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Swift signed to her first record label in 2004 with Sony at the age of 14 making her the "youngest signing in the company's history" (Avey, 2023)

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Taylor Swift has 10 albums in which her and her fans refer to as "the Eras" this is due to each album having a significantly different sound equating to Swift's journey through her career.

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Her debut self titled album was released in 2006 when she was only 16, with 5 singles including "Tim McGraw" and "Picture to Burn" in the top 100 for Billboard (2023) for 20 weeks.

This album solidifies Swift's original star image of the authentic country music star, adhering with the way she writes her own music, is mostly accompanied by her guitar and writes stories through her music about characters creating the storytelling aspect of country music.

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This iconic track off of her self titled album had a controversial lyric which Swift did later change, which many would find homophobic. The lyric read "that's fine I'll tell mine you're gay" referring to a breakup.

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Taylor Swift featured as a performer in the Hannah Montana Movie - 2009 playing 'Crazier' a song she wrote for the movie as well as writing 'You'll always find your way back home' for Miley Cyrus in the movie. (Spotify, 2023)

The film used Swift to increase marketing and likewise Swift used the film to increase her audience.

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Taylor Swift  - Crazier - Hannah Montana: The Movie

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In 2008 she released her second album which became "the longest Billboard chart topper by a female country artist" (Avey, 2023). It held number 1 for 11 weeks (Billboard, 2023)

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Taylor Swift and Joe Jonas’ Relationship: A Look Back - Gibson, 2023.

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Fearless featured songs referring to her relationship with Pop Star Joe Jonas, for example, 'Mr Perfectly Fine'. Gossip blogs reported that Jonas broke up with Swift over the phone.

The relationship with Jonas aligned with his own fame since his fans were falling for him at the same time as Swift - it made Swift a more relatable star especially since a lot of her Debut album tracks were love songs about him.

Since social media hadn't boomed during their short lived relationship, the reporting of the relationship was through gossip columns and is still being reported in magazines and speculated online in TikToks since the rerelease of 'Fearless'.

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Taylor Swift and Joe Jonas’ Relationship: A Look Back

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Taylor Swift and Joe Jonas dated in 2008 and have developed a good friendship in recent years. Take a look back at their relationship timeline

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After Fearless she went on to win the award for Best Female Video for "Love Story" in the 2009 VMAs in which Kanye West interrupted and stole her spotlight to say he thought Beyoncé's video for 'Single Ladies' was better. This created a huge rift between the artists.

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In 2010 Swift made her official acting Debut in Valentines Day where she played the girlfriend of Taylor Lautner, sparking rumours of their involvement.

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Valentine's Day (2010) - Young Love Scene (5/9) | Movieclips

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The singers third album was released in 2011, her first entirely self written album which was more experimental in the pop rock genre rather than country.

This genre shift disputes the representation of Swift being an innocent since the songs discuss her mistakes in her life. She is still crafting her representation as a victim however she is still trying to get rid of the innocence that came with her past two albums.

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Possibly the messiest breakup song since her career began, 'Dear John' was a direct call out to ex John Mayer for breaking her heart when she was at such a young age. This sparked controversy as Swift was only 19 at the time she was dating the then 32 year old singer.

Again the controversial relationship was reported on gossip columns and still is a huge topic of discourse on TikTok which is promoted by the rereleases.

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Let’s Look Back on Taylor Swift and John Mayer’s Brief Rumored Romance

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What Really Happened Between Taylor Swift And Taylor Lautner? - Aska 2021

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On the contrary, Swift's breakup with Lautner resulted in 'Back to December' which was a reminiscent and mournful song in which she is regretful of how she ended the relationship and wishes she could go back to December and not break up with him.

The two's relationship was speculated during the filming and release of their film 'Valentine's Day' before being picked up by gossip columns.

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In the fall of 2009, the world couldn't get enough of one young celebrity couple - country star Taylor Swift and actor Taylor Lautner. The two were in a short-lived yet very public relationship and almost twelve years later fans are still talking about it. The two Taylors were certainly a huge part of 2000s pop culture and the world couldn't get enough of the couple.

Related: What Really Happened Between Elsa Pataky And Adrien Brody?

Today, we're taking a look at what really happened between the musician and the actor. From just how they met, over who liked whom more in the relationship, to how they feel about each other now - keep on scrolling to find out!

10 The Two Met On The Set Of 'Valentine's Day'

Taylor Swift and Taylor Lautner met on the set of the rom-com drama Valentine's Day in 2009. In the movie, they played William Harrington and Felicia Miller, a young couple. Besides the two, the movie also stars Jessica Alba, Kathy Bates, Jessica Biel, Bradley Cooper, Eric Dane, Patrick Dempsey, Héctor Elizondo, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Anne Hathaway, Ashton Kutcher, Queen Latifah, Emma Roberts, and Julia Roberts.

9 They Started Dating In The Late Summer Of 2009

While Valentine's Day came out in February 2010, Taylor Swift and Taylor Lautner started dating in the late summer of 2009 when the movie was still being shot. The couple was first linked to each other in September 2009 and soon they were spotted out and about all the time - especially in the audience at sports events.

8 Together, They Were Known As Taylor Squared

The most obvious thing everyone immediately noticed by Taylor Swift and Taylor Lautner is that the two actually carry the exact same first name.

Related: What Happened Between James Marsden And His Ex Wife, Lisa Linde?

This is quite unusual for celebrity couples so of course, everyone had to give Swift and Lautner a unique shipping me. The one that stuck the most is Taylor Squared because let's be real - it makes perfect sense!

7 And They Loved Attending Hockey Games

In October 2009 Swift in Lautner made headlines after they were spotted attending a hockey game in Los Angeles. As previously mentioned, the couple was often spotted in the audience of sports events and while Taylor Swift certainly didn't seem to mind the attention it always seemed as if Taylor Lautner was trying to hide from the cameras.

6 At The Time, Both Were Still Teens

At the time of their relationship, both Taylor Swift and Taylor Lautner were still in their teens. Back in the fall of 2009, Taylor Swift was 19, and that December she turned 20 - while Taylor Lautner was 17 years old. Of course,e being so young and in the spotlight definitely affected their relationship.

5 Lautner Was More Into Swift Than She Was Into Him

While Swift and Lautner always seemed very happy in public - according to a source for Us Weekly, it was Lautner who liked Swift more in the relationship and he also made more effort to make the relationship work. Here's what the insider said:

"He liked her more than she liked him. He went everywhere he could to see her, but she didn't travel much to see him."

4 Swift Broke Up With Lautner In Late 2009

Unfortunately, it certainly seems as if Taylor Swift wasn't into the relationship as much since the couple broke up in December 2009.

Related: What Happened Between Julianne Hough And Leonardo DiCaprio? Here's What We Know

While it was never officially confirmed that it was Taylor Swift who ended things - it's safe to say that based on everything we know she was the one who would have wanted to end the relationship rather than Taylor Lautner.

3 In The Fall Of 2010 Swift Released The Song "Back To December"
Taylor Swift: 10 Lyrics That Are Way Too Relatable
About a year after their relationship, Taylor Swift released her hit "Back to December" and fans were quick to notice that the song was most likely about Taylor Lautner. Here are the lyrics in which the musician admitted to regretting her decision:

"So this is me swallowing my pride / Standing in front of you saying I'm sorry for that night / And I go back to December all the time / It turns out freedom ain't nothing but missing you / Wishing I'd realized what I had when you were mine."

2 She Revealed She Would Always Have A Crush On Lautner

As far as where they stand now, Taylor Swift revealed that she will always have a crush on Taylor Lautner. In a 2010 interview with Ladies' Home Journal, the musician was asked to name a crush and she didn't hesitate to reveal that it was the Twilight star. However, this was a year after their breakup meaning that T-Swift still had some feelings for a while.

1 Lastly, Lautner Admitted The Two Had Fun For A Few Months

And finally, we're wrapping the list up with Taylor Lautner's perspective on things. In an interview with Entertainment Tonight from 2016, the actor was asked about his infamous relationship with the singer. Here's what Taylor Lautner said about the time they spent as a couple:

"It was a good time. It was a fun few months there."

Next: What Happened Between DJ Envy And His Wife, Gia?

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What Really Happened Between Taylor Swift And Taylor Lautner?

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The two Taylors were certainly a huge part of 2000s pop culture and the world couldn't get enough.

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Her 4th studio album 'Red' was another experimental album, Swift is progressing more into her pop genre.

The progression into the pop is shifting her star image to the more gritty and less innocent - songs like 'I knew you were trouble' create a sense of maturity to her music.

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How Taylor Swift's scarf went from an innocent accessory to Jake Gyllenhaal's worst nightmare - Ahlgrim 2021

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One of Swift's relationships during this era was Jake Gyllenhaal, another big star but from a different industry. This relationship could have been publicity to boost both parties careers. However regardless, the way Swift portray's Gyllenhaal in her songs reinforces again the victim complex and creates a divide in the general public for those on Swift's side and those on Gyllenhaal's.

This relationship had a huge resurgence in gossip once the rerecording of 'Red' was released due to 'All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (From the Vault) (Taylor's Version)' and the short film that was released with it, with online audiences obsessing over whether the song was about Gyllenhaal and all of the iconography surrounding that.

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In Taylor Swift's celebrated song "All Too Well," she sings about an old scarf kept by an ex.

Over the years, the scarf has become a symbol of heartbreak and a source of cultural curiosity.

Fans believe the song was inspired by Jake Gyllenhaal and some have demanded he return the scarf to Swift.

Taylor Swift is renowned for her intimate, cinematic lyricism. She often weaves visual landmarks into her best songs, transforming images and objects into emotional lightning rods.

The best example of this is, undoubtedly, "All Too Well." The breakup anthem was originally released in 2012 as the fifth track on "Red" and was recently rerecorded for "Red (Taylor's Version)," alongside its long-awaited 10-minute version.

The song's most famous lyrics involve an old scarf, apparently worn in the first week of a passionate relationship and kept by Swift's ex.

Here's everything you need to know about the fabled accessory.

'All Too Well' was apparently inspired by Jake Gyllenhaal, whom Swift dated in 2010

Although Swift has never named the subject of "All Too Well," several lyrics and clues point to Gyllenhaal's influence.

The two stars were first spotted together backstage at "Saturday Night Live" in October 2010. Swift was 20 years old, while Gyllenhaal was 29.

Although sources initially claimed they were "cute together" but keeping things casual, their relationship seemed to heat up quickly. Shortly after, they were spotted picking apples in upstate New York and eating ice cream sundaes in California.

The following month, they were photographed walking arm-in-arm in Brooklyn with Gyllenhaal's sister, Maggie Gyllenhaal, who later confirmed they all celebrated Thanksgiving together.

During their stroll, Swift wore a striped Gucci scarf. It looks like the same one Gyllenhaal was photographed wearing in London two weeks prior.

At the time, an anonymous friend of the couple told Us Weekly, "It's definitely serious."

About one month later, People magazine reported their split. Sources said they broke up in late December, shortly after Swift's birthday party in Nashville, which Gyllenhaal reportedly did not attend.

In the extended version of "All Too Well," Swift sings of disappointment on her 21st birthday: "You who charmed my dad with self-effacing jokes / Sipping coffee like you're on a late-night show / But then he watched me watch the front door all night, willing you to come / And he said, 'It's supposed to be fun turning 21.'"

'All Too Well' was written in 2011 and released on October 22, 2012

Swift wrote "All Too Well" during an impromptu jam session on her Speak Now World Tour, which kicked off in February 2011. She told USA Today the song came to her spontaneously after an extended period of writers' block.

"It was a day when I was just, like, a broken human, walking into rehearsal just feeling terrible about what was going on in my personal life," she explained during a recent interview on Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Albums" podcast.

"I ended up sort of just playing four chords over and over again, and the band started kicking in," she continued. "People just started playing along with me. I think they could tell I was really going through it. I just started singing and riffing and sort of ad-libbing this song that basically was 'All Too Well.'"

Throughout the song, Swift describes moments shared with an ex-boyfriend in an attempt to exorcise the relationship's "long gone" magic.

In the first verse, she sets the scene with tactile details: cold air, multicolored autumn leaves, and her most famous accessory: "I left my scarf there at your sister's house and you've still got it in your drawer, even now."

After the song builds to a heartbreaking peak, Swift revisits the same detail in a quieter moment of reflection.

"After plaid shirt days and nights when you made me your own / Now you mail back my things and I walk home alone," she sings. "But you keep my old scarf from that very first week / 'Cause it reminds you of innocence and it smells like me / You can't get rid of it / 'Cause you remember it all too well."

"All Too Well" remained a fan-favorite deep cut for many years, but as acclaim for "Red" slowly grew, the song became a critical darling and source of cultural intrigue.

In 2017, Maggie said she was 'in the dark about the scarf'

During an appearance on "Watch What Happens Live," Maggie was asked if there's any truth to Swift's lyric, "I left my scarf there at your sister's house."

"I never understood why everybody asked me about this scarf," she told Andy Cohen.

"I am in the dark about the scarf. It's totally possible, I don't know," she added. "I have been asked this before, and I've been like, 'What are you talking about?'"

Maggie's reply sparked renewed interest in the scarf's whereabouts.

Buzzfeed posted a poll, asking fans to choose from four potential locations: somewhere in Maggie's house, a Goodwill store, in Gyllenhaal's drawer, or, the most popular response, "It's not a real scarf, THE SCARF IS JUST A METAPHOR FOR INNOCENCE AND LIFE AND SHIT."

The following month, five years after the release of "Red," The Verge published an in-depth look at the "fantastic pop culture mystery."

"In the world of Taylor Swift fans, in the spaces they congregate online, fall means it's time, yet again, to ask, 'Where's the scarf?'" reporter Kaitlyn Tiffany wrote, noting that it's "hard to explain exactly why the scarf is so fascinating."

"Everyone relates to the experience of assigning outsized significance to the debris of a relationship," Tiffany wrote. "Everyone relates to the experience of a very short relationship having an inexplicably large emotional impact, its brevity forcing you to pick something silly to cling to from a meager selection of objects related to it."

'All Too Well' and its scarf imagery has become central to the rollout of 'Red (Taylor's Version)'

Swift has often said that she lurks online, enjoys reading theories about her music, and knows what fans want. She is clearly aware that "All Too Well" is the centerpiece of "Red," having made the song a focal point of the rerecorded album rollout - and she's well aware of the speculation it invites.

