Why Taylor Swift Gets It (Almost...)

Every popular artist or franchise not only produces good art but creates a culture. Jimmy Buffett produced timeless hits while creating a "parrothead" culture that goes along with the hits. The band Tool has almost cult-like fans, or so I'm told. Movie series like Star Wars, Harry Potter, and Lord of the Rings create sub-cultures too, whether its going to Comic-Con or dressing up like a first year at Hufflepuff. It's the same way with Taylor Swift and all of her fans, and I think there's a good reason why.

I'm man enough to admit it. For Christmas I got Taylor's new album "Speak Now." To my credit, I didn't ask for it. My brother gave it to me as a gag-gift of sorts. At the risk of losing my man card, I'll admit that I listened to the entire album today. And at the risk of being permanently humiliated by men everywhere, I'll even admit that I liked some of it. And of course, I'm not the only one. Everyone from little middle school girls to college graduates (and even college-aged guys) seems to be traveling Swift-ly on the Taylor train. But why?

The reason why is that Taylor understands something fundamental about human nature and incorporates it into her songs. What she gets is that everybody (in the case of her audience mostly girls) has a deep heartfelt need to feel desired, loved, and wanted. I don't think anyone could dispute this, but for good measure let's look at Scripture. In Ephesians, Paul writes that husbands should "let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband" (Eph. 5:33, ESV). Here Paul points out that since men and women are wired differently, each is made to feel the wonders of covenant love in different ways. Notwithstanding the different approaches, the end result of the husband's love and the wife's respect is to make the other feel desired, wanted, and loved.

We've seen lots of songs about girls and boys wanting to feel desired and treasured, so this in itself is not new. What is unique in Swift and so attractive and marketable is the way in which she presents the experience of being loved in her songs. In a majority of her songs, the experience of feeling loved comes at a moment of crisis. At a climatic moment, the boy makes a radical decision to treasure Taylor above everything else, thus adding more value to the feeling of being loved. By sacrificing something great or expressing his feelings in a huge way, Taylor gets the love and care she always wanted.

For example, this can be seen in songs such as:

"Speak Now," where Taylor forces a guy about to get married to choose between his evil fiance and her.

"Mine," where her love interest decides to continue loving her even after a major fight.

"You Belong With Me," in which she longs after a guy who has another girl, all the time hoping that he will dump that girl and get with Taylor, making her feel all the more special.

"Love Story," a story about a dude overcoming Shakespeare-esque odds to fall in love.

"Back to December," in which we find a repentant Taylor longing for a guy that she hurt to find her worthy even though she hurt him.

"Teardrops on My Guitar," perhaps her biggest hit, which basically follows the plotline of "You Belong With Me"

Not all of Taylor's songs are like this. As a matter of fact, some are vengeful and spiteful, addressing wrongs done to her by bad guys or girls competing with her for her man. I think this speaks to the idolatry of guys that her songs flirt with. When your idol lets you down, you tend to get angry.

While sometimes Swift's songs are perhaps a bit fanciful and exaggerated, it does speak to something real in the human heart. We all long, whether girls or guys, to be loved, respected, admired, and treasured. Furthermore, receiving this love at a moment of crisis at great expense to the giver makes it all the more worthy because it makes us seem all the more valuable. One pays a low price for something that is not worth much while one pays a high price for something worth it. This is where Taylor gets it...almost.

Where she doesn't get it is that our longing to be loved can never be fulfilled by earthly things like boyfriends or girlfriends (add fiances and spouses) and how much they can love us. If we make these things to be ultimate, then what once was a "Fairy Tale" will later become a "Picture to Burn." This is to say that they will always let us down. Curiously enough, however, the Bible speaks of One who loves and treasures all those who are His. He loved us so much to take on flesh, leave His heavenly glory, and walk among us. He taught us, showed us, and lived for us. He even displayed His love for us in what we might call many "moments of crisis": in Gethsemane, on the road to Golgotha, and on the cross. He loved us so much that He demonstrated it by choosing His own death over ours. And then He rose on the third day to defeat death and sin forever. In Him our deepest longings for love are met abundantly. In Him we finally feel worthy and desired.

His name is Jesus, and He loves little boys and girls and grown-ups and old people and even college-aged guys who listen to way too much Taylor Swift. We would do well to remember that.