Taylor Swift Era #1: The start to something special

I could start off this article, or this series of articles, talking about the little girl who moved across the country in pursuit of a music career only to become the music career, or about the woman who transcended genres multiple times, setting the bar for each as she went, or how that woman went from tiptoeing around stigmas and reputations to being fearless of anyone who came at her, but I’m not going to (even though I kind of just did).

I don’t need to go over every little detail that led to Taylor Alison Swift becoming hailed as “the music industry” and “the next generation’s Beatles” for the same reason I don’t need to say why the sky is blue or the grass is green. She’s proven that it doesn’t matter. 

What matters is the music.

Hello readers, and welcome to the first of five articles from your friendly neighborhood Lamron Arts and Entertainment section, where we will be covering every Taylor Swift album. This obviously comes in light of Taylor’s new line of re-recordings, and their popularity being proof that her music is just as relevant as ever. The A&E editor, Kat Johnson, and I are big fans, so we saw it fitting to put into words why Swift’s music reaches so many in such an intimate way, and why she continues to be one of the biggest names in music.

Each week we’ll be covering two of Taylor’s albums, or “eras,” and analyzing how her songwriting has changed throughout the last sixteen years of her career.

This week will be our introduction and review of Swift’s first self-titled album, next week will be our review of Swift’s country era (Fearless and Speak Now), then her transition from pop to country music (Red and 1989), her “night and day” albums (reputation and Lover), and finally her most recent era, the sister albums (folklore and evermore).

Swifties campus-wide rejoice! The Lamron will be your one-stop shop for all things T. Swift in the coming weeks.

So, without further ado, let’s talk country music with Taylor’s first album, appropriately titled Taylor Swift. Buckle your seatbelts and keep your arms in legs inside the time machine while we travel back to 2006, where our biggest problems were making sure the kindergarten teacher had the right kind of Cheez-Its at recess and that “Our Song” was playing in the back of the classroom on that old gray radio that only worked 20% of the time.

Yeah, you know it: “Our song is a slamming screen door / sneaking out late, tapping on your window.” That catchy violin in the background? Yup. One of Swift’s most upbeat songs in my opinion, and the first example on a long, long list of mega hits. I still hear this song and “Teardrops On My Guitar” playing in Wegmans and Walmart on occasion.

“Teardrops” was another major hit (though not as close to me personally) and Swift’s first big breakup song. I think that the pairing between “Our Song”—an upbeat love story—and “Teardrops” —a slow, sad and retrospective look at love—that Swift is known for works really well.

I will never forget listening to “Our Song” as a kid, not yet understanding the difference between country or pop or genre in general, really. All I knew was that I liked what I was hearing. “Our Song” was the song that really stuck with me.

This may be a good time to mention something hard to admit—as avid of a Swift fan as I am, I’ve never listened to her first album all the way through, until now (yes, literally right now). I know that it’s tragic, but I like to think that this could be a blessing in disguise—I now get to go into writing about this album with a clear perspective with no preconceptions attached. 

And you know what? It’s pretty great.

I’m not a country person, and even though Taylor is putting on a bit too much of an accent in most of her songs (this is a girl from Pennsylvania, remember), the songs are thoughtful and catchy even if a bit repetitive. On that note, it’s essential to remember while listening to this album that, say it with me now: These songs were written by a sixteen-year-old, and even that might be generous. I’m guessing many of these songs could have been written even earlier in Swift’s life, potentially from the ages of fourteen or fifteen. For someone that young, this work is pretty much masterful. I mean, think about what you were doing at that age—my creative energy didn’t kick in until late college, let alone early teens.

So yes, there’s a bit of an accent on the songs, and yes, they are a bit less interesting and complex than the masterpieces Swift’s been cranking out as of late. That being said, there is a lot of beauty in Taylor Swift—it was the start to a career that would literally change how we see popular music, and her huge popularity and success at such a young age showed the immense amount of potential lying in wait.

I am incredibly thankful for my bus driver for playing the radio on the country station, even if I wasn’t a country fan. More important than being a fan of a genre is being a fan of an artist, and I’m a major fan of Taylor Swift.