“I Feel So High School Every Time I Look at You”
Taylor Swift has written about romance and heartbreak since her debut record in 2006. Early songs like “Love Story” and “You Belong With Me” romanticized the love that exists in small town American life. Swift was usually cast as the awkward and insecure high school student, while her love interests were the traditionally masculine “jock” types. It’s a classic plot we have seen in countless movies and TV shows, and Swift has consistently returned to these tropes in her music well into adulthood. In fact, the song she attached to her engagement post on Instagram was the aptly named “So High School” from last year’s album, The Tortured Poets Department. In that song, Swift re-embraces the high school imagery of her youth and casts Kelce as the man who completes the image. Her engagement announcement not only directly uses that song, but her references to teachers in the caption also conjure up that American Dream imagery that has become synonymous with her youth.
In many ways, the union of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce is a full circle moment for the singer-songwriter. After all, this is the same person who once wrote about being the girl who stood on the bleachers but who understood the object of her affections better than any cheer captain could. Some fans might find hope and delight at this full circle moment, but I question the narrative building behind it. For me, the aspects of Swift’s lyricism that I have always been drawn to is not the idealism of traditional Americana romance, but rather, the disillusionment and the loss of innocence that manifest when that dream comes up short.
Make no mistake: Taylor Swift is the queen of breakup songs. Her greatest contribution to pop music from a songwriting perspective is the way in which she provides nuance and gravitas to the experiences of young women struggling through heartbreak. The men in her songs, including the “jocks,” frequently mistreat and underestimate their romantic partners. They turn out not to be the knights in shining armor she hoped for them to be. Take her song, “White Horse,” for example, which Swift wrote while she was still in high school. In the chorus, Swift sings, “I’m not your princess / this ain’t our fairytale [...] it’s too late for you and your white horse to catch me now.”
I find it strange for Swift and her fans to continually cast Kelce as the high school jock she always fantasized about marrying one day. Let’s not forget that many of her songs from that time detailed how that character ultimately lacked the substance she needed in a romantic partner. This is not to question the actual relationship between Swift and Kelce, but it is to question the glorification of the all-American high school romance, a concept Swift has always been fascinated by but one she used to profoundly critique.
“In Your Life, You’ll Do Things Greater Than Dating the Boy on the Football Team”
Forget the “full circle” narratives surrounding Swift and Kelce’s relationship. Forget the superfluous headlines and Instagram likes. At the end of the day, we cannot let Taylor Swift’s legacy be defined by her love story. Giving her wedding engagement more airtime than her artistry minimizes her accomplishments as a musician and businesswoman. It also further perpetuates the false idea that no matter how successful you are in other areas, the most important milestone in your life is your choice in a romantic partner.
What can we do to combat this idea? When it comes to Taylor Swift, we can direct our energy away from her nuptials and back to her music. The Life of a Showgirl is her first album written and produced entirely with Swedish pop mastermind Max Martin. What we know so far indicates that Swift is listening to criticism and leveling up in her artistry. That’s worth celebrating more.
More importantly, when it comes to our friends and family, we can celebrate their engagements as much as we celebrate their other accomplishments. For instance, a close friend of mine, Morgan Prouse, was recently profiled in the New York Post about how her network of female friends organized “Success Showers” to celebrate professional and personal milestones beyond marriage and motherhood. “It’s not about prioritizing one milestone over another,” Prouse tells Cheezburger, “but [it's] about increasing the reasons to celebrate and [being] inclusive of different choices.” Prouse, along with her co-host Brooke Azzaro, hopes to “normalize and inspire others to have celebrations like these” that have nothing to do with one’s attachment to a partner.
These “Success Showers” speak to the fact that finding a romantic partner is just one milestone that not everyone pursues. After all, it was a teenaged Taylor Swift who wrote the lyrics, “In your life, you'll do things greater than dating the boy on the football team.” Sounds like advice worth remembering for all of us, including the person who gave it.
via @PopBase