Swift bucked tradition to perform the song's extended version on "Saturday Night Live" and released a music video starring Sadie Sink and Dylan O'Brien, marketed as a short film. One of its first scenes shows Sink wearing a bright red scarf. When she takes it off and hangs it over a banister, the camera zooms in emphatically.

Swift is even selling the "All Too Well Knit Scarf" in her online store.

In the wake of "Red (Taylor's Version)," interest in the scarf has become more pronounced and widespread than ever.

Fans have flooded the internet with scarf emojis and demands for Gyllenhaal to return the accessory.

-🎉 (@LLTVLLTVLLTV) November 12, 2021

-emma (@dwtswift) November 12, 2021

-tav 🧣 (@clandestinetav) November 12, 2021

-jannah 1989 tv (@ikissfratrry) November 12, 2021

-m | #1 eruri shipper (@k1llerqueen__) November 13, 2021

Even prolific tweeter Dionne Warwick got in on the action: "If that young man has Taylor's scarf he should return it," she wrote. "It does not belong to you. Box it up and I will pay the cost of postage, Jake."

-Dionne Warwick (@dionnewarwick) November 15, 2021

Gyllenhaal hasn't publicly acknowledged the scarf, or whether or not he has it. (He has seemingly confirmed the attention from Swifties bothers him, though. He quietly deleted a photo of himself that Swift fans spammed with "All Too Well" lyrics last year.)

However, fans believe he may have responded through a cat account on Instagram that's rumored to belong to him. On Tuesday, the Instagram account, @ms.flufflestiltskin, posted a photo with the caption, "MEOUCH - y'all need to clam down and stop cyber bullying."

It's unverified whether Gyllenhaal is the cat's owner or the person running the account - W Magazine reported the feline likely belongs to music producer Bryan Ling, who's a close friend of the actor. But the comments section was flooded with messages directed at Gyllenhaal, regardless.

A post shared by FLUFFLE STILT SKIN (@ms.flufflestiltskin)

Whether the scarf is real, intended as a metaphor, or both, fans and music critics agree it's more than a simple piece of outerwear.

As Rolling Stone's Rob Sheffield has noted, reminding listeners of the scarf at the end of "All Too Well" is Swift's signature kill-shot. It's evidence that Swift doesn't just remember details - she immortalizes them.

"No other song does such a stellar job of showing off her ability to blow up a trivial little detail into a legendary heartache," he wrote. "That scarf should be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, though in a way it already is."

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How Taylor Swift's scarf went from an innocent accessory to Jake Gyllenhaal's worst nightmare

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In her celebrated song "All Too Well," apparently inspired by Jake Gyllenhaal, Swift sings about an old scarf that was kept by her ex-boyfriend.

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Through the release of 1989 in 2014 swift changes her star image to that of the Zany popstar

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'1989' puts a spotlight on Taylor Swift and Harry Styles' relationship timeline - Vivinetto, 2023

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This relationship was a massive PR stunt to promote both Swift and Styles' career - Swift even released a song on 1989 called 'Style' which fans have theorised is about Styles. Again this relationship created a huge divide when they broke up especially since Styles' star image is just as big as Swift's, their fanbases cross over quite a lot and so fans struggled with picking their side in the breakup.

There has recently been a big backlash on this relationship further since the recent release of '1989 (Taylor's Version)' in which her 'Vault Tracks' seemed to include a lot of slander speculating to be about Styles, fans have taken to TikTok shocked about this with some relating to the lyrics and others poking fun at Styles by interpreting his reaction (which we have not seen).

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With the release of Taylor Swift's "1989 (Taylor's Version)," fans are remembering that the "Anti-Hero" singer had a romantic life before her rumored r elationship with NFL star Travis Kelce.

Swift's "1989" album was originally released two years after her rumored romance with fellow pop star Harry Styles. The former couple, who fans dubbed "Haylor," dated from late 2012 until early 2013, and appear to have remained friendly over the years.

Some "1989" songs, both in the original release and the re-release, appear to hint at the relationship, with specific references in lyrics.

Swift has never confirmed who the songs are about, and in fact has declined to share. When asked during a December 2014 interview with Global's "The Morning Show" about whether the person she was singing about is also a singer, Swift replied, "One of the things about writing music and to be this vulnerable is to never name names."

"Style" seems to be a reference to the former One Direction singer's last name, and a new song from the vault, "Is It Over Now?" seems to contain overt references to a snowmobile accident the two were reportedly involved in. (She addressed the accident in a 2014 Rolling Stone interview, without naming which "ex" she was with at the time).

Let's take a look back at Swift and Styles' relationship timeline, and what we know. TODAY.com has reached out to both Swift and Styles for comment.

March 2012: Taylor Swift and Harry Styles attend the Kids Choice Awards

Viewers of the 2012 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards learned that Swift and close pal Selena Gomez were major One Direction fans. The pair were caught on camera dancing and singing in the audience as the band performed its mega-hit "What Makes You Beautiful."

November 2012: Styles calls Swift 'lovely' as romance rumors escalate

As rumors about the pair escalated, Styles, who was 18 at the time, spoke about Swift, then 22, to Seventeen for a One Direction profile published in November 2012.

Styles called the "You Belong With Me" singer a "real lovely girl."

"Honestly, she couldn't be a sweeter person," he said, adding, "She's a great girl and she's extremely talented."

Styles also said the singer is "one of those people you meet (who's) genuinely a nice person. Some people you meet and they are not as nice as you make them out to be, but she's one of those people who's really just amazing."

November 2012: Taylor wears Harry's necklace (or one just like it)

Around the same time of the Seventeen article, eagle-eyed fans noticed that Swift began wearing a necklace that's identical to Styles' paper airplane necklace. (She later seemingly referenced the symbol in her "1989" hit "Out of the Woods" with the lyrics, "Two paper airplanes flying, flying, flying.")

December 2012: They're photographed walking together in Central Park

On Dec. 2, 2012, a day before One Direction performed at New York's Madison Square Garden, Swift and Styles were photographed walking together in Central Park.

January 2013: They're spotted sharing a kiss on New Year's Eve

The couple were photographed kissing as the clock struck 12 a.m. during "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest" in New York's Times Square, according to People.

Swift was one of the night's performers.

January 2013: The Virgin Islands breakup

The two were photographed in St. John together, per E!, in early January. Swift appeared to leave the Virgin Islands alone. A photo of her on the back of a boat, wearing a blue dress by herself, went viral.

In her new vault track "Is It Over Now?" Swift seemingly addressed the photo with the lyric, "Blue dress on a boat." The song reflects on heartbreak and the uncertain end of a relationship due to betrayal.

February 2013: Taylor fakes an English accent while performing at the Grammys

A month after the breakup, Swift broke into a mock English accent while performing "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" when she opened for the 2013 Grammys, per videos.

"Ugh, so he calls me up and he's like, 'I still love you,'" she said, feigning a British twang, before switching back to an American accent to respond, "This is just exhausting, you know? We are never, ever getting back together. Ever."

October 2014: Taylor releases '1989'

On Oct. 27, 2014, Swift released her album "1989." Of the songs, fans identify "Style" and "Out of the Woods" as possibly being about Styles.

S wift, in 2023, said "Is It Over Now?" is a "sister song " to "Out of the Woods," and fans also saw "Is It Over Now?" as a song about the One Directioner.

"Style" finds Swift's narrator singing passionately about a James Dean type who wears white T-shirts and his long hair "slicked back," a look Styles made popular at the time.

"Out of the Woods" mentions a couple needing emergency treatment after an accident, with the lyrics, "Remember when you hit the brakes too soon / Twenty stitches in a hospital room." Swift has confirmed she got into a snowmobile accident with an "ex," who is reportedly Styles.

Performing an acoustic version of "Out of the Woods" at the opening of the Grammy Museum in 2015, Swift spoke about the relationship that inspired the song.

"The number one feeling I felt in the whole relationship was anxiety. Because it felt very fragile, it felt very tentative. And it always felt like, 'Okay, what's the next road block? What's the next thing that's gonna deter this? How long do we have before this turns into just an awful mess and we break up? Is it a month? Is it three days? And so, you know, I think a lot of relationships can be very solid and that's kind of what you hope for, for it to be solid and healthy but that's not always what you get. And it doesn't mean that it's not special and extraordinary just to have a relationship that's fragile and somehow meaningful in that fragility," she said.

October and December 2014: Swift addresses 'Style,' including how it got its title

Swift told Ryan Seacrest on " On Air with Ryan Seacrest " that "Style" was the last song she wrote on "1989." When asked why she named the song "Style," Swift dodged the question: "'Cause the hook is 'we never go out of style.' And I thought 'we never go out of style' was a long title."

She also broke down the lyrics about both individuals seeing other people: "I heard that you've been out and about with some other girl, some other girl / He says, 'What you heard is true, but I can't stop thinkin' 'bout you' and I / I said, 'I've been there too a few times.'"

"It's one of those relationships that's always a bit off ... it's never quite synced up right. The two people are trying to forget each other. They've both been out with other people and try to forget the other. It's like, 'I heard you went off with her and you came back. Well, I've done that too.' That's what that line means," Swift said.

Later on in the interview she declined to say who the song was about, but she continued to say what the song was about.

In December, Swift revealed on Global's "The Morning Show " that "Style" is about a romance that never quite ends.

"'Style' is actually about those relationships that are never really done," she explained. "You always kind of have that one person who you feel like might interrupt your wedding and be like, 'Don't do it, we're not over yet.' I think everybody has that one person who kind of floats in and out of their life and the narrative is never truly over."

October 2015: One Direction releases 'Perfect,' which fans believe is about Taylor Swift

One Direction released their song "Perfect," which Styles co-wrote with band member Louis Tomlinson and other collaborators.

"If you like flashing cameras every time we go out / If you're looking for someone to write your breakup songs about / Baby we're perfect," Styles sings on one verse, prompting fans to believe the song is at least partly about Swift.

March 2021: The exes reunite at the 2021 Grammys

Styles and Swift chatted with each other in the audience of the 2021 Grammys, according to a video posted by the Recording Academy.

Both performers were honored for the work that night, with Swift winning the award for album of the year for "Folklore," and Styles winning a best pop solo performance Grammy for "Watermelon Sugar."

May 2022: Styles sings some of Swift's lyrics during a concert

Styles sang a line from Swift's song "22" while celebrating a fan's birthday during a live performance in London. In a fan video posted on Twitter, Styles is seen singing "I'm feeling 22" after reading a sign about an audience member's 22nd birthday.

October 2022: Swift releases 'Midnights' with one song reminding fans of Styles

Swift released her 10th studio album, "Midnights," on Oct. 21, 2022.

The song "Question ...?" reminded fans of "Out of the Woods" because it features the same opening melody and samples, with voice modulation, some of the lyrics, including the very first line: "I remember."

February 2023: Taylor and Harry share a hug at the Grammys

Swift showed her support for Styles at the 2023 Grammys when she gave him a standing ovation after he won the album of the year award for "Harry's House."

The sweet moment was caught on camera by Entertainment Weekly.

The "Shake it Off" singer, who took home the best music video award for "All Too Well: The Short Film," also stood to dance while Styles performed his hit "As It Was" and stopped by Styles' table to give him a hug.

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'1989' puts a spotlight on Taylor Swift and Harry Styles' relationship timeline

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Taylor Swift and Harry Styles' relationship timeline, including 1989 songs, Is It Over Now lyrics, the boat yacht moment and what they've said.

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The 2017 album completed rebranded Swift and her star image to further curate her to be a bad girl who has done wrong - completely flipping her initial wholesome narrative.

This was done because of the backlash Swift was facing throughout her media representation and so she disappeared from the internet and reconstructed the narrative to make the media the villain and herself once again, the victim.

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Taylor Swift and Tom Hiddleston’s Surprise Romance: A Timeline of Events - Rayne, 2022

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Another publicity relationship was Tom Hiddleston, prompting songs like 'Getaway Car' Swift portrays this relationship essentially as a rebound in which she ended up cheating on him. This portrays Swift in a negative light but also creates sympathy from her fans since she is constructing her star image to play the victim even when she is in the wrong. Again this relationship was broadcast on gossip columns and never confirmed by the artist.

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Taylor Swift and Tom Hiddleston’s Surprise Romance: A Timeline of Events

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Taylor Swift and Tom Hiddleston had a brief high-profile relationship in summer 2016. From their globe-spanning date nights to their public split, here’s a look back at their relationship.

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'Lover' 2019 played into themes of LGBTQ+ and self acceptance in which Swift is an advocate for, however, has not confirmed if she herself is part of the community. Swift pledging this ally ship to the LGBTQ+ community positions her in the centre of the community and means she is held on a pedestal to set an example to the rest of the world as an ally. This could be her personal beliefs - which I hope and believe they are. However, it is likely this was carefully constructed as a tactical move to appeal to a larger community - since Swift was already big in the LGBTQ+ community this shift in her star identity has solidified this and allowed for an expansion in her fans further into the community.

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Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn's Relationship Timeline - Santino, 2023

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Joe Alwyn is Taylor Swift's longest relationship - spanning 7 years. Alwyn is one of the relationships that I don't believe is PR since it was very much under the radar for the whole 7 years and the two were quite discreet.

When rumours of their breakup sparked in the Midnights era once Swift had started touring which then created a divide as to who was on Alwyn's side and who was on Swift's side. This again meant that Swift was trying to portray herself as the victim, with fans now interpreting new meanings to her songs to make her the victim - enforcing her star image once again.

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Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn have gone their separate ways.

In early 2023, the pair broke up after six years of dating. Entertainment Tonight was the first to report the news.

A source later told PEOPLE that Swift and Alwyn ultimately split due to "differences in their personalities."

The Grammy-winning musician was first linked to the British actor in May 2017, when it was revealed that the pair had reportedly been quietly dating for months. Though it's not clear exactly when they met, fans have speculated that Swift and Alwyn first crossed paths at the 2016 Met Gala.

Since then, the couple shared a number of sweet moments in public, but they kept many of the details about their romance private. In a 2019 interview with The Guardian, Swift explained why she didn't like to talk about her relationship with Alwyn, saying, "I've learned that if I do, people think it's up for discussion, and our relationship isn't up for discussion."

However, the pair had given fans a few glimpses into their sweet love story - Alwyn briefly appeared in Swift's Miss Americana documentary, and the couple even co-wrote a few songs together for her album Folklore.

Here's the complete timeline of Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn's relationship.

May 16, 2017: Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn's relationship is first reported

In May 2017, reported that Swift and Alwyn (who were 27 and 26 years old, respectively, at the time) were in a relationship. A source also told the outlet that the couple had been secretly dating for months prior.

