Children’s Librarian, Helen Morgus, recommends Taylor Swift’s books and music.
Can we talk about Taylor Swift?
If you are a Boomer, as I am, your first reaction could be “Why? Do we have to?”
Dear reader, I urge you not to underestimate the power of this bedazzling woman over the people you love. Or it may just be culturally useful for you to understand Taylor Swift’s hold on the affections of people as diverse as four-year old boys, 30-year old women, and David Brooks and Stephen Colbert (both admitted Swifties). Or moms of Millennials, like me, for that matter.
So what is it about Taylor Swift? Of course, she is blonde, beautiful, successful, and famous—things that people of the industrialized world love. There is power in that. And more about her can be answered in either of the biographies in the Children’s Library (J 920 SWI); or in several downloadable ebooks on Overdrive (Libby).
Another fabulous source is Sam Lansky’s December 6, 2022,article in Time that features her as Person of the Year 2023. This piece, in which she participated, traces the trajectory of her career, with its lovers and haters; describes her current world tour and the accompanying film (The Eras Tour, a three-hour “feminine extravaganza” featuring songs from each of her albums); reveals her connection with her fans; and honors her as a creative, vulnerable, generous human being. Very worth looking up and reading on Time’s website, which you can access on the computers in the Learning Commons, or at home.
But you won’t know Taylor Swift’s power until you listen to her music.
And if you are a Boomer, as I am, you may still have a CD player. The Library has many of her albums in the Adult CD Music section (POP CD SWIFT), from her second album, Fearless, released when she was 18 years old, to her 2024 album, The Tortured Poet’s Department, which arrives on our shelves soon.
My own musical exposure began with Pete Seeger and other folk-influenced musicians of the 1960s. I moved on to the Beatles, Cat Stevens, Joni Mitchell, Fleetwood Mac. Following this thread, my favorites out of Taylor Swift’s broad oeuvre are two “sister” albums, released in 2020, folklore and evermore.
Try either of these albums if you want a gentle, smooth onramp to Swiftworld.
Musically, she sets aside the hard-driving pop and the twangy country vibes of her previous work, and turns toward folk rhythms and softer acoustic arrangements. Her lyrics bloom into deeply imagined stories. In her liner notes for folklore, she says “It started with imagery. Visuals that popped into my mind and piqued my curiosity. . .Pretty soon these images in my head grew faces or names and became characters.”
Early on, critics berated Swift’s singing voice, and in typical “I’ll show them” fashion, she got some serious voice training. On her Eras Tour, she sings in a range of genres with skill, confidence, and uncanny endurance. But the songs on folklore and evermore make the most of Swift’s thin, breathy alto—to intense emotional effect.
This is Taylor Swift’s superpower: her lyrics—often but not always personal stories—are eerily transcendent, especially sung in her own voice.
As one fan puts it “She’s so good at making her personal experience relate to millions of people. When I listen to her songs, I think about what I’ve been through—not what she’s been through.” When World Cup skier Mikaela Shiffrin’s father suddenly died in 2020, Shiffrin played Swift’s elegiac Epiphany from folklore on repeat to help her grieve.
I do think there are underlying reasons for Swift’s emotional power. We are a people who hunger for authenticity in this age of Instagram perfection, for honesty amid misinformation, and to make unity out of our tired divisions. The Eras Tour is a worldwide lovefest that momentarily, at least, promotes civic healing—and joy! Taylor Swift’s fans took a lyric from one of her songs and started a trend of swapping friendship bracelets at her concerts—strangers reaching out to one another.
Is the behavior of Taylor Swift’s fans a sign of a potential seismic cultural shift? Let’s hope so. I would not put it past Taylor Swift to make a better future happen. So start here, with me, her music in your ears, worming into your heart.
