In defence of Taylor Swift: Why you should or shouldn’t be Swiftie

As excitement builds for music sensation Taylor Swift to touch down in Melbourne for her Eras Tour, the Herald Sun newsroom tried to answer the question: how much TayTay is too much?

Taylor Swift will meet her legion of Melbourne fans when she performs at the MCG later this month.

Should you get on board the Taylor Swift fan frenzy? Two Herald Sun journalists share the case for and against.

FOR: Whenever I need her, she’s there

By Kaitlyn Smith

Faced with a relationship breakdown just days after Christmas, it was Taylor Swift who soundtracked the moments where tears threatened to spill from my eyes.

It may seem pathetic, even tragically predictable – a grown woman nursing heartache as she listens to one of the most emotionally-provoking lyricists in recent generations.

Ever since a starry-eyed Swift burst on to the global stage as a teen, I’ve admittedly tuned in and  out of her career. Yet each time I return to her music, most recently for example, it feels as though we picked up right where we left off. That’s what speaks volumes about the magnetic force that is Taylor Swift.

Swift with her boyfriend, Kansas City Chiefs Tight End and podcast host, Travis Kelce. Picture: Getty

You don’t have to live and breathe each moment of her life, or know every Easter egg that she drip-feeds her fans.

Her work is universal and timeless, and she always welcomes you into her musical orbit, to enjoy her genius, whether you’re a constant or not.

For many fans in their mid-30s like myself, we’ve grown up alongside her, each of us navigating the challenges of girlhood, and then womanhood.

We’ve sought comfort in Swift’s words as she so eloquently speaks of the complexities of first loves and growing up, as if inspired by personal excerpts from our own diaries.

When I packed up my life to move to New York City in my early 20s, it was her ode to the concrete jungle that blared in my headphones as I walked the streets of the Upper West Side for the first time, overwhelmed.

That’s why we love her, she unashamedly celebrates the mess of life while at the same time making the inevitable blows of melancholy palatable.

Nowadays, as more of my friends become mothers and I consider what my own future looks like, I turn my mind to any public figures I hope my future daughter looks up to.

The kindness with which Swift operates, her dedication to not only her craft but also the fans, and her refusal to be walked over by the “dads, Brads and Chads” are traits I can only hope any little girl of mine might, too, one day admire.

AGAINST: Sorry, I’m the problem – it’s me …

By Alice Coster

Confession time. I’m just not that into Taylor Swift.

There it is. I’ve said it.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m trying to shake it off. With every news item, PR “how-to-dress-your-favourite-Taylor-look” pitch and lunchtime small talk saturated in all things Swiftie, I really want to be part of the TayTay club, or dare I say cult?

We are currently living the Taylor Swift zeitgeist. And if you think it’s bad now, you are in for a rude awakening when the pop juggernaut jets into Melbourne for the first leg of her Australian Eras tour in less than 10 days.

Fear of a swift retribution from the trolling Swifties has me choosing words carefully. Saying you are not a fan is tantamount to being anti-woman. Anti-hero?

Sure, I have deep respect for her songwriting ability and I’ll bow down to her smashing every goddamn glass ceiling, all while building her own image in the history-making books.

She even made history this week, yes for her fourth Grammy album of the year, but also as the first artist to be referenced at the Reserve Bank of Australia’s post-rates meeting press conference!

Taylor Swift accepts the Album Of The Year award for ‘Midnights’ at the 2024 Grammy Awards. Picture: Getty

While I’m all for her churning and burning the boyfriends and turning it into rolled gold poetry, helping young girls delve into their emotions all while giving out Easter eggs for her loyal community of fans, I just don’t, er, um, really like her music.

“I’m just into a bit more rock’n’roll,” was all I could muster during lunch on Tuesday.

“Taylor IS rock’n’roll” snapped the beat music writer opposite me, “You HAVE to get on board.”

As someone who usually leans towards the more subversive, the rebels with a cause, TayTay’s tunes feel so, gulp, mainstream.

Going mad for Madonna felt different in the ’90s. She was taking risks, triggering prudes (and the Pope) in conical bras, writhing around on the streets naked except for bondage belts and releasing a book called Sex. It was all so rebellious. So risqué.

But even the Queen of pop backs TayTay: “She has an opinion, and she’s going against the norm, so in that respect, she reminds me of me.”

Maybe I’ve got this wrong – it’s me, hi, I’m the problem it’s me.

Originally published as In defence of Taylor Swift: Why you should or shouldn’t be Swiftie