Swift seemingly later confirmed this timeline in a diary entry she included in the deluxe edition of her album, Lover. "I'm essentially based in London, hiding out trying to protect us from the nasty world that just wants to ruin things," she wrote in an entry from January 2017. "We have been together and no one has found out for 3 months now."

While it's never been confirmed, many have speculated that Swift and Alwyn first met at the 2016 Met Gala, a theory that's mostly due to the lyrics of Swift's song "Dress" from her album Reputation: "Flashback to when you met me / Your buzz cut / And my hair bleached."At the 2016 event, Swift had bleached blonde hair and Alwyn was sporting a buzzcut.

The news of their relationship came eight months after Swift's whirlwind romance with actor Tom Hiddleston ended in September 2016.

June 2017: Joe Alwyn spends time with Taylor Swift's family

Shortly after the news of their romance broke, the couple headed to Nashville to visit Swift's parents. "They arrived in Nashville on Friday and spent the weekend there together," a source exclusively told PEOPLE at the time. "Joe hasn't spent very much time with her family before, so it does seem they are getting more serious."

December 8, 2017: Joe Alwyn supports Taylor Swift at her concert

In a rare public appearance, Joe Alwyn was in attendance during Taylor Swift's performance at iHeartRadio's Jingle Ball in New York City.

"Taylor and Joe are spending time together in N.Y.C. Taylor was in the best mood. She was smiling and waving to fans," a source told PEOPLE at the time. "Joe stayed for the whole show and they later left together as well. They are staying at Taylor's N.Y.C. apartment."

May 8, 2018: Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn makes things Instagram official

Almost a year after their relationship was first reported, Swift and Alwyn quietly made their romance Instagram official.

In matching posts on May 8, 2018, Swift and Alwyn - whose Instagram account was previously private - both shared shots of themselves standing next to a giant cactus. While Swift's caption was about her Reputation tour kicking off, Alwyn's included only a single cactus emoji.

May 8, 2018: Joe Alwyn supports Taylor Swift on the opening night of her Reputation tour

On the opening night of Swift's Reputation tour in Glendale, Arizona, audience members spotted Alwyn in full incognito mode, wearing a baseball cap to conceal his face. As she performed the song "Gorgeous," which is said to be about Alwyn, fans caught Swift pointing to her boyfriend in the crowd as he proudly recorded the moment.

July 2018: Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn vacation together in Turks and Caicos

In July 2018, Swift took a break from her Reputation tour to relax on a beach vacation with Alwyn. The couple jetted to Turks and Caicos, where they were spotted frolicking in the ocean together.

"They were lovey-dovey," a source told PEOPLE at the time.

Days earlier, another insider revealed to PEOPLE that Swift was in a "great place" with her career and her love life.

"She is still super happy and excited about her tour," the source said, noting that Joe is an "amazing boyfriend."

"He is very supportive. Taylor adores his family. She's in a very good place," the insider added.

September 2018: Joe Alwyn shares why he and Taylor Swift keep their relationship private

In an interview with British Vogue, Alwyn briefly mentioned his relationship with Swift ... only to say that he'd rather not discuss it. ​​

"I'm aware people want to know about that side of things," the actor said. "I think we have been successfully very private and that has now sunk in for people ... but I really prefer to talk about work."

Shortly after, during an interview with , Alwyn offered a bit of insight into why he and Swift are so private. "For me, I just don't feel it's something I want to offer up to be picked apart by people who don't know about it, and it's just not theirs to have," he said.

September 28, 2018: Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn hold hands at his movie premiere

After Alwyn supported Swift at several of her summer tour dates, the singer returned the favor when she appeared at the premiere of Alwyn's film, The Favourite, at the New York Film Festival. Though she didn't walk the red carpet with Alwyn, Swift attended the screening and the pair were later spotted holding hands as they left the afterparty together, a rare moment of PDA for the super-private couple.

December 30, 2018: Taylor Swift spends time with Joe Alwyn's family in N.Y.C.

Clearly getting cozy in their relationship, Swift and Alwyn were seen walking arm-in-arm (and holding hands) through N.Y.C. on a chilly December day. They later had lunch with Alwyn's brothers, Thomas and Patrick Alwyn.

January 6, 2019: Taylor Swift supports Joe Alwyn at the Golden Globes

Though she opted not to walk the red carpet with Alwyn, whose film The Favourite had earned five nominations, Swift was spotted slipping inside the venue at the 76th Annual Golden Globe Awards to support her boyfriend. She also later presented the awards for best original score and best original song in a motion picture alongside Idris Elba.

February 10, 2019: Taylor Swift skips the Grammy Awards to attend the BAFTAs with Joe Alwyn

For the second consecutive year, Swift opted out of attending the Grammys in 2019. Instead, the singer supported Alwyn at the BAFTA Awards, where his film The Favourite received seven awards.

Swift and Alwyn were spotted together at the BAFTAs afterparty in London just hours before the Grammys took place in Los Angeles.

March 2019: Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn go hiking together

The next month, Swift and Alwyn were spotted holding hands as they hiked through a trail in the Santa Monica Mountains in L.A. The pair looked fit in baseball caps and T-shirts, while Alwyn had a camera slung around his neck.

May 24, 2019: Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn hold hands in Paris

During a trip to Europe, Swift and Alwyn were seen walking hand-in-hand around Paris. After having breakfast at the iconic Café de Flore, the couple strolled through the city in matching baseball caps, sunglasses and sneakers, seemingly trying to keep things low-key.

August 2019: Taylor Swift says her relationship with Joe Alwyn "isn't up for discussion"

After over two years of dating with very few public appearances, Swift explained that keeping her relationship ultra-private helps her maintain a boundary between her personal and professional life.

"I've learned that if I do, people think it's up for discussion, and our relationship isn't up for discussion," the singer said in an interview with The Guardian. "If you and I were having a glass of wine right now, we'd be talking about it - but it's just that it goes out into the world."

Swift added, "That's where the boundary is, and that's where my life has become manageable. I really want to keep it feeling manageable."

October 5, 2019: Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn attend the Saturday Night Live afterparty

Following her appearance as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live, Swift stepped out in N.Y.C. to attend the show's afterparty with Alwyn. The pair was spotted holding hands on their way to the event at the Japanese restaurant Zuma, dressed to the nines and looking as smitten as ever.

December 16, 2019: Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn leave the premiere together

At the N.Y.C. premiere of the movie , Alwyn was right by Swift's side to show his support. Following the screening, the pair left Lincoln Center walking hand-in-hand, with Alwyn smiling softly as he guided Swift through the crowd. The actor wore a blue suit while Swift stunned in an Oscar de la Renta dress and coat.

December 2019: Joe Alwyn says he finds Taylor Swift's songs about him "flattering"

In an interview with The Sunday Times, Alwyn said he doesn't mind being the subject of songs on Swift's latest album.

"No, not at all. No. It's flattering," the actor said. In regards to the media attention on their relationship, Alwyn stated that he simply doesn't pay attention to it.

"I turn everything else down on a dial," he said. "I don't have any interest in tabloids. I know what I want to do, and that's this, and that's what I am doing."

January 2020: Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn spend New Year's in the Maldives

Swift and Alwyn reportedly rang in 2020 together at a luxury resort in the Maldives.

The couple was spotted in the audience of British singer Matthew Crane's intimate New Year's Eve performance. Crane later shared about his experience on social media, saying: "So I can now finally reveal who I sung to on New Year's Eve in the Maldives, probably the most notable Pop Star at the moment, the one and only @taylorswift and @joe.alwyn."

"They were both so friendly and kind to me when I performed, they even gave me a standing ovation and complimented on my voice," he continued. "It was truly an honour and an experience that I will never forget."

January 2020: Joe Alwyn appears in Taylor Swift's documentary

The release of Swift's Netflix documentary, Miss Americana, offered a rare glimpse into her relationship with Alwyn. While Alwyn doesn't take up much screentime, viewers enjoyed some sweet moments, such as the couple cuddling backstage at one of Swift's concerts and the singer kissing her boyfriend's hand during a car ride.

July 2020: Fans speculate that Joe Alwyn co-wrote two songs on Taylor Swift's album

The release of Swift's eighth studio album, Folklore, had fans buzzing with theories - one of which being that Alwyn was a secret co-writer. After Swift listed "William Bowery" as a collaborator in an Instagram post, internet sleuths quickly discovered that there was no registered songwriter or producer under that name, and therefore began speculating that Bowery was a pen name for Alwyn.

November 2020: Taylor Swift opens up about her private relationship with Joe Alwyn

During a conversation with Paul McCartney for the cover of Rolling Stone, Swift spoke candidly about maintaining a "real life" with Alwyn.

The singer opened up about how "scary" it can be to fall in love with someone who has a "very grounded, normal way of living" and hasn't been exposed to the kind of attention she faces.

"I, oftentimes, in my anxieties, can control how I am as a person and how normal I act and rationalize things, but I cannot control if there are 20 photographers outside in the bushes and what they do and if they follow our car and if they interrupt our lives," Swift shared. "I can't control if there's going to be a fake weird headline about us in the news tomorrow."

Swift also told McCartney that Alwyn "absolutely" understands and sympathizes with Swift's life as a public figure.

"But I think that in knowing him and being in the relationship I am in now, I have definitely made decisions that have made my life feel more like a real life and less like just a storyline to be commented on in tabloids," she shared.

November 2020: Taylor Swift confirms that Joe Alwyn was her co-writer

Months after the release of Folklore, Swift finally confirmed that Alwyn was, in fact, a co-writer on the album. In Disney+'s Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions, the singer gave fans an inside look at her process while dropping a few fun facts along the way.

"There's been a lot of discussion about William Bowery and his identity, 'cause it's not a real person," Swift said in the film. "William Bowery is Joe, as we know." She also revealed that Alwyn worked on two songs, "betty" and "exile."

March 14, 2021: Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn win a Grammy Award for

At the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards in L.A., Swift made history when she took home her third album of the year award for Folklore. The occasion also marked Alwyn's first Grammy win for his contributions on the album.

Though Alwyn didn't appear on stage with his girlfriend to accept the award, Swift gave him a sweet shoutout in her speech. "Joe is the first person that I play every single song that I write, and I had the best time writing songs with you in quarantine," she said.

September 2021: Taylor Swift visits Joe Alwyn in Ireland

While Alwyn was in Belfast filming Hulu's upcoming adaptation of Sally Rooney's novel Conversations with Friends, Swift paid him a visit in Ireland. Not only did she support her boyfriend on his latest project, but she also gave restaurant workers in the Northern Ireland city quite the surprise when she stopped in for a drink.

"On Thursday evening we had the pleasure of serving Taylor Swift!" Shu Restaurant shared on Instagram along with a series of selfies the singer took with staffers. "Taylor was so lovely and really is a beautiful person inside and out and she kindly agreed to get photos with all our staff!"

The following night, Swift visited a local cocktail bar called The Tipsy Bird. "We can confirm she is just as lovely as you would expect and was kind enough to take a picture with our team," the bar later shared on its Instagram page.

April 20, 2022: Joe Alwyn demurs on the rumors that he and Taylor Swift are engaged

In an interview with WSJ. Magazine, Alwyn remained tight-lipped when asked about the rumors swirling that he and Swift are engaged.

"If I had a pound for every time I think I've been told I've been engaged, then I'd have a lot of pound coins," he joked, before adding, "I mean, the truth is, if the answer was yes, I wouldn't say, and if the answer was no, I wouldn't say."

April 30, 2022: Joe Alwyn opens up about writing songs with Taylor Swift

Later that month, Alwyn discussed winning his first Grammy during an interview with The Guardian, and gave some insight into how he and Swift first started writing songs together.

"It wasn't like, 'It's five o'clock, it's time to try and write a song together,' " he told the publication. "It came about from messing around on a piano, and singing badly, then being overheard, and being, like, 'Let's see what happens if we get to the end of it together.' "

Alwyn added that their collaboration was just something fun to do during quarantine, "like baking sourdough in lockdown." He did note, however, that winning the Grammy with Swift was a "ridiculous bonus."

May 15, 2022: Taylor Swift shout outs Joe Alwyn's show

In May, Swift showed support for Alwyn and his new Hulu series Conversations with Friends by sharing a review from Time to her Instagram Story.

"Hulu's Conversations with Friends Breathes Fresh Life into Sally Rooney's Best Novel," read the headline from Time. Swift captioned the post by writing "Can confirm it's phenomenal."

August 28, 2022: Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn attend a MTV Video Music Awards afterparty

Fans spotted Swift and Alwyn sprinting to their vehicle as they exited the Moxy Chelsea hotel in N.Y.C. The couple were among a slew of celebrities who attended a VMAs afterparty in the hotel's Fleur Room.

Swift was seen holding tightly to Alwyn's hand as they made their way to the car.

October 7, 2022: Taylor Swift talks about "protecting" her relationship with Joe Alwyn

While discussing her new album, Midnights, in a video on Instagram, Swift mentioned the challenges of love in the spotlight.

"If the world finds out that you're in love with somebody, they're gonna weigh in on it," she said. "Like my relationship for six years, we've had to dodge weird rumors, tabloid stuff, and we just ignore it. And so this song is sort of about the act of ignoring that stuff to protect the real stuff."

Swift is referring to her new song "Lavender Haze," which was named after a common phrase from the 1950s that described being in love.

October 17, 2022: Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn go for a walk in N.Y.C.

Swift and Alwyn were photographed in N.Y.C. while on a walk. For the daytime outing, the singer wore a long black sweater, plaid skirt and black tights. Meanwhile, Alwyn was seen in a green sweater, jeans and glasses.

October 21, 2022: Taylor Swift addresses engagement rumors on new album Midnights

In the opening track of her latest album, "Lavender Haze," Swift seemingly told fans that she's not engaged to her boyfriend Joe Alwyn.

"I'm damned if I do give a damn what people say/ the 1950s s- they want from me/ I just wanna stay in that lavender haze," sings Swift. "All they keep asking me is if I'm gonna be your bride/ the only kinda girl they see is a one night or a wife."

The songwriter did, however, collaborate with Alwyn on the album. The pair wrote the song "Sweet Nothing" together. This is Alwyn's sixth songwriting credit (under his pen name William Bowery) on a Swift project.

February 5, 2023: Taylor Swift wears Joe Alwyn's jacket to a Grammys afterparty

After winning best music video at the 2023 Grammys, Swift attended an afterparty wearing a green sequin dress and Alwyn's leather jacket.

