By Nathan Smith
POP CULTURE
Heartbreak is the National Anthem: How Taylor Swift Reinvented Pop Music
Rob Sheffield
HarperCollins, $29.99
“Nothing like Taylor Swift has ever happened before,” writes Rolling Stone veteran Rob Sheffield in his spirited new book, Heartbreak is the National Anthem. “There’s no parallel to her in history.” And he does have a point.
Swift, one of the world’s best-selling musicians and most visible celebrities, has shattered countless records, flouted music industry norms and even become more successful with age. Such remarkable achievements are feverishly recorded by Sheffield, who argues that Swift’s songwriting is the secret sauce that makes her music connect with so many listeners – and continues to keep her so popular.
Taylor Swift performing in Melbourne earlier this year.Credit: Getty Images
The longstanding music critic is a bleeding-heart Swiftie, having followed the singer’s career for 18 years, since her self-titled first album. With giddy excitement and a percussive energy, Sheffield weaves biography, personal essay and even undergraduate thesis to make the case for Swift completely reinventing the pop music songbook.
He unpacks the allure of each album, from Swift wielding her guitar like “an axe” on Fearless to offering romanticised “poetry” on folklore, pairing incisive analysis with his own baring stories (including how Swift’s songs helped him cope with his mother’s death).
Rob Sheffield is a long-time music critic who has followed Taylor Swift’s career.
As Swift famously embeds her music with ciphers and hidden meanings, it makes for heady fun to study her latent references. But don’t misunderstand what her music is truly about: Swift’s songs “aren’t really about boys” but expressing the “melodramatic love and explosive flings and rude interruptions” of adolescence.
It’s why tracks such as We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together and Out of the Woods – overshadowed by associations with the singer’s past public romances – are often enjoyed on a deeper level by her most loyal fans. A Swiftie finds deeper connection by reading the tea leaves of her lyrics, Sheffield writes, not alongside a tabloid.
Beyond her cryptic messages, Swift does have many adversaries and sceptics. Sheffield retells her annus horribilis in 2016: Kayne West released his song Famous featuring offensive lyrics about Swift; Kim Kardashian leaked an abridged video misrepresenting a phone call between West and Swift; and Swift came off as tone-deaf for simply telling fans to “Go out and VOTE” – without naming a candidate – in the Trump-Clinton election.
As for the haters, many say she’s a “symbol of capitalism, privilege, self-absorption” with a catalogue of contrived tearjerkers. But Heartbreak is the National Anthem does unlock much of Swift’s magnetic mythology, especially her strong belief in seeking out greater self-understanding. From her distinctive career “eras” to her bold project reissuing her master recordings, Swift telegraphs creative autonomy, confessional storytelling and constant desire to “revise the self”.
Many other artists might refuse to look back, but Swift embraces the challenge, seeing it as a way to reclaim her younger self and remind us of the power of the self-knowledge gained.
Sheffield also loves to spin a good theory (no conspiracies, rest assured) and there’s plenty indulged in here. One is a far-fetched take on Swift’s use of the word “nice”, while another is that the singer releases deliberate red herrings as lead singles. The first samples of albums, like Look What You Made Me Do from Reputation and Me! from Lover, intentionally don’t reflect the album themes and are instead used to rib her celebrity image and challenge our expectations of her.
With a breathless pace and a panoptic view of Swift’s life, lore and legacy, Heartbreak is the National Anthem proves Swift is a pioneering musician and cultural lightning rod. The paradox of Swift – her ability to trade confessions so openly while remaining such an elusive public figure – makes her one divisive yet incredibly influential musician sharing stories that allure and enchant many.
If you’re a fan, you won’t be able to put this book down. If you’re a sceptic, you might just come away a born-again Swiftie.
The Booklist is a weekly newsletter for book lovers from Jason Steger. Get it delivered every Friday.