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Taylor Swift Needs to Calm Down

9/19/2019

11 Comments

 
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© Glenn Francis, www.PacificProDigital.com
Unless you're living under a rock, you probably know that Taylor Swift is political. 

She has made abundantly clear in the last year that she wants her music, her fans, and her persona to be political. As someone who used to like Swift's music (I admit it!), I started to listen less as she moved toward the pop genre. It wasn't my thing, and the innocence and sweetness of her original music began to fade into the past. The things that made songs like "Love Story" so relatable took a backseat to her new sound. I also use to love Swift's style. She would wear cute outfits that I would try and replicate at home - outfits that were close to being modest, if not entirely so. As her music changed, so did her fashion sense.

None of that influenced my feelings toward Taylor Swift as an artist. She had chosen a path that I didn't appreciate as much, but that many other people did. Fair enough.

But in Taylor's newest album, she has unequivocally decided to alienate half of the country. 

It began with the music video for "You Need to Calm Down." A portrayal of a political position was watered down to a caricature, a group of hill-billy rednecks holding misspelled signs. "You hold that position? The only person who would hold that position would look a little something like this," the video seemed to exclaim.

Then came her interview with Rolling Stone. 

This interview blew me away. Here's a quote: "I do think, as a party, we need to be more of a team. With Republicans, if you’re wearing that red hat, you’re one of them. And if we’re going to do anything to change what’s happening, we need to stick together. We need to stop dissecting why someone’s on our side or if they’re on our side in the right way or if they phrased it correctly. We need to not have the right kind of Democrat and the wrong kind of Democrat. We need to just be like, 'You’re a Democrat? Sick. Get in the car. We’re going to the mall.'"

Here's another: "It’s about the illusions of what I thought America was before our political landscape took this turn, and that naivete that we used to have about it. And it’s also the idea of people who live in America, who just want to live their lives, make a living, have a family, love who they love, and watching those people lose their rights, or watching those people feel not at home in their home. I have that line 'I see the high-fives between the bad guys' because not only are some really racist, horrific undertones now becoming overtones in our political climate, but the people who are representing those concepts and that way of looking at the world are celebrating loudly, and it’s horrific."


I have no issue with celebrities having political opinions. In fact, I think that's great! Be informed, learn more about the country we live in, have an understanding of the people that you're voting for. Do those political views need to be embedded into their art? Generally, I would say no, but even on that I can be convinced. 

But for Taylor Swift to essentially tell half of her fans that they're not invited to listen to her music? That they're not invited to go "to the mall" with her? That the "bad guys" are in charge, and by extension, if you share their opinions, you too are a bad guy? 

That's not political. That's clannish. 

Taylor Swift is not trying to convince anyone here. She has taken a side and she is digging her heels in. She's not welcoming political discussion - there is no discussion to be had. There is only right versus wrong, and she's right. But do you know who will follow her example? Young people who don't have a clear idea of their own politics yet, but absolutely don't want to be seen as "not in the cool club" of Taylor Swift. 

​When I read this article, I felt a little sick to my stomach. We've gotten to a point where the biggest pop singer in the world is telling the country to bisect itself in half and choose a side. No friendly discussions, no meeting of the minds - just pick a side and ignore anyone who challenges your views. 

Taylor Swift hasn't given her fans the option to listen to her music despite her politics. She has said, "Listen to me as a Democrat or listen to me as my enemy." I, personally, don't feel too comfortable with that dichotomy, no matter my political views. If someone on either side of the aisle were to dismiss half of Americans as wrong, I would feel incredibly uncomfortable. That was never the purpose of politics - we need both sides to push each other toward an apex of fruitful policy. As I've said before, we're all people, first and foremost. Let's start there. 

What do you think? Are you a fan of Taylor Swift? Let me know in the comments below! 
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11 Comments
Andrea
9/19/2019 08:56:04 am

Popular musicians have often used their platforms for political messaging. Their songs are typically apolitical, but if you attend a concert, their views are made clear. Social media has now turned what was once an opinion expressed to a drunken audience into a mantra for the masses to follow.
Swift’s turn into politics is a disingenuous stab to stay at the top, sell records and win Grammys.
The differences are stark between “you need to calm down” and one of the best political songs of all time, U2’s “Sunday Bloody Sunday.” The former is straight propaganda while the later uses the medium to convey the depth and depravity of the struggle for Irish independence that lasted for decades.

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G
9/19/2019 09:25:10 am

I enjoy some of Taylor Swift's music, but I have to say, I think this type of attitude is why things are so polarized in American politics now. I've been on both sides of the aisle- through junior high and high school I leaned heavily to the left, began to relate more to the ideas of conservatism through the beginning of college, and have landed somewhere in the middle in recent months. However, when I was younger, my more liberal ideas were influenced almost completely by what the majority of people my age were believing. I had been so influenced by others around me that I truly did believe "Republican" was a dirty word until I really began looking into things with a more open viewpoint- shocked to find a lot of my own personal values more on the right side of the political spectrum. Especially with an audience primarily comprised of young people, this depiction of the right automatically being closed-minded, backhills bigots is very harmful to put out there. Not to mention, isn't that very depiction, dismissing folks from the country or having similar look to the caricatures in the video - pretty classist and disrespectful in itself?
At the end of the day, we'll all have our different ideas about politics, but if we really want to see positive change, I think we should emphasize working together to achieve it. Exclusion and divisiveness does nothing but get us angry at each other and delay actual work getting done. It's frustrating that a common reaction now is completely closing out those with different ideas than us just because of a shallow, preconceived notion of what the other person is like.