The Celine jacket, which Alwyn wore while visiting PEOPLE and Entertainment Weekly's Toronto International Film Festival 2022 portrait studio, features zip embellishment and retails for $4,400.

March 22, 2023: Source says Joe Alwyn is "super supportive" of Taylor Swift's career

Swift kicked off her Eras Tour on March 17, and a friend close to the songstress told PEOPLE that Alwyn will "travel with her when he can."

The insider added: "They are great together. Joe is super supportive of her career."

April 8, 2023: Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn break up

Swift and Alwyn broke up after six years of dating.

The split news came about as Swift is traveling the country for her sold-out Eras tour, at which the actor hasn't been spotted.

April 10, 2023: Source says Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn broke up due to "differences in their personalities"

Shortly after Swift and Alwyn split, a source told PEOPLE that the couple ultimately broke up due to "differences in their personalities."

The insider went on to say that the couple learned they "weren't the right fit for one another," after emerging from their pandemic "bubble."

"They had plenty in common and fell in love in a safe bubble while she was retreating from the world during Reputation," the source said. "Then, the pandemic hit, and they were locked down together and able to continue growing their relationship in this insulated way. But he didn't really 'know' her yet outside of that bubble."

Since then, Alwyn has struggled "with Taylor's level of fame and the attention from the public," the insider shared.

Multiple sources confirmed that Swift and the Conversations with Friends star had discussed marriage in the past. It was only recently that the "Shake it Off" singer decided she "didn't see them working out in the long run."

The source concluded by saying that the breakup was "not dramatic" and that the pair remain "friendly."

May 2023: Taylor Swift Deletes her Instagram post explaining the meaning behind Lavender Haze

Some of Swift's Instagram followers noticed that the singer-songwriter deleted an Instagram video in which she explained the meaning behind her song "Lavender Haze."

"I happened upon the phrase 'Lavender Haze' when I was watching Mad Men, and I looked it up because I thought it sounded cool," Swift said in the now-deleted post. "And it turns out that it's a common phrase used in the '50s, where they would just describe being in love."

The pop star previously explained that the song was written about her relationship with Alwyn.

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Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn's Relationship Timeline

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Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn, who began dating in 2017, broke up after six years together in April 2023. Here is a complete timeline of their relationship

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Swift also wrote an original song for the film. This enhances Swift's appearance in the film as not only is she performing a song she is also creating for the film - giving her involvement a deeper connection to the film. This boosts the film's impact since now Swift's fans have more reason to watch and stream the soundtrack to the film.

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Cats | Taylor Swift Sings “Macavity” and Gives the Jellicles Catnip

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Forgot About Taylor Swift and Scooter Braun’s Drama? Allow Me to Refresh Your Memory

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Forgot About Taylor Swift and Scooter Braun’s Drama? Allow Me to Refresh Your Memory

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The feud between Taylor Swift and celebrity manager Scooter Braun has been a significant catalyst to Swift's star image.

In 2019 when Swift left Big Machine Records, Braun took ownership of Swift's entire catalogue of music. So Swift has since been re-recording her past albums and releasing them as (Taylor's Version) in order to claim back what is hers.

This article is aiding in Swift's victim narrative and portraying her as the artist who was wronged and is claiming back what was rightfully hers. I don't disagree with this as a representation, however, I am aware of how this narrative assist's Swift's representation of herself as being a woman scorned rising above the difficulties.

Bonner, Bowenbank and Olson 2023

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All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor's Version) (From the Vault)

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All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor's Version) (From the Vault)

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Taylor Swift says 10-minute version of 'All Too Well' is the original version she wrote at 21 - Robinson 2021

This article is discussing an interview where Swift discusses how she wrote the 'fan favourite' track of Red (Taylor's Version) in which she states that she wrote it very spontaneously and it could have never been recorded.

This constructs Swift as a very down to earth and quite humble as she is expressing that it was a very spontaneous writing that was performed during a writing exercise whilst she was on tour. This projects to her fans that she is relatable and 'only human' which is a good way of marketing her persona.

This track from 'Red (Taylor's Version)'

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Promoting the newly minted redux of her 2012 album, 'Red', Taylor Swift made an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to discuss one of its standout tracks: a sprawling 10-minute version of the song 'All Too Well'.

Swift explained that 'All Too Well' - a fan-favourite from the album, clocking in at 5:28 for its initial release - was first written as a cathartic exercise during a rehearsal session for her 'Speak Now' tour. "I showed up for rehearsals, and I was really upset and sad, and everybody could tell - it was like really not fun to be around me that day," she said.

"And so I started playing guitar and just kind of playing the same four chords over and over again, and the band sort of joined in, and I started ad-libbing what I was going through and what I was feeling, and it went on. The song kept building and building and building in intensity, and the song just went on for about, you know, 10 to 15 minutes of us doing this.

She goes on to say that the version of 'All Too Well' written in that moment wasn't intended to be saved, but her mother had salvaged it from the rehearsal session via Swift's sound engineer. Noting that it's become her favourite song on 'Red (Taylor's Version)', Swift said that 'All Too Well (10 Minute Version)' would be "the new standard version of what this song is".

Have a look at Swift's full chat with Fallon below:

Swift also spoke about the short film based on 'All Too Well', which is set to premiere today (November 12) and features Stranger Things' Sadie Sink and Maze Runner star Dylan O'Brien. She touched on one particular "very tense scene" between Sink and O'Brien, wherein, according to Swift, "they were so electric and [improvising] a lot of what they were doing that we just couldn't take the camera off [them]".

'Red (Taylor's Version)' was released today via Republic. It features "all 30 songs that were meant to go" on the original album, as well as collaborations with Phoebe Bridgers, Ed Sheeran and more. It was initially scheduled to arrive on November 19, but was pushed forward by one week.

In a four-star review, NME writer Hannah Mylrea said: "It's not an exercise of rethinking and tweaking old songs, but to take back ownership of her own music. The production here is a little sharper, with the instrumentation being brought further into focus: the opening percussion of 'State of Grace' is crisper, the soft-rock guitar of the title track a little brighter and the mandolin of 'Stay Stay Stay' lifted."

Swift is remaking her first six studio albums - up to and including 2017's 'Reputation' - following the controversial sale of her masters in recent years. The star released 'Fearless (Taylor's Version)' in April before sharing a re-recording of '1989' single 'Wildest Dreams' last month.

The singer-songwriter will also appear as a musical guest on tomorrow's episode of Saturday Night Live.

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Taylor Swift says 10-minute version of 'All Too Well' is the original version she wrote at 21

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Taylor Swift made an appearance on 'The Tonight Show' to discuss one of its standout tracks: a ten-minute version of the song 'All Too Well'.

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The 10th album release 'Midnights', 2022 was designed to be tracks from midnights all throughout Swift's eras - which allowed for her fans to decode the songs as to which era each song was from. This album switched back to the more pop based music style which in turn promotes the zany star image as well as again perpetuating Swift's victim complex since a lot of the albums are telling stories about how she was broken up with because she wanted to get married.

'Anti-Hero' also tapped back into her self reflection work from her 'Reputation' era, playfully reminded her audience that she is the problem but at the same time making them feel sorry for her since she is so self aware.

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The Midnights album release prompted a tour from Swift and so was born 'The Eras Tour' a three hour set in which Swift takes the audience through all 10 of her Eras including 10 different costume changes and sets.

The tour was revolutionary for Swift as she had never done something like this before - but she decided this would be the best way to come back from touring after the pandemic since she not only had one album to promote, but three (four if you include the limited 'Lover' tour pre-pandemic). This relates to her authentic star image since she portrays this decision to be all about the fans - even though Swift is the one profiting off of the tour.

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Taylor Swift's Matty Healy Controversy, Explained - Placido, 2023

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The rumours of Swift and Healy dating circulated in 2023 prior to the announcement of '1989 (Taylor's Version)'. This rumour was clearly PR to relate to the publicity stunt pulled in 2014 by both Swift and Healy (referenced in the 1989 portion of my project) where both parties wore each other's album merch in order to promote releases.

This stunt however, backfired, with Swift fans calling for the two to break up due to Healy's controversial activities and past. The cross promotion reference was not realised by fans the way that Swift wanted - since this was clearly an 'easter egg' set up by Swift to tease the announcement of the era's 'Taylor's Version', with only a few hardcore fans making the connection.

A lot of the publicity surrounding this controversy was picked up by gossip columns and a lot of it was spread due to fans of Swift making TikToks publicly declaring their dissatisfaction towards the rumoured couple.

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Taylor Swift attends 'In Conversation With... Taylor Swift' during the 2022 Toronto International ... [+]
Getty Images

Taylor Swift's rumored relationship with Matty Healy, lead singer of The 1975, has caused quite a stir among the Swift fanbase, with many "Swifties" expressing deep disappointment in their favorite artist.

While the romance has still not been officially confirmed by Swift's representation, multiple sources have claimed that the rumor is true, and public sightings of the two hanging out (even holding hands), have convinced many a Swiftie that the two are dating.

The pop superstar is known to be a clear, deliberate communicator, too media-savvy to allow a false narrative to spread without pushback.

Swift and Healy have something of a history together, and were briefly rumored to be dating in 2014. At the time, Healy passionately denied that he was dating Swift in an interview with Q magazine, describing the idea of being Swift's boyfriend as "emasculating." Two years later, Healy clarified in an open letter that his words were taken out of context.

Some Swifties were devastated by the dating rumor, considering Healy to be a deeply problematic pick for the superstar.

Why do Swifties dislike Matty Healy?

In stark contrast to Taylor Swift's squeaky clean, "girl next door" image, Matty Healy is something of a messy "edgelord" who has frequently courted controversy, from his provocative stage presence (in which he eats raw meat and kisses fans), to serious accusations of racism.

For years, Healy has given a Nazi salute onstage, as part of his performance of the song "Love It If We Made It," the lyrics of which highlight the social failures of the current age, as well as the fascist characteristics of Trumpism. Notably, the song contains the line, "Saying controversial things just for the hell of it."

Healy has spoken about his admiration for "Kaufmanesque" performers who create controversial, attention-grabbing stage personas, and experiment with "blurring of boundaries."

In the past, Healy has frequently waded into political debates and voiced support for progressive values, having spoken out against abortion bans in Alabama, called out misogyny in the music industry while accepting a 2019 BRIT Award, kissed a male fan during his concert in Dubai to protest anti-gay laws, and invited climate activist Greta Thunberg to make a speech on one of his songs.

In an interview with Pitchfork last year, Healy described himself as "politically homeless," before elaborating on his beliefs:

"I'm certainly not on the extreme left, but I also think that the word 'centrist' has become so ubiquitous that it's annoying," Healy said. "I suppose I'm a traditional progressive who is suspicious of woke-ism as a viable worldview or device to make things better."

Problematic podcast

Healy provoked major backlash after appearing on controversial podcast The Adam Friedland Show, hosted by comedians Adam Friedland and Nick Mullen, formerly of Cum Town.

Cum Town was an unscripted comedy podcast that gained internet fame and notoriety through heavy use of ironic bigotry, echoing the humor of South Park.

Fans affectionately refer to the crude, deliberately offensive tone of the podcast as "middle school humor," but critics have frequently accused the hosts of crossing the line from irony into outright bigotry, pointing to casual use of slurs and racist accents.

While not overtly political, Friedland and Mullen have expressed earnest support for progressive values. Regarding the podcast's politics, Friedland once tweeted: "Cum town is not a socialist podcast it's not a fascist podcast it's a podcast about being gay with your dad."

The chronic controversies generated by Cum Town and The Adam Friedland Show were once considered niche, extremely online discourse, but Healy's appearance on The Adam Friedland Show shone a spotlight on the podcast, exposing the hosts to a whole new audience, who were horrified by what they heard.

Healy's appearance on The Adam Friedland Show proved particularly offensive, with the hosts doing racist impressions of how they imagined rapper Ice Spice's accent, and referred to her as "this chubby Chinese lady" and "Inuit Spice Girl."

During the same episode, Healy also joked about masturbating to hardcore porn in which Black women are humiliated and "brutalized." Following online backlash, Healy's episode of the Adam Friedland Show was soon pulled from Spotify and Apple, and prompted Swifties to take action.

"Gaylors, hetlors, normalors need to come together and not step off matty healy's neck until they break up," one Swiftie wrote on Twitter.

On Reddit, a Buzzfeed piece documenting Healy's many controversies reached the top of r/TaylorSwift, a fan subreddit dedicated to Swift, with many of the comments expressing deep disappointment in the pop star.

Another Reddit thread in celebrity gossip subreddit r/Fauxmoi saw Swift described as "another wealthy, complicit white woman." Some fans made posts admitting that their enthusiasm for Swift's upcoming shows had been severely dampened by the controversy.

An open letter to Taylor Swift

In response, some Swifties penned an open letter to the pop star and launched the #SpeakUpNow campaign on Twitter, demanding accountability from Swift and urging the pop star to break her silence regarding Healy's controversies.

They wrote: "your voice holds tremendous power and right now your silence is palpable," adding, "we urge you to reflect on the impact of your own and your associates' behavior."

This sparked another controversy, as some Swifties dismissed the open letter as a manifestation of a "parasocial relationship," a term used to describe the misplaced sense of kinship that obsessive fans project onto celebrities who they have never met.

The account that posted the letter has since been deleted following backlash. The hashtag, however, is still making the rounds on Twitter, and many fans have since defended the letter as a means of holding artists accountable.

On TikTok, many creators have expressed disgust with Swift's association with Healy, and urged Swifties to take the controversy seriously.

Some Swifties even canceled their pre-orders of Swift's upcoming re-release due to her association with Healy, and urged the artist to speak up on behalf of the LGBTQ community.

While Swift is a pop star, not an activist, many fans pointed out that Swift has presented herself as a celebrity willing to use her platform to stand up for marginalized communities, and are now questioning the sincerity of her words.

How has Taylor Swift responded?

So far, silence. Rumors abound of Swift and Healy falling for one another; British tabloid The Sun even claimed that Swift and Healy are currently creating music together.

Recently, Taylor told her Eras audience, "I've never been this happy in all aspects of life ever before. It is not just the tour. I just feel like my life finally makes sense." Some Swifties interpreted Swift's declaration as an hint that she is happy in her rumored relationship with Healy.

On Wednesday, Swift announced a collaboration with Ice Spice, who will appear on a remix of her song "Karma." Some fans viewed the announcement with cynicism.

