Swiftly Sung Stories

When you’re trying to understand a new Taylor Swift album, the best place to start is always the prologue. Taylor has included a prologue in every album since her self-titled debut, and they are always helpful in providing context, setting the scene, and understanding the “why” of the art that she creates.  In this episode, we’re dissecting her longest prologue yet: the epic 6-stanza poem from The...

Taylor Swift isn’t just a songwriter - she’s one of the greatest storytellers of our generation. But how does she craft these compelling narratives in song after song, and why do they hit us so hard? What’s her secret sauce?  In this episode of my Taylor Swift 101 series, we’re breaking down Taylor’s storytelling techniques piece by piece. We’ll dive into each of her narrative and literary element...

After reputation, Taylor Swift pressed the reset button. She had a new record label, a new outlook, and set out to make a new kind of album. But it wouldn’t be all rainbows and purple-pink skies: there were storms brewing on the horizon.  In the 3rd episode of my Taylor Swift 101 Series, we pick up where we left off in part 1 with the release of reputation. We’ll explore Taylor’s career from her L...

There was a time when Taylor Swift got rejected from every record label she approached. Today, there would be a billion-dollar bidding war to get the chance to work with her. So how did she get here?  In the second episode of my Taylor Swift 101 Series, we're going back to the first page. This is part one of the complete timeline of Taylor Swift’s career, from her beginnings as a small town girl i...

Taylor Swift is about to take over the world again with her highly anticipated release of TS12: The Life of a Showgirl. But how did she get here, how did we get here, and why does she even matter?  How did a young girl from Pennsylvania become the most significant, prolific storyteller of our time? Why does she captivate us to the point of madness, why does her music resonate so deeply, and how do...