Taylor Swift: A Musical Revolution on Tour
Taylor Swift, one of the most influential pop artists of the century, is almost halfway through her iconic Eras Tour. The show is a journey through her deepest desires, happiest moments, and the most emotional experiences of her music career. Taylor has a total of 10 albums spanning 17 years, with three album rerecordings, Fearless, Red, and Speak Now, and specifically chosen songs from each album to represent the eras of her life. She announced the newest rereleased album would be Speak Now, an album many fans have been anticipating for months, and will be coming July 7th. Taylor is periodically rereleasing her albums so she can own them, instead of with her previous record company, Big Machines Records, who manipulated Taylor for trying to buy the ownership rights to her albums. The show itself is packed with some of the most nostalgic songs to the most heartbreaking songs of her discography, and she continues to surprise with two special songs each night. Her Eras Tour is the first since the Reputation Tour, and Taylor has been breaking records with the number of fans hoping to watch her sing. In fact, the first concert of the tour in Glendale, Arizona broke the record for the most-attended female concert in history. Her setlist is unimaginable, with 44 songs each night and 52 concerts over the entire tour. In addition, her opening guests are beyond talented, with musical artists Paramore, Beabadoobee, Phoebe Bridgers, girl in red, MUNA, HAIM, GAYLE, Gracie Abrams, and OWENN performing around the country with Taylor. The Eras Tour is meant to represent meaningful points in her life, and each of her albums embodies a different era Taylor experienced.
Taylor Swift. Her debut album, “Taylor Swift” embodies country sweetness to the max. Songs like “Teardrops on My Guitar” and “Our Song” show the contrast between unrequited love to youthful puppy love. Most of the songs are accompanied by her acoustic guitar skills and southern accent. The album was an immediate success and resonated with people of all ages in love.
Fearless. One of her most famous albums, especially since it was also the first rereleased album “Fearless” is a timeless mix of future romance and heartbroken past relationships. The album was more focused on a high school girl’s love life with songs like “You Belong With Me” and “Fifteen”. The new Taylor’s Version of the album has new songs from the vault, like “Mr. Perfectly Fine” about Joe Jonas breaking up with her over the phone.
Speak Now. Taylor’s first entirely self-written album “Speak Now” hit the charts and quickly rose to #1. The album included fairy tale songs like “Enchanted” and poet-level songs like “Back to December” and “Haunted”. It was her transition to adulthood, her transition from country to pop, and her transition to major publicity. Since writing songs about heartbreak was Taylor’s way of coping, she got major backlash for making “all” of her songs about men.
RED. One of Taylor’s most emotional albums, “RED” captures the emotional volatility of youthful romance. Taylor wrote it while she was going through anguished feelings of jealousy and confusion, feelings expressed in one of her most famous songs “All Too Well (10 Minute Version, Taylor’s Version, From the Vault). Although the title is unwieldy, the song is so special and meaningful to Taylor, and it was so popular that it produced its own short film.
1989. The year Taylor Swift was born, “1989” is the complete transition to 2014 pop. By now, Taylor has grown up, still facing the harsh, sexist press she has received for her popularity, but she combats it by creating the perfect album of self-discovery. Her hit songs “Clean” and “Style” are beyond popular in the Taylor Swift community, and there are still so many recognizable songs from the album that represent her debut as a true pop star.
reputation. This album is one of Taylor’s most vulnerable albums, as “reputation” was released during her moments of self-isolation from her feud with Kanye West and the public response around it. The feud started with the infamous MTV Awards, where Kanye stole the mic during Taylor’s acceptance speech, but the majority of the backlash was when Kanye namedropped Taylor in a sexual lyric in his song “Famous”. Taylor objected to giving permission, but Kim Kardashian West released an edited phone call of Taylor, prompting her to leave the public eye after the huge amount of public hate she got. Her comeback album featured songs about revenge, self-love, and vulnerability like “Look What You Made Me Do”, “I Did Something Bad”, and “Gorgeous”
Lover. Another pivot from the previous album, “Lover” is her new era of lighthearted, sweet songs. As her longest album, the songs were pop-based and colorful, representing Taylor’s experience with healthy love. The songs are odes to the things she loves the most, her boyfriend and mom, West End and West Village, and being in love. “Cruel Summer”, “Lover”, and “Afterglow” are all songs that perfectly capture the heart-bursting emotions of love.
Folklore and Evermore. These two albums are often in pairs because the two were released 5 months apart in the middle of the pandemic, with no prior announcement and they both have the same style of music. “Evermore” and “Folklore” follow a more cottage-core, mythical, poetry type of song-writing style and escapist persona Taylor embodied. The songs on the album represent stories of Taylor’s experiences in the woods, writing these extremely emotional songs like “cardigan”, “mirrorball”, “ivy”, and “champagne problems”.
Midnights. As the fastest-selling album of her music career, “Midnights” is the ultimate collection of her experiences and lessons learned. Taylor describes it as “the stories of 13 sleepless nights scattered throughout my life.” Through the trials of Taylor’s life, the album encompasses a personal value as she shares moments from her life through songs like “You’re on Own, Kid” and tracks from the 3 am addition like “Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve”.
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Marie is a Senior and one of the Editors-In-Chief for the 2023-24 school year. She enjoys writing about current events and sharing her favorite recipes!