As high school students mature, so do their musical tastes and the artists whose music they devote countless hours listening to. Many artists change their style, image, and genre of music to maintain their fans and popularity. Taylor Swift, while singing country music for a number of years has finally changed her tune and released a new pop album, 1989. This change in Swift’s technique has not only sparked new interest amongst her fans, but also increased her fan base.
According to Billboard.com, “1989 sold 1.287 million copies in the week ending on Nov. 2, according to Nielsen SoundScan. That’s the largest week for any album since Eminem’s The Eminem Show sold 1.322 million its second chart week,” which is a huge achievement in any musician’s career. These hot new songs like “Shake It Off,” “Blank Space,” “Style,” and “Bad Blood,” have been blasting on radios and through iTunes on various devices since they were released.
Why call this album 1989? Lately, pop music has been transforming and Swift’s new rendition sounds more similar to the pop music of the 1980’s then that of today. The pop music of today often incorporates rap and hip-hop music eliciting a different kind of style then the former. Swift, inspired by the 1980’s, wanted to shine a new light on the music of this time and let it resurface into modern culture. The year 1989 was chosen because Taylor Swift was born in 1989, and this album is a way for her to reflect on her past.
Swift, notorious for writing her lyrics about her failed relationships has yet to change that aspect of her music. Her hit single, “Shake It Off,” has nearly been the constant number one on the Billboard Hot 100 list since early September, and this song, like a wide array of her previous ones, is about a failed relationship with a boy. Swift says she wrote this song to tell her fans that you don’t have to change to fit into society unlike how a former boyfriend of Swift’s pressured her to. Swift wants her fans to take the messages of her songs to heart and hopes to always be their inspiration.
Another one of Taylor Swift’s new songs, “Blank Space,” has a deeper, less boy-crazy meaning than the rest. This song is Swift’s reaction to everything ever said about her and her music. Lyrics like “ain’t it funny, rumors fly, and I know you heard about me, so hey, let’s be friends, I’m dying to see how this one ends,” have a comedic undertone. Lyrics like this allow Swift make fun of herself to get her point across that everyone talks and spreads rumors. This hit shows that Swift understands why she is talked about, but that she is who she is and she won’t let the comments change her.
Swift is bringing back the sentiments and style from a past era and reintroducing it to a population who is likely inexperienced to this music. Her meaningful lyrics instill popularity to a more aged approach to music, however she maintains the contemporary charm enough for the adolescent crowd she is already adored by. Her newfound way of bringing back the past in 1989 with inspirational sing-a-long lyrics, shows the world she’s making a comeback whether or not she has their support.