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Jackie
9/19/2019 09:56:37 am

She has every right to use her platform to express her views, and I am and have been a HUGE fan (as most people know) since her debut as a country artist...but her liking a fan edit of her kicking a “Republican” is a far-cry from standing for equality (Last year, shortly after making her first political statement, she liked a Tumblr post depicting herself kicking a “conservative”). Additionally, she chose to wait until the day following her Rep tour ending in the U.S. last year to make her first political statement, further solidifying that she knew she would alienate many...but decided to do so regardless.

It seems freedom of thought is not among the list of equalities she wishes to achieve. She longs for equality and unity of women...unless those women are conservatives...feminism does not mean and has never meant that all women need to think the same way. All of this is highly ironic as she claims she’s sick of the media and others pitting women against each other....These assumptions she’s making are toxic...her lack of adherence to facts is concerning...and the she portrays ALL women, those of the LGBTQ community, and ethnic minority’s to be victims and under the wrath of “systemic” prejudice is NOT helpful or true. Let’s empower....not project others as being inherently weak because of their biological and cultural characteristics. At this point, all she is spewing is mindless leftist buzzwords...i.e. patriarchy, feminism, systematic racism...etc...you get the picture.

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AJ
9/19/2019 11:38:20 am

I think working together would be a lot easier when Donald Trump is out of politics.

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Sarah
9/19/2019 11:26:59 am

Totally agree Abby!

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Elizabeth Call link
9/20/2019 09:14:58 am

Donald Trump got elected because of the direction Obama had taken out country in. I don't believe it was a Republican thing or a Democrat thing. It was an American thing.

If Hillary had been elected, we would never have known the extent of the ruthlessness of the media, nor to which ends they are willing to go to align themselves with those Democrats who are corrupt to influence Americans, especially our youth.T

The voices of the Hallmark "leaders" of the Democratic persuasion have engaged in lies, changed the rules, maligned our language, weaponized institutions like our schools, our social media and news media outlets, and mocked our Constitution as outdated.

For years.

Donald Trump being elected simply got them out to crawl out from under their rocks. They have always existed.

They have been doing this before Trump, stepped up their rhetoric since Trump, and will continue doing it after Trump.

It's not about the welfare of the country.

It is all about one word -- POWER.

To think things will get easier after Trump is out of politics is a little naive.

I am sure these crawlers have approached Taylor Swift and made her feel like she could go down in history as not only a music icon, but an icon whose music saved America!

She's another woke pawn of the political stage.. She will ruin her brand and she will fade.

The only way her political songs will be remembered is if she spends a year living in Venezuela and then focuses on telling our youth what is right about America.

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Neil
9/16/2020 06:48:36 pm

Do you conservatives really not see the fascist tendencies that Trump has? He says whatever he wants whether it’s true or not, he uses the court system to help his friends and hurt his enemies, he calls the free press “enemies of the people”, and worst of all, he thinks the role of the US government is to help him the man. Not USA the country. Donald trump is helping Donald trump. NOT America.

Mo
9/20/2019 10:33:13 am

I loved a few of her songs. Still do. "Love Story" makes me cry every time. So does "Back to December."

I wasn't a huge fan. I'm old enough to be her mother, so I was never her target demographic. But I liked her *because* she seemed and dressed sweet and innocent. I found her refreshing as a role model for her young fans. I was disappointed when she started dressing like the rest of these pop stars who look like cheap hookers. And now this?

If she at least expressed informed political opinions, it would be a different story. But intentionally mischaracterizing, misrepresenting & slandering half the country?

Imagine standing on stage in front of tens of thousands of fans and assuming that everyone - or even most - agree 100% with your political views. How arrogant is that?

Even if I agree with an artist's political views, I don't necessarily want to hear an entire concert dedicated to it. There's music that can unite people because it applies to everyone and everyone can relate to it. You'd think that in our divided climate, we'd want more of that, not less.

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Emma
9/20/2019 05:31:45 pm

So, just to clarify, how does Ted Nugent make you feel?

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Mo
9/20/2019 05:41:46 pm

@ Emma

Are you addressing my comment? Or the original post? Sorry, I'm not very used to this format.

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Cat
8/25/2020 09:10:41 pm

I used to be a HUGE fan of Taylor Swift from her music, her style and her personality. I IDOLIZED her. But after "Need to Calm Down" I was not completely bothered like i'm fine with lgbt rights but after "The Man" I was like ok im done. Then Miss Americana documentary happened and I was like ok im no longer a fan. Like now she's extremely unlikable to me and I feel like she's completely changed as a person. And now seeing the rolling stones interview, thats kinda shocking but she's just completely turned ig. But I agree she alienated half her audience.

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