Since late 2006, Taylor Swift has released five albums every two years. She has written, both as a co-author and solo, every single song on each of them.
If you remember T-Swift from back in her country days, you remember why you loved her old music so much. While her pop is catchy and her lyrics are still on fleek, they don’t teach us quite the same classic life lessons they did circa 2008.
We’re strumming back to pre-1989 (the album, not the year) to dig up some of the most valuable lessons Taylor’s song lyrics have engraved in our country-loving hearts. We’ll get back to shaking it off, but first, we need to talk about love, dreaming big and bashing the haters (with a bit more of a twang to it).
“Fifteen”
Do you remember being 15? Well, T-Swift does, and she has an important lesson to teach our lovesick selves about boys.
There is more to high school — and life — than finding your soul mate. Obviously, when someone says, “I love you,” you’re sold. Your dreams aren’t going to write you off the second someone better comes along, though. Chase those dreams. They won’t break your heart quite as easily.
“Mean”
Whether it’s the head cheerleader or your new boss, at some point you’re going to come face-to-face with the meanest of the mean. They don’t respect you or even consider that you have feelings behind that brave face you put on. Taylor’s solution was obviously to write a song about it, but picturing yourself as the big-time CEO with all your haters working underneath you is just as satisfying.
“Ours”
Ah, office life. If you haven’t been there yet, you’ll get there eventually. It’s basically like high school with a paycheck (still not worth it). Cubicle-bound Taylor has a camo-clad hottie waiting at the end of the longest nine-to-five workday ever, so forget all those judgmental elevator passengers. You might only have a cat to come home to, but you can’t please everyone, no matter how hard you try.
Be strong, until you can leave the office world behind.
“Begin Again”
People probably let you down way more often than you’re willing to admit. After a while, it’s all you can do not to throw in the nice shoes and red lipstick and make peace with being single for the rest of forever. You probably won’t ever forget the ones who hurt you, but you can’t let them keep you from all the better people out there waiting for you.
The past is in the past. Learn from it, strap on those heels and start over.
“Back to December”
We’ve all said and done things we wish we hadn’t said or done. There’s always going to be that moment, or maybe even an entire month, our minds always creep back to when we’re sitting alone lost in our thoughts. Taylor’s here to remind us, though, that no matter how much you might wish you could go back and fix what you broke, you just can’t. The only way to put it behind you is to forgive yourself and move on.
“Love Story”
Your Romeo (or Juliet) is out there somewhere. If you still haven’t found them yet, it’s probably because you’ve been standing in front of your window waiting for them to show up. Stop that. If you want a fairytale ending, you have to make your own voice heard. What you want is important, and nobody else has the right to tell you what that should be. You decide your own happy ending.
See? It’s not all about love. Just like Taylor herself, you’re your own person. You have to chase your own dreams and make do with what you have. That’s what her songs teach us, if you listen closely. There are life lessons to be found in a lot of music, old and new. T-Swift’s lyrics speak to our struggles even still. And they always will.
