You're listening right now. Aren't you? You've been listening since yesterday, right? I mean, you bought it on iTunes when you saw it wasn't on Spotify yet, and you've been in a T Swift loop ever since. Am I right? Probably...
Well, in case you somehow didn't know, Taylor Swift released her latest album yesterday. And even if you hated her or wanted to hate her new music, you've got to admit: Reputation is pretty great.
The 15 tracks on the album vary in tone and style. There are some songs that definitely reference Kanye and Kim. For example, that fake apology in “This is Why We Can't Have Nice Things”? Totally directed at them. Instant classic.
Other tracks on Reputation are all about how in love Taylor is right now. Honestly, though, who wouldn't write a bunch of love songs about a guy who wants you just as much at your worst as he wants you at your best? The lyrics to the song “Delicate” demonstrate just how lucky Taylor feels to have a new beaux who supports and cares about her so much. She found a good one. I say bring on the love songs, Tay Tay!
Taylor Swift and boyfriend, Joe Alwyn
Finally, there are songs on the new album that are, most simply put, about life.
No surprise there, though. If there's one thing T Swift gets, it's life. She has always known how to write a song that puts into words exactly how you felt that one time you: first saw your soulmate across a crowded room, first got your heart broken, or first realized it was time to admit you're not the same person you were five years ago (for worse and for better). Yes, Taylor Swift writes songs that become our anthems, because she knows how to perfectly capture in lyrics what we have wordlessly been feeling our whole lives.
This skill of hers is perhaps most apparent in the last song of Reputation: “New Year's Day”. The final note (pun intended) of the album is a throwback T Swift tune about a nameless boy. In the song, Swift asks him to never "become a stranger whose laugh I could recognize anywhere." If that isn't relatable, then honestly you're lying to yourself...
But it's more than just the fact that Taylor Swift knows how to express in song how you felt altering hearing his voice post-breakup. It's more than a boy or a love story.
It's what Taylor did.
She came back from what everyone thought was a permanent downfall, creating an album that's new and different and strong. These songs aren't about finding Prince Charming. They are about making mistakes, sticking up for yourself, and doing your best with whatever comes your way. And ultimately, Reputation reminds us that no matter what happened this year or last, there's always the hope, with a little love and support, for a new start.
So thanks Taylor, for giving us so many new and amazing songs to play on repeat (you never fail to write the catchiest melodies!!). But more importantly, thank you for reminding us that reputations are meant to be embraced, destroyed, and recreated all the time. After all, you have to fall down before you can rise up even stronger the next time.