Swift wrote on Twitter: "Um. SO much to tell you. I'm a massive fan of this brilliant artist and after getting to know her I can confirm: she is THE ONE to watch. So delighted to say that 'Karma' Featuring the incredible Ice Spice will be out TOMORROW night at MIDNIGHT ET as a part of the new 'Midnights (Til Dawn Edition)' deluxe album."

The quote tweets on Swift's announcement are a whirlwind of excitement and anger, as many fans took the opportunity to remind Swift of Healy's appearance on The Adam Friedland Show.

Healy recently acknowledged the controversy while on stage in New Zealand, giving something of an apology: "I just feel a bit bad, and I'm kind of a bit sorry if I've offended you," Healy told his audience.

"Ice Spice, I'm sorry. It's not because I'm annoyed that me joking got misconstrued. It's because I don't want Ice Spice to think I'm a dick. I love you, Ice Spice. I'm so sorry."

Adam Friedland responded to news of Taylor Swift's collaboration with Ice Spice on Twitter with a cheeky, "You're welcome."

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Taylor Swift's Matty Healy Controversy, Explained

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Taylor Swift and Matty Healy are facing backlash from Swifties after a controversy involving rapper Ice Spice, who appears on a remix of Swift's "Karma."

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Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce photographed holding hands for the first time - Vassell 2023

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Taylor Swift's most latest beau is NFL player Travis Kelce. The couple have made a lot of very public outings suggesting that the relationship could be for PR purposes, however, a lot of her fans are hoping it is the real deal. Swift has been spotted at several NFL games and is making her way into being a common name in sports journalism. This is making its way into mainstream media outlets as well as gossip columns and fan discourse on social media such as TikTok.

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Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce photographed holding hands for the first time

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Dating rumours have surrounded the singer-songwriter and the American football player for at least a month

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8 Ways Taylor Swift Has Changed the Music Business

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8 Ways Taylor Swift Has Changed the Music Business

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This article lists the ways Taylor Swift has shifted the music business as a whole however it portray's Swift's achievements and tactics in a positive and celebratory light. I would slightly disagree with this outlook since in a critical light, Swift has done all of these things to improve her star image and prosper economically as well as culturally - especially when relating to her 'across consumption metrics' as stated in the article, Swift repeatedly releases new presses of her vinyl and cd's in order to create more demand and sell more by marketing them as limited edition or collectors edition which I believe is slightly taking advantage of her fanbase.

Schneider 2023

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9 Ways Taylor Swift Has Changed the Music Business

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Taylor Swift Is The 21st Century's Most Disorienting Pop Star

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Taylor Swift Is The 21st Century's Most Disorienting Pop Star

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This article is describing Swift's writing style and how she was being compared to hip-hop artists when her album Reputation came out. Essentially this article is a sum up of Swift's ever changing music style - her writing has gone from being one of the top country writers to her fans saying she should win the best female hip-hop artist in 2017.

Donnella 2018

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It's not enough to make list after list. The Turning the Tables project seeks to suggest alternatives to the traditional popular music canon, and to do more than that, too: to stimulate conversation about how hierarchies emerge and endure. This year, Turning the Tables considers how women and non-binary artists are shaping music in our moment, from the pop mainstream to the sinecures of jazz and contemporary classical music. Our list of the 200 Greatest Songs By Women+ offers a soundtrack to a new century. This series of essays takes on another task.
The 25 arguments writers make in these pieces challenge the usual definitions of influence. Some rethink the building legacies of popular artists; others celebrate those who create within subcultures, their innovations rippling outward over time. As always, women forge new pathways in sound; today, they also make waves under the surface of culture by confronting, in their music, the increased fluidity of "woman" itself. What is a woman? It's a timeless question on the surface, but one deeply engaged with whatever historical moment in which it is asked. Our 25 Most Influential Women Musicians of the 21st Century illuminate its complexities. -Ann Powers
There comes a moment in a lot of Taylor Swift songs where it becomes hard to sing along. It's sometimes a concept, sometimes a perspective, sometimes a phrase, sometimes just a word - but in that moment, you realize that this song isn't about you. This song is about Taylor Swift.

In 2017's "...Ready for It?", it's the little, self-referential wink, "He can be my jailer, Burton to this Taylor / Every lover known in comparison is a failure."

In "Blank Space," released in 2014, it's the entire premise of the song - a joke about a woman who runs through men too quickly, and then dramatically turns on them when they aren't exactly who she wants them to be.

In "22," it's the cheeky, spoken-word "Who's Taylor Swift anyway?" that follows the line, "This place is too crowded, too many cool kids."

In "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together," from 2012, it's the line, "And you would hide away and find your peace of mind/With some indie record that's much cooler than mine." In this moment, mid-karaoke, mid-memory of your stupid ex who shouldn't be texting you, the thought might occur to you, Oh. I don't have a record, indie or otherwise. This song is not about my breakup. This song refers to a story I wasn't there for; a person I will never be.

And that is part of Swift's genius (and part of her Achilles heel). In ways both subtle and obtuse, she makes sure that all of her songs belong to her. There's a reason there aren't many Taylor Swift covers - as Swift told NPR in 2014, through her lyrics, "People have essentially gotten to read my diary for the last 10 years." It's pretty hard to cover someone else's diary.

This is an unusual quality in pop music. So many radio hits blow up precisely because they could be about anyone. Rather than relying on a particular perspective, they tap into something universal. So many songs were written for one artist and performed by someone totally different (Miley Cyrus' "We Can't Stop" was originally offered to Rihanna; Britney Spears' "...Baby One More Time" to TLC.) Certainly those songs carry different weight when sung by different people. But the themes transcend any specific artist.

Many people have surmised that Swift learned this technique - this extensive personalization - from her country roots. She's talked at length about her love of James Taylor, and her songwriting has been compared to that of artists like Dolly Parton and Mary Chapin Carpenter. Swift's first few albums, written in Nashville and steeped in the sounds of acoustic guitar, were country through and through. In 2014, when Swift released her first full pop album, 1989, performers at the Country Music Awards joked that the world of country was struck by a collective bout of " Postpartum Taylor Swift Disorder." And it's true that Swift's particular style owes a lot to country music.

But there's another genre that Swift borrows techniques from, which is perhaps equally responsible for her sound. And that genre is hip-hop.

To be clear, Taylor Swift is not a hip-hop artist. Despite the tizzy that followed the release of "...Ready For It?" - fans swore she should win the Grammy for best female hip-hop artist for speak-singing portions of that song - she does not rap. The strategic placement and quasi-ironic use of phrases like "this sick beat" and "haters gonna hate," delivered from her perfectly lined red lips, serve to underscore her "not rapperness," not diminish it. In style, in essence, in music, in person, Swift is no more a rapper than I am Beyoncé.

And yet, it's impossible to imagine that Swift didn't learn how to be a pop star by watching and listening to rappers. The lyrical storytelling; the meticulous attention to detail; the centering of her own perspective; the posturing; the commitment to a persona; the fixation on rivals, haters, and detractors; the positioning herself as marginalized and mistreated; the support of a crew: All of these are features of good rap.We know that Swift consumes rap. In 2011, she rapped a few lines of Nicki Minaj's "Super Bass" on the radio. She's been caught singing "Dilemma" at karaoke with Nelly and has filmed herself rapping along to Kendrick Lamar's "Backseat Freestyle." Later, Lamar was featured on her 2015 single, "Bad Blood." When she presented the 2015 Video Vanguard Award to Kanye West, she mentioned that one of the first albums she ever bought was West's The College Dropout. And she came of age in an era when every pop song that mattered featured a rapper.

Of the rap elements that Swift has adopted, the most recognizable might be the feud. Swift has been calling out enemies in her music for more than a decade. Her word choice may be different, her melodies gentler, but the formula is similar: Someone wrongs you, you accept the challenge, you up the ante, and eventually, you become a hardened shell of your former self.

Need some evidence?

J. Cole in " Rich N*****:" "Ain't there more to you? Don't it ever get boring to you? I realize deep down you a coward getting high off of power."

Taylor in " Mean:" "Washed up and ranting about the same old bitter things, drunk and grumbling on about how I can't sing. But all you are is mean ... and a liar and pathetic and alone in life and mean."

Tupac in " Hit 'Em Up:" "Remember when I used to let you sleep on the couch and beg a b**** to let you sleep in the house? Now it's all about Versace, you copied my style. Five shots couldn't drop me, I took it and smiled. Now I'm back to set the record straight."

Taylor in " Bad Blood:" "Did you think we'd be fine? Still got scars in my back from your knives, so don't think it's in the past. These kinds of wounds they last and they last. Now, did you think it all through? All these things will catch up to you."

Nas, in " Ether:" "Talk about me, laugh behind my back, but in my face, y'all some well-wishers, friendly-acting, envy-hiding snakes."

Taylor in " This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things:" "It was so nice being friends again. There I was giving you a second chance. But you stabbed my back while shaking my hand."

Drake in " Pop Style:" "I can't trust no-f******-body."

Taylor in " Look What You Made Me Do:" "I don't trust nobody and nobody trusts me."

It's worth noting that the only rival who has proven the least bit sustainable for Swift is Kanye West. And it's because he's a rapper. (And crucially, because he's a male rapper.) There was no pop-star playbook for Katy Perry to look at when things started popping off between her and Swift. The story goes that in 2012, Perry hired some of Swift's backup dancers out from under her, which led Swift to write the song "Bad Blood." The video for "Bad Blood" was dripping with celebrity members of Swift's infamous " squad," including Selena Gomez in a Perry-esque wig.

Besides a mealy-mouthed tweet and a few mild TV comments, Perry had no substantive way to engage Swift. In fact, when Swift comes at Perry, or a critic, or one of her ex-boyfriends, it can almost feel like bullying. Because those people aren't part of the game. They don't know the rules of a public rivalry.

West, on the other hand, rises to the occasion. When he name drops Swift in a song, puts her naked likeness in a music video, goes out to dinner with her, records private conversations with her, alternates between feuding with her and praising her so much it gives you whiplash - he's playing by a well-worn rap-feud script.

So is Swift. She has capitalized on that universal appeal of rap: centering the underdog, the underappreciated, the hated, the disenfranchised. She has taken this narrative and spun it on herself and those in her ilk: the young, white, wealthy and beautiful. And she has made so many of us believe it, even when doing so is an act of mental acrobatics: that she is a target, that she is treated unfairly, that she is misunderstood and people are being mean to her. And she has made us believe, by extension, that we don't have to have giant, larger-than-life rivalries to be the heroes of our own stories. A high school romance or perceived slight will do just fine.

The appeal of this style is perhaps best described by Swift herself. After the release of 1989, NPR's Melissa Block asked Swift why she doesn't write songs about "big ideas and the big world that's outside."

Swift responded that what her younger female fans need is to look inward. "I think the best thing I can do for them is continue to write songs that do make them think about themselves and analyze how they feel about something and then simplify how they feel," Swift said. "Because, at that age - really at any age, but mostly that age - what can be so overwhelming is that you're feeling so many things at the same time that it's hard to actually understand what those emotions are, so it can turn to anxiety very quickly."

A huge part of Swift's draw is the acknowledgment of that reality, that our strongest emotions don't always correspond to the world's biggest injustices, and that we're entitled to them anyway. Her music doesn't make fans feel guilty about feeling what they're feeling. It provides space for them to be as angry or heartbroken or in love as they want to be. Her success as an artist is predicated on selling that contradiction: that you can be one of the most powerful, influential, beloved pop stars in the world, and still be victimized by the (often very normal) people around you.

And those tiny, lyrical details that Swift throws in - those are key. In "Mean," for instance, Swift spends several verses eviscerating someone before admitting that the insult that got her so upset was that he said she "can't sing." How validating, to craft an entire disgruntled ballad to convey that you didn't appreciate someone's feedback.

In 2017, members of NPR's Music team wrote that, "In hip-hop, as elsewhere, the personal is always political. Where you're at, so to speak, and how you choose to cultivate and represent that space - whether real or imagined - matters."

So where is Swift at, and how is she cultivating her space?

Well, Swift is at the top of the pop game. She is arguably the most famous pop star in the world right now. Her fan base is massive and her latest album, Reputation, has sold more than 2 million copies in the U.S. alone.

She is cultivating her space as the many things she is: a woman in a male-dominated industry, a savvy businessperson, a very famous celebrity whose every move is scrutinized. When she owns these identities, it feels honest. It's why nowadays, her best feuds, most satisfying takedowns, are directed at enemies big enough to pose a real threat to her: the media; the music industry; sexism.

But for all the qualities that make us root for Swift, there are others that make us question her - ones that she can't cultivate away. As a famous, attractive, thin, white, very wealthy woman, she is a profoundly unsympathetic underdog. She has too many advantages for most people to truly believe that she's in danger of not winning. Richer than Kanye, more influential than any ex-boyfriend or music critic or high school bully, she can no longer claim to be the small-town ingenue that so much of her early music portrayed her as being. In 2015, Dayna Evans argued that "the underdog narrative that the Swift machine has built is one of forced falsehoods; Swift is not coming from behind. She's been ahead since she started."

(It's maybe why Swift folded so quickly after a brief tête-à-tête with Nicki Minaj. When positioned against a black woman rapper talking about the barriers that black women face in the music industry, Swift's immense power and privilege shone through. And in an uncommon move, she apologized to Minaj.)

Again, it matters that Swift hasn't co-opted the look or sound of hip-hop. When Iggy Azalea - a blonde, white, Australian artist the same age as Swift - raps, " click clack, bang bang, I'm in the murda bizness," audiences intuit that she is play-acting. Hate her or love her, everyone understands that Azalea is a character - or perhaps, more accurately, a caricature of the black, male rappers that she is imitating. The fact that those black, male rappers are also often playing characters is often overlooked, thanks to racist stereotypes about black men being violent criminals.

And because Swift dresses, dances, speaks and sings the way we expect white women to, the fact that she's playing a character, too, is often overlooked. It's easy to assume that Swift really is exactly who her songs say she is. Fans trust that what she's singing is the truth.

And that's one of the differences between Swift claiming the underdog narrative and rappers doing so. Hip-hop has a history. It is a black art form built out of oppression, poverty and racism. To take on the stylistic elements of that narrative without being situated in the same reality is both brilliant and, at times, deeply unsettling.

In a 2015 GQ story, Chuck Klosterman wrote that "Swift writes about her life so directly that the listener is forced to think about her persona in order to fully appreciate what she's doing creatively."

To consume Taylor Swift's music - as so many millions of fans do - is to consume her. That includes the parts of her life that we sympathize with - the scrutiny, the bad breakups, the double standards, the loneliness. But it also includes the other stuff: manipulation, whitewashing, myopia, pettiness. And it means that our feelings about Swift's music will frequently hinge on how we feel, at any given moment, about what it means to be someone like her.

