Taylor Swift’s songs have been catching public attention since her first album, Taylor Swift, released in 2006 when the singer was just 16 years old. Filled with country love songs the album was an instant success and since the young star has continued to capture the world’s attention with each new music release. As Swift has matured and changed throughout the years, so has her music. While her newest album “1989” is a far cry from the country style Swift first debuted with, it has not disappointed in the least and leaves fans singing along to her catchy new tunes. This 13 song album fits the “pop music” description to a T. From the most well-known, unbearably catchy “Shake it Off” to the more thought provoking “Clean,” Swift’s new music proves that she is growing up and so are her experiences and perspectives.
The first song on the album “Welcome to New York” sings about the city that she had been waiting to move to for a great deal of her life. Swift made the move recently and in the forward that accompanies her new album she states that, “I think you have to know who you are and what you want in order to take on New York and all its blaring truth.” Her cheery song about the idolized city is enough to make anyone want to pack their bags for the Big Apple and start a new chapter of their life in the midst of all the energy that New York City has to offer.
Of course, it would not truly qualify as a Swift album if it did not include a few songs about her love life, and “1989” most definitely provides that. Most of her ballads speak of various romances, varying from upbeat to mournful; there’s a song in the mix for every love-related emotion in the book.
White creating “1989,” Swift collaborated heavily with various singer-songwriters in what she dubbed the “1989 Secret Sessions.” However, these sessions were not quite as private as the name suggests, seeing as the hashtag “#1989secretsessions” was popularized across Instagram and Twitter. For her new song “Out of the Woods,” Track 4 on the album, Swift worked with Jack Antonoff, lead singer of Fun. and lead singer-songwriter of his new project, an indie pop band named Bleachers. Antonoff and Swift also worked together in creating Track 7 “I Wish you Would”. The collaboration on this project is highly evident, as the style of the song closely mirrors the style found in many of the new songs being produced by Bleachers, like “I Wanna Get Better.”
Swift also worked with Imogene Heap, an English singer-songwriter and composer, on what may be considered the heaviest and most mature song on her album, “Clean”. Featuring lyrics that subtly refer to a boy as a drug, Swift and Heap found a way to turn the cliché your-love-is-my-drug type message into one that can be taken more seriously and remains relatable, the key in most of Swift’s songs. Swift sings, “10 months sober/I must admit/Just because you’re clean/Don’t mean you don’t miss it” and the song continues with that sort of tone throughout.
“1989” is an album that highlights just what Swift can do and illustrates many different sides of her talent and personality while still coming together to create a very unified project. Whether it be raw talent, the fact that she is well marketed, her new style, the collaboration with other successful artists, or a combination of all of these things, there’s no doubt regarding Swift’s success and the fact that this musician is not one that’s about to fade into the background like so many of her pop-artist peers. The fact that over a million copies of this album were sold, just in the first week, along with the point that she has sold the second highest number of albums in the world, following the Beatles, are proof enough of that.
Although some fans will miss Swift’s old country style, many consider her pop music to be a welcome and refreshing change. At the very least, it’s likely to leave you singing and dancing thanks to all of the catchy lyrics and beats. And for those that don’t agree, I’m sure she’ll just shake it off.
