Ten years ago, I had never heard of Taylor Swift.
In fact it was another concert with a younger female singer when I first became aware of her music. I went with my wife and son to see Jackie Evancho perform in Atlanta. She was 13 or 14 at the time, one of the young stars of a genre known as classical crossover, and Nicole and I really enjoy her music.
Near the end of the. concert, she said she wanted to try something different, a song that was outside her usual comfort zone, She sang a popular song I didn’t know called “Blank Space.” She said the song was by someone named Taylor Swift and was from her newest album.
It was an interesting song and when we were driving home, I asked my son if he knew of Swift. Of course he did. He was under age 30 and loved music. I watched the video of “Blank Space” on YouTube and thought she was wonderful. I’ve been buying her albums ever since.
I have friends who say they don’t like her music because she’s too angry, but they must be listening to different songs than I am. The first thing I see in her songs is humor and the second is heart.
Listen to her 10-minute version of “All Too Well,” the story of her relationship and breakup with actor Jake Gyllenhaal when she was younger and it will literally break your heart if you’ve ever gone through anything like it.
She has won just about every music award possible and most of them more than once. She’s 33 years old and is already a billionaire. Not only that, she’s the best kind of rich person — one who shares her success with the people who work for her. She has actually given bonuses totaling several million dollars to her support staff from her most recent tour.
So of course the MAGA crowd hates her. First of all, she’s a strong woman who stands up for women. Second, she has worked very hard to get young people registered to vote. Third, she’s no fan of their hero Donald Trump.
The Trumpanzees seem particularly outraged by the fact that she’s showing up on telecasts whenever the Kansas City Chiefs are playing since she’s dating tight end Travis Kelce. In fact, the fat man himself has responded, telling people that he’s more popular than Swift.
He seems particularly infuriated that Time magazine named her its person of the year for 2023.
The fact is, Swift can make a difference in this year’s election. One of President Biden’s weaker demographics is the young, and Swift advising young people how important it is for Biden to beat Trump will definitely help.
I had to laugh when I saw a Republican saying that sure, the Democrats have Taylor Swift, but Republicans have Kid Rock and Ted Nugent on their side.
Really. Well, Kid Rock is 53 years old, which is young to Republicans, but the Nuge is 75. His last album came out in 2002 and wasn’t that big a hit.
Love those Republican celebrities.
As for Swift, she’ll be fine. And if you’ve never heard “All too Well,” enjoy.