And they said Speak Now: Taylor Swifts political origin story from silent to vocal
In 2006, Taylor Swifts debut album had the following lyric off one of her singles: “So go and tell your friends that I’m obsessive and crazy
That’s fine I’ll tell mine that you’re gay!”
That single line has caused a lot of heat for her over the years. Because of her Nashville roots, people believed she was secretly conservative and the 2016 election where she stayed quiet on her voting preferences excepting a single post on instagram of her at the polls on voting day only fueled the Right Wing theory of her conservative support and the use of “Look What You Made Me Do” song at rallies by Trump supporters.
It also didn’t help that Swift herself had been “cancelled” over that famous phone call with Kanye West where him and his wife Kim Kardashian-West doctored a video making it appear the pop star consented to being called a bitch in his song “Famous”. For three years, Swift disappeared, virtually not appearing in public at all until the snake video heard round the world was released announcing her Reputation album release.
Snake imagery is also a notorious, Right wing symbol with the “don’t tread on me” associations. Again, fueling the theory that she was secretly conservative. And it was all over the album.
Then, a funny thing happened.
During the 2018 election, the pop star switched gears. With a single, sepia toned image of her at home Swift wrote a post to her millions of followers:
I’m writing this post about the upcoming midterm elections on November 6th, in which I’ll be voting in the state of Tennessee. In the past I’ve been reluctant to publicly voice my political opinions, but due to several events in my life and in the world in the past two years, I feel very differently about that now. I always have and always will cast my vote based on which candidate will protect and fight for the human rights I believe we all deserve in this country. I believe in the fight for LGBTQ rights, and that any form of discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender is WRONG. I believe that the systemic racism we still see in this country towards people of color is terrifying, sickening and prevalent.
I cannot vote for someone who will not be willing to fight for dignity for ALL Americans, no matter their skin color, gender or who they love. Running for Senate in the state of Tennessee is a woman named Marsha Blackburn. As much as I have in the past and would like to continue voting for women in office, I cannot support Marsha Blackburn. Her voting record in Congress appalls and terrifies me. She voted against equal pay for women. She voted against the Reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, which attempts to protect women from domestic violence, stalking, and date rape. She believes businesses have a right to refuse service to gay couples. She also believes they should not have the right to marry. These are not MY Tennessee values. I will be voting for Phil Bredesen for Senate and Jim Cooper for House of Representatives. Please, please educate yourself on the candidates running in your state and vote based on who most closely represents your values. For a lot of us, we may never find a candidate or party with whom we agree 100% on every issue, but we have to vote anyway.
So many intelligent, thoughtful, self-possessed people have turned 18 in the past two years and now have the right and privilege to make their vote count. But first you need to register, which is quick and easy to do. October 9th is the LAST DAY to register to vote in the state of TN. Go to vote.org and you can find all the info. Happy Voting! 🗳😃🌈
The pop star proceeded to use her social media platform to share pictures of fans with eagerly sharing with their “I Voted” stickers. She endorsed the democratic nominee for her Tennessee home state, Phil Bredesen, sharing a picture of her and her Mom Andrea aka Mama Swift posing with flags.
It didn’t stop there, despite her candidate’s losing the 2018 race. Instead, she pressed forward, becoming more vocal on the political realm. Following a successful arena tour, along with its movie release on Netflix, she eagerly went to work on her seventh studio album, Lover.
It became her most openly political work to date aside from one, single lyric in 1989’s “Welcome to New York” where she wrote: “Everybody here was someone else before
And you can want who you want
Boys and boys and girls and girls”.
The first track off of Lover got lukewarm reviews by critics. The cheesy, boppy, “Me!” was deemed as childish despite Swift’s intention of releasing a song about embracing individuality and differences. It was the second single off of the album that signaled Swifts true political nature. “You Need to Calm Down” was an openly, pro LGBTQ theme song with a music video that featured members of Queer Eye From The Straight Guy, Todrick Hall, Laverne Cox, Haley Kiyoko and other LGBTQ stars. At the end of the video, was a plea from the musician herself encouraging her fans to sign the Equality Act which outlawed LGBTQ discrimination in schools and the work place. “I’ve decided to kick off Pride Month by writing a letter to one of my senators to explain how strongly I feel that the Equality Act should be passed,” Swift commented. “I urge you to write to your senators too. I’ll be looking for your letters by searching the hashtag #lettertomysenator.” x
Swift then, on January 31st, 2020, started the year off with the release of her documentary Miss Americana. The title taken from track 7 off her Lover album, Miss Americana and The Heartbreak Prince. The song uses high school metaphors in lines like “I saw the scoreboard and ran for my life” and “we’re so sad we paint the town blue” to discuss the political climate. And the documentary itself explores Swifts own political ideology and the struggle it took for the pop star to get from the girl who posted one picture in 2016 to the girl who openly told the President of the United States at the time that the public would vote him out in November.
She addresses everything from record executives telling her “don’t be like the Dixie Chicks” (now known as The Chicks) whose outspoken political views led to them being ostracized from the country music community to the idea that a woman speaking her mind is somehow considered impolite. As Swift finds her identity from America’s Teen Sweetheart, to a mature adult woman with ideas and views of her own one scene in the film is pivotal.
Swift, visibly upset, arguing with her father and a member of her team (both older men), telling her not to speak on the 2018 election for fear of losing fans. “Taylor Swift Comes Out Against Trump,” is one of the things they argue could be bad for her and her music. She passionately declares, “I don’t care if they write that!” And mentions her disappointment in herself for not being more vocal in the last election.
Later, with her publicist Tree Paine, and Mama Swift backing her whilst drinking wine, Swift pens the instagram posts declaring her support for Bredesen as seen in the pictures above.
That was in 2018. And in the hot mess that was the spring of 2020, Swift tweets:
As a young woman in in 2010 on her Speak Now album liner notes Swift wrote the following: Words can break someone into a million pieces, but they can also put them back together. I hope you use yours for good, because the only words you’ll regret more than the ones left unsaid are the ones you use to intentionally hurt someone.
What you say might be too much for some people. Maybe it will come out all wrong and you’ll stutter and you’ll walk away embarrassed, wincing as you play it all back in your head. But I think the words you stop yourself from saying are the ones that will haunt you the longest.
So say it to them. Or say it to yourself in the mirror. Say it in a letter you’ll never send or in a book millions might read someday. I think you deserve to look back on your life without a chorus of resounding voices saying ‘I could’ve, but it’s too late now.’
There is a time for silence. There is a time waiting your turn. But if you know how you feel, and you so clearly know what you need to say, you’ll know it.
I don’t think you should wait. I think you should speak now.
These words, then, were written about love and being vulnerable. And in the wake of the 2020 election, I find myself turning back to them. Taylor Swift chose to use her position as someone people pay attention to and support to influence one of the most important elections in our nations history.
On October 7th, 2020, Taylor Swift officially endorsed Joe Biden and Kamala Harris with an article in vmagazine and a post featuring her with the cute plate of Biden and Harris cookies. Following her own advice from her 2010 album, she spoke up at a time when the world needed her to.
While the evolution of Swift and her political stance is far from over, it is a far cry from the 16 year-old teenager who penned “Picture to Burn”. As an adult, the singer has chosen to use her platform to encourage young people to exercise their right to vote, be an ally for those in need, and create change. Silence can be a form of being complicate, and Swift followed her own advice. She spoke when needed.