Taylor Swift's Music Is So Much More Than Just Pressing Play
Do you ever just have moments in life when you’re instantly connected to something, it just hits differently, it can change your emotions, your day, your life around in a second? It can be there for you when no one else is…. when you feel most alone and somehow it can hear all of your thoughts and bring them to life, helps you process without you even knowing.
That is what Taylor Swift’s music is for me and has been for a very long time.
When Taylor Swift was released I was 16, I would come home in tears from being so left out at school… for being bullied time and time again. I got used to being on the outside, I cried thinking I would never have a place where I might fit in, where I would be able to be myself, where I would be heard, I ran from my life because I didn’t understand it and then I discovered this singer with curly blonde hair and a guitar and somehow, it all felt like home.
Fearless, I was 18, I had moved out for the first time, I ran away from my problems, drank too much, hid from the world, disguised my tears, put on a brave face every single day and smiled even though I was broken. I cried listening to Breathe and Tell Me Why on repeat, wrote down the lyrics and hung them up all around my room… Once again, wondered if I would ever have a place where I would fit in. Little did I know, Taylor’s music once again was and always would be my safe place. I screamed Change at the top of my lungs every single day, hoping that one day it would. I learnt how to be Fearless, and that’s a lesson I have taken with me every day of my life since.
Speak Now, I was 20, I was just starting to find my voice, which fit in so perfectly with Speak Now. I stood up for what was right even if my voice shook when I spoke, I learnt to have no regrets, I cried listening to Mean 900 times in a day, for once I felt understood, I felt like I wasn’t alone…. I felt the power that they didn’t control me, I had the last say. Some days, I had to skip Never Grow Up, because I couldn’t handle my emotions and couldn’t accept what was going on around me, couldn’t accept that maybe I would never figure out who I was supposed to be and maybe I was growing up too quickly to progress my world. I cried myself to sleep listening to Long Live because once again, music saved me.
Red, I was 22, I was misunderstood, maybe because I didn’t know who I was… I was bored in life, I really was happy, free, confused and lonely… I didn’t know which way I was coming or going, every day was different, I woke up each day with a different purpose, a different message I wanted to project, a different person I wanted to be. I cried to All Too Well probably more than once a day, I learnt that it was never too late to Begin Again, I learnt that real love was possible even though I ran from my own, I ran so fast from most things, things I hated and things I loved, I tried too hard to fit in, I couldn’t accept again my world, so I ran back to music. I drove around and around with tears streaming down my face singing Treacherous, I cried to Come Back Be Here thinking I lost the one. The Lucky One mirrored parts of my life and it soon became my security blanket. This album became part of my every single day, I listened on my way to work, on my way home, and the messages that I learnt became part of how I lived my life.
1989, I was 24, I was facing with hate that was unthinkable that destroyed me, I was in a new job where my whole life turned upside down, I couldn’t keep up, I was pleasing everyone, I lost my voice and my messages I told turned into what they wanted me to be, I learnt the act of hate in harder ways than I had ever experienced before, I moulded into what they wanted me to be, I couldn’t swallow and digest the things that had happened to me and I pushed them away, I ran as fast as I could and then Shake It Off caught me just in time. Clean was the friend I needed in the long drives and the dark nights when I was crying myself to sleep, New Romantics gave me hope, Out Of The Woods grabbed my hand and caught me right when I was just about to fall and it never let go. I learnt to Shake It Off with my world falling down around me, it calmed my fears, it stopped the noise, my anxiety was on hold and it taught me that being myself was okay, and it still does.
Reputation, I was 27, my life was falling apart, some really personal things were going on and this album mirrored every single thing I was feeling. It helped me up after my crash landing, it helped me brush off the dust, it helped me process my anger, It helped me find my voice again, and it helped me find me again. It gave me the courage to speak up, it gave me the motivation to fight, it gave me a reason to keep moving and in the darkest nights, it gave me a new friend who would never leave. A time in my life, where I was getting older and yet I had never felt more alone, and yet, music was right by my side again.
Lover, I was 29, my world fell down around me even faster and more than any time it has before… I couldn’t stop it, no matter how hard I tried... I didn’t think it was possible for things to get worse, but life does its thing and you can end up on the ground over and over again… and once again, Taylor’s music caught me right in time. I learnt from this album that to get to the pink and the yellows, you have to go through the charcoals and the blacks. To truly recognise and appreciate the sunlight, I had to leave the dark and cold behind.
The Archer soon became my security blanket, my thoughts and emotions were brought to life in Death By A Thousand Cuts, I felt heard and understood in Afterglow, I felt hope for my future listening to Daylight and The Man became my screaming anthem during the unthinkable.
Now a few months later, i’m 30 … my scars are still healing, my bruises are still visible, and my cuts could still get infected. I am used to crying, I am used to the anxiety, I am used to being breathless, I am used to shaking in unfamiliar situations, I am used to holding back when you just want to scream, I am used to the stinging on my face the tears create, I am used to that feeling of your stomach dropping, I am used to that feeling of helplessness, I am used to the fears, I am used to the lump in the back of my throat, I am used to running, I am used to the long drives… but now I know my Daylight is coming.
Music hasn’t always just been my escape, it’s my strength, my power, my soundtracks to each chapter I faced, it‘s part of my story.
carlylala x
