitalism. Ultimately, the message ends up being bittersweetly motivational: “You’re on your own, kid/ yeah you can face this” (Swift, “You’re On Your Own, Kid” 2022). Alternatively, this song might slightly mask the mass of support and privilege that contributed to Taylor’s success and lightly perpetuates the “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” sentiment.
“I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” can be superficially perceived as a break up song. On a deeper level, this song can be seen as a critical lens for Capitalism. Taylor you’re not the only one who has to mask their broken heart at work! People showing up to work after a family member died because not everyone gets time off for that. People who are constantly being degraded by strangers they are expected to help. People who know they won’t be eating tonight because every penny goes towards rent. People who end up in lower paying jobs and get stuck there because it’s the only job they could get and they have bills to pay. People who go to these jobs everyday with broken hearts because they lost hope in their dreams.
The Capitalist machine has ground many workers lives down into a routine: work, sleep, and eat. Essentially, people end up living in survival mode with no hope of breaking the cycle. This is the goal of the system. The beauty of political movements is organization and community. It is easy to dismiss this song as privileged complaints of a billionaire. However, this song could be used to unify people with a common goal.
“I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” Spotify Single screenshot.
Apolitical
Taylor also sings about being apolitical, most notably on “Sweet Nothing” and “Dear Reader”. “Dear Reader” is almost like a self-reflection on the size of Taylor’s platform and recognizing that she’s not using it to the full potential in order to create change. “You should find another guiding light (guiding light)/ but I shine so bright” (Swift, “Dear Reader” 2022). This song outro definitely feels apologetic, almost lamenting an inability to express political opinions. There are some issues that cis/het/white women shouldn’t speak on, except to amplify the voices of others. Additionally, celebrities don’t have as much freedom of speech as it may appear. “Dear Reader” is recognizing this fact and encouraging listeners to go out and find others who are more qualified and active in creating change.
“Sweet Nothing” is a different kind of apolitical. “The voices that implore/ you should be doing more/ to you I can admit/ that I’m just too soft for all of it” (Swift, “Sweet Nothing” 2022). This can be viewed as a privileged complaint, or it could open the door to a discussion of burnout. It is quite unhealthy to be obsessing over politics. Additionally, I believe people have misconstrued the dialogue from Miss Americana. Taylor does not want to become a political activist. She simply wants to encourage fans to become politically active, mostly through voting.
Conclusion
Most people do not spend time listening to each and every song written by Taylor Swift. The misogyny ingrained into us teaches us to ridicule women’s interests. This includes any and all media made by women. Returning to the Counsell and Wolf definition “radical feminism usually operates with essentialist assumptions, seeking those qualities it deems inherent to women and, in an inversion of traditional value-systems, valorizing them” (2001). Listening to Taylor and allowing ourselves to enjoy it is radical feminism. Misogyny is the reason why most people do not have the patience to think deeply enough about Taylor’s song lyrics. Having done this analysis, I am surprised by the political depth of Taylor’s songs post 2019, especially where The Tortured Poets Department is concerned.
However, Taylor is out of touch with how the average person experiences life. At this time, there’s a severe lack of anti-war sentiments coming from people like Taylor who have the capacity to influence change. This lack likely stems from a desire to maintain likeability with the public. For example, when The Chicks spoke out against the war in Afghanistan, they received a ton of backlash, whereas their male counterpart was praised (Pruitt 2007). Maintaining likeability is not necessarily a negative or positive action. Instead, it is about business preservation. As fans and activists we can continue to call upon Taylor and other celebrities to speak out against genocide. Risking likeability for the chance to be on the “right side of history” is something Taylor can absolutely afford. The fact that Taylor has not taken these political risks is more telling on where she is on the political spectrum.
It may be that I am forcing political messages upon songs that have no deeper meaning. Taylor is known for encoding secret messages in her music and media. Therefore, it is almost encouraged for her listeners to apply songs to contexts other than what they appear to be written for. Taylor’s music has now impacted three generations of people, most certainly the young women it is marketed to. The political messages are there and are more diverse than Taylor haters would prefer to think. Certainly, there is a need for strengthened and more clear political messages from Taylor, assuming she is still interested in creating political music. There are many issues such as misogynoir, trans lives, black lives, police brutality and more that Taylor may never sing about. However, Taylor’s silence might be the most effective way for her to amplify the voices of other people, since the Swifties blow up everything Taylor does. Literally anytime she walks down the street it’s liked, shared, commented, reposted, and analyzed.
To finally close this off, we can circle back to “Dear Reader”: “You should find another guiding light (guiding light)/ but I shine so bright” (Swift, “Dear Reader” 2022). Meaning, go out and find other sources of entertainment and political engagement. We can’t just eat chocolate all the time, have some vegetables.
Threads screenshot, taken September 11th 2024
Sources
Dicere, Dan. “Is Apoliticality A Privilege?” Indiecator. Published August 14, 2024. Accessed November 5, 2024. indiecator.org/2024/08/14/is-apoliticality-a-privilege/
Counsell, Colin, and Laurie Wolf, editors. Performance Analysis: an Introductory Coursebook. Taylor & Francis Group, 2001.
Pruitt, Lesley. “Real Men Kill and a Lady Never Talks Back: Gender Goes to War in Country Music.” International Journal on World Peace, Volume 24, No. 4, 2007, pp. 85-106.
Rosenbloom, Alli. “Taylor Swift previously said she was uninspired to include politics in her music. Now, she’s singing a different tune.” CNN Entertainment. Published September 17, 2024. Accessed October 22, 2024. www.cnn.com/2024/09/17/entertainment/taylor-swift-politics-60-minutes-2011/index.html
Swift, Taylor. “Dear Reader.” Midnights (The Til Dawn Edition), Republic Records, 2022. Spotify, open.spotify.com/track/10GRRCR5fctuOF4GFmATJI?si=e176892639f44c4c
Swift, Taylor. “last great american dynasty.” Folklore, Republic Records, 2020. Spotify, open.spotify.com/track/2Eeur20xVqfUoM3Q7EFPFt?si=548add99189342d6
Swift, Taylor. “Lavender Haze.” Midnights, Republic Records, 2022. Spotify, open.spotify.com/track/5jQI2r1RdgtuT8S3iG8zFC?si=9e14aa5026a84cc1
Swift, Taylor. “Question…?.” Midnights, Republic Records, 2022. Spotify, open.spotify.com/track/0heeNYlwOGuUSe7TgUD27B?si=44a894e1a59741f9
Swift, Taylor. “Sweet Nothing.” Midnights, Republic Records, 2022. Spotify, open.spotify.com/track/0wavGRldH0AWyu2zvTz8zb?si=19f64e79c4a94c66
Swift, Taylor. “You’re On Your Own, Kid.” Midnights, Republic Records, 2022. Spotify, open.spotify.com/track/4D7BCuvgdJlYvlX5WlN54t?si=93184ccf1f174100
“We Ranked Every Taylor Swift Album! (Deluxe).” Popcast by The New York Times, July 17 2024, open.spotify.com/episode/7y6Uuv7QW4WeSt22mMtj47?si=530f7b1937d64720.