Swift uses tools from hip-hop to help fans become invested in her story, her struggle, her truth. But in many cases, to believe that Swift's truth is the full truth is to believe that she lacks agency, privilege or power. And that fact that she can make us believe that, even for a few bars, makes Swift the most disorienting pop star of our time.

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Taylor Swift Is The 21st Century's Most Disorienting Pop Star

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It's not enough to make list after list. The Turning the Tables project seeks to suggest alternatives to the traditional popular music canon, and to do more than that, too: to stimulate conversation about how hierarchies emerge and endure.

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How did Taylor Swift get so popular? She never goes out of style

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How did Taylor Swift get so popular? She never goes out of style

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This article is praising Swift for being so popular and celebrating her achievements, Pattinson writes that in relation to Swift's constant change in image is due to the pressure on women in the industry with Swift stating in her Netflix Documentary Miss Americana, "The female artists I know of have to remake themselves like 20 times more than the male artists, or you’re out of a job." this again seems to create a victim complex around Swift since she is attempting to portray how difficult it is for women in the industry - she has a valid point, however it is clear it is a tactical move to align her star image once again.

Pattinson 2023

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Last week, USA Today/Gannett posted a job ad for a Taylor Swift reporter, seeking an experienced journalist and content creator to "capture the music and cultural impact of Taylor Swift".

It's not the first time Swift has been the focus of professional and academic work. In 2022, New York University's Clive Davis Institute announced a course focused on Swift, taught by Rolling Stone's Brittany Spanos. They also gave Swift an honorary doctorate in fine arts, as "one of the most prolific and celebrated artists of her generation".

Other universities around the world followed with their own dedicated courses, including " The Psychology of Taylor Swift", " The Taylor Swift Songbook" and " Literature: Taylor's Version ".

While musicians and celebrities have been the subject of our fascinations for decades, it's not often they receive such individualised attention. Swift's impressive career can be studied from multiple perspectives, including marketing, fandom, business and songwriting, to name a few.

So why Taylor Swift?

From a music perspective, Swift has broken a lot of records. Last month, she became the first female artist in Spotify history to reach 100 million monthly listeners.

Swift has achieved 12 number one albums on Billboard, the most by a woman artist, overtaking Barbra Streisand earlier this year.

She's the first and only woman solo artist to win the Album Of The Year Grammy three times, for Fearless (2009), 1989 (2015) and Folklore (2020) - each in a different musical genre. It's a credit to Swift's masterful songwriting, and demonstrates her ability to adapt her craft for different audiences.

There is an expectation for female artists to constantly re-invent themselves, something Swift reflected on in her Netflix documentary Miss Americana:

The female artists I know of have to remake themselves like 20 times more than the male artists, or you're out of a job.

Over the course of her career, Swift has evolved from an award-winning country music singer to one of the biggest pop stars in the world. Each of her ten original studio albums has a distinct theme and aesthetic, which have been celebrated on Swift's juggernaut Eras Tour.

The tour, which has just wrapped up its first US leg, is set to be the highest-grossing of all time, boosting local travel and tourism revenue along the way. A recent report estimates the tour could help add a monumental US$5 billion (A$7.8 billion) to the worldwide economy.

'All I do is try, try, try'

But to measure Swift's impact by her music alone would be limiting.

Swift has been instrumental in changing the business game for musicians. She's taken on record labels and streaming services, advocating for better deals for artists.

In 2015, Apple Music changed its payment policies after Swift wrote an open letter campaigning for better compensation.

Most notably, she took a stand against her former record label, Big Machine Records, after it wouldn't give her an opportunity to buy back her original master recordings. Her back catalogue was eventually sold to music executive Scooter Braun, kicking off a very public feud.

While she's not the first artist to go after her masters, she's generated an enormous amount of attention to an issue that's often overlooked. Of course, Swift is in a position of privilege - she can take risks many other artists can't afford to. But with this power she's driving conversations around contracts and the value of music, paving the way for emerging artists.

In an effort to regain control of her earlier work, Swift announced she would be re-recording her first six albums. Each re-recorded album has included additional vault tracks, previously unreleased songs left off the original recordings.

These releases have each been accompanied by a robust promotional campaign, including new merchandise and multiple, limited-edition versions of each record for fans to collect.

The release of Speak Now (Taylor's Version) marked the halfway point of this process, which has paid off big time. Fearless (Taylor's Version), Red (Taylor's Version) and Speak Now (Taylor's Version) have all performed better than the originals.

This is largely due to the unwavering support from her fans, known as "Swifties". They've embraced the new recordings, shaming anyone who plays the original "stolen" versions.

The power of Swifties

Swift's loyal fandom are known for their high levels of participation and creativity. Fans have spent an extensive amount of time hand-making outfits for concerts, and discussing elaborate theories online.

Swift has a reputation for leaving clues, known as Easter eggs, in her lyrics, music videos, social media posts and interviews. There are fan accounts dedicated to analysing these Easter eggs, studying specific number patterns and phrases to uncover hints for what Swift might do next.

Swift and Taylor Nation, a branch of her management team, encourage these behaviours by rewarding fans for their participation.

Read more: How does a Taylor Swift fan prove their love? Money

For the upcoming release of 1989 (Taylor's Version), Swift has unveiled a series of puzzles on Google, which fans must solve together in order to reveal the names of the upcoming vault tracks.

Swifties collectively solved the 33 million (yes, that's million) puzzles in less than 24 hours. The games played a dual role - not only did Swift announce the vault track titles, but she's reclaimed her Google searches in the process.

Swift's fandom crosses generations. She's a quintessential millennial, and many fans have grown up with Swift over the past two decades. Some have even started to bring their children along to the concerts, posting videos of them set to the bridge to Long Live.

She's also found a younger audience on TikTok, a platform predominantly used by Gen Z. Affectionately dubbed " SwiftTok" by fans (and now Swift herself), users post videos to engage with other Swifties and participate in the community.

Swift's songs are often used in popular trends. The release of Midnights last year had many dancing to Bejeweled and Karma, but Swift's older catalogue has also gotten a good run. A remix of Love Story went viral in 2020, which helped a new generation discover her older music. Most recently, her song August has been used for running on the beach and spinning around with your pets.

She's also closely aligned with young adult shows like The Summer I Turned Pretty, which has featured 13 of her songs throughout the show's first two seasons. Swift's music is so central to the story that author Jenny Han nearly dedicated the second book to her.

Swift continues to dominate the cultural conversation through her music, business decisions and legions of devoted fans.

Right now, Swift's popularity is at an all time high, and it could be easy to dismiss this hype as a passing trend. But if these first 17 years are anything to go by, Swift's proven she's in it for the long haul, and worthy of our time.

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How did Taylor Swift get so popular? She never goes out of style

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Taylor Swift is maybe the biggest pop star in the world right now - but how did she get so famous, and how does she remain relevant to a younger audience?

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Commodifying participation through choreographed engagement: the Taylor Swift case

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Commodifying participation through choreographed engagement: the Taylor Swift case

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This article goes into depth about the marketing surrounding the release of 'Reputation'. The marketing began with Swift removing every post on her instagram and then posting a video of a snake slithering. This created conversation in the fanbase and in the traditional media.

The article states the "release of 'Reputation' is an example of a transmedia marketing strategy utilising what we call choreographed engagement" which is essentially describing marketing in which the fanbase is at the heart and actively creates buzz for the album. Examples such as hashtags for the album and encouraging fans to post their reactions to music videos with hope of being reposted as well as the 13 newspaper covered phone boxes around London that fans were encouraged to find and leave a message with the hope of Swift phoning them back. This essentially means the fans did the marketing and promotion for the album for them. Meaning it was more cost effective and created more of a buzz within the fandom.

Bengtsson and Edlom 2022

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This article goes through Swifts whole catalogue of music and described how her branding and star image has changed throughout her career. It supports my analysis of her star image and when it has changed from being an innocent, wholesome country singer to a zany and hardworking popstar.

Allan, D. (2019)

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 Taylor Swift: the hardest working  zaniest girl in show business

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 Taylor Swift: the hardest working  zaniest girl in show business

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This article describes Swift's star image as 'zany' relating to her breakthrough into pop music with the release of 1989, her star image has changed to commercialise off of the genre change. The article references her 'Shake it off' music video and her dispute with Apple Music to then go on and do adverts for them where in both she is portraying a comical clumsy character in order to relate to the audience and convince them that she is hardworking and doesn't fit into the labels that most pop-stars do.

Wilkinson (2019)

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 Taylor Swift  the hardest working  zaniest girl in show business  

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Journal of American Behavioural Scientist

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Campaign Problems how fans react to Taylor Swift's Controversial Political Awakening

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Campaign Problems how fans react to Taylor Swift's Controversial Political Awakening

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This article discusses when Swift 'came out' with her political stance on social media. Since a lot of celebrities don't speak very often on their political ideologies this put Swift in a position to be labeled as a CP (Celebrity Politician). This sparked some controversy in which some thought it was a strategy to alter her star image further towards the career-driven woman but others praised her for this and spoke out that other celebrities should be doing the same.

One point that stood out to me was that a group of people had labeled Swift "their “Aryan pop princess” due to her all-white, heterosexual, girl- next-door image" since she had not confirmed her political beliefs. This leads me to believe that this was in fact a tactical move to ensure that she did not get pigeoned holed into the republic country singer image. However, it was stated in the Miss Americana documentary (2020) that Swift's management and publicity team were against her publishing a statement since she would inevitably lose her republic audience that she would have obviously gained as a country singer so it could have been a personal move rather than a strategic one.

Driessen 2022

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Look what you made them do  understanding fans  affective responses to Taylor Swift s political coming-out

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Look what you made them do  understanding fans  affective responses to Taylor Swift s political coming-out

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This article discusses Swift's political coming out but in a way that centres around her fans activity. It states that regarding her star image - theoretically, fans should not enjoy a stars image and self presentation changing as much as Swift's does but in practice the fans are excited for it.

The article states that "Swift’s celebrity-text is continuously altered and carefully reconstructed when a new album is released." (Driessen, 2022, p93) referring to her ever changing star image and goes on to say these changes have become part of her star image, "foregrounding qualities such as resilience and adaptability, which are also discussed in her song writing on heartbreak or being an outsider" (Driessen, 2022, p93). There is also an emphasis on her authenticity which can be seen throughout her career.

Driessen, 2022

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Look what you made them do  understanding fans  affective responses to Taylor Swift s political coming-out

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I Don't Give a Damn About Your Bad Reputation: Taylor Swift, Beyonce Knowles, and Performance

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I Don't Give a Damn About Your Bad Reputation: Taylor Swift, Beyonce Knowles, and Performance

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This article is assessing the performance during Swift's 'Reputation' tour as well as how real the performance in the tour's film was. This links to star image since it is discussing how Swift presents herself 'live' and how the majority of her star image is a performance. It talks of how the tour is constructed to present a narrative of "a success story meant to argue that a young woman can achieve a level of financial success, stardom, and control previously known only to men" (Arnold, 2021, p29). However, clearly this narrative is constructed and as this article perceives it and the performance, fake.

"Swift’s tightly choreographed Reputation tour is a perfect rep- resentation of her art. It melds together her persona, best-known music, and most importantly, her vision of herself, and it is a carefully presented showcase of all that she thinks is best about her art" (Arnold, 2021, p31) I found this quote interesting since it represents Swift in a very manipulative way that she is almost trying to deceive her fans - which I don't believe is the case. I believe Swift is using this to further construct her bad girl image to promote success but all the while keeping the authenticity she was first branded with.

This also applies to the Eras Tour - especially since the recording of the tour has just been released in cinemas.

Arnold, 2021

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The Return to Craft: Taylor Swift, Nostalgia and Covid-19

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The Return to Craft: Taylor Swift, Nostalgia and Covid-19

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This article is reviewing the 'Folklore' and 'Evermore' albums with relation to Covid-19. McGrath discusses how the albums play into nostalgia and authenticity during Covid-19 in order to create the "marketing narrative was that of an artist retreating to focused, introverted songwriting amid the lockdown turmoil" (2023, p77).

He states that the album was a "a stripped back low-key production of authenticity" (McGrath, 2023, p77) which is especially relevant since the 'Folklore' album was a surprise release that lacked marketing - this in itself was marketing in order to promote Swift's 'authenticity'.

This album was a shift back from her pop and 'hip-hop' styles previously portrayed in her albums and an attempt to reclaim her original folk roots and in turn "embracing themes of nostalgia and introspection" (McGrath, 2023, p77).

Swift introduced the album on Instagram, writing that “Picking up a pen was my way of escaping.” (McGrath, 2023, p77) this again enforced her 'authenticity' within her star image and the sister album, 'Evermore' follows in the same suit.

McGrath, 2023

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The Return to Craft  Taylor Swift  Nostalgia  and Covid-19

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TikTok, Twitter, and Platform-Specific Technocultural Discourse in Response to Taylor Swift s LGBTQ Allyship in 'You Need to Calm Down' 

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TikTok, Twitter, and Platform-Specific Technocultural Discourse in Response to Taylor Swift s LGBTQ Allyship in 'You Need to Calm Down' 

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This article discusses how Swift's 'You Need to Calm Down' was interpreted through TikTok and Twitter. It states that the song was a protest song for the LGBTQ+ society as well as a stand up to cancel culture and the way the mainstream media pit women against each other.

On Twitter, the song was received widely as it should have been - for these communities and as a protest song - this adds a layer to Swift's image of ally-ship and essentially puts her in the forefront of the LGBTQ+ movement herself even if she may not identify within that community.

However, on TikTok, it was apparent that a trend appeared utilising the sounds lyrics. This trend diminished the political meaning behind the song and in turn also contributed to cancel culture - the very thing Swift was calling out, on TikTok, "the song merely exists as a medium for the narrative format, documenting common experiences of being told, or telling another, that they are being ‘too loud’ and ‘need to calm down’." (Avdeeff, 2021, p91). This, although perhaps not what the song was intended to be for, promotes Swift and gets the song trending which in turn gets Swift more listeners.

Avdeeff, 2021

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TikTok  Twitter  and Platform-Specific Technocultural Discourse in Response to Taylor Swift s LGBTQ  Allyship in  You Need to Calm Down 

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A big part of Taylor Swifts star identity is the gossip and publicity surrounding her potential boyfriends.

