Okay, ladies (and gentlemen), you must admit: Taylor Swift has been singing about your life since you took a deep breath as you walked through the door on your first day of high school. Those were the days, driving around your home town all summer long in his Chevy truck (which had a tendency of getting “stuck” on back roads at night). Now that we’re older and those magical nights are gone, it’s incredible that Taylor’s songs still speak to us. I have a theory that this is because all of life’s lessons can be learned from her. Yes, we can just ditch our textbooks, listen to some Taylor, and gain all the wisdom we need. Here are the important takeaways.
Lesson number one: How to react after a breakup. The first appropriate step is to get sad. There’s a time when a relationship is over when all you want to do is shed teardrops on your guitar and cry because when he said, “forever and always”, he didn’t mean it. You will remember it all too well and in this stage it’s normal to be devastated – so let yourself feel! Next, get angry. Burn his picture and scream about how much you hate that stupid old pickup truck he never let you drive. Finally, you just get over it. When he calls you up and is all like, “I still love you,” just scream, “We are never getting back together. Like, ever.” It just feels so good.
Lesson number two: Today is a fairy tale. We all know there is no way that Taylor actually spends that much time hanging out in ballrooms and standing on balconies in summer air while the whole place is dressed to the nines. As much as we all wish we were princesses, we’re just average college girls who wish they never grew up. Truthfully, you don’t need to actually be enchanted to dream and sing about white horses and prince charming. Being a princess is a state of mind. Dust off that tiara, ladies. Turn every party into your very own fairy tale ball, and if Mr. Charming doesn’t show up by midnight, feel free to ditch the whole scene and go grab some breakfast with your girls. Who needs a knight in shining armor when you have your best friends, anyway?
Lesson number three: The “cool” kids never win. Taylor was practically invisible in high school. Before Taylor knew who she was going to be, she was just an average chick like many of us, stuck on the outside looking in, while wearing sneakers and T-Shirts on the bleachers. Well, she took the road less traveled by, and now Taylor is shining like fireworks over your sad, empty town to the tune of $80 million. Who’s cool now? Taylor proves that we should do what makes us happy and not worry about what anybody thinks.
Lesson number four: Stick up for yourself. Love (and life) is a ruthless game, and some people are just mean. We’ve all been there: Once upon a time, a few mistakes ago, everything was going perfect with this boy until it turned into this crazy contest of who can act like they care less. Years from now these losers will just be stuck in a dive bar, drinking over a football game, washed up and ranting about the same old bitter thing. Taylor has perfected the art of calling out these jerks in her songs. Not only does she make these silly boys who broke her heart look like fools, she is fantastically successful doing it! When someone puts you down you are entitled to fight back. There is nothing this girl does better than revenge.
So go ahead – drive your new Maserati down a dead end street, dream like you’re made of starlight, dance wonderstruck all the way home, and ride shotgun with your hair undone. Taylor’s songs resonate with us because she wears deepest desires of her heart written on her arm for everyone to see, and I believe we all share this secret wish to be that fearless. If you have something to say (or sing), go ahead, speak now! At our core, we are all just happy, free, confused, and lonely in the best way like Taylor, and greatest lesson she can teach us is that everything will be alright if we just keep dancing our way towards our own happy ever after.
(Challenge: Find all the references to Taylor lyrics in this story)
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