I’ve been a swiftie since Red era and I haven’t really thought about this until now… I’m a big fan of several bands and artists who I even listen more than TS, but none of them produce the same amount of passion or love I feel for her. And it is not like a love in the romantic sense, it is something weird I cannot explain.
Like I normally don’t support the ideas of looking up to celebrities or artists because I think there’s just so much behind the scenes we don’t know, and in the end they’re also humans. But this logic just melts away in my mind for Taylor Swift. I’ve binged her entire concerts and sang along from my room, teared up just watching her in live streams, and also I’ve felt proud for her when she gets an award or when she is recognized in some way. Also it is just so cute when she’s just literally being herself, and I just cannot explain the warmth I feel I’m my heart when that happens.
I like literally feel myself like the most serious, skeptic, dead inside person within my social group, yet my passion and love for TS overcomes all that.
Now with the Eras Tour I think there’s been a lot of coverage of the fandom and how some of us behave to some (sometimes not very nice) extremes just to maybe see her, and it made me think that is not just me who feels this love for someone who doesn’t even know I exist.
My theory is that the feelings she portrays on her music have resonated with a lot of us to a personal level, to the point we feel identified with her. Myself I cannot put a finger in the exact set of songs that made me feel this, but it’s the best explanation I can give myself.
Anyone else?
As an outsider, it’s bizarre and kind of scary how many of her fans have a parasocial relationship with her.
Outsider as well (this community keeps coming up in All) and it’s honestly a little creepy from the outside looking in. Idc how much a musician resonates with people, posting pics of her constantly is just downright strange and I always assume most of the content comes from creeps in basements.
You’d think people would be sharing lyrics and discussing themes in these communities - nah, its 99% celebrity worship. This is the first post I’ve seen that actually is trying to have a discussion so I guess kudos for rising above the rest.
Exactly. The vitriol from the Swifty community when she dated Matty Healy went way beyond his supposed antics. It’s that their perfect Barbie doll wasn’t dating the man THEY approved of, and therefore their Barbie doll must withdraw. I can’t imagine having to live my life under that pressure, but I imagine she’s comforted by the hundred million or so dollars.
And that’s actually the reason why I’m asking this… like, maybe it’s just my social circle but I don’t see this happening for Dua Lipa, Rihanna, Harry Styles, Ariana Grande, etc etc, or any other celebrity of the moment. Why Taylor? What is she doing different?
My biased response to my own question is that it’s because she’s genuinely a good person. She has shown numerous times that she does care beyond the money and the image she portrays of herself. Combine that with the terrific songwriting skills and the enormous career and legacy she has built. But again, that’s just an opinion coming from a biased swiftie.
To be honest it is understandable. I felt the same many years ago until I got swallowed by it.
Personally I know exactly how you feel. I’m someone who always says eat the rich, and I hate celebrity worship, and I still hold to those, but Taylor is definitely a weird phenomenon with me.
I do think it’s because she’s so relatable, and it’s weird as a celebrity but with her I personally connect so much with her lyrics, her writing, from the highs to the lows. That tied with that I’m a millennial, only a few months away from her in age, we’ve gone through similar things so when a new album comes out it’s always like “Oh my god this is exactly how I’m feeling!”
Red I was going through a bad relationship. 1989 was definitely a perfect summer album of “oh my god I’m just over everything can’t we just dance?”. Rep I had just moved to a new city and I was very much in a mood lol. Folklore and Evermore I think everyone needed during the pandemic.
Now I will say I keep it in check. Taylor is not perfect. I definitely have opinions about her that I like and that I don’t like. (Seriously, the amount of carbon she puts in using a private jet makes me sick, I don’t care how famous she is, she should offset it with how much she rakes in), and let’s not even start about how capitalistic she is with 18 versions of one album.
The fandom can be some of the most loving and welcoming people (seriously, did not expect a pop music/Taylor instance on Lemmy to have this many subscribers!), but at the same time it can be very toxic. People definitely think there are “levels” to being a Swifite and that’s just not true. But I think that happens with any large group of people. Jerks are still going to be jerks whether or not they like Taylor.
However even with all of that, when I put on one of her albums it’s just… I immediately feel everything and I love that. So even with my eyerolling of the fandom and me wishing she’d be better, I still love every minute of it.
let’s not even start about how capitalistic she is with 18 versions of one album.
I think it says more that she recreated the albums to regain her rights of ownership. Yes, that is capitalism, but I think it’s better that she gets a say than the record companies for a contract she signed early in her career. It would be better if she used that position to relax the copyright and encouraged derivative works, but I’d rather she has that control than the labels.
Everyone is onboard for the rerecord. I think Scrubs is talking about how she’ll release an album these days, wherher re-record or original, and have an overwhelming amount of slightly different versions with slightly different bonus tracks.
See this chart that had to be made just to clear it up for midnights:
She’s incredibly savvy, and it’s working for now, but I do wonder if there will start to be any fan pushback on the alternate version overload.
Yeah this is what I was referring to. I bought at least 5 different copies of that album because she kept only releasing some songs on some versions. Taylor, I love you, but please just let me buy one version with everything. I’d even pay a premium for thay
I didn’t know. With the MP3/Streaming era, albums aren’t what they used to be. That isn’t to say that an artist and record producer won’t put together a selection of tracks in a specific order to evoke emotion beyond the tracks themselves, but the era of the opera is mostly past; no more Tommy, or The Wall. Most people who listen to an artist today are going to acquire just the songs they want to hear and not the set. I wonder if it isn’t more of a strategy to encourage fans to buy a/any complete album, instead of a selection of individual tracks? Hearing something on a full album you might not hear otherwise could be intended as a reward, rather than a gotta collect them all game of encouragement.
Wow, we do really think alike lol. It is funny though because on a personal level I don’t feel that identified with Taylor or her experiences (I’m like 9 years younger and I’m a guy), yet I can connect with her emotions through her music. I do feel the same about her jets and all the capitalism thing. Also I find it creepy how people gets crazy obsessed over her relationships and personal life, but as you say… When an album plays or when I see her in a video or something, I simply can’t resist my swiftie side.
I think that’s healthy to have fun and be a Swiftie but also be aware of the downsides of celebrity worship.
My SO and I were in New York and by coincidence my family member lives a couple blocks away from Taylor’s apartment in tribeca. So I walked us by her apartment and my SO laughs and eyerolls and says I’m obsessed. And I laugh too but for me the line is if I start standing and waiting for Taylor, like if I’m in those groups waiting to see her for 2 seconds walking out of her apartment I’ve gone too far. It’s not even like she’s stopping for autographs or anything, literally just steps into a car
