An Old Rocker Looks at Taylor Swift

You can blame it on Facebook… It’s all because of that “Reels” feature. I sometimes totally go down the rabbit hole looking at those short 1-2 minute videos, one after another, like they’re potato chips. And the thing is, once you watch a video on a particular subject, they show you more of the same. One day, I watched a short clip about Taylor Swift, for no other reason but because that’s one fine-looking woman. Big blue eyes, perfect lips, hair like spun honey, tall and fit, what’s not to like?

She uses that trick Tina Turner used to do by wearing a skirt slit up to her hip bones so it made her short legs seem long, and Taylor’s long legs seem miles long. Soon, I’m sure the dictionaries will show you her picture when you look up the word “leggy.”

So, the next thing I knew, I was getting an unending stream of perfectly Taylored material, plus snippets from her new boyfriend and his brother’s podcast (which is hilarious, by the way.)

One of the byproducts of getting rabbit-holed like this, especially at night, is that I end up dreaming about the subject matter. (It happens with TV shows I binge-watch, as well.) So last night, I woke up at about 1:30 AM, after having a dream where I was concerned with the state of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s relationship. And in that weird state in between sleep and consciousness, I began considering all I’d learned about Ms. Swift and putting together some blog points in my head.

So now, after sacrificing 90 minutes’ worth of sleep to the subject last night, I feel obligated to purge the old mental files, so maybe I can catch some quality Z’s tonight.

I am an old rock and roller. I like dinosaur rock like AC/DC, the Scorpions, ZZ Top, with a big helping of the blues. I am NOT Taylor Swift’s target audience. I’ve heard some of her songs and they’re just not for me. I do admire her talent in that she plays guitar and piano and writes her own songs, which are all things I wish I could do. But no, I don’t do pop music.

But yet, I find myself becoming a fan of her as an individual. I’m amazed by how she’s conducted her life and career. She’s currently performing in one of the biggest and most profitable world tours ever, a real production number. And then, releasing a movie of the tour? Brilliant! Why not? They already have cameras filming everything for the video screens in the venues. In fact, I think every band touring should do the same, for the folks in markets they didn’t visit or couldn’t take out a second mortgage for the tickets.

And what a trouper... have you seen pictures or footage of her performing her shows in a complete downpour? She just carried on. That's what made a fan out of noted Crusty Old Guy (and New England Patriots' head coach) Bill Belichick. He was at one such show with his daughter and commended her for her professionalism, in not letting a stadium full of people down, in miserable weather.

She’s won just about every music and video award there is, not to mention Time’s “Person of the Year.”

I saw an interview with her on 60 Minutes, ages ago, she must have been in her late teens or early 20s, and I was impressed, even then, with her business literacy and savvy. She clearly knew what she was doing and didn’t let anyone tell her differently.

And now, I’m especially impressed with how she delivered a double-decker Eff-You sandwich to the douche-nozzle who bought up her first record label, including her original masters. By rerecording the songs, releasing them herself, and encouraging her fans to only download and stream the new versions, she essentially turned the guy’s several hundred million dollar investment into a money pit. That was icy. A mob boss should deliver retribution so coldly.

One of the reels I saw was a conversation she had with her parents and manager, wherein she told them about her plans to push her fans into not only registering to vote but to vote against Donald Trump and Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn. She spoke passionately about how Blackburn voted against things she held dear like the Violence Against Women Act, pointedly gesturing to herself as she mentioned the anti-stalking portions. It was clear her dad was against such a move but she said she understood it was a risk and she couldn’t live with herself if she didn’t use her notoriety to speak out on something so important. The moment gave me chills. I hope she stands up again for the next election. I don’t think there’s anyone on the planet who can mobilize people better than she could mobilize her Swifties.

There were a lot of Reels that featured her appearances on talk shows or being interviewed at events, and she always came across as funny, humble, and self-deprecating, kind of a goofball. She seems like your adorable babysitter from next door. Yet very sharp. She stands up for herself in the face of nitpicking and criticism, defending her choices and pointing out how male artists are rarely characterized the same way.

She talks about how back in school she always felt like the nerd, the outcast, and how she didn’t really fit in. I think that kind of thing stays with you, in that deep down, if you were the outsider, you always feel like that, no matter where your life takes you. I think that’s what keeps her grounded.

Travis Kelce’s dad commented, after their big “coming out” game, that afterward, she was cleaning up the suite herself before they all left. That tells me right there that she’s not the type to “Big Shot” people. She just wants to be one of the family.

Word is that she gifted every member of her crew, from dancers to truck drivers to stage assistants, a bonus of $100,000. I bet her accountant had a heart attack! Generosity like that shows that she has to be massively wealthy. (If there is any money to be had in music, it comes from songwriting royalties. As the writer of all her songs, she has been set up for life.)

I can’t even fathom what it must be like to live like her. Sure the great houses and private jets are one thing, but this person can’t even step out of the house without drawing a crowd of photographers and fans. How does one cope with a never-ending swarm of people, all of whom want something from you? Smile here, sign autographs there, now please pose for a selfie? Can you say something to my daughter on the phone? It’s impossible to win. You can sign and pose until you collapse but there will always be more. Or you can ignore it all and be called a phony or a snob.

I saw a recent clip of her coming out of a restaurant and heading for her ride, surrounded by hordes of fans photogs and onlookers. But then she saw a little girl on the fringes, so she veered from the car door and headed right over to her to say hi and pose for a picture. That was a beautiful thing to do. And I bet there were others in the crowd cursing her because she didn’t come to them.

I would go batshit crazy from the pressure of it all.

Could you imagine what would happen if she tried to do something as mundane as grocery shopping? The place would be mobbed in the time it takes for a dozen people to send a text to their friends… “Taylor’s in the freezer aisle! Come quick!”

“Taylor, sign this coupon!”

“Everybody, Taylor touched this melon. The bidding starts at $100!”

It’s good that she’s rich because fame like this certainly comes with a massive price. But I also heard her tell an interviewer that whenever she feels overwhelmed by it all, she tells herself that she asked for it. This was the dream she knowingly pursued but I’m not sure she ever really imagined her current realm of success. Who could? Yet, I see a young woman handling immense pressure with grace and class.

Can you imagine what would happen if she ever decided to run for office? Maybe she should put her money where her mouth is and run against Senator Blackburn when this term is up. Hell, if an under-the-radar comedian like Al Franken could do it, it certainly seems within the capabilities of Taylor and her Swiftie army. And she could self-finance, to be truly independent of big moneyed interests.

Worst case scenario, her campaign rallies would be a vast improvement over what we see now.