With ten albums released, four re-records and another on the way, Taylor Swift has put her heart and soul into writing, producing and performing her music. Voted Time’s “Person of the Year” and a direct positive effect on the economy, Swift has dominated the charts while creating a fan base that can dance with strangers at her concerts.
When Swift first released her debut country album, titled “Taylor Swift” in 2006, “Tim McGraw” became a hit single after it was first crafted in her ninth-grade math class. The song quickly identified her ability to touch millions of people’s hearts through her vulnerable, real life lyrics about love, pain, high school and every emotion that comes with being a teenager. “He said the way my blue eyes shined put those Georgia stars to shame that night—I said, ‘That’s a lie.’” The song was her first to chart in the top 40; she now has 137 songs that have made that achievement.
After her debut album gave her a name in the music industry, her sophomore album, “Fearless”, rapidly transformed her into the star that she is known as today. “Fearless” contains five singles, and from those five singles, the music videos have a combined over 1.6 billion views, 1.5 billion of which are from “You Belong With Me.”
“Speak Now,” Swift’s third studio album was written completely by herself at the age of 19. The original tracklist, containing 16 songs, spans from Swift’s perspective of the 2009 VMAs. During this time, where Kanye bluntly interrupted Swift when accepting an award, to Swift’s relationship with John Mayer at the time, who was 33 while Swift was 19, and also to Swift figuring out her personal values.
After “Speak Now” was released, Swift became a household name and has since released seven additional albums. “Red,” “1989,” “Reputation,” “Lover,” “Folklore,” “Evermore” and “Midnights” all tell the story of Swift’s diary. That’s what makes her music feel so good, the listener feels like they are living life with her and the experiences that she faces with hers. She makes everything just the right amount of meaningful, thoughtful and catchy, creating a wonderful mix that keeps getting stuck in your head.
Swift has fame. But her life isn’t always perfect. Throughout all of this time, until 2017 when “Reputation” was released, she was signed with Scott Borchetta’s Big Machine Records. Later, she would realize this was a big mistake.
In 2019, music manager Scooter Braun bought Swift’s music, all of her albums through her sixth album, “Reputation,” without her knowledge or consent.
“With the Scooter thing, my masters were being sold to someone who actively wanted them for nefarious reasons, in my opinion,” Swift said in an article with Time.
As a result of this, Swift was forced to find a way to get back to where she was. For her, the solution was to re-record her stolen albums. Currently, Swift has released Taylor’s Version albums of “Fearless,” “Speak Now,” “Red” and “1989.” Her version of “Reputation” and her debut album have not yet been released.
Her fans, who are referred to as “swifties,” have agreed to only stream Taylor Version when available, and because of this, Swift was able to have more success and fame.
Taylor Swift represents what it’s like to be a girl in this world of hate. She stands up for what she believes in and will not give up, even if President Trump likes her 25% less.