By publicly showcasing her private life and boyfriends, Swift is merging her public and private sphere and gaining a sense of authenticity with her audience and thus creating a more complex star image.

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It is important to note that Swift also features in several movies as well as her career as a musician, this adds to her star image however it is definitely not the main feature for her image. It portrays convergence in the celebrity industry and relates to the ideology of stars being given acting roles in order to publicise the films and create an easier marketing strategy.

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During this interview from 2013 Ellen DeGeneres is playing into the gossip and rumours regarding Swift's dating life, she essentially interrogates Swift and clearly makes her uncomfortable by arguing that Swift has dated multiple people that she has not, pushing the narrative that Swift has a lot of boyfriends or that she has dated everyone.

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Ellen DeGeneres asked Taylor Swift about the men she's dated

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Taylor Swift also called out Netflix tv show Ginny and Georgia on twitter for including the line "you go through men faster than Taylor Swift" which furthers the gossip Swift already endures and diminishes her writing.

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Hey Ginny & Georgia, 2010 called and it wants its lazy, deeply sexist joke back. How about we stop degrading hard working women by defining this horse shit as FuNnY. Also, @netflix after Miss Americana this outfit doesn’t look cute on you 💔 Happy Women’s History Month I guess

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Hey Ginny & Georgia, 2010 called and it wants its lazy, deeply sexist joke back. How about we stop degrading hard working women by defining this horse shit as FuNnY. Also, @netflix after Miss Americana this outfit doesn’t look cute on you 💔 Happy Women’s History Month I guess https://t.co/2X0jEOXIWp

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Hey Ginny & Georgia, 2010 called and it wants its lazy, deeply sexist joke back. How about we stop degrading hard working women by defining this horse shit as FuNnY. Also, @netflix after Miss Americana this outfit doesn’t look cute on you 💔 Happy Women’s History Month I guess pic.twitter.com/2X0jEOXIWp
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) March 1, 2021

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Hey Ginny & Georgia, 2010 called and it wants its lazy, deeply sexist joke back. How about we stop degrading hard working women by defining this horse shit as FuNnY. Also, @netflix after Miss Americana this outfit doesn’t look cute on you 💔 Happy Women’s History Month I guess https://t.co/2X0jEOXIWp

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.metadata.attachment_props.original_text
Hey Ginny & Georgia, 2010 called and it wants its lazy, deeply sexist joke back. How about we stop degrading hard working women by defining this horse shit as FuNnY. Also, @netflix after Miss Americana this outfit doesn’t look cute on you 💔 Happy Women’s History Month I guess https://t.co/2X0jEOXIWp

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Hey Ginny & Georgia, 2010 called and it wants its lazy, deeply sexist joke back. How about we stop degrading hard working women by defining this horse shit as FuNnY. Also, @netflix after Miss Americana this outfit doesn’t look cute on you 💔 Happy Women’s History Month I guess

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One of the Vault tracks from Speak Now (Taylors Version) that was released in July 2023 features Lautner in the music video as well as Joey King (who was in the original Mean music video) and Swift brought Lautner out at a performance at the Eras Tour showcasing how the two are on good terms.

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Taylor Swift - I Can See You (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault) (Official Video)

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Taylor Swift Is Supporting Sophie Turner ‘However She Can’ Through Her Joe Jonas Divorce

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Taylor Swift Is Supporting Sophie Turner ‘However She Can’ Through Her Joe Jonas Divorce

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Taylor Swift has been seen with Sophie Turner after Turner announced her divorce with Joe Jonas. This is furthering her connection to women empowerment since she is taking Turner's side during the divorce. It also caused a lot of discussion in the media because of Swift's past involvement with Jonas' and the harsh breakup the two had.

Bailey (2023)

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Why Did Taylor Swift's 'Speak Now' Re-Recording Become Her Best-Performing 'Taylor's Version' Yet?

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Why Did Taylor Swift's 'Speak Now' Re-Recording Become Her Best-Performing 'Taylor's Version' Yet?

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All 22 Tracks debuted in the Billboard top 100 with 'I Can See You' at No.5 with 716,000 album units making it the best performing re-recording album yet to release.

Atkinson, Dailey, Denis, Lipshutz, Unterberger 2023

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Why Did Taylor Swift's 'Speak Now' Re-Recording Become Her Best-Performing 'Taylor's Version' Yet?

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This week's Five Burning Questions looks at Taylor Swift's 'Speak Now (Taylor's Version),' which also scored the biggest first week of 2023.

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All of Taylor Swift's biggest and best career moments so far

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All of Taylor Swift's biggest and best career moments so far

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Avey 2023

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Taylor Swift began her career as a country singer before going on to dominate the mainstream charts. With 10 studio albums already under her belt by the age of 33, the singer/songwriter has had an incredible career - and is now even the subject of not one, but two university courses!

Taylor is an artist that has changed the game forever. It is hard to think of a journey like hers, which has spanned four major music genres, two decades and six world tours (including her current 'Eras' tour, which is available in cinemas) - so it's no surprise that she was named Global Icon at the BRIT Awards in 2021! We look back on some of the biggest moments of Taylor Swift's career so far...

Taylor Swift's career highlights:

2009: VMA Best Female Video award

Although this might not typically be a highlight, it did start the complicated relationship that Taylor Swift and Kanye West went on to have. If you don't know what we're talking about then here's a quick recap. During her acceptance speech for her Best Female Video award win, Kanye West interrupted her on stage to speak up for Beyoncé's 'Single Ladies' video, which he believed should have won the award. This event started an infamous feud between the pair that spanned a decade.

Thankfully, Taylor later had the chance to finish her VMA's winner's speech when Beyoncé invited her back on stage during her own win.

Taylor Swift's 2009 was not clouded by this though as this was also the year that she embarked on her debut concert tour 'Fearless'. The tour was named after her second album of the same name. Beginning in Indiana and concluding in Canada, Justin Bieber was one of the support acts for this tour back in 2009.

2013: Taylor Swift's 'Red' tour begins

In 2013, the singer-songwriter embarked on her 'Red' World Tour. During this tour, she became the first female artist in history to sell out the Allianz Stadium in Sydney, Australia (with a 40,900 capacity), since it opened in 1988.

Plus, her hit song 'I Knew You Were Trouble', rumoured to be about her former love, Harry Styles, won Best Female Video at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards.

2020: Miss Americana Netflix documentary release

Taylor's Netflix documentary Miss Americana premiered at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival in 2020. Explaining Taylor Swift's story from her own point of view, it offered insight into her hard-working, busy schedule. With both intimate portrayals of home life with her family and the exciting whirlwind of tours, album releases and recording in the studio.

The film also gave her the chance to address that infamous 2009 VMA's Kanye West feud. She explores the feud and how it caused her subsequent 'cancelling' but how she ultimately bounced back and rose above it!

2021: 'Fearless (Taylor's Version)'

After Taylor re-recorded her multi-million-selling 2008 album 'Fearless', we were all graced with 'Fearless (Taylor's Version) in April 2021.

The re-recording came about after talent manager Scooter Braun acquired the rights to Taylor's master recordings, from her former label Big Machine Label Group, in 2019. Reportedly, this included ownership of the singer's first six albums, from 2006 to 2017.

'Fearless (Taylor's Version)' was released through Republic Records and includes re-recorded versions of all 19 tracks from the platinum edition of 'Fearless', along with six additional 'from the vault' tracks that weren't included on the original album in 2008. Songs on the 2021 release include the iconic 'Love Story' and the world-renowned 'You Belong with Me'.

2021: BRIT Awards 2021 Global Icon

Taylor won the Global Icon Award at the BRIT Awards 2021, becoming the first female artist to ever take home the gong. In her acceptance speech, Taylor said she was "proud to be part of a musical community, especially in a year where we've needed music so much." She also paid tribute to the key workers in the audience.

2022: Taylor Swift confirms 'Midnights' tour

In October, the official Taylor Swift website confirmed that fans who pre-ordered her 'Midnights' album would get pre-sale access to 'forthcoming and yet to be announced Taylor Swift UK show dates'.

Fans were surprised and thrilled by the news and jumped at the chance to see her perform live, resulting in the website crashing hours after the announcement.

2022: Taylor stars in film Amsterdam

In June 2021 it was announced that Taylor was set to star in film Amsterdam alongside the likes of Margot Robbie, Christian Bale, Robert De Niro, Rami Malek and Mike Myers. It was released in October 2022 to rave reviews!

Now read:
13 things you probably didn't know about Taylor Swift Taylor Swift: All your questions answered on the 'All Too Well' singer 🎶 Taylor Swift's albums: Facts and figures about her super successful records
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All of Taylor Swift's biggest and best career moments so far

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Taylor Swift is a country singer turned pop star, we look back at award wins, albums and other success in our Taylor Swift career highlights gallery.

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Taylor Swift | Biography, Music & News | Billboard

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Taylor Swift | Biography, Music & News | Billboard

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2023

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Taylor Swift debuted with her self-titled album in October 2006, and first appeared on the Billboard 200 on the Nov. 11, 2006-dated chart. The album's lead single, "Tim McGraw," was her first Hot 100-charting song, which debuted on the Sept. 23, 2006-dated tally. She was nominated for the best new artist Grammy in 2007, but lost to Amy Winehouse. She won her first Grammys in 2009, taking album of the year and best country album for sophomore release 'Fearless,' as well as best female country vocal performance and best country song for single "White Horse." The pop superstar's birthday is Dec. 13, 1989 - with 13 famously being her favorite number, and '1989' a chart-topping album. The singer-songwriter - who stands at a height of 5'11" - was born in Reading, Penn., to Scott and Andrea Swift. Since her first-ever recorded duet with Colbie Caillat -- "Breathe" off of 'Fearless' -- Swift has worked with many artists, including Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner, who are frequent collaborators.

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Taylor Swift | Biography, Music & News | Billboard

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Taylor Swift debuted with her self-titled album in October 2006, and first appeared on the Billboard 200 on the Nov. 11, 2006-dated chart. The album's lead single, "Tim McGraw," was her first Hot 1...

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Swift plays Audrey in the animated film 'The Lorax' 2012

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Dr. Seuss' The Lorax - Taylor Swift Featurette (2012) HD Movie

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The Giver Movie CLIP - This Is Rosemary (2014) - Taylor Swift, Jeff Bridges Movie HD

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The All Too Well short film was another example of cross media convergence used to inflate Swift's reach and star image. The choice to call this a short film instead of a music video was a conscious choice to gain more attention to the film and develop Swift's star image further to the title of director as well as musician.

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Taylor Swift - All Too Well: The Short Film

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5 Star Identities: from Image to Persona and Publicity to Gossip

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5 Star Identities: from Image to Persona and Publicity to Gossip

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Shingler discusses how stars create and maintain their image in a modern world. Swift's star image can relate to such. He states “in the age of the internet, the authenticity of star images has been ever more challenged and audiences have played a far greater role in determining them.” (Shingler, 2012, p127) which can be referred to how Swift has always tried to uphold her authenticity and essentially called out the media and the internet in her 'Reputation' era for painting her out to be the villain - creating pity for her and painting her as the victim.

“Although a star will invariably enact and maintain their established public persona when making such appearances, these do also provide some opportunity for stars to reveal (and audiences to glimpse) aspects of the ‘real person’ or, at least, they promise this opportunity even when it is seldom granted.” (Shingler, 2012, p141) This can be applied to Swift since she makes use of performance to express her 'real personality'.

Shingler, 2012

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Taylor Swifts star identity is significantly reflected in her fans. Her audience and fans are a big part of who she is and she always acknowledges this in her star image.

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This chapter goes into depth about the celebrity industry and how star identity relates to brand identity. Swift creates her star identity through publicity and appearances especially with her potential boyfriends and public outings. Through this and her past of leaving easter eggs for her fans in everything she does, it conforms with the idea that stars are constantly selling their brand. For example when swift is seen on a red carpet in a black dress, fans decode this to mean that the next album rerecording is approaching for 'Reputation (Taylors Version)' the way that this is done is to constantly keep people engaged in what she is wearing and doing since everything could be a clue - it is all a publicity tactic to make her more money.

Turner, 2013

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Concert films are a good example of Swift's cross media promotion since it ensures that her fans get to experience her live shows if they couldn't get tickets or could not afford to see her live. Swift has made an abundance of Tour and documentary style films over the years - I have used a few examples of recent ones.

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Taylor Swift reputation Stadium Tour | Official Trailer | Netflix

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TAYLOR SWIFT | THE ERAS TOUR Concert Film Official Trailer

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Taylor Swift – folklore: the long pond studio sessions | Official Trailer

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This also discusses the idea of convergence - this is evident through Swift's appearances as an actress in films, in the production of films such as her tour films and even in advertisements for other products

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Due to the discourse surrounding Swift and her relationships with male celebrities, in recent years she has decided to change the narrative by surrounding herself with a group of women with the narrative of empowering women.

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Whiteness is a very key part of Swift's star image. From when she first began she was always portrayed as the innocent young white girl who had her heart broken and was done wrong. It also plays into the victim character that follows her throughout her career.

It is also really poignant since race is the one thing about her that she cannot control, everything else she can use as a tactic but she cannot use her race. Which is why it is such an important factor of her star image.

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The Bad Blood music video showcases this perfectly with her 'girl group' being introduced as the confident power group of assassins which is flipping the narrative of Swift being the victim as previously noted from the 'Fearless' era, Swift is now constructing herself to be powerful and a hero.

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Taylor Swift - Bad Blood ft. Kendrick Lamar

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The discourse surrounding the 2009 VMAs has painted Swift out to be the victim. This in turn helped her career and her star image as the innocent country girl early on in her career.

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Jake Gyllenhaal Seemingly Called Out Taylor Swift For Allowing Her Fans To Troll Him After The "All Too Well" Backlash

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Jake Gyllenhaal Seemingly Called Out Taylor Swift For Allowing Her Fans To Troll Him After The "All Too Well" Backlash

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This article discusses an incident in which Gyllenhaal expresses that Swift was allowing her fans to 'cyberbully' him after the release of the re-recording. This is a testament to Swifts impactful star image and how far her fanbase will go to defend her.

This again was published on gossip columns and the subject for many TikTok videos.

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Jake Gyllenhaal Seemingly Called Out Taylor Swift For Allowing Her Fans To Troll Him After The "All Too Well" Backlash

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Jake's comments come three months after John Mayer's private response to a Taylor Swift fan who sent him abusive messages emerged online.

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This photo encapsulates a marketing partnership. Since Taylor Swift and Matty Healy both have friendships and have worked with producer and musician Jack Antanoff, they partnered together to promote each other's albums by wearing each other's merch. This was obviously a successful way to cross market and effectively share audiences.

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Beautiful Ghosts - From The Motion Picture Soundtrack "Cats"

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Beautiful Ghosts - From The Motion Picture Soundtrack "Cats"

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Swift's second release was the Holiday collection - assisting in her curation of the wholesome country singer star image.

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Beautiful Eyes was Swifts EP after Debut in which she released minimally and it is not streaming on Spotify, she released it minimally to make sure it was not misconstrued as her second album. It again perpetuated the wholesome, humble country singer star image.

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The music video for 'Shake it off' from 1989 has been subject to some criticism for culturally appropriating black dancing such as twerking

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When Reputation came out, Swift was critiqued for using very hip-hop genre features such as rap. This lead to her discussing that she has always loved hip-hop and its influences. However, due to the history behind hip-hop and its meaning for people of colour, it is not for Swift to claim as her own.

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Is Taylor Swift revolutionary or is she just white?

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Is Taylor Swift revolutionary or is she just white?

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This article discusses why the mass enjoy Swift's music and argue that it isn't that revolutionary but she is just "a white feminist who exists in a bubble where race, class, and everything else that’s different from the white, straight, privileged status quo is swept under the rug". They argue that Swift is failing to acknowledge her privilege as a white woman throughout her career and her self representation as a feminist.

McKay reflects on Swift's shifts in identity using the examples of 'Reputation' and 'Folklore' stating, "these transformations seem less like natural artistic evolution and more like meticulously curated identities that come off painfully inauthentic and consumer driven. "

It also refers to the 2009 VMAs arguing that Kanye's call out for Beyoncé's video being better was controversially correct and that "white women are constantly given recognition for half the work a Black woman does, while she receives little to no recognition." as well as referring to the 'Shake it Off' video only incorporating (and appropriating) black culture when it benefits her career stating that it was a "blatant perpetuation of Black stereotypes in order to appropriate and profit off of Black bodies and cultures".

McKay 2021

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With the upcoming re-release of Taylor Swift's award-winning album on Friday, it's about time to investigate exactly why we love this white woman and her mediocre singing voice so much.

The easiest conclusion would be that we like her catchy music; but that's not hard to achieve when she has experienced writers and producers like Jack Antonoff and traditional country producer Nathan Chapman on her team. It could be because of her country roots, which really aren't all that country when you realize she was born in Pennsylvania .

It could even be her songwriting, which from the very beginning of her career has been dedicated to narrative storytelling that draws listeners in. She makes us feel like we are right there with her, experiencing and struggling through the very same things.

The fact is, Taylor Swift is a white feminist who exists in a bubble where race, class, and everything else that's different from the white, straight, privileged status quo is swept under the rug. She favors a narrative where the only thing that matters is cardigans and "champagne problems." Fortunately, this is the reality of many of Swift's fans: young white women.

It has become increasingly common for Swifties to praise and worship Swift as the pinnacle of contemporary feminism, and on the surface, it's not hard to see why. From the very beginning of her career, she faced backlash for writing about her past romantic relationships in her music. Swift pushed back at these critics by continuing to write music about what she wanted, no matter the consequences.

Although this is commendable, plenty of female artists-particularly from historically marginalized groups, i.e., Janet Jackson, Tina Turner, or any female rapper ever-have done the same. Yet, none of these talented artists have received the same level of praise that this white woman has. Taylor has been called a " feminist icon ," was the first-ever recipient of Billboard's Woman of the Year award in 2019, and has consistently been backed up by her fans in confrontation with direct comments of misogyny . What is the merit of these accolades when women of color have been doing the exact same things (and more) with little to no recognition, and in some cases, outright criticism?

Not to mention, each of the previously named artists were able to do so without a reliance on aesthetics. Taylor has gone from country, to pop princess, to the bad-girl during her Reputation era, and finally the cottage-core reinvention used to brand the albums "folklore" and "evermore." These transformations seem less like natural artistic evolution and more like meticulously curated identities that come off painfully inauthentic and consumer driven.

Furthermore, it makes me question if everything Swift does is performative. Does the malleability of Taylor's musical identity have any implications for her ability to isolate her white feminine identity from the intersectional feminism that I understand as gender equity? Is Taylor's activism even real?

In some ways, I am tempted to say that it is. Swift is a victim of sexual assault who continues to proudly advocate for sexual assault victims today . While I do honor Swift's experience as a woman and survivor, Swift failed to acknowledge the privilege she holds as a white woman. Her capability to verbally manifest her anger at her assailant in her testimony, using blunt language and curse words, would have been problematically perceived as stereotypical and damaging to a Black victim's case.

Instead of acknowledging this inherent inequity, Swift claimed a spot on Time Magazine's 2017 Person of the Year issue, "Silence Breakers." The cover sparked particular controversies in its erasure of the experiences and efforts of BIPOC activists, one of these figures being Tarana Burke, the founder of the #metoo movement.

And who can forget the 2009 squabble on the MTV Video Music Awards stage, when Kanye West stepped up to applaud Beyoncé's video over Swift's. Yes, West's actions were disrespectful, inappropriate, and had lasting effects on Taylor's career. However, there is something to be said about his argument that in this world white women are constantly given recognition for half the work a Black woman does, while she receives little to no recognition.

Swift has made it a point to use Black women when it benefits her career. In the music video of her most streamed song to date, "Shake it Off," Swift saddled herself up with gold chains and a leopard print puffer and crawled beneath a line of twerking asses with the Black one front and center. If that isn't a blatant perpetuation of Black stereotypes in order to appropriate and profit off of Black bodies and cultures, I don't know what is.

The same can be said for her "Wildest Dreams" music video, where Swift romanticizes colonialism and perpetuates the erasure of African culture in favor of the single story. One in which the culture and peoples of Africa are an uncivilized monolith that need the romantic guidance of aryan saviors. But don't worry because at the end of the video it's noted that all of the proceeds from the video are going to wild animal conservation efforts through the African Parks Foundations of America, effectively nailing the coffin in Swift's promotion of neo-colonization.

Sure, Taylor Swift is a feminist, but she is a feminist without any explicit tie to the connection of feminism and race, class, sexual identity, or disability. We applaud her for her appropriation, for her erasure of diverse identities, and for her single white experience of gender inequality. Without any true attempt to understand, address, or advocate for an intersectional view of the marginalization of women, can we really call that feminism?

I understand why her music is popular. Like most of you, I too screamed the lyrics to "Mean" at my non-existent cheating, lying boyfriend. I sobbed to "Teardrops on My Guitar," and wailed the lyrics to "You Belong With Me" with my friends at sleepovers. I cranked my hand-me-down iPod touch at the pulsing bass beat of "I Knew You Were Trouble." I know the pop classic feel of "Style," the feeling of intense unending madness in "Out of the Woods," and the lovely painted dreamscape of "Wildest Dreams." Just like you, I know and love it all.

This is not a call to reject nostalgia, or to disregard an artist you love for the sake of my opinion. It is a call to infuse the things you love with nuance, to work to honestly critique these things and understand why you love them. In my own case, I'm a lower income, 19-year-old, cis, straight, Black woman, and I loved Taylor Swift because she talked about things in her music that were comfortably unattainable for me.

Her music was an opportunity for me to escape into an alternate privileged reality where my biggest worry could be getting noticed by the guy I liked and dancing under the starlight. You may love Taylor because she talked about an experience that was chiefly yours, or her music became a specific form of expression for you. At any rate, it's important to question honestly: why do love Taylor Swift?

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Is Taylor Swift revolutionary or is she just white?

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With the upcoming re-release of Taylor Swift's award-winning album Red on Friday, it's about time to investigate exactly why we love this white woman and her mediocre singing voice so much. The easiest conclusion would be that we like her catchy music; but that's not hard to achieve when she has experienced writers and producers...

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Swift has also been involved in the writing for many songs in films - this is a convergence tactic to assist with the marketing of films

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Every Taylor Swift Song Used in a Movie Soundtrack

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Every Taylor Swift Song Used in a Movie Soundtrack

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This is a list of Songs she has written/performed for film soundtracks.

Harbet, 2023

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Every Taylor Swift Song Used in a Movie Soundtrack

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Learn about all of the times Taylor Swift’s music appeared in a movie soundtrack.

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Safe & Sound - from The Hunger Games Soundtrack

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Safe & Sound - from The Hunger Games Soundtrack

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Safe & Sound - from The Hunger Games Soundtrack

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Safe & Sound - from The Hunger Games Soundtrack

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I Don’t Wanna Live Forever (Fifty Shades Darker)

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I Don’t Wanna Live Forever (Fifty Shades Darker)

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I Don’t Wanna Live Forever (Fifty Shades Darker)

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I Don’t Wanna Live Forever (Fifty Shades Darker)

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Carolina - From The Motion Picture “Where The Crawdads Sing”

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Carolina - From The Motion Picture “Where The Crawdads Sing”

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Carolina - From The Motion Picture “Where The Crawdads Sing”

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Carolina - From The Motion Picture “Where The Crawdads Sing”

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Only the Young - Featured in Miss Americana

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Only the Young - Featured in Miss Americana

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This was also used as a campaign song for the Biden-Harris campaign in 2019 and Swift wrote it to encourage her fans to vote.

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Only The Young - Featured in Miss Americana

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Only The Young - Featured in Miss Americana

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'Folklore' and 'Evermore' were the two lockdown albums, they were Swift's genre shift back to more traditionally folk and indie music. I believe this was a way to be reminiscent to the beginning of Swift's career since this was such a hard time internationally during the pandemic, Swift decided to take advantage of this in order to comfort her fans and remind her fans of her authenticity.

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Taylor Swift with Travis Kelce's mum at NFL game to all but confirm relationship

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Taylor Swift with Travis Kelce's mum at NFL game to all but confirm relationship

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Beattie 2023

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World-famous pop star Taylor Swift has seemingly confirmed her relationship with Travis Kelche as she cheered and clapped in the NFL star's box alongside his mother

Pop sensation Taylor Swift has attended a Kansas City Chiefs game effectively confirming her relationship to NFL star Travis Kelce. She was in his box alongside his mother, Donna.

Speculation has linked the household names together in recent times and the world-famous singer looked very comfortable with the tight end's mum at Arrowhead Stadium. She attended the game against the Chicago Bears wearing the team's colours, as she cheered on Kelce.

Previously, the pair had not confirmed their romance, with the NFL star playing coy on the rumours. Speaking on ESPN's 'The Pat McAfee Show', he steered clear of answering the question sport and music fans were desperate to know.

The two-time Super Bowl winner said: "It's hilarious how much traction this has actually got. This is like the old school game called telephone, where everybody is just whispering in everybody's ear. No one actually know what's going on."

Despite that, he did appear to extend an invite to Swift for her to attend his next game, saying: "I threw the ball in her court and told her, 'I've seen you rock the stage in Arrowhead'. You might have to come see me rock the stage in Arrowhead and see which one's a little more lit. We'll see what happens in the near future."

It seems Swift took up Kelce on his offer and had the eyes of the world on her on Sunday afternoon. She could be seen clapping and cheering, all the while sat next to Kelce's mother, Donba.

The presence of the 'Shake It Off' hitmaker will only lead to more speculation over the nature of their relationship. The singer broke up with her last boyfriend Joe Alwyn earlier this year, after spending six years together. She was also linked with 1975 singer Matty Healy earlier this year but their union seemed fleeting after being spotted together in New York.

As for Kelce, after five years of dating, he broke up with most-recent girlfriend Kayla Nicole in May 2022. His love life has been the subject of intrigue ever since the 'Catching Kelce' reality TV show, which aired back in 2016. A show where 50 women from 50 different states would compete for his affections.

He did eventually get together with Kentucky's Maya Benberry but their relationship would not last. In fact, she accused him of cheating 'for a month' before their eventual break-up.

Speaking with his brother about Swift on the their New Heights podcast, Travis explained that he had tried to speak with her at one of her shows previously. However, that ended in disappointment for him. He said: "I was disappointed that she doesn't talk before or after her shows because she has to save her voice for the 44 songs that she sings.

After trying to give his number to the music megastar during her "Eras Tour" concerts, he was unable to give her a gift, which he had picked for her especially. He added: "So, I was a little bit hurt I didn't get to hand her one of the bracelets I made for her."

Previously in the week, Swift had been seen offering support to her friend Sophie Turner following the latter's break-up with Joe Jonas. Amid Turner's divorce and custody battle, the pair of pals were seen hanging out at Via Carota in New York on Tuesday, before a visit to Barrière Fouquet Hotel on Thursday.

An insider told People that the singer was helping to "cheer Sophie up". They said: "They were normal. Completely normal. Everyone was all excited, but they were normal. Taylor is a great friend - Sophie can talk to her about anything. It cheered Sophie up to spend time with Taylor."

The 'Anti-Hero' singer previously spoke about how she sees her future when it comes to her dating life. In an interview with the Telegraph, she explained how she felt the glare of the spotlight could affect her chances of finding long-lasting love.

She said: "I'll probably stay single, let's be honest. No one's going to sign up for this and everything that goes with it," alluding that she feared "camera flashes" and press attention would affect her chances in that regard, saying: "I don't even know if that's possible with the life I have."

Expanding more on how she saw relationships, she added: "Just because you're happy in a relationship doesn't mean that there aren't moments of confusion, frustration or loneliness or sadness."

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Taylor Swift with Travis Kelce's mum at NFL game to all but confirm relationship

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World-famous pop star Taylor Swift has seemingly confirmed her relationship with Travis Kelche as she cheered and clapped in the NFL star's box alongside his mother

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Arts in Review - Music Review - 'Midnights': Taylor Swift After Dark

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Arts in Review - Music Review - 'Midnights': Taylor Swift After Dark

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This article is a fairly critical review of the album, criticising how empty the album feels and that it doesn't feel as risky as Swift's other albums. Especially after 'Folklore' and 'Evermore', 'Midnights' does feel quite musically different and slightly like a regression back to her pop-star image. However, the concept behind the album was to be tracks from past eras that did not make it on. This was not the case since a lot of these tracks were newly written however, the styles from the tracks can all be reminiscent of her past albums and eras. Aside from this making the album the least coherent of all her albums - this created another feeling of nostalgia for her past eras and could have been a set up to promote her past music and again to get fans thinking about which songs belong to which era. In terms of star image this once again reinforces the nostalgia linked to 'Folklore' and 'Evermore' as well as touching back into the zany popstar image from '1989'.

Richardson